Editorial Policies

Aims and Scope

BRICS+: Current Agenda was established on the initiative of the BRICS Network University (BRICS NU). The institution responsible for publishing the journal is the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University).

Aims and Objectives of the Journal

Aim. To establish an international expert platform for analyzing processes unfolding in the contemporary BRICS space and for publishing works thematically aligned with the core competences of university-based authors; to promote the research outputs of academic staff; to maintain and strengthen the reputation of BRICS NU; and to ensure scholarly and information exchange with leading global research and education centers.

Objectives.

To broaden knowledge of current socio-political and economic trends in BRICS countries;
To publish original research articles presenting the outcomes of initiatives and research results in the following areas: international relations and world politics; international economic relations; and cooperation among BRICS universities in the context of the distinctive socio-cultural development of BRICS countries;
To create favorable conditions for improving the quality and international standing of research by BRICS scholars in the social sciences and humanities within the global academic community;
To consolidate the creative and scholarly potential of researchers from different countries around the theme of socio-economic development in BRICS countries and their foreign trade partners.

The journal is intended to serve as a forum for discussion of the most pressing and topical issues in the world economy, international relations, political science, history, and philosophy.

Journal Scope

International political and economic relations, comparative politics, and cooperation among BRICS countries in the fields of culture and education.

Core Research Areas

World economy; political institutions, processes, and technologies; the history of international relations and foreign policy; social and political philosophy; culture and education.

Author Eligibility and Publication Ethics

The journal welcomes submissions from authors who conduct independent research and present it in a format required for recognition as a scholarly publication within the thematic profile of the online journal. Acceptance for publication depends exclusively on the manuscript’s academic merit and the originality of the results reported. Manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Office must comply with standards of research integrity and publication ethics, including the absence of plagiarism and other improper borrowing. Previously published manuscripts are not accepted.

The Editorial Office reserves the right to decline a manuscript prior to peer review if it falls outside the journal’s scope; contains unethical or otherwise inappropriate borrowing; has been published in full or in part; is under consideration by another journal (constituting a serious breach of publication ethics); or in other cases that conflict with standards of academic ethics. The Editorial Office undertakes to ensure equal rights for all authors and the absence of any privileges during peer review, editorial preparation, and publication. Members of the editorial board, editorial council, and editorial team submit manuscripts for consideration under the same procedures as all other authors.

Sections

Articles

EDITORIAL ARTICLE

WORLD ECONOMY

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGIES

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Peer Review Process

All scientific articles submitted to the Editorial Office undergo mandatory double-blind peer review (the reviewer does not receive information about the authors of the manuscript, and the authors do not receive information about the reviewers).

Peer review is carried out by members of the Editorial Board, as well as by invited reviewers—leading experts in the relevant field of science from Russia and other countries. Each manuscript is sent to a minimum of three reviewers, including at least two external reviewers (not affiliated with RUDN University). The decision on the selection of reviewers is made by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Academic Editor, or the Head of the Editorial Office. The standard period for reviewing a manuscript is 2–4 weeks, but it may be extended at the request of a reviewer. Each reviewer has the right to decline a review if there is an evident conflict of interest that may affect the perception and interpretation of the manuscript.

During the review process, each reviewer completes a specialized evaluation form, which ensures an impartial and objective assessment of the manuscript based on several criteria. These criteria include the relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s thematic scope, the importance of the topic, and the novelty of the research. Reviewers evaluate the scientific originality, methodology, literature review, correspondence between the title and content, and the quality of academic writing using a quantitative scale from 0 to 5 points. Based on the results of the evaluation, the reviewer provides a recommendation regarding the further fate of the manuscript (each recommendation must be justified):

the manuscript is recommended for publication in its current form (no revision needed);
the manuscript is recommended for publication after correcting the shortcomings noted by the reviewer, without additional peer review;
the manuscript requires substantial revision and subsequent rereview;
the manuscript cannot be published in the journal, even after revision.

If the reviewer identifies any issues, they describe them in detail and provide constructive suggestions for improvement. In exceptional cases, if a review contains personal attacks or inappropriate remarks, the Editorial Office reserves the right to moderate certain comments. However, the structured responses to questions A, B, C (yes/no), as well as numerical scores (0–5 points) for sections D–F, are forwarded to the authors without modification.

The Editorial Office sends the reviewer reports to the authors. If revisions are recommended, the authors are invited to take them into account and prepare a revised version of the manuscript or provide a reasoned rebuttal (either partially or fully). The revision period should not exceed 1 month from the date of the editor’s notification. The revised manuscript is then sent for a repeated peer review.

If the authors decide not to revise the manuscript, they must notify the Editorial Office in writing or verbally and request withdrawal of the submission. The Editorial Office will remove the manuscript from consideration if the revised version is not provided within 3 months from the date the authors were informed of the reviewer comments. In such cases, the authors receive an official notice of withdrawal due to the expiration of the revision period.

