The journal “Scientific Bulletin of Kherson State University. Series ‘Germanic Studies and Intercultural Communication’” places particular emphasis on adherence to ethical standards in research involving human participants, personal data, and confidential or sensitive information. In philological and intercultural studies, this is especially relevant for empirical research on language behavior, interviews, surveys, experimental designs in linguistics, psycholinguistics, translation studies, and communicative practices.

The journal requires that all such research comply with academic integrity principles, internationally recognized ethical standards, and applicable Ukrainian legislation on personal data protection and participants’ rights.

General Requirements for Ethical Approval

Where research involves direct or indirect human participation, authors must confirm that the study has been conducted responsibly and in accordance with ethical standards. When required, approval from an institutional ethics committee or another competent authority must be obtained.

Particular attention is given to studies involving:

• interviews, questionnaires, or focus groups;
• recording spoken language or communicative behavior;
• experimental methods in linguistics or psycholinguistics;
• analysis of personal or identifiable linguistic data;
• corpora containing sensitive or personalized information.

Rights and Protection of Participants

The journal requires compliance with the following ethical principles:

• voluntary participation without coercion;
• informed consent where applicable;
• the right to withdraw without negative consequences;
• minimization of potential risks or discomfort;
• respect for dignity, privacy, and autonomy of participants.

All research must be designed to avoid physical, psychological, social, or professional harm.

Personal Data and Confidentiality

All personal data collected in research must be handled responsibly and in accordance with data protection principles.

Authors must ensure:

• anonymization or de-identification where possible;
• use of data strictly for stated research purposes;
• secure storage of information;
• prevention of unauthorized third-party access;
• non-disclosure of identifying information without consent.

Authors’ Ethical Responsibility

Authors bear full responsibility for ensuring that all research procedures are lawful, transparent, and ethically justified throughout the entire research process, from design to publication.

Where sensitive data are used, authors must provide methodological clarification regarding data collection and processing.

Editorial Verification

The editorial board reserves the right to request additional information regarding ethical approval, including documentation of permissions, descriptions of data collection procedures, or methodological clarification.

Where ethical concerns arise, manuscripts may be rejected or subjected to further expert review.

International Ethical Standards

The journal follows internationally recognized research ethics principles, including the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics on the protection of research participants, methodological transparency, and responsible data use.