Editorial policy - Journal “Totalitarian and 20 th Century Studies”
The ethical guidelines for “Totalitarian and 20th Century Studies” have been compiled on the basis of instructions published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at publicationethics.org, listed in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and in the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. In order to ensure high quality of the papers and scientific integrity of the publication, the editorial staff makes sure that authors, reviewers and editors adhere to relevant standards and ethical norms.
1. Responsibilities of editors
Objectivity
The editors’ decision to publish a submitted paper is based exclusively on the evaluation of its content and relevance to the remit of the journal. The authors’ race, sex, sexual orientation, faith, ethnicity, nationality and political views will have no bearing on the assessment of the submitted texts made by the editor-in-chief and other editors.
Confidentiality
All information concerning the authors which is made available to the editorial staff is confidential. The editorial staff will not disclose information concerning the submitted texts to anyone except the author, reviewers, potential reviewers, translators and the publisher. The editorial staff will not make use of the information and research results conveyed in unpublished papers.
Conflict of interests
In the event of a conflict of interests between the author and a member of the editorial staff, the latter will not participate in decision-making process regarding the submitted text. Among the situations that constitute a conflict of interests are cooperation, competition against the author or their affiliated institution, and familial relations.
Decision to publish
A text submitted for publication can be rejected at every stage of the publishing process if the author’s lack of scientific integrity or breach of ethical guidelines is detected. The editorial staff can also reject the text if serious meritorious objections arise concerning its scientific quality or originality. If the editorial staff determines that the text qualifies for peer review, the paper will be sent to two independent experts, with the adherence to the double blind
procedure (the author and the reviewers do not know each other’s identity). The editorial staff makes the decision to publish the text on the basis of positive reviews (a description of the peer review process is available in the Reviews tab). The final decision to send the text to a reviewer and to publish the text is made by the editor-in-chief.
Appeals
The author has the right to appeal against the decision not to send the text for a review or to reject the text which received two negative reviews. The final decision regarding the validity of the appeal is made by the editor-in-chief. The requirement to receive two positive reviews is binding on the editor-in-chief.
Editing
Corrections regarding orthography, punctuation, syntax, inflexion and the formatting of references to literature in footnotes and bibliography are introduced to the text without the author’s knowledge. All other changes in the text designated for publication can be introduced only with the author’s permission.
2. Responsibilities of reviewers
The paper submitted for publication which adheres to formal guidelines is sent to two reviewers. The double blind procedure means that both the author and the reviewer do not know each other’s identities. Once the review is available, the author has the right to read its content.
Timeliness
A reviewer who cannot review the text or is unable to do so in a timely manner, should promptly inform the editors’ office about this fact.
Objectivity
Reviewers must assess the text using only content-based criteria and scientific arguments. References ad personam are inappropriate and unethical. Reviewers use the form prepared by the editorial staff, which takes into account the following criteria: relevance of the paper’s content to its title; choice of literature and sources; correctness of research methods; the
paper’s value in connection with the current state of research; linguistic correctness: style and comprehensibility of the author’s arguments.
Anonymity
Reviews are anonymous. The editorial staff does not disclose information about the identity of the author to the reviewers.
Confidentiality
Reviewers are obligated to maintain the confidentiality of all information concerning the unpublished text under review. The research results, information, data and opinions presented by the author of the text cannot be used by the reviewer in his own research before the paper is published.
Confirmation of sources
Reviewers should point the authors to sources and publications which they consider important to the subject that were not referenced in the paper. However, the reviewer’s opinion that the data or interpretations used in the text are not novel should be supported by a reference to specific sources.
Conflict of interests
Reviewers cannot review papers while being in conflict with the author or the author’s affiliated institution, or if they maintain close personal or professional relations with the author (professional subordination, familial relations, direct academic cooperation within two years prior to when the review was written).
Verification of the originality of the text
Reviewers are obligated to promptly inform the editorial staff about the author’s breach of ethical standards, including the situation when fragments of the paper are identical with any other work they are familiar with, as well as in case of suspected plagiarism.
3. Responsibilities of authors
Authorship
Authors are persons who have played a significant part in the development of the project, its conception, execution or interpretation. Prior to submitting the paper, all authors must accept its content. Ghostwriting and guest authorship constitute a breach of scientific integrity and ethical norms. The authors are obligated to identify each person’s contribution to the paper. Ghostwriting takes place when a person who made a significant contribution to the paper is
not listed among the authors. Guest authorship refers to the situation in which a person whose contribution was minor or nonexistent is named as one of the authors of the publication.
Originality
Authors can submit only their own original texts. A paper which does not fulfill this requirement will not be published, and in the event this fact is revealed after the publication, it will we retracted. Any form of plagiarism is considered unethical and unacceptable – this includes presenting other authors’ output, data, interpretations or theoretical concepts as one’s own or without proper references in the text. Likewise, auto-plagiarism, i.e. publishing one’s
own earlier texts as new – is unacceptable. So is simultaneously sending the paper which has been submitted to “Totalitarian and 20th Century Studies” to other journals, or submitting a translation of a text which had already been published.
Disclosing conflicts of interests
The author should disclose all sources of funding and all academic institutions, societies and other entities which have contributed to their project. While submitting the paper, the author s obligated to disclose any potential conflict of interests that could have influenced the content of the paper.
Errors in published text
If the author identifies an error or inaccuracy in their text after it had been published, they are obligated to promptly inform the editorial staff, so that an appropriate correction can be made or the text can be retracted.