Publishing a paper in a peer-reviewed journal expressing the author’s and the supporting institutions’ work is one of the bases for constructing the entire and reliable network of knowledge.

The Editorial Board of Bulgarian Ethnology makes due efforts to follow the best practices concerning publication ethics. One of its major concerns is to prevent any violations and unethical behaviour in this field.

The Editorial Board follows the understanding that publishing an article in the journal is a process involving three independent and equal parties: the author, the reviewers and the Editorial Board. The first step of that process is the creation of the author’s text and its submission to the Editorial Board for publication in Bulgarian Ethnology. Then follows peer-reviewing by two anonymous scholars and a decision of the Editorial Board to accept or reject the particular text. The successful completion of the publication process depends on the correct and ethical relations between the participants who should assume and observe certain obligations. This document specifies these obligations on the basis of the guidelines of Elsevier Academic Publishers and on the Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

OBLIGATIONS OF AUTHORS

Reporting standards

Authors’ texts should present an accurate account of the research performed as well as an objective discussion on its actuality and significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. The papers should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable. Review and scientific report articles should be also accurate and objective, and the editorial statements should be clearly defined as such.

Originality and plagiarism

The manuscripts should be entirely original works of the authors. Using the work and/or words of others that have not been appropriately cited is inadmissible.

Acknowledgement of sources

Authors should acknowledge ethically and properly all sources used in the article and should cite the publications that have influenced their research. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, etc., should be used or reported after the explicit permission from the source.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publications

Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unacceptable. Authors should not, in general, multiply the content and the results of the same research in a number of texts submitted to different editions. In case of a new publication of the same text, the due permission of the author and the editors of the primary issue should be acquired.

Authorship of the paper

In case of co-authored articles, all those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study and the word processing of the text should be listed as co-authors. All co-authors should have seen and approved the final version of the paper.

Data access and retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data on which the text is based for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide access to such data and should, in any event, be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Hazards and human subjects

Authors should have in advance the consent of their informants on the way of their disclosure (complete anonymity, partial or full disclosure of personal data: name, residence, profession, education, etc.), so that the publication of those data is not hazardous to the informants’ lives, health, professional and social positions, etc.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the preparation of the text, if any, should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in the submitted article, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the Editorial Board, so that the due corrections are made. If such errors are discovered by a third party it is the author’s obligation to withdraw the manuscript or correct them providing evidence to the Editorial Board of the correctness of the text.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE ISSUE EDITORS

Contribution to editorial policy

Issue editors have an important role in realizing the policy of Bulgarian Ethnology in publishing thematic issues. The scholars undertaking the compilation of a thematic issue are expected to suggest topics covering significant and up-to-date problems in the field of ethnology, anthropology, folklore studies, history and museology. The issue editors are expected to include in the thematic issue manuscripts which elucidate the chosen subject thoroughly and from different view points in order to enhance the reputation of Bulgarian Ethnology as a respected academic periodical.

Originality and plagiarism 

Issue editors should suggest original articles to be included in the thematic issues of Bulgarian Ethnology. No plagiarism, similarity or overlapping of the manuscripts with other publications to their knowledge are acceptable.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications

Issue editors should make sure the submitted manuscript is not offered to any other journal concurrently. They should also ensure that the manuscript does not result from multiplying the contents and results of the same research in a number of texts submitted to different editions. In case of a new publication of the same text the due permission of the author and the editors of the primary issue should be acquired.

Confidentiality

The manuscripts submitted by the authors should be considered as confidential documents with author’s copyrights.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Issue editors should not use for research unpublished materials and such reported in the manuscripts submitted without the explicit consent of their authors. Compilers are obliged to observe confidentiality regarding the privileged information or ideas in the manuscripts and should not use them for personal advantage.

Promptness

Issue editors who are unable to manage with compiling of a Bulgarian Ethnology thematic issue within the fixed dead-line should duly notify the Editorial Board.

The correctness of the manuscripts

It is the issue editor’s obligation that all manuscripts to be included in the thematic issues are meeting the requirements of Bulgarian Ethnology.

OBLIGATIONS OF REVIEWERS

Contribution to editorial decisions

Peer review assists the editors in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the authors in improving their papers. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and guarantees the scientific quality of the texts published.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to evaluate the research reported in the manuscript or is unable to provide on-time the review should notify the Editorial Board and resign from reviewing the article.

Confidentiality

The manuscripts received for review should be treated as confidential documents with the author’s copyrights.

Standards of objectivity

Reviews should be well-grounded objective evaluations of the manuscripts. Personal criticism of the text contents is inadmissible.

Acknowledgement of source

Reviewers should notify the Editorial Board about a relevant published work that has not been cited by the author and turn the attention to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not evaluate manuscripts provided they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the papers.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Publication decisions

The Editorial Board of Bulgarian Ethnology bears the sole right and responsibility for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published or rejected. The Editors should be conscious of the fact that publishing the respective work is a legal act having great importance for both scholars and their audience. The decisions on publishing or rejecting articles are based on the peer-reviewers’ appraisals; on the journal’s publishing policy; on the requirements in force regarding copyright infringement and plagiarism.

Fair play

The Editorial Board evaluates the manuscripts submitted solely for their intellectual and scholar content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political stances of the authors.

Confidentiality

The members of the Editorial Board should not disclose any information about the submitted manuscripts and observe the established peer-reviewing procedure.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

A member of the Editorial Board should not use in his/her own research unpublished materials and scientific ideas disclosed in a submitted manuscript without the explicit written consent of the author. Privileged information comprised by the manuscripts must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Members of the Editorial Board should rescue themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the manuscript.

Involvement and cooperation in investigations

The Editorial Board of Bulgarian Ethnology should take necessary measures when complaints, claims and disagreements regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper have been presented. Generally, measures include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving a due reply to the respective complaint. When necessary that may also include further communications to competent institutions and research bodies. Any complaint should be taken into consideration by the Editorial Board rejecting or upholding it via publishing a note about the corrections made in the text under question, etc. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour should be taken into account with the due concern, even if it is discovered years after publication. 

Copyright and Licensing

Copyright Owner is Bulgarian Ethnology, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 

The authors assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript and agree to grant exclusive publishing and distribution license and any tables, illustrations, graphics, photographs, or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript (the “Article”).

Open access is granted to the contents of the issues and to the abstracts and keywords of the articles

Author Rights for Scholarly Purposes 

- Authors transfer copyright to Bulgarian Ethnology. The authors are granted the right to use the preprint, accepted manuscript, and the published journal article for personal use and Internal institutional use. 

- In the case of the accepted manuscript and the published journal article, the author rights exclude commercial use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the article to book-length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works (with full acknowledgement of the original publication of the Article).

- The authors retain intellectual property rights on research data.

- Proper attribution and credit for the published work.