Special Research Materials and Technologies Policy

Purpose and Core Principles

Geliotekhnika requires research involving specialized materials, restricted data, advanced technologies, hazardous processes, or high-risk energy and engineering systems to be conducted lawfully, safely, ethically, and responsibly.

Authors are responsible for complying at every stage of the research with applicable institutional, national, and international requirements, technical regulations, occupational and laboratory safety rules, environmental protection, data protection, confidentiality, and intellectual-property requirements.

Editorial consideration or publication by the journal does not release authors from their obligations to obtain legal authorization, conduct safety assessments, and maintain institutional oversight.

Scope of the Policy

This policy applies, among other things, to research involving:

• photovoltaic, semiconductor, perovskite, nanostructured, composite, or heavy-metal-containing materials;

• toxic, corrosive, flammable, explosive, or environmentally hazardous substances and processes;

• solar-energy installations involving high temperatures, high pressures, or intense optical or thermal fluxes;

• solar concentrators, thermal storage, molten salts, phase-change materials, and other energy-storage systems;

• hydrogen production, transport, or storage technologies, batteries, and electrochemical systems;

• geographic information systems and satellite, meteorological, or remote-sensing data;

• restricted information concerning power grids, energy or industrial facilities, and other critical infrastructure;

• industrial experiments, field testing, automated control, artificial intelligence, and cyber-physical systems;

• other materials or technologies that may create significant safety, environmental, social, security, or dual-use risks.

This list is not exhaustive. The Editorial Office may apply the policy to other specialized circumstances according to the nature of the research.

Permissions and Approvals

Before research begins, authors must obtain every authorization, approval, or licence required to use:

• restricted, confidential, proprietary, or security-related databases;

• trade secrets or proprietary technical information;

• geographic, satellite, remote-sensing, meteorological, or infrastructure data;

• industrial facilities, power plants, laboratories, test sites, equipment, or field locations;

• hazardous materials, chemicals, high-energy processes, or regulated waste;

• third-party software, algorithms, models, datasets, images, or technical documentation;

• materials or technologies subject to export controls, state-secrecy rules, national-security requirements, or other special regulation.

The manuscript should identify the approving organization and approval number where available and where disclosure is permitted.

Research Requiring Ethical Oversight

Most engineering, computational, and materials-science research may not require separate bioethics approval. However, approval from an authorized body or ethics committee is required where the research involves:

• human participants or identifiable personal data;

• measurements of human activity, behaviour, biomechanics, or ergonomics;

• animals or biological materials;

• another activity subject to special ethical oversight under applicable law or institutional rules.

Where ethics approval is not required, authors may state, with an appropriate basis: “Ethics approval: Not applicable.” These matters must also comply with the journal’s Research Ethics and Informed Consent Policies.

Data Provenance, Lawful Use, and Confidentiality

Authors must clearly describe the source of data, the method of collection, the period covered, processing procedures, the right to use the data, and any applicable restrictions.

Confidential, sensitive, proprietary, trade-secret, security-related, or otherwise restricted information must not be disclosed without authorization. Where necessary:

• data must be anonymized or de-identified;

• precise coordinates, facility identifiers, or security-related technical information must be generalized;

• access controls and secure storage must be used;

• third-party consent and contractual restrictions must be respected.

Authors should recognize that the availability of information in a public source does not automatically mean that it may be used without restriction for every purpose.

Hazardous Materials and Laboratory Safety

Research involving hazardous materials or processes must be conducted under authorized institutional safety procedures, risk assessment, emergency planning, waste-management requirements, and staff-training arrangements.

Authors must:

• identify the principal hazards of materials and processes;

• use appropriate protective equipment, engineering controls, and safe operating procedures;

• store, transport, and dispose of toxic, flammable, corrosive, reactive, or environmentally hazardous substances safely;

• minimize risks arising from accidents, waste, emissions, and secondary exposure;

• state any significant safety limitations necessary to understand the findings.