The Editorial Office conducts no more than three rounds of peer review for each manuscript. If, after three revisions, significant concerns remain for the majority of reviewers or for the Editorial Office itself, the manuscript is rejected and removed from further consideration. The authors receive an official notification explaining the reasons for rejection.

If irreconcilable disagreements arise between the authors and the reviewers, the Editorial Office, in consultation with the Editorial Board and the Editor-in-Chief, may send the manuscript for an additional independent review. In conflict situations, the final decision on publication is made by the Editor-in-Chief at a meeting of the Editorial Board.

The decision to reject a manuscript is made at a meeting of the Editorial Board, based on the recommendations of the reviewers. A manuscript that has been rejected by decision of the Editorial Board is not accepted for reconsideration. A notice of rejection and removal from review is sent to the author by e-mail, together with the reviewer reports and the grounds for refusal.

Once the Editorial Board has made a decision to accept a manuscript for publication, the Editorial Office informs the authors and indicates the expected publication timeline.

A positive peer review is not sufficient for the acceptance of a manuscript. The final decision is made by the Editorial Board. In conflict situations, the Editor-in-Chief has the final authority.

Authors have the right to appeal the Editorial Office’s decision to reject a manuscript. To do so, they must submit an appeal addressed to the Editor-in-Chief, providing a detailed explanation of the reasons for disagreement with the decision based on the reviewer reports, arguments supporting revision of the decision, and (if appropriate) a revised version of the manuscript. Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief at a meeting of the Editorial Board. Decisions made by the Editor-in-Chief are final and not subject to further appeal.

Original reviewer reports and protocols of manuscript evaluation are stored in the Editorial Office indefinitely (at least five years). Reviewer reports (as well as author correspondence with the Editorial Office) are not made publicly available and are used only for internal editorial purposes and communication with authors. Copies of reviewer reports may be submitted to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation upon request.

Publication Frequency

BRICS+: Current Agenda has been published since 2025. The journal is issued quarterly (four times a year), in March, June, September, and December.

Open Access Policy

The journal provides immediate open access to its content, guided by the following principle of the Budapest Open Access Initiative: free open access to research results promotes the global exchange of knowledge and advances scientific progress.

Articles in this journal are available to all readers from the moment of publication on the website under an open Creative Commons licence.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the licence terms.

Under the following conditions:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.

Notices:

You do not have to comply with the licence terms for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The licence may not grant all permissions necessary for your intended use. Other rights—such as publication (disclosure) rights, privacy rights, or moral rights—may limit how the material may be used.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material,

for any purpose, including commercial purposes.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the licence terms.

Under the following conditions:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.

Notices:

You do not have to comply with the licence terms for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The licence may not grant all permissions necessary for your intended use. Other rights—such as publication (disclosure) rights, privacy rights, or moral rights—may limit how the material may be used.

Sources (as provided):

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Archiving

Data Preservation Policy

The journal uses the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) to digitally archive all published articles. PKP PN is part of the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) preservation infrastructure, which provides decentralized and distributed storage, uninterrupted access, and recovery of the authentic original version of content in the event that it is lost by the publisher.

The journal’s full-text electronic content is stored in the institutional repository of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba, which is included in the NORA (National Aggregator of Open Repositories)project and is registered in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR).

Information about all articles published in the journal is also stored in the Scientific Electronic Library eLIBRARY.ru. The journal archive page is available there, and users can perform an advanced search across the journal’s articles (by keywords, author, title, or section). A link to the full text of each article is provided on the corresponding article page in eLIBRARY.ru.

The full texts of articles are stored on the journal’s server and can be accessed via the journal’s archive page.

Printed copies of journal issues are transferred for permanent storage to the Russian Book Chamber (a branch of ITAR-TASS), the Russian State Library, and other leading libraries of the Russian Federation.

Publishing Ethics

When selecting (including reviewing), preparing (editing) and publishing articles in the journal, the editors are guided by international standards of publication ethics.

The Editorial Board of the Journal will carefully and responsibly consider all reasonable requests regarding the detected violations in the published materials.

The editors consider it the duty of the author and the reviewer to inform the editors as soon as possible about the missed errors and violations that they have identified after the publication of the article.

The journal's publisher, RUDN University, is a co-founder and a member of the Association of Scientific Editors and Publishers (ASEP), Russia, and supports the ASEP Declaration on the Ethical Principles of Scientific Publications https://rassep.ru/sovet-po-etike/manifesty/deklaratsiya/

The ethic policy of this journal is based on recomendations from international commettees: ICMJE, WAME, COPE, EASE, Council of Science Editors, ORI.

When developing these rules, the publisher and the editorial board of the journal used not only their editorial and publishing practice but also the experience of the journals published by leading international scientific literature publishers.

