Editorial Message from the Journal "Concept: Philosophy, Religion, Culture" Regarding the Retraction of Publications

The retraction pertains to the article authored by Ilya Lemeshkin (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7095-231X; https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=ru&user=Z6ckdbQAAAAJ), titled "How Many Books Did F. Skorina Publish in Prague?" and published in the journal "Concept: Philosophy, Religion, Culture" (2023, Vol. 7, No. 2(26), pp. 73-82), with the DOI 10.24833/2541-8831-2023-2-26-73-82. 

We have retracted this publication due to the discovery of an acrostic within the article that promotes extremist ideas, a clear breach of section 2.3 of the Code of Norms and Rules (Codex) of Scientific Ethics at MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations). This code stipulates that researchers must not intentionally breach essential ethical norms and principles that govern scientific activities. The author himself revealed the presence of this acrostic in the article through statements made in the media after the article's publication. He explained that it was a deliberate and malicious attempt to exploit a scientific journal for the purpose of information warfare.

In essence, a Russian citizen and scholar (a graduate of Volgograd State Pedagogical University, holding a Doctor of Sciences degree, and serving as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Eastern European Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University; Vice-President of the Prague Linguistic Circle; and Chief Researcher at the Center for Baltic Languages and Onomastics, Institute of Lithuanian Language), who resides and works in the Czech Republic and Lithuania, engaged in an act of propagandistic extremism. This act directly contravenes universally accepted norms of academic integrity and decency. Such behavior is particularly astonishing when it comes from a specialist in Slavic studies—a field traditionally devoted to promoting unity among Slavic peoples through the exploration of their historical and cultural commonalities, rather than sowing discord.

The editorial board of the journal is unwavering in its belief that, irrespective of any given state of international politics, international scholarly communication channels must remain open and impartial. Scholarly journals, being the primary platforms for testing and disseminating research findings, must uphold the ideals of science and humanism. This commitment should endure regardless of researchers' civic position, and especially personal interests must never bring scholars to violate the fundamental principles of academic ethics to demonstrate political allegiance or secure their employment