Publication Ethics

PUBLICATION ETHICS

The Studies on Baltic History (FzbG) adheres to the following publication ethics:

1. Publication and authorship

• All submitted articles are subject to a double blind peer-review process by at least two reviewers that are internationally renowned experts in the area of the particular paper.
• In the case of reviews and shorter contributions (Miszellen), a simplified quality-assurance procedure with only one expert opinion is applied.
• The possible decisions include acceptance, acceptance with revisions, or rejection. Rejected articles will not be re-reviewed.
• No copyright infringement or plagiarism.

2. Authors’ responsibilities

• Authors should present an objective discussion of the significance of research work as well as sufficient detail and references. Knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
• Authors must certify that their manuscripts are their original work and have not previously been published elsewhere (in “larger” languages like, e.g. German, English, French or Russian). A manuscript must not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
• Outstanding articles previously published only in “smaller” languages (e.g., Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian) might be translated if the editors so decide. Translated papers have to be revised by the authors and are subject to the usual peer-review process.
• Authors are obliged to provide corrections of mistakes at any time, whether in the peer review process or later on in the editing, proofreading and typesetting of the article.
• Authors must notify the Editors of any conflicts of interest.
• Authors must identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscript.

3. Reviewers’ responsibilities

• Reviewers should keep all information regarding papers confidential.
• Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments and, if necessary, identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the author.
• Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

4. Editors’ responsibilities

• Editors have complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article or to request modifications.
• Editors should guarantee the academic quality of the papers. Their decisions should be solely based one the papers’ importance, originality, clarity and relevance to publication’s scope.
• Any manuscripts received for review is treated as confidential documents. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
• Editors should preserve the anonymity of reviewers.
• Editors should ensure that all research material they publish conforms to internationally accepted ethical guidelines.
• Editors should not allow any conflicts of interest between staff, authors, reviewers and board members.