Ars Adriatica is a scientific, double-blind reviewed journal published by the Department of Art History of the University of Zadar. Authorship of the scientific and professional papers, as well as the reviewing process, are not paid for, and the entire content is in open access on the web, i.e., users are free to read, download, copy and distribute articles with reference to the authorship and the source, according to CC BY 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Ethical guidelines for the authors
Editors will accept and proceed into the double-blind review only papers of those authors who fulfil the following conditions: they have individually or with a considerable contribution in a group of referred researchers participated in the research and the writing of a previously unpublished paper by applying relevant and appropriate methodological procedures and tools. Exceptionally, and with editors’ consent, the journal may accept previously published papers, as well as papers published in a slightly different or reduced version, with the condition that original publication is duly referenced.
The author, by the act of submission of the final version of the paper, assumes full responsibility for every aspect of the principles of academic ethics, particularly the scientific originality of the papers’ research, methods applied, as well as its thesis and conclusions. Any kind of plagiarism or use of other academics’ scientific or professional results without adequate referencing is unacceptable. In case the author or editors in the submitted paper notice any deviation from these academic practices, they must report it to the editorial board and intervene before the publication of the paper. If such shortcomings are noticed after the publication, the author will retract the paper or publish the correction.
Editorial board guarantees the anonymity of the authorship until the publication of the paper. In case the author does not accept reviewers’ categorization of the manuscript, he is free to withdraw his paper.
Ethical guidelines for the editors and the editorial board
Editors are responsible for the academic quality and the application of ethical guidelines in the entire content of each issue through careful organization and implementation of editorial processes, particularly the double-blind review in which the identities of the author(s) and the reviewers are hidden.
After the submission of the paper, in the first step of editorial pre-review, editors inspect it for possible academic, financial or any other conflict of interest. In case of doubt, papers are checked through the web systems for the detection of plagiarism.
In case of the deviation of ethical guidelines prescribed by the Code of ethics published by University of Zadar Publication Office (https://izdavastvo.unizd.hr/propisi-i-dokumenti), a diagram prescribed by The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is followed. These guidelines are also accepted in case of paper’s retraction caused by the misleading, incorrect or wrongful statements. Author’s complaints to the editors’ decisions are sent directly to the editorial board who are obliged to follow COPE diagrams.
In principle, members of the editorial board of Ars Adriatica do not publish their papers of scientific categories. Exceptionally, in case of a particular academic interest and scientific contribution, this may be allowed providing that all conditions of the double-blind review are guaranteed.
Personal data of all individuals included in the publishing process are protected with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the European Union.
Ethical guidelines for the reviewers
After the author has submitted the manuscript for the publication as a reviewed scientific or professional paper (part of the journal is provided for the publication of non-reviewed articles such as essays, reviews etc.), it undergoes the first step of the editorial pre-review which includes the basic inspection of the adequacy of paper’s subject within the field of art history and theory, its scientific relevancy and the originality of the manuscript.
After the positive pre-recension, members of the editorial board suggest at least two reviewers according to their academic competences based on respective fields of research and the use of particular research methods. Guidelines for the reviewers (a separate document) elaborate all the scientific and professional categories as well as the criteria for the categorization of the paper and its critical-analytical yet constructive review, detailed explication of possible objections and suggestions. Should the suggested and contacted reviewers recognize any kind of the conflict of interest, their self-exclusion is required.
Editorial board analyzes each review in light of possible non-academic bias and grading criteria. In case of different reviewer’s opinions, editorial board either decides on the final categorization of the paper or its forwarding to the third double-blind review. Reasons for the negative review may exclusively come out of scientific shortcomings of the paper such as adequacy, originality, comprehensibility, validity or relevancy.
By accepting the inclusion in any of the phases of submitting, reviewing or editing of yearly published issues of Ars Adriatica, all the participants are required to accept these ethical guidelines as well as other accepted standards of the academic community and humanist scholarship.