Editorial responsibilities

Editors have sole responsibility for acceptance or rejection of a manuscript. The manuscript may be rejected by the editor on the stage prior to peer-review for a solid reason (inappropriate topic for journal, clearly of poor scientific quality, the article was previously published elsewhere, essential contradiction to ethical principles of the Journal was detected). Editors should only accept a paper when reasonably certain. Editors should guarantee that the quality of the papers conforms to internationally accepted scientific and publication ethical guidelines. If there is conflict of interest of the editor with the author of the article, the article should be transmitted to another editor.

The editor transmits all the submitted manuscripts, which were not rejected according to the reasons stated below, for peer-review. The editor chooses the reviewers out of the most competent specialists on the topic of the article.

Editors should preserve anonymity of reviewers and should not tell the reviewers the names of the authors.

Editors should guarantee the quality of the papers and the integrity of the academic record and be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial opinion works should be clearly identified as such.

Advertising Policies

The editorial board adheres to ethical standards in its work and, above all, defending the right to editorial independence. Placement of promotional materials and sponsorship can not influence in any way on editorial decisions and editorial content. The journal does not publish materials to accompany the advertising and does not sell advertising for specific articles. Advertising and information materials is not mixed with the editorial content.

All decisions on advertising placement are only accepted by the publisher. The editors reserve the right not to accept advertising materials, placement does not meet the publication policy.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

Plagiarism takes many forms, from passing off another paper as the author(s) own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another(s) paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

The Editorial Board considers the following to be the forms plagiarism:

Use (word for word citing) of any materials in any value without indicating the source;
use of images, pictures, photographs, tables, diagrams, schemes or any other forms of graphical information presentation without indicating the source;
use of images, pictures, photographs, tables, diagrams, schemes or any other forms of graphical information presentation published in scientific and popular issues without approving by copyright holder;
use of the materials without written permission, the authors or copyright holders of which don’t permit use of their materials without special approvement.

The Editorial Board considers the following to be the forms of incorrect borrowing:

Absence of graphical highlighting of literal text citation when there are references to the source;
incorrect references (incomplete bibliographic description of the sources, which prevents their identification;
reference not to the first source of the borrowed text without clear indication of this fact (mistake in primary source determination);
absence of references from the text to the sources enumerated in the list below the article;
excessive citation (in case there are references to the sources and graphical highlighting of the cited text), the volume of which is not justified by the genre and aims of the article.

Only original works are acceptable for publication in journal. The journal does not allow any forms of plagiarism.

If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

The journal is using "ANTIPLAGIAT" software for plagiarism detection in all Russian-language manuscripts. If the editorial board of the journal has reasons for a more detailed check, additional tools for searching for borrowings can be involved. The Google Scholar is used for English-language manuscripts. Papers will be rejected from any stage of the publication process (even if the article was published already) if plagiarism will be fined.

The Editorial Board of the Journal strongly discourages the use of any technique to increase the text score in the Anti-Plagiarism system.

Articles that show signs of technical modifications in order to artificially increase the uniqueness of the text will not be published in the journal even if revised. The editors report all such facts to the reviewer and, if the author works in an educational institution, to its management.

If unauthorized borrowings are detected, as well as with a low coefficient of originality of the text (<85%) and large amounts of borrowings that are not justified by the goals of the article, the manuscript is rejected from publication.

Articles whose content repeats the results and conclusions obtained in other scientific publications of the author (monographs, previous publications in journals and collections), as well as studies already described earlier in dissertations and abstracts, in the absence of development of the provisions presented in them and new results, to publications are not accepted.

Identification of plagiarism of ideas and plagiarism of data is carried out as part of scientific peer review, as well as after the publication of manuscripts - upon the fact of readers' requests with relevant statements. When establishing the fact of unauthorized borrowing of data (results of scientific work) or ideas, the manuscript (article) will be withdrawn and rejected from publication, even if it has already been published.

Papers will be rejected from any stage of the publication process (even if the article was published already) if plagiarism will be fined.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper. Publication of some kinds of articles (eg, clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

First author. The first author in the list of co-authors should be the head of the author's team of the manuscript, who took the greatest part in the process of preparing the text and is familiar with the entire process of conducting scientific work. The head of the team of authors should also be a "correspondence author" - to communicate with the editors of the journal and readers (after the publication of the article).

The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and Human Subjects

Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Statement of Human Rights

When reporting experimental research involving human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

All authors should disclose (declare in the corresponding section of the manuscript) any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to affect the results or the conclusions of their manuscript.

Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include:

receiving funding in support of the research or the preparation of the manuscript, any connection (employment, consultancies, stock ownership, royalties, providing expert opinions) with organizations that have a direct interest in the subject of research or review;
application or registration of patents for research results (copyright, etc.);
obtaining financial support for any of the stages of research or the preparation of the manuscript (including grants and other financial support).

Explicit and potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed as early as possible.

