Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. The journal adheres to the ethical guidelines described in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and research integrity principles listed in the Klaipėda University Code of Ethical Conduct.
By submitting any material to the journal, corresponding authors guarantee that:
- Their work is original and free from any form of plagiarism;
- Their work has not previously been published elsewhere, unless otherwise specifically acknowledged, and has not been submitted in any form to any other publisher for simultaneous consideration. A manuscript that has already been, or will soon be, published elsewhere, in whole or in part, is not eligible for publication in Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis. In some cases, we may consider publishing papers that have previously appeared in another language. The exception applies to papers originally published in a language that would be inaccessible to interested readers of Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis;
- No procedures, data or outcomes in their research as contained in the paper have been fabricated, falsified or manipulated;
- In the event of multiple authorship, all listed co-authors are aware of the submission process and agree to the manuscript being submitted.
By submitting an article, the authors agree that the manuscript will undergo a peer-review process according to the editorial policies.
Duties of authors
We encourage authors to adhere to the following principles:
- All contributions should contain clear and accurate attribution of authorship. Names of individuals who have not contributed sufficiently to the work should not appear on the submission.
- To avoid the potential for bias, authors should consider and declare any conflicts of interest inherent in their submissions.
- Authors must declare current or recent sources of funding and other payments in the Acknowledgments.
- Authors are responsible for ensuring that all data, theories and quotations are appropriately credited and referenced and the information in each reference is complete and accurate. Proper acknowledgement of other works must be given. If the submission contains illustrations produced by other authors and/or any copyrighted material, authors should obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce them.
- Authors are urged to avoid ‘self-plagiarism’. However, if they reuse portions of their own previously published and copyrighted work, this should be done by using quotations and proper paraphrasing.
- Authors are urged to avoid splitting up research results into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions.
- Authors are responsible for ensuring they have complied with the legal and ethical requirements of their countries and institutions.
- Authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.
Duties of reviewers
Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis relies on diligent, unbiased and confidential reviews to ensure the quality of the papers they publish. Our reviewers play a crucial role, not only by providing authors with a fair assessment of their manuscript, but also by helping to maintain the integrity and quality of the journal.
By accepting the invitation to review a manuscript, reviewers agree to become consultants to the journal and to follow its specific scope and policies.
Invited reviewers are expected to:
- Consider whether they have the expertise the editors are looking for to carry out a proper assessment before agreeing to review a manuscript;
- Consider the amount of time to complete the review in accordance with the journal’s deadline and respond to an invitation to peer review within a reasonable time-frame and without intentional delay;
- Consider conflicts of interest even if editors saw no such conflicts and declare them to editors;
- Be constructive, avoid bias, provide helpful guidance to authors, suggest improvements, focus on the paper and not on its authors;
- Avoid disclosing their identity in the comments to authors;
- Avoid passing the manuscript on to someone else to review, and remain strictly confidential about the manuscript when seeking advice from any other person;
- Avoid using information about the manuscript or review to anyone’s advantage or disadvantage, including their own;
- Avoid offering editorial assistance;
- Delete any copies and destroy any printed files of the manuscript when the review is finished to ensure confidentiality;
- Remain confidential about their role in the peer-review process, when the paper is published.
If, despite the double-blind character of the review process, the reviewer suspects the identity of the author anyway, he/she is asked to remain strictly confidential, to not contact the suspected authors about their paper, to not discuss it with the suspected authors, to not mention their suspicions in the review, and to remain blind to the suspected authors to reduce bias.
Duties of editors
Editors are requested to:
- Recuse themselves from editorial decisions on individual manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest.
- Mediate all interactions between reviewers and authors in strict confidence.
- Ensure that all published articles have been reviewed by suitably qualified reviewers and provide guidance to reviewers on everything that is expected of them.
- Consider the conflicts of interest (institutional affiliation and other relationships, strongly held personal beliefs) that might occur before selecting reviewers.
- Base their decisions exclusively on Acta Historica publication guidelines and the importance, originality and relevance of papers to Acta Historica.
- Keep any information or ideas obtained as a result of handling the submission confidential, and not to use it for their personal advantage.
- Handle all requests and submissions in a timely way.
Dealing with cases of suspected misconduct
In the event that a publisher or the editors suspect or are made aware of any allegation of ethical misconduct relating to both submitted manuscripts and published materials, they will carry out an investigation and pursue alleged cases. If, after investigation, the allegation is found not to be substantiated, the complainant shall be so informed. Otherwise, the Editorial Team will first seek a response from those accused. If no response is received, or the response does not deal satisfactorily with the allegations raised by the Editorial Team, the Editorial Team will make sure the allegations are further investigated either by a relevant body at the author’s institution or by a higher regulatory body.
The Editorial Team reserve the right to obtain information concerning any misconduct, to withdraw any acceptance should a case of ethical misconduct be discovered prior to publication, and to issue a retraction of the published work.