RULES FOR REVIEWING
1. Authors shall send articles for publishing in electronic format, under the requirements of the Rules for Publication Layout, to the publishers’ e-mail.
2. The journal secretary deletes the author’s names and forwards the manuscript to the editor-in-chief within 7 days of its receipt. The editor-in-chief submits the received paper to the editorial committee for consideration provided it meets the thematic scope criteria and the publication requirements.
3. The editorial committee selects two reviewers, one external and one from the Academy of MoI, depending on the submission topic.
4. The journal secretary emails the paper to the selected reviewers.
5. Reviewers may refuse to consider a submission if it is in conflict with the journal ethical rule or if it falls outside of their competence. Should this be the case, the secretary notifies the editorial committee and Rules 2-3 shall apply.
6. Reviewers write their template-based reviews within 10 days and e-mail them to the journal secretary.
7. The reviews can be positive (with an approval for publishing), negative (a rejection) and with a note (to be edited by the author).
8. A paper that has received two positive reviews shall be submitted for publishing by the secretary to the editorial committee.
9. A paper with two negative reviews is returned by the secretary to the author via e-mail with a brief explanation.
10. A paper which has received one positive review and one review with a note or two reviews with a note is sent by the secretary to the author for editing according to the notes provided. After the author has edited the paper, it is sent to the reviewer(s) for writing a new review following Rules 4 - 7 set herein.
11. A paper which has received one negative review and one review with a note is sent by the secretary to the author for editing. After the author has edited the paper, it is sent to the two reviewers for writing a new review based on Rules 4 - 7 stipulated herein.
12. A paper which has received one negative and one positive review is forwarded by the secretary to the editorial committee for appointing a third reviewer – a referee. The referee writes a review according to Rules 4 - 7 stipulated herein.
13. When a negative review is given by the referee, the paper is sent back to the author in compliance with Rule 9.
14. When a positive review is given by the referee, the secretary forwards the paper to the editorial committee, which takes a final, substantive decision for publishing the paper.
GUIDELINES FOR THE REVIEWERS
1. The reviewers write their reviews on a template which can be downloaded here: Review Template.
2. Maintaining the longstanding traditions and academic standards of the journal, we consider the reviewing of papers a creative process of collaboration between each author, the reviewers and the editorial committee.
3. Reviewing is aimed at evaluating the submissions objectively for the purpose of enhancing their scientific quality. Constructive criticism is an indispensable part of the process, and it should be rendered professionally and in compliance with the established ethical standards.
4. Before writing a review, each reviewer should get acquainted with the ethical rules of conduct and the established standards of the Bulletin. The review should be prepared with the reviewer’s firm conviction of their own leading role and importance in the review process.
5. After the reviewer has read the paper, they put forward an opinion by giving marks along the criteria specified in the table attached in the review template. Grading is done according to the scale 0 - 6, 6 (six) being the highest possible mark, and 0 (zero) representing the lowest.
6. Based on the marks along the criteria, and considering them in isolation and in their totality, the reviewer gives a final mark which can be:
а. A positive mark (an approval for publishing)
b. A negative mark (a rejection)
с. A mark with a note (to be edited by the author)
7. When a mark with a note is given, the reviewer puts forward recommendations to the author which should be followed so that the paper can be published. The paper can be published once the reviewer has confirmed that the notes have been taken into consideration.
8. The reviewer prepares and submits the review to the journal secretary within 14 days of receiving the paper.
9. After the review has been prepared, it should be e-mailed as an attached file to the Bulletin. It is recommended that the file is in the PDF format. (From the “File” menu select “Save As,” from the drop-down menu “Save as type” select “PDF” and then save the file.)