Publication by the journal does not certify the safety of a particular experimental process. Anyone intending to reproduce a method must conduct an independent risk assessment and obtain the relevant approvals.

Field, Industrial, and Infrastructure Research

Field tests and research conducted at industrial facilities, power grids, solar power plants, buildings, structures, or other infrastructure must be carried out with permission from the facility owner and competent authorities.

Authors must:

• protect the safety of personnel, users, and the public;

• avoid unjustified risk to equipment, production processes, grid stability, and property;

• follow emergency-shutdown, monitoring, and incident-reporting procedures;

• avoid disclosing information that would facilitate exploitation of critical vulnerabilities or unauthorized access;

• demonstrate lawful authorization to use the location, facility, and equipment.

Environmental and Social Responsibility

The design and reporting of research must avoid unjustified harm to people, property, infrastructure, biodiversity, and the environment.

Where applicable, authors should:

• assess energy and resource use, emissions, waste, and life-cycle impacts;

• consider alternatives to toxic or difficult-to-recycle materials;

• identify foreseeable impacts on land, water, landscapes, ecosystems, and local communities;

• avoid overstating or understating risks and benefits;

• report significant environmental and social limitations transparently.

Claims about environmental performance or sustainability must be supported by verifiable methods, data, and clearly defined system boundaries.

Dual Use, Security, and Risk of Harm

Some materials, algorithms, control systems, facility information, or technological solutions developed for scientific or civilian purposes may also be used for harmful, unlawful, or dangerous purposes.

Authors must assess whether a manuscript contains operational details that could unjustifiably facilitate:

• exploitation of critical-infrastructure vulnerabilities;

• circumvention of protection, monitoring, or access controls;

• misuse of a hazardous device, substance, or process;

• cyberattack, sabotage, or other harmful activity.

Where a clear and substantial risk of harm exists, the journal may seek additional expert review, require limitations on particular details, or decline to publish the manuscript. Any limitation should not make scientific assessment unjustifiably impossible and must be explained in the article.

Transparency, Methodological Detail, and Reproducibility

Authors must describe materials, equipment, software, versions, data, models, algorithms, parameters, assumptions, calibration, calculations, and analytical procedures in sufficient detail for scientific evaluation.

Where part of the data or method cannot be made public because of law, security, confidentiality, intellectual property, export controls, or contractual obligations, authors must state:

• the type of material that is restricted;

• the general reason for the restriction;

• the alternative information provided to support verification of the findings;

• whether controlled access is available to authorized researchers.

A general assertion that material is “confidential” or “proprietary” is not sufficient to justify withholding information required to evaluate the methods and findings.

Editorial Assessment and Document Verification

Where a manuscript raises safety, legal, environmental, confidentiality, national-security, or ethical concerns, the journal may request:

• documents confirming authorization, approval, or licensing;

• evidence of lawful data access and use;

• relevant parts of a risk or safety assessment;

• an opinion from an independent technical, legal, ethics, or security expert;

• further explanation from the authors or their institution.

Personal, commercial, or confidential information in documents submitted for verification may be redacted to the extent necessary, but the remaining information must be sufficient to verify the validity of the authorization or approval.

Editors and reviewers must use confidential documents and restricted information only within the authorized editorial assessment.

Non-Compliance

Where an author has failed to obtain a required authorization, concealed a risk, used data unlawfully, or provided misleading information to the journal, the journal may:

• return the manuscript for explanation or correction;

• suspend consideration;

• reject the manuscript;

• contact the author’s institution or a competent authority;

• issue a correction, Expression of Concern, content-removal notice, or retraction after publication.

Each case will be handled fairly and confidentially, taking account of the evidence, level of risk, authors’ response, and the journal’s applicable ethics policies.

Policy Administration

This policy takes effect from the date of its publication on the official website of Geliotekhnika and will be reviewed periodically to reflect relevant legal, technological, environmental, and publishing developments.

Questions concerning specialized research materials or technologies should be submitted to:

Email: ftikans@uzsci.net