Reliability in scientific research is one of its qualitative foundations. Readers should always have confidence that authors of publications present the results of their work in a clear, reliable and honest manner, regardless of the fact if they are the original authors of these publications or if they used any help from a specialist (natural or legal person).

Openness of information about any party’s contribution to preparing a publication (content-related, material, financial, etc.) is the proof of an ethical attitude of a research worker as well as high editorial standards. It also indicates good practice and social responsibility.

"Ghostwriting" and "guest authorship" are opposite examples.

"Ghostwriting" means someone’s significant contribution to a publication without revealing this person’s name among the authors or mentioning it in the acknowledgements.

"Guest authorship" ("honorary authorship") means listing a person’s name as an author/co-author of a publication despite the fact that this person’s contribution is insignificant or non-existent.

"Ghostwriting" and "guest authorship" indicate scientific unreliability. Any cases of such irregularities will be exposed and reported by the Editorial Office to appropriate entities (institutions that hire authors, learned societies, peer review committees, etc.).

In order to prevent any cases of "ghostwriting" and "guest authorship" the Editorial Office of "Roczniki Nauk Prawnych" requires authors of publications to reveal the input of individual persons in preparing the publication (including their affiliations and contributions, i.e. the author of the idea, the presuppositions, the method, the protocol, etc. used in the publication). The main person responsible for meeting these requirements is the author submitting the publication for printing. The Editorial Office also requires information on the sources of financing the publication as well as the contribution of any research institutions, associations and other parties ("financial disclosure").

The Editorial Board of the journal "Roczniki Nauk Prawnych" has implemented a preventative procedure against ghostwriting.

Based on the materials prepared by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and information found on the Polish Scholarly Bibliography website.