Conflicts of interest information received from authors of manuscripts is provided to reviewers only under the condition of full compliance with double-blind peer review; information about conflicts of interest is available to the editorial board when deciding whether to publish a manuscript. Also, information on conflicts of interest is published as part of the full text of the article.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the authors obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

Editorial Policy for Corrections to Published Articles

If inaccuracies and factual errors are made in the article that do not require retraction of the article, the editorial carries out the procedure for reprinting the article with corrections.

The purpose of corrections made to a scientific article after publication is to convey truthful, accurate information to the reader, help avoid illegal borrowing, and eliminate erroneous data.

Reprinting of the article is carried out in the case of multiple typos, incorrect citation, incorrect wording, incorrect facts, the need for corrections to the team of authors and other cases requiring correction of errors.

Reprint of the corrected article may be initiated by the author (s), readers or the editors of the journal.

The procedure for correcting errors when reprinting an article

If the editorial board has received information about the need to make corrections from third parties, the editor or the Editor-in-Chief will politely send the authors a notification about the need to analyze the identified errors.
After an analysis of the identified errors, the editorial representatives report the need to reprint the article with corrections to the author (s) to agree on the corrections.
In the printed issue of the journal, an error message is published indicating the number / year and pages of the issue with the article in which the error was made, a description of the error and the text with the error corrected. It is also indicated on whose initiative the reissue procedure is carried out. In the online version of the journal, an error message is posted on the site page and / or PDF file with the article. Readers are given the opportunity to work with the revised version of the article by posting it on the site.

4. Information on corrections introduced is transmitted to the Russian Index of Science Citation (elibrary.ru).

Retraction guidelines

In some cases, the Editorial Board may consider retracting a publication.

The article will be officially retracted if at any stage of review, prepress, or after publication, the editors or readers reveal a violation of the requirements of publication ethics. The retraction of the article due to violation of publication ethics will also entail a ban on the publication of articles in this journal for all members of the authors team involved in the incident in the future.

The reasons for retraction may be the following:

it constitutes plagiarism, including borrowed pictures, tables, diagrams, etc. If plagiarism was detected after publication (see Plagiarism Policy);
the third party expresses claims concerning copyrights for the article or its parts;
the findings have previously been published elsewhere before the date of its publication in the journal.

The published article has serious errors, which place its scientific value in question.

In such cases, the Editor should initiate the revision, after which the article may be retracted. The Act on retraction is complied, which is signed by the editor-in-chief. A copy of the Act is being sent to the author of the article.

In this case, the article is not physically withdrawn from the published edition and the file of the issue on web site. The Editorial Office publishes the notification on retraction of the article on the corresponding page of the issue content on the official site of the Journal. The Editorial Office should attentively consider issuing an expression of concern about the revealed problems in the published materials.

The Editorial Board considers it a responsibility of authors and reviewers to promptly inform about the missed mistakes and breaches revealed after the publication of the article.

Privacy Statement

Information about the authors (surname, name, family name, affiliation, e-mail, contact number), which is provided by them for publication in the journal, is becoming available for an indefinite range of persons, for which the authors give their permission by providing his article in the online system on the website of the journal.

The following data is published for the convenience of the authors with the aim of the full and correct account of publications and their citation by the corresponding bibliography companies and providing the possibility of contacting the authors ans the scientific society.

Personal information provided by the authors in addition to the enumerated below includes additional e-mails and phones. These will be used only for contacting the authors in the process of preparing the publication. The Editorial Board may not transmit this information to a third party, who can use it for some other purposes.

Copyright and Publishing Rights

Authors retain unlimited copyright and all publishing rights, except for commercial use, when publishing under any licence permitted by the journal.

Publication Fees

Articles are published in the journal free of charge for all authors.

The Editorial Office does not charge authors any fees for open-access publication, peer review, production and preparation of the journal for print, website maintenance, or the electronic deposition/archiving of manuscripts.

Policy in the field of personal data processing

Terms and conditions for processing personal data of users of the RUDN UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC PERIODICALS PORTAL (hereinafter referred to as Terms and Conditions)

1. Conditions, purposes, content and procedure for processing personal data (hereinafter referred to as PD) using automation tools, measures aimed at protecting PD, as well as measures aimed at identifying and preventing violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of PD, which are carried out by the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University), legal/postal address: Moscow, st. Miklukho-Maklaya, 6.

2. The Operator processes of the RUDN Scientific Journals Portal (hereinafter referred to as the Portal) users PD in accordance with these Terms and Conditions within the framework of legal relations with the Operator regulated by the current Russian legislation and Policy.

3. The Operator processes the following types of PD of users.

Surname,
Name,
Middle name / patronymic (if any)
E-mail,
User ID stored in the cookie*,
ORCID iD (if available),
SPIN code (if available),
Scopus Author ID (if available),
ResearcherId (if available),
Mendeley Profile (if available),
Publons Profile (if available),
Organization (Organization name, organization address),
Academic Degree,
Academic Title
Position,
personal page on the website of the organization (place of work) of the user on the Internet.

