1. General Provisions

1.1. The editorial office of the journal (hereinafter — the Editorial Office) “Modar va Kudak” (“Mother and Child”) prepares and publishes the journal “Modar va Kudak”, which covers various scientific and practical problems, issues, and achievements in the field of maternal and child health, as well as scientific and practical issues and achievements in the field of gynecology (hereinafter — the Journal).

1.2. The founders and publishers of the Journal are the Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of the Republic of Tajikistan.

1.3. The Editorial Office is not a legal entity or an independent business entity, and conducts its business activities as a separate structural subdivision of the Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology and the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of the Republic of Tajikistan (hereinafter — the “Founder”).

1.4. The Editorial Office organizes its activities for the preparation and publication of the journal on the principles of professional operational independence (sovereignty). The management of the Editorial Office is carried out in accordance with this Charter, regulations, and other documents of the Founder.

1.5. Financing of the Editorial Office’s activities is provided by the Founder in the manner determined by the Charter, regulations, and other documents of the Founder.

1.6. For obligations arising as a result of the Editorial Office’s activities, the Founder bears the responsibility assigned to it and the property obligations assumed, and acts as plaintiff and defendant in court and state arbitration.

1.7. Location of the Editorial Office: 734002, Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, M. Tursunzoda Street, 31; tel. 992 37/221-36-56, 221-70-29, website: www.niiagip.tj

2. Rights and Obligations of the Founder

2.1. The Founder has the right to:

— approve the Charter of the Editorial Office;

— approve and introduce amendments and additions to the Charter of the Editorial Office;

— in certain cases and in the manner provided for by this Charter, terminate or temporarily suspend the activities of the journal;

— in the established manner, change the subject matter, specialization, language, name, form and territory of distribution of the journal, frequency of publication, circulation, and volume;

— free of charge, place on the pages of the journal and publish within the requested timeframe (in particular, in the next or planned issue) announcements and materials on its own behalf (printed materials of the Founder);

— the maximum volume of materials provided by the Founder may not exceed 100 computer pages;

— exercise control over the activities of the Editorial Office in accordance with legislation, this Charter and other documents of the Founder, with respect to subject matter, specialization, language, frequency of publication, volume of the Journal, and other information provided upon registration and contained in the mass media registration certificate;

— act as publisher, distributor, and owner of the Editorial Office.

2.2. The Founder is obliged to:

— comply with the Charter and regulations of the Editorial Office;

— facilitate the work of the Editorial Office, the study of the readership, the presentation of the Journal to interested parties, institutions, and organizations at public events with the participation of readers; promote the commercial success (demand) of the Journal;

— not interfere in the professional activities of the Editorial Office, except in cases provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan and this Charter.

2.3. The Founder may transfer its rights and powers to third parties with the consent of the Editorial Office.

3. Rights and Powers of the Editorial Office

3.1. The Editorial Office has the right to independently:

— plan its activities, determine the content and artistic design of the Journal within the subject matter, specialization, and orientation of the Journal approved by the Founder;

— enter into contractual relations in the established manner;

— engage creative and technical workers not on the staff of the Editorial Office for specific tasks in the preparation of the journal;

— independently authorize for printing and submit for production issues of the journal;

— maintain written and electronic communication with readers of the journal, taking into account their interests and suggestions regarding the content and artistic design of the journal.

3.2. The Editorial Office is obliged to:

— ensure a high scientific, substantive, artistic, and professional level of publications in the journal;

— organize the artistic design of the journal, compliance with rules, regulations, technical specifications, state standards, other regulatory documents, and contracts with printing enterprises;

— ensure compliance with the approved production schedule insofar as it relates to the obligations of the Editorial Office;

— publish materials provided by the Founder in the volume and within the timeframe requested in accordance with subclause 2.1 of this Charter.

4. Property and Financial Relations between the Founder and the Editorial Office

4.1. The property used by the Editorial Office is an integral part of the Founder’s property. The allocation of any particular property is determined by the management of the Founder at its discretion.

4.2. Funds for the production and publication of the Journal are allocated by the Founder in accordance with the expenditure estimate of the Editorial Office submitted by the editor-in-chief of the journal.

4.3. The procedure for the production, placement, and distribution of advertising materials in the Journal is determined by the Founder. The volume of advertising in an issue is determined by the management of the Founder within its competence, but must not exceed 40% of the volume of one issue of the journal.

4.4. Funds received as a result of the Editorial Office’s activities are the property of the Founder and are directed toward reimbursement of costs associated with the production, publication, and distribution of the journal, mandatory payments and settlements, as well as other purposes provided for by the Charter and the rights of the Founder.

5. Management of the Editorial Office

5.1. The Editorial Office is managed by the management of the Founder and the editor-in-chief within their respective competences, in accordance with the charter and other powers of the Founder.

