Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice

The editorial policy of the scholarly peer-reviewed journal Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea includes mandatory compliance with the ethical standards given below by all the parties – Author(s), Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board, Reviewers and Publisher – at all stages of the publication process.

The publishing ethics of the journal Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea is based on the rules developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (primarily on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors), as well as on the Elsevier recommendations. Also, the journal Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea is committed to Ethical Principles of Scientific Publications by the Association of Science Editors and Publishers (Russia).

Please draw your attention to the following ethical norms promoted by the editorial board:

• Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea does not publish articles about material which is suspected as looted. 

• We accept only original submissions that have not been published elsewhere. The author shall inform the editors if the same paper is being considered for publication elsewhere, or if a different version of the same is in press. As well, the author shall inform the editor where this paper has been already published. You will need to confirm the fact that your submission has not been yet published anywhere when filling in the Declaration&Submission Form.

• The editorial board draws your attention to the fact that any submitted material or publication to be reviewed are strongly confidential. Neither the board, nor the editors, nor the peer-reviewers shall use any unpublished material for personal or any other purposes. You may learn about submission rules, processing and reviewing procedures in the respective sections below. 

• We insistently ask you to inform us about any sources of funding to your research, to avoid any possible conflict.  

• We urge all contributors to observe scholarly ethics in your papers that contain critics to your colleagues. Otherwise, the editors shall reserve the right to reject any such submission or correct its style. 

• While reviewing, the Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea Editorials main concern is whether the academic value, clarity of narration and adherence to academic ethics is observed in these submissions. We ensure that all received manuscripts shall be treated without regard to sex, gender, age, race, religion, citizenship, etc. of the author.

Relations between the Author and the Publisher

1. Relations between the author and the publisher of Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea Journal are regulated by these terms, which can be permanently found here: http://en.maiask.ru/to-aut/.

2. By sending the Declaration&Submission Form to Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea the author (including on behalf of co-authors) establishes an agreement of public offer with the publisher by default, implying full and unconditional acceptance of requirements to a publication in our journal, as well as regulates copyright relations between the author and the publisher. Any unspecified terms shall be regulated by additional agreements.

3. As soon as his/her manuscript is accepted for printing, the author shall offer Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea a free non-exclusive license to use the author’s (co-authors)’ research paper (article or monograph) for a duration of copyright provided by the current legislation of the Russian Federation, both in print and electronic format, taking into account points (5.1.-5.3, 6-8) specified in the terms of publication. 

4. Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea complies with the Russian Federation law on copyright and the respective international conventions. You will be responsible for obtaining all the required permissions to publish any material used in your submission. You will need to confirm existence of such rights to use this material in your publication by filling in the Declaration&Submission Form.

5. The author shall extend the following rights to the publisher for the duration of copyright: 

5.1. The right to reproduce his/her academic paper (publication, promotion, duplication, replication or any other form of multiplication of his/her Article/Monograph) in Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea, without any restrictions as to the duration of its electronic version (in pdf).

5.2. The right to distribute this article or monograph or any part of it (either charged or free) on any carrier across the world, as an individual item and/or within a Journal, and/or in Publisher’s or any other party’s databases, at discretion of the Publisher.

5.3. The right to store, process and use metadata (title of publication, last name, name (and patronymic) of the author/s (owner/s), abstract, references, etc.) pertaining to the article/monograph by distributing and promoting it, processing and systematizing it, as well as registering it with different databases and information systems, including the ones of restricted (paid) access.

6. Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea may offer the right to republication to a third party upon your consent. Should you refuse, Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea shall abide by your decision.

7. Use of rights to the article/monograph shall not be limited to any territory.

8. The publisher shall have unilateral right to introduce changes to the terms of publication in the journal.

9. You shall be entitled to freely possess your publications and republish them elsewhere. However, you shall not violate Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea exclusive rights, and therefore shall be required to indicate the place of the first publication of your paper. 

