Editorial Policy

• Journal Ethics

• Peer Review Policy

• Authorship Policy

• Retraction Policy

• Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Policy

• Open Access Policy

• Financial Policy

• Advertising Policy

• Preprint Policy

JOURNAL ETHICS

The Historical Reporter journal follows standards set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We also adhere to the principles outlined in the Association of Scientific Editors and Publishers (ASEP) Declaration on Ethical Principles for Scientific Publications, available online at https://rassep.ru/sovet-po-etike/manifesty/deklaratsiya/.

Hereinbelow are the main principles that guide the work of the journal's editorial board, reviewers, authors, and publisher.

1. Journal Editors' Responsibilities

1.1. The editors of the journal shall be personally responsible for the content of the papers published. The main factors that determine whether to publish a paper are the accuracy of the data presented and the significance of the research.

1.2. Editors shall ensure that decisions are made objectively and fairly, free from the influence of commercial interests. They shall ensure that the peer review process is fair, transparent, and independent.

1.3. Editors shall evaluate manuscripts based solely on their scientific content.

1.4. Editors shall not consider manuscripts that could potentially lead to a conflict of interest.

1.5. Editors shall ensure that any necessary corrections, clarifications, or retractions are published wherever needed in a bid to maintain scientific accuracy and transparency.

2. Journal Reviewers' Responsibilities

2.1. Reviewers shall only accept manuscripts for evaluation if they have sufficient expertise in the relevant field. If the reviewer does not possess the necessary qualifications or cannot meet the deadlines, they shall notify the editorial office and withdraw from the review.

2.2. Before starting the review process, reviewers shall inform the editorial office of any potential conflicts of interest.

2.3. Reviewers shall keep the information in the manuscript confidential and not share it with third parties.

2.4. Reviewers shall not use the information in manuscripts for personal or commercial purposes.

2.5. Reviewers shall evaluate manuscripts based solely on their scientific content, avoiding any subjective judgments.

2.6. Reviewers shall come to well-reasoned and unbiased conclusions, factoring in all the main aspects of the paper they are reviewing.

2.7. Reviewers shall perform their duties on a voluntary basis, and there shall be no material reward for their work.

3. Manuscript Authors' Responsibilities

3.1. When submitting manuscripts to the journal, authors shall confirm that they agree with the publication's ethical standards.

3.2. Authors shall submit only original papers that have not been published elsewhere before. When using previously published papers, authors shall obtain written permission from the copyright holder.

3.3. Authors shall not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time.

3.4. All co-authors shall agree to the publication of the manuscript in the journal.

3.5. Authors shall inform the editorial office of any potential conflicts of interest.

3.6. Authors shall correctly cite sources, including their own previous work, in a bid to avoid self-plagiarism.

3.7. The primary responsibility of authors is to present an accurate and exhaustive account of their research. Any form of plagiarism is unacceptable.

3.8. Authors shall be prepared to provide the raw data if the editorial board asks for it during the review process. They shall respond promptly and honestly to the reviewers' comments and observations, communicating with them through the editor-in-chief.

3.9. The corresponding author shall inform all co-authors about any editorial changes or suggestions. They shall not make any decisions without obtaining the written consent of all the co-authors.

4. Journal Publisher's Responsibilities

4.1. The Historical Reporter is published by the Runivers Autonomous Non-Profit Organization.

4.2. The publisher shall not interfere with the journal's editorial policy, which ensures the board's independence.

5. Intellectual Property

Matters related to intellectual property shall be regulated by the laws of the Russian Federation and by relevant international norms and agreements. The editorial board shall pay special attention to protecting intellectual property rights, cooperating with legal services to prevent any violations of current laws and international conventions.

PEER REVIEW POLICY

Manuscripts submitted for publication go through a multi-stage review process. The process is based on the principles of transparency, objectivity, and adherence to scientific standards. Hereinbelow are the main steps of this procedure.