^{____________________}

^{* Used only in the journal site system. PD marked in paragraph 3 with the symbol (*) are not subject to transfer and distribution.}

4. The Operator has the right to process the PD listed above in order to carry out the legal activities of the mass media - the Journal posted on the Portal, including providing the User with information about the Journal through the website and by e-mail.

5. To access the published materials of the Journal's website (full-text content of issues, information about the Journal, members of the editorial board and editorial board, rules for authors and other sections of the site) for reading and copying, the User does not need to register.

6. The Portal User voluntarily provides the Operator with his PD in the following cases:

6.1. when registering on the Journal website as an Author:

6.1.1. the only author in the article or the corresponding author in the presence of several co-authors in the article - to upload the article to the Journal's website for the purpose of its consideration by the editors of the Journal and publication in the Journal. By uploading an article to the Journal's website, the Author accepts the offer - transfers the rights to use the article and expresses consent to the processing of his PD by the Operator.

! The author's license agreement for the publication of the article (public offer) is placed in the "Copyright" section of the journal's website in the public domain (registration on the site as a User is not required for preliminary familiarization with the text of the offer).

At the same time, the User, filling out the registration form, makes all the PD listed in clause 3 of these Terms.

By ticking the mandatory field "Legal information^✱ / Consent to the processing of personal data" of the registration form, the User, having previously clicked on the link "Consent to the processing of personal data" below and read the text in the window that opens, confirms that he has read these Terms and Conditions and the Policy and his consent to the processing by the Operator of the User's PD entered in the registration form. Without such confirmation, the registration of the User will not be completed.

6.1.2. a co-author of an article who is not a correspondent author, for the subsequent submission of information about the co-author in the process of uploading an article by a correspondent author to the Journal's website for the purpose of its consideration by the editors of the Journal and publication in the Journal. By filling out the registration form, the User agrees to the processing of his PD by the Operator.

At the same time, the User, filling out the registration form, puts a tick in the role of the Author and makes all the PD listed in clause 3 of these Terms.

The processing by the Operator of the PD of the User registered as the Author / Co-author includes the collection, recording, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, changing), extraction, copying, use, transfer as part of the article metadata (provision, access), including distribution, depersonalization, blocking, deletion and destruction of PD in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

6.1.3. when registering on the website of the Journal as a Reviewer to participate in the review of a scientific article submitted for consideration by the editors of the Journal.

At the same time, the User, filling out the registration form, makes all the PD listed in clause 3 of these Terms.

By checking the box "Legal information^✱ / Consent to the processing of personal data" of the registration form, the User, having previously clicked on the link below "Consent to the processing of personal data" and having read the text in the window that opens, confirms that he has read these Terms and Conditions and the Policy and his consent to the processing by the Operator of the User's PD entered in the registration form. Without such confirmation, the registration of the User will not be completed.

Having received a review request sent by the Editorial Board to the Reviewer’s e-mail address with an offer attached and expressing in response to the request consent to participate in reviewing in the user’s personal account, the Reviewer accepts the offer - transfers the rights to use the subsequently prepared review and expresses consent to the processing by the Operator of his PD.

Processing by the Operator of the User's PD, registered as a Reviewer, includes collection, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, modification), extraction, copying, use, transfer to third parties (provision, access); depersonalization, blocking and destruction of PD in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the following PD of the reviewer are subject to transfer to third parties, namely and exclusively to Scientific Electronic Library LLC (eLIBRARY.ru) and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation: surname, first name, middle name / patronymic (if any), academic degree, academic title, email, position, organization name. Transfer can be carried out only if the Reviewer accepts the Offer.

PD of the reviewer are not subject to distribution.

7. A user who has registered on the Portal as a Author (including Co-author) / Reviewer has the right to withdraw his consent to the processing of PD by sending the Operator a corresponding notification to the email address of the Journal's editors, specified in the "Contacts" section of the Journal's website on the Portal.

Policy of using artificial intelligence

We welcome the responsible and transparent use of artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific research and manuscript preparation for the scientific journal BRICS+: Current Agenda (hereinafter referred to as the Journal). AI can be a powerful tool to enhance the quality and efficiency of your work. We are committed to upholding scientific integrity and encourage authors, reviewers, and editors to use AI as an assistant, rather than a replacement for critical thinking and ethical standards.

AI Usage Policy for Authors of the Journal

1.1. Key Principles for Authors Using AI in Manuscript Preparation

Authorial Responsibility: Authors are always fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, including any information generated or processed by AI.
Transparency: It is crucial to indicate in the article's metadata where and how AI tools have been used (e.g., for data analysis, writing text, creating images, etc.).
Ethics and Accuracy: It is necessary to ensure that AI does not generate false or incorrect information (hallucinations); all facts and references must be verified.
Data Confidentiality: It is strongly advised not to upload confidential information, personal data, or any other protected information to public AI tools.

