Policies

Focus and Scope

Český lid / Czech Ethnological Journal is the leading peer-reviewed Czech ethnological journal, published in print and online, open-access format. Founded in 1891 and issued by the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the journal publishes high-quality scholarly articles in the fields of ethnology and sociocultural anthropology as well as interdisciplinary articles with a corresponding theoretical and methodological focus in the Czech, English, and Slovak languages. The journal publishes a wide range of studies, articles (peer-reviewed), reports, and news (not peer-reviewed). We welcome proposal for thematic issues and thematic sections of the journal.

Publication Frequency

There are a total of 4 issues per year, published quarterly on 25 March, 25 June, 25 September, and 15 December.

Section Policies

Peer Review Process

Manuscript submissions are first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief (in case of any doubt, the Editor-in-Chief will consult with the Editorial Board). If a manuscript is deemed suitable for publication, it will be sent to two different reviewers selected by the Editor-in-Chief from a list approved by the Editorial Board as part of the double-blind review process. Following advice from the reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief (with the consent of the Editorial Board) will determine whether the piece (a) is suitable to be published with minor or no changes; (b) needs to be revised and resubmitted; (c) is to be rejected; (d) is to be sent to a third reviewer. The final decision is presented and approved by the Editorial Board. The Editor works closely with reviewers and authors to guarantee a swift review and publication process. Authors have a maximum of up to six months to rework their essay after receiving feedback. After this period expires, the text will be excluded from editorial processing.

A cover letter shall include the title of the paper, an abstract, keywords, and all useful contact information - e.g. a mailing address, phone numbers where we can reach you, an e-mail address, etc. Any identifying references to the author(s) must have been removed prior to submission. Submission should be carried out via the journal online submission process.

Open Access Policy

The journal’s goal is to foster leading research in ethnology and sociocultural anthropology by maximizing the free exchange of scholarly knowledge. Český lid / Czech Ethnological Journal provides open access to all of its content. The journal is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Vital Information for Authors:
1. Fees: There are no article processing charges (APC) for authors or for article submissions.
2. Copyright Owner: The author.
3. License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
4. Self-Archiving: The author may archive pre-print, post-print, and publisher's versions (PDF) of their article, but must provide the journal title, volume, issue, pages, DOI, and link to the journal website.
5. Content freely available on the journal website: Immediately upon publication.

Indexing, Abstracting and Archiving

Český lid / Ethnological Journal is regularly indexed and abstracted in SCOPUS, DOAJ, ERIH, CEJSH, JSTOR, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, IBR, IBZ.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

COPE general guidelines http://publicationethics.org/

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief of Český lid / Czech Ethnological Journal is responsible for determining which articles submitted to the journal are to be published. The Editor-in-Chief follows the reviewers’ recommendations and his/her decision must always be approved by the Editorial Board. The Editor-in-Chief must also follow the journal’s policies and legal requirements, such as those regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

Equal Opportunity

Every manuscript will be reviewed based on intellectual content without regard to the author’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, country of origin, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted for peer-review are kept strictly confidential. The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Team must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, or other editorial advisers, as appropriate.

Zero Tolerance for Ghostwriting

Academic integrity is the foundation of quality scholarship and readers should be assured that the authors of published works are presenting results and findings in their studies in a manner that is in keeping with the standards of transparency, integrity, and honesty.

Scholarly ethics as well as the highest editorial standards require strict transparency of information on all persons and institutions that have contributed to the publication (i.e. to its ideas, content, production, or funding, etc.). Providing complete information of this kind is not only an expression of good academic practice but also a proof of social responsibility. Ghostwriting and "guest authorship" are practices that violate this principle.

Ghostwriting occurs when a person has substantially contributed to a publication, but his/her participation as a co-author is not revealed or his/her role is not acknowledged in the acknowledgements included in the publication.

"Guest authorship" ("honorary authorship") occurs when an author’s/co-author’s contribution to a published work has been scant or none-existent, and yet he/she is listed as the author or co-author of the work.

In order to counteract ghostwriting and guest authorship, the journal’s Editorial Board has introduced the following principles:

1. Authors are required to reveal their own specific contributions to a particular work (i.e. providing their affiliation and specifying the nature of their contributions).
2. Authors are required to provide a financial disclosure (i.e. reporting their resources of financing the publication and any contributions from academic research institutions, associations, and other bodies).
3. Information specified in points 1 and 2 should be provided in the declaration enclosed with the manuscript.
4. The Editorial Board will document all instances where the priciples of scholarly ethics have been violated and infringed upon and notify appropriate bodies and authorities.

Multiple, or Concurrent Publication

Submitted manuscripts must not have been published elsewhere, and they cannot be currently under review elsewhere. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is not tolerated.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of work by others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Copyright

During the submission process the authors are asked to agree to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which will apply to the submission if and when it is published by this journal.

Reviewers

Promptness

Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or who knows that it will be impossible for them to perform a prompt review must immediately notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editors.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and provide supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify any relevant published work that has not yet been cited by the authors. Any statement containing  an observation, derivation, or argument that has been previously reported must be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and another published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for one's own personal gain. Reviewers must not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.