10. Should the article be translated by the publisher from a foreign language into the Russian language, the author shall be entitled to freely use the original article in English or any other language and publish it in any other periodicals, yet only after it first appears in the Russian language in Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea, and provided that he/she indicates the place and language of the first publication thereof.

Submission Process 

1. You will be informed that your submission has been received (usually by email).

2. Within a month, the editors will inform you on whether your submission is accepted or not (with due explanations in the latter case, based on reviewers’ assessments), or whether it requires certain improvements.

3. The editors shall reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet the requirements or the subjects of the journal. 

4. You will receive a proof (in .pdf format) of your paper for endorsement. Please note that only such amendments shall be accepted at this stage, which do not make any major changes to the layout. 

5. Once your submission has been accepted for publication, no further additions or changes are admitted. If you wish to make any further changes, your paper may be postponed until the next volume of the journal is in process.

6. The submission date is the date when the final version of your paper is approved for publication by the editor. 

Peer-Review 

All submissions are peer-reviewed. We practice double blind peer-review, which implies anonymity of both the reviewers and the author. 

1. There are two types of peer-review:

• internal (submissions are peer-reviewed by members of the Editorials); 

• external (submissions are sent for peer-review by leading experts in the respective academic field). 

2. The Volume Editor shall determine if the submission fits the scope and the subjects of the relevant volume, as well as if it is in accordance with the Journal’s format requirements; then the Volume Editor shall determine the type of peer-review (internal or external) and send the submission for a review by two experts with doctoral degree, whose specialization is closest to the subject matter of the submission. 

3. The term allocated for the peer-review in each individual case shall be determined by the Volume Editor, ensuring the best conditions for an operative publication of the submission. Usually reviews do not take more than one month. Exceptionally, this can take more time, if finding the relevant reviewer is difficult. 

4. A review shall cover the following issues:

• if the content of the submission corresponds to its title; 

• if the submission meets modern academic standards; 

• if the paper is understandable to the readers in terms of its language, style, arrangement of material, quality and value of tables, diagrams, drawings, etc.; 

• if publication of this paper is feasible taking into consideration earlier publications on this topic; 

• what is the novelty of the research, its strong and weak points, what changes or additions should be made to it; 

• if it meets ethical standards;

• the conclusion regarding the possibility of publication should be given: “recommended”, “recommended for publication with improvements suggested by the reviewer” or “not recommended”.

5. The peer-reviewers are informed that the papers sent to them are a private property of the authors and are confidential. The reviewers are not allowed to make copies of submissions for their own needs. Files in .pdf format sent to reviewers are technically protected: it is not possible to either print out or copy any information from the file. 

6. Review is confidential and secret (double blind peer-review). The peer-reviewer receives a paper without the       author´s name on it. If the review is negative, its text shall be sent to the author without the reviewer’s signature, name, position and job place mentioned therein. Confidential information can only be disclosed if the reviewer states that the subjects exposed in the submission are unreliable, fabricated or plagiarized. 

7. Positive reviews are not sufficient for acceptance of a submission for publication. Final decision on whether a submission is feasible for publication shall be made by the Editorials. 

8. If the peer-reviewer suggests that the submission should be refined, it can be returned to the author. In this case, the date of the submission is the date when the refined text is submitted. 

9. If the peer-reviewers do not recommend a submission for publication, the reviews and the submission shall be discussed by the Editorials. If the submission is rejected, the Editorials shall send a grounded refusal to the author, with the negative reviews attached thereto, either by email or ordinary mail. In some exceptional cases, the Editorials shall reserve the right to accept the submission for publication or send it to other peer-reviewers upon appeal of a member of the Editorials. 

10. After the Editorials accepts the submission for publication, the Volume Editor shall inform the author thereof and also, if necessary, about the need to revise the paper in view of the recommendations suggested by the peer-reviewers and members of the Editorials.

11. The originals of the reviews are kept in the editorial office for one year.