1.2. Permissible Uses of AI by Authors

Language and Style Improvement: Paraphrasing, enhancing readability, grammar, and spelling checks (but not generating the main text).
Synthesis and Summarization of Information: Assistance in literature reviews, data organization (but not replacing the author's analysis of sources).
Data Analysis: Use of AI algorithms for processing and analyzing large datasets, pattern recognition, provided the methodology of such analysis is clearly described.
Creation of Visual Materials: Assistance in creating charts, diagrams, images (with proper indication that AI was used and confirmation of data originality; not replacing original images of real objects under study).

1.3. Restrictions and Prohibitions for Authors

1.3.1. General Principles

AI Must Not Replace Professional Expertise: The use of any AI tools (including generative language models, image-processing models, analytical and optimization algorithms) does not exempt authors from the responsibility for the accuracy, scientific validity, and ethical integrity of the data, methods, and conclusions presented.
Disclosure Requirement: Authors must transparently disclose AI usage (see Section 1.4. Disclosure of AI Use by Authors). Failure to comply with disclosure requirements may be considered a violation of publishing ethics.

1.3.2. Prohibited Practices

1.3.2.1. Passive or Hidden Generation of Scientific Content

Prohibition on Presenting AI-Generated Content as Original Work: It is forbidden to present text, data, analysis results, or interpretations fully or partially generated by AI as original work without clear and detailed disclosure of AI's role and contributions.
AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author: Only human authors can be listed as authors. AI must not be listed as a co-author, editor, or responsible for the content.

1.3.2.2. Fabrication and Falsification of Data via AI

Prohibition on Creating Fake Data: The use of AI to generate fictitious clinical (research) data, falsify experimental results, simulate patients, or generate "fake" datasets presented as real is strictly prohibited.
Synthetic Data: Any synthetic or simulated data must be explicitly labeled, described in the methods section, and justified with limitations. If synthetic data is used for model training, this must be disclosed and supported by the availability of source code/settings for verification.

1.3.2.3. Violation of Privacy and Data Security

Prohibition on Uploading Confidential Data: Uploading personally identifiable medical data (PII) or other confidential patient information to cloud or third-party AI services without explicit patient consent and in compliance with data protection regulations is prohibited.
Prohibition on Using AI Services with Unknown Data Policies: AI services with unknown data storage/use policies should not be used to process confidential information. Authors should choose tools with documented security guarantees and/or apply anonymization verified by methodology.

1.3.2.4. Copyright Violation and Plagiarism with AI

Prohibition on Using AI to Compile Text or Graphs from Copyrighted Sources: The use of AI to automatically compile text, graphs, or images protected by copyright without proper rights or citations is prohibited. Generating text clearly based on others' works without citing the sources constitutes plagiarism.
Citing AI-Generated Content: When using AI for paraphrasing, summarizing, or translating publications, proper citation and adherence to fair use rules must be ensured.

1.3.2.5. Mass Automation of Submission and Manipulation of Review Systems

Prohibition on Using AI for Automated Manuscript Submission or Review Manipulation: It is prohibited to use AI for the mass automated submission of manuscripts, falsification of reviewer feedback, creation of fictitious reviewer accounts, or any other action aimed at bypassing the review process.
Prohibition on Automating Reviews: Authors and reviewers must not use automated tools to create inaccurate or misleading reviews and comments.

1.3.2.6. Methodological and Reproducibility Limitations

Description of AI Models: All AI models used for analysis or result generation must be described in detail: architecture (if relevant), model version, hyperparameters, data sources for training, validation procedures, metrics used, and code/scripts for reproducing results or references to the repository.
Access to Commercial Models: If commercial or closed models are used, authors must, where possible, provide access to input data, seed values, and generation parameters to ensure reproducibility. If this is not possible due to licensing restrictions, limitations must be described in detail with alternative ways to verify results.

1.4. AI Use Disclosure by Authors

Disclosure Requirement: Authors must clearly and thoroughly disclose AI tool usage at all stages of manuscript preparation, including:

Text generation (including parts of the introduction, discussion, conclusions, or abstract);
Data preparation or verification, including statistical analysis, visualizations, or data synthesis;
Translation, paraphrasing, or editing of text;
Literature search or compiling reference lists;
Creation or processing of images, charts, diagrams, audio, and video materials.

AI Use Disclosure Location:

In the Methods / Materials and Methods section (for research articles) or
In a dedicated metadata section titled "AI Use Statement" (for other types of articles such as reviews, clinical cases).

For each AI usage, authors must specify:

The AI tool(s) and its (their) version.
The tool's manufacturer (if applicable).
The specific purpose and manner of AI usage (e.g. "AI tool X was used for stylistic editing of the text"; "Program Y was used for primary data categorization"; "GigaChat 2.0 was used for literature source analysis, preparing citations, and generating an analytical report, which was reviewed and finalized by the authors").
Any prompts (queries) that had a significant impact on the generated content (if applicable).