5.2. The management of the Founder, at its discretion and in accordance with the charter and other documents of the Founder, performs the following functions with respect to the Editorial Office:

— appoints and dismisses the editor-in-chief and concludes a contract with them;

— approves the annual reports of the editor-in-chief on the activities of the Editorial Office and the use of funds and property allocated to the Editorial Office;

— determines the main directions of the Editorial Office’s activities;

— resolves matters of hiring and dismissal of Editorial Office staff, and the conclusion of contracts with journalists and other workers of the Editorial Office;

— allocates funds and necessary equipment for the production and publication of the Journal, and approves the expenditure estimate of the Editorial Office;

— and performs other powers in accordance with the charter of the Founder.

5.3. The day-to-day activities of the Editorial Office are managed by the editor-in-chief. In their activities, the editor-in-chief is guided by the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Charter and other documents of the Founder, as well as this Charter. The editor-in-chief is responsible for compliance with the requirements for the activities of mass media established by the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan.

5.4. The editor-in-chief manages the Editorial Office within their competence on the basis of the principle of unity of command and independently resolves all matters of the Editorial Office’s activities, with the exception of matters assigned by this Charter to the general competence of the management of the Founder.

5.5. The editor-in-chief:

— represents the Editorial Office and its interests in relations with the Founder, the publishing house, distributors, citizens, their associations, organizations, and in court;

— organizes the day-to-day activities of the Editorial Office, approves the staff schedule, issues orders and instructions that are binding on all staff of the Editorial Office;

— distributes job responsibilities among the deputy and staff of the Editorial Office, and approves job descriptions of Editorial Office staff;

— determines the tasks of the editorial departments;

— makes decisions on the establishment of the editorial council and changes to its composition, on the appointment and dismissal of members of the editorial board and editorial council;

— selects journalists and other authors for work in the journal;

— authorizes for printing each issue of the Journal;

— resolves other matters within their competence under this Charter as well as the charter and other regulatory documents of the Founder.

The editor-in-chief exercises their rights in accordance with job descriptions approved by the Founder.

5.6. The editor-in-chief has the right to establish an editorial board of the journal and approve its regulations.

5.7. The editor-in-chief admits members to the editorial board and removes them from membership. The editor-in-chief is themselves a member of the editorial board of the journal by virtue of their position.

The editorial board is convened by the editor-in-chief as necessary to discuss matters of production and publication of the Journal. The editor-in-chief presides over meetings of the editorial board.

5.8. The agenda of editorial board meetings is determined by the editor-in-chief. Members of the editorial board have the right to add additional items to the agenda. This request may be considered either before the start of the meeting or during the discussion at the editorial board meeting.

5.9. A decision of the editorial board is deemed valid if no less than 50 percent of its members participate in the meeting, with the participation of the editor-in-chief being mandatory. The decision is adopted by a majority vote of the participating members and is approved by the editor-in-chief.

A decision adopted by the editorial board is advisory in nature. The editor-in-chief is not obliged to provide reasoned arguments for rejecting a decision made by the editorial board.

The editorial board does not have the right to discuss matters contained in the Founder’s charter and general administrative and business matters of the Founder, nor to independently make decisions on them.

6. Grounds, Procedure for Termination and Suspension of the Journal’s Activities

6.1. Publication of the Journal may be terminated or suspended by decision of the Founder or through civil legal proceedings upon a claim by the registering authority (in accordance with the article of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Periodicals and Other Mass Media”).

6.2. The Founder has the right to terminate or temporarily suspend the activities of the Journal if:

— the Editorial Office, within a period of 3 months, repeatedly violates the requirements of mass media law, journalistic ethics norms, or the provisions of this Charter after receiving a warning from the Founder;

— publication of the Journal is unprofitable;

— the Founder loses the financial capacity to publish the Journal;

— publication of the Journal is deemed inexpedient by the Founder on other grounds.

The decision to terminate or temporarily suspend publication of the Journal is made by the Founder after consultation with the editor-in-chief.

6.3. In the event that the Founder decides to terminate or suspend the activities of the Journal, the Editorial Office has the right to preserve its powers and, after re-registration, to publish the journal as a mass media outlet under the same name.

6.4. The adoption of a decision to terminate publication of the journal renders this Charter invalid, and the Editorial Office may in this case be liquidated.

7. Right to the Name

7.1. The right to the name of the Journal belongs to the Founder. The logo (insignia) of the Journal may be registered by the Founder as a trademark in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.

8. Consequences of Change of Founders, Change in the Composition of Founders

8.1. In the event of a change of Founder, the journal continues its activities in accordance with current legislation after re-registration.

8.2. In the event of reorganization of the Founder, its rights and obligations pass in full to the new successor. In the event of liquidation of the Founder, its rights and powers pass in full to the editor-in-chief.

9. Procedure for Approval and Amendment of the Editorial Office Charter

9.1. The Charter of the Editorial Office, as well as amendments and additions thereto, are adopted at a meeting of the journalistic collective of the Editorial Office and approved by the Founder.

9.2. Amendments and additions are introduced to the Charter of the Editorial Office on the initiative of the Founder itself or upon the proposal of the Editorial Office.