Ethical publishing rules for journals released by the Lithuanian Institute of History
Article publication and authorship
- Journal compilation and publishing takes place in accordance with academic ethical requirements.
- Only articles that have not been published prior can appear in LIH journals. An article may be published if it was initially released in another language, and has been altered no less than thirty percent.
- Plagiarisation, i.e., the presentation of another publication's text, research method, idea or discovery as one's own, or the presentation of empirical data that had already been introduced into academic circulation as data that is newly discovered, and failing to indicate literature sources is prohibited. However, all prior researchers who have used a particular archival source (or early printed material) in their work do not need to be indicated in the article's footnotes.
- Articles are published free of charge. Authors do not receive monetary reimbursement for their articles. All the authors whose texts have been published in separate journal issues have the right to receive one copy of that issue at no cost.
- Papers are published in journals in accordance with the Lithuanian Institute of History's non-exclusive licence agreement (so long as separate journal contracts with publishing houses do not foresee any other conditions); authors retain the exclusive right to use their work separately from a given LIH publication as a collective work.
- All the texts published in journals are later uploaded onto the LIH website where they appear in a free access format.
Publication of reviews
- Reviews are published as requested by the Editorial Board. In those cases where the author initiates a given review, they must first contact the Editorial Board.
Liability of authors
- Articles submitted for publication must comply with the requirements for a scientific publication and must be prepared in accordance with the set guidelines for a given journal regarding the structure of the article, citation, source referencing, abstracts and other aspects.
- All the indicated co-authors of an article must have made a significant contribution to the respective research and preparation of the article.
- If there is more than one author of an article, all the authors decide the order in which they are to be listed. If required, the authors themselves identify their contribution to the article's preparation.
- Authors must ensure that all the data used in their article is reliable and accurate.
- When an article is submitted, authors must take into consideration the errors found by peer-reviewers, as well as reasonably motivated comments regarding the justification of statements and conclusions, the consistency of analysis presentation, thoroughness and any other founded opinions made by reviewers. If the author fails to take reviewers' comments into consideration, they must explain why in writing to the Editorial Board.
Review procedure and liability of reviewers
- Scientific articles submitted to LIH journals are reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers selected by the Editorial Board from experts in the author's field of research. If reviewers' conclusions regarding the suitability of the article for publishing are contradictory, the Editorial Board appoints a third reviewer who presents their conclusions, whereupon the Board makes a decision on whether the article is fit for publication.
- Reviewers are appointed in accordance with the principles of confidentiality, i.e., reviewers do not receive information about the identity of the author and vice versa, authors are not informed of the reviewers' identity.
- Reviewers must inform the editor of the journal or the Editorial Board in advance of any possible conflict of interest relating to the articles they have been given to review, including financial circumstances or any personal opposition to the material to be published.
- Reviewers must inform the Editorial Board of any similar papers that have already been published if any such works are not mentioned in the article under review.
- Reviewers must ensure the confidentiality of articles they are reviewing. They are forbidden from publicly discussing or distributing the articles they have been given to review.
Liability of editors and compilers
- The Editor or Editorial Board has the final word on whether an article submitted for publication will be published or rejected. The author may appeal a verdict of rejection for their article by bringing it before the LIH Academic Ethics Commission (if it is suspected that ethical violations regarding the verdict may be involved).
- It is the duty of the Editorial Board/compiler to clarify any potential conflicts of interest relating to articles submitted for publication between the article's author and the reviewers (including positive or negative information about the author or relations with them or the institutions they represent, as well as matters of funding) and to ensure that these would not influence the acceptance or dismissal of the publication.
- The Editorial Board must ensure a suitable level of and procedure for reviewing and make objective decisions without being influenced by the reviewers' possible preconceptions or knowledge of the author, including their gender, sexual orientation, religion, political convictions or ethnic/geographical origins.
- The approval of an article for publication implies the maximum level of conviction and trust in its value.
- If any incorrect information was presented in the article due to the fault of the Editor, Editorial Board or publishing house, the Editorial Board must seek to publicise a correction of the error and/or an apology.
Possibility for the members of a publication's Editorial Board to publish their research in a journal
- If members of the Editorial Board submit their own articles or studies to a LIH journal, they are considered and reviewed in accordance with the same procedures mentioned above, only the author (the Editorial Board member) is not given information about the process. In exceptional cases when an article is submitted by the chief editor, the review process is to be organised by their deputy or another authorised member of the Editorial Board.