1.5. Recommendations for Safe AI Use by Authors

Anonymization of Data: Anonymize data according to recognized standards and document the anonymization process.
Retention of Logs: Keep logs (log files) of interactions with AI tools, including queries (prompts), generation parameters, and received responses, in case they need to be provided to the editorial team or reviewers.
Fact-Checking: Carefully check all facts, references, figures, and conclusions generated by AI, as AI models can "hallucinate" (generate false but plausible information).

AI Usage Policy for Reviewers of the Journal

This policy establishes guidelines and requirements for the use of AI tools by reviewers evaluating manuscripts for the Journal. The goal is to ensure transparency, data protection, and scientific integrity when integrating AI into the peer-review process.

2.1. General Principles

Professionalism in Review: The review process must remain professional, independent, and based on human expertise. AI tools can only be used as an auxiliary resource; final judgments and recommendations must be made by a human reviewer. The reviewer is responsible for the completeness, accuracy, and ethics of the review.

2.2. Permissible Use of AI by Reviewers

Assistance in Refining Phrasing, Style, and Structure: Using AI to improve the style, grammar, and formatting of the review text, provided the content of the evaluation and scientific critique is formulated by the reviewer.
Quick Search and Summarization of Publicly Available Information: Using AI for extracting key facts from non-specialized sources, as long as it does not violate the confidentiality of the manuscript.
Automated Checking of References and Citations: Using AI for checking references, citations, and basic formal aspects (e.g., compliance with the Journal's requirements), provided the results are verified by a human.
Use of Specialized AI Tools for Methodological Evaluation: Using AI tools designed to assist in methodological evaluation (e.g., statistical checks), only if the tool is certified or clearly described and its results are independently verified by the reviewer.

2.3. Prohibited Use of AI by Reviewers

Uploading Manuscript Content to Public AI Services: No content from the manuscript (text, data, figures, tables, supplementary materials) should be uploaded to public or cloud-based AI services without explicit permission from the editorial team and adherence to confidentiality policies.
Automated Generation of Full Reviews or Recommendations: Using AI to automatically generate full reviews, conclusions regarding scientific merit, or recommendations without substantial and critical verification by a human reviewer is prohibited.
Use of AI Tools That Retain or Index Uploaded Materials: Using AI tools that store or index uploaded materials and may use them to train models, if this violates confidentiality or copyright.
Sharing Confidential, Unpublished Manuscript Information: Transmitting confidential, unpublished manuscript information to third parties through AI services is prohibited.

2.4. Confidentiality and Handling Manuscript Data by Reviewers

Strict Confidentiality of Manuscripts: Manuscripts are subject to strict confidentiality; reviewers must adhere to the Journal’s policies on non-disclosure of materials.
Checking Service Terms and Data Processing Policies: Before using any AI service, reviewers must check the terms of service and the data processing policy. If the service stores or uses uploaded data for training models or has unclear data retention practices, such a service should not be used to process manuscript parts.
Permission for Using AI to Process Manuscript Text: If AI is required for processing manuscript text (e.g., summarizing), the reviewer must obtain approval from the editorial team. The editorial team may require the use of internal or certified tools that ensure confidentiality.
Handling and Deletion of AI-Generated Files: Any intermediate files, notes, or conclusions generated by AI that contain manuscript elements must be stored and deleted according to the Journal's data retention policy.

2.5. Disclosure of AI Use by Reviewers

AI Use in Manuscript Analysis: If a reviewer uses AI to analyze the manuscript (other than for proofreading/grammar), this must be disclosed in the cover letter to the editorial team when submitting the review. The reviewer must indicate the tool used and briefly describe the functions employed (e.g., "summarizing methods," "checking statistical tests," "rephrasing review text").
Disclosure of Substantial Influence on Review Judgments: Disclosure is also required if AI significantly influenced the evaluative judgments or recommendations (e.g., a conclusion about incorrect analysis suggested by AI).
Disclosure Does Not Imply Sharing Manuscript Content: Disclosure does not imply transmitting manuscript content to third parties. It is necessary for transparency and to allow the editorial team to assess the appropriateness and safety of the tools used.

2.6. Quality and Validation

Critical Evaluation of AI Results: The reviewer must critically assess the conclusions suggested by AI. AI tools cannot replace expert verification, particularly regarding research design, statistical validity, interpretation of clinical data, and conclusions that may have patient-related consequences.
Documenting the Method of AI Validation: When using AI for statistical or image checks, the reviewer must document the validation method and, if necessary, include clarifications in the review.

2.7. Conflicts of Interest

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: If a reviewer has a financial interest or other relationships with a commercial organization that developed the AI tool, this must be disclosed in accordance with the Journal's conflict of interest disclosure policy.