1. The received manuscript shall be registered and undergo initial evaluation based on a set of formal and qualitative criteria. These criteria include whether the manuscript aligns with the journal's scope, and whether it meets the content and formatting requirements. If the paper does not meet these requirements, it shall be rejected. The editor shall notify the author about the decision, usually within 10 days after receiving the manuscript.

2. Accepted manuscripts shall be assigned to a member of the editorial board who shall handle correspondence with the author. The member shall then forward the manuscript for peer review to experts recognized for their expertise in the paper's subject area who have themselves published relevant papers within the previous three years. In cases where there is controversy, the paper may be forwarded to more than two experts, including external reviewers and members of the editorial board.

3. The journal shall conduct a double-blind review of submitted manuscripts. The reviewer shall receive the manuscripts without the authors' names. The authors shall not be aware of the reviewer's identity. The review process usually takes four to six weeks.

4. Each review shall contain the following:

·      assessment of the paper's scientific importance and its potential for publication;

·      list of errors and comments, if any;

·      revisions suggested by the reviewer, if any.

5. After peer review, a paper shall be accepted for publication (5.1), returned for revision (5.2), or rejected (5.3). Wherever necessary, authors shall receive review copies.

5.1. If the reviewers give a positive review, then the editors shall add the manuscript to the portfolio for further editorial work (as described in Item 7).

5.2. Manuscripts revised by the author shall be sent back to the original reviewer to see if the changes address their comments. The reviewer shall also evaluate whether the author's decision not to make certain suggested changes is justified. If the author altogether refuses to revise the paper following the reviewer's comments, the paper shall be withdrawn and rejected.

5.3. If the reviewers give a negative review, then the editorial board's working group shall decide whether to reject the paper or seek an additional independent expert review. The author shall receive an email notification when their paper is rejected.

6. The author has the right to appeal a reviewer's decision to reject their manuscript. Appeals shall be sent to the editorial office, addressed to the Editor-in-Chief or Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Appeals shall include detailed reasons for disagreeing with the reviewer's decision, arguments for reconsideration, and, if appropriate, a revised manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief shall mediate any irreconcilable disagreements between authors and reviewers regarding manuscript revisions. The Editor-in-Chief’s decisions shall be considered final.

7. The final decisions on paper publication dates shall be made and approved by the Editor-in-Chief or the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, following standard editorial procedures. Authors shall be informed of the final editorial decisions.

8. The editorial office shall keep reviews for 5 years. Editors shall send review copies to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation upon request.

9. Reviews of manuscripts submitted to the journal since 2024 shall be published on the Scientific Electronic Library (eLibrary.Ru) platform.

AUTHORSHIP POLICY

The authorship shall be limited to the persons who have made a significant contribution to the research. These persons shall be listed as co-authors. All other involved parties shall be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

RETRACTION POLICY

If ethical violations are found during the review process or after the publication of a paper, it may be retracted. Main grounds for retraction are as follows:

·      plagiarism;

·      third-party copyright infringement claims;

·      serious errors that undermine the published paper's scientific value;

·      author's request.

The retraction process shall involve an investigation, documentation, and publication of a notice in the next issue of the journal. Retracted papers shall be removed from reference databases.

DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Unpublished data derived from manuscripts shall not be used for personal purposes. Reviewers shall avoid any conflicts of interest that might arise from their relationship with the authors or any organizations associated with the manuscript.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

The Historical Reporter is an open access journal. All content is available under a Creative Commons International Public License (CC BY-NC).

The journal adheres to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), which means that all papers are made freely available online. This means that anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for, refer to, index, transmit as data for software, or use the full text of published papers for any other legal purpose. There are no financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those associated with accessing the Internet itself.

All published papers are assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

FINANCIAL POLICY

The Historical Reporter is funded by the Runivers Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (the journal’s founder and publisher).

ADVERTISING POLICY

The journal does not publish promotional materials. The publisher shall make all the decisions related to advertising. The editorial board reserves the right to reject promotional materials from the publisher that do not comply with the publication's policies.

PREPRINT POLICY

The journal accepts papers that were previously published on personal or public websites unaffiliated with other publishers.