2.8. Consequences of Non-Compliance

Violation of this Policy: Any breach of this policy (e.g., disclosing a manuscript through an unverified AI service) is considered a serious violation of confidentiality and may result in disciplinary actions by the editorial team, including the revocation of the right to review and notification of relevant institutions in the case of significant violations.

Note for Reviewers
AI is a useful tool, but it does not replace professional expertise. Please adhere to confidentiality requirements and disclose AI usage to maintain the trust of authors, reviewers, and readers.

Policy on AI Usage for Journal Editors

Purpose of the Policy: This AI usage policy has been developed to ensure the responsible, ethical, and transparent application of AI technologies by the Journal's editors. While we recognize the potential of AI to enhance editorial processes, we emphasize the need to preserve academic integrity, confidentiality, and professional judgment.
Scope: This policy applies to all editors (including the chief editor, deputy chief editors, honorary editor, invited editors, editorial board members, responsible secretary, and all individuals involved in editorial decision-making) of the Journal.

3.1. Key Principles for AI Use by Editors

Responsibility: Editors are fully responsible for all editorial decisions made with or without the use of AI. AI is a tool for support, not a substitute for human judgment.
Transparency: The use of AI in critical editorial processes should be documented and disclosed when necessary.
Ethics: The application of AI must not violate ethical standards in scholarly publishing, including principles of authorship, plagiarism, confidentiality, conflict of interest, and research integrity.
Confidentiality: Confidential manuscripts or information should never be uploaded to public AI tools that do not guarantee data confidentiality and compliance with data protection regulations or applicable privacy standards.
Reliability and Verification: Any results obtained through AI must be carefully verified and confirmed by the editor. AI may generate inaccurate, biased, or outdated data.
Impartiality: Editors must be cautious of potential biases in AI algorithms and ensure that AI usage does not lead to discrimination or unfair treatment of authors.

3.2. Permissible Use of AI by Editors (with Limitations and Mandatory Verification)

Grammar, Spelling, and Style Checking: Using AI to improve the readability of manuscript text or accompanying materials.
Translation: Assistance in translating text when the manuscript is submitted in a language other than the Journal’s working language or for translating individual phrases.
Literature Search: Using AI tools to identify relevant articles or to systematize search results on a specific topic.
Initial Manuscript Screening: Using AI to identify potential issues (e.g., plagiarism, formatting inconsistencies, obvious missing references), but not for final evaluation of scientific content or ethical matters.
Keywords and Abstracts: Assistance in optimizing keywords or drafting abstracts, which are then edited and approved by the editor.
Summarization: Briefly summarizing long texts for better understanding, but not for evaluating their scientific value.

3.3. Prohibited Use of AI by Editors

AI must not be used for the following purposes:

Editorial Decision-Making: AI cannot make decisions about rejecting, accepting, or sending a manuscript for revision. These decisions must always be made by a human editor.
Generation of Scientific Content: Using AI to write, paraphrase, or substantially modify scientific sections of manuscripts, reviewer letters, comments, or any other materials that must be the original work of humans.
Breach of Confidentiality: Uploading manuscripts (including unpublished data, results, conclusions) or any other confidential information to public AI tools without prior assurance of their security and confidentiality.
Review Evaluation: Using AI to evaluate the quality or content of reviews written by experts.
Data Fabrication or Falsification: Using AI to generate or alter data, images, or any other content that could be used to falsify scientific results.
Reviewer Identification: Using AI to automatically select or exclude potential reviewers without human oversight or evaluation of conflicts of interest.

3.4. Confidentiality and Data Security

Confidentiality of Manuscripts: Editors must pay the utmost attention to the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts and related materials.
Verification of AI Tool Compliance: Before using any AI tool, editors must ensure that it complies with the publisher's standards for data protection and confidentiality.
Avoid Using Tools That Retain or Use Data: Do not use AI tools that retain or use uploaded data for their own training unless explicitly permitted and ensuring confidentiality.
Transfer of Manuscripts and Personal Data: Manuscripts and personal data of authors and reviewers should never be transferred to third-party AI services unless approved by the publisher.

3.5. Disclosure of AI Use

Disclosure of AI Use in Editorial Tasks: If AI is used to perform tasks that may affect the content or process of manuscript review, the editor must be prepared to disclose this upon the publisher's request or when questions arise.

3.6. Training and Support

Training on Responsible AI Use: The Journal's publisher will provide information and training on the responsible use of AI tools and will update this policy as AI technologies and ethical guidelines evolve.

3.7. Consequences of Non-Compliance

Disciplinary Actions for Violating this Policy: Violations of this policy may lead to disciplinary measures, including, but not limited to, the revocation of editorial responsibilities and termination of cooperation with the publisher. In cases of serious violations affecting academic integrity or confidentiality, additional actions may be taken.

AI Usage Policy Updates
This policy will be regularly reviewed and updated to keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI technologies and best practices in academic publishing.

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