“Studia Iuridica” (Journal) is committed to ensuring best practices in publishing ethics and ensures the appropriate handling of any publication malpractice. Hence, it follows the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing together with underlying policies relating to:

These standards apply to all parties involved in the publishing process, including the Authors, Reviewers, Editors, and the Publisher. All manuscripts submitted to “Studia Iuridica” shall comply with these ethical publication standards.

 

Table of contents:

  1. Standards for Authors
  2. Peer Review
  3. Standards for Editors
  4. Conflicts of Interest
  5. Use of Generative AI
  6. Data sharing and reproducibility
  7. Intellectual Property
  8. Post-publication
  9. Advertising
  10. Research Misconduct and Complaints
  11. No-Fee Policy and Revenue Sources
  12. Access and Archiving

 

1. Standards for Authors

 

  • Authorship and contributorship: Authors are individuals who have significantly contributed to the creation, design, execution, interpretation of a study and the presentation of its results. All Authors should be listed on the submitted manuscript and their individual contributions disclosed (as percentages). All co-Authors should agree on the submission of a manuscript. Ghost-writing, guest and gift authorship as well as exclusion of a co-Author are treated as scientific misconduct.
  • Originality: Authors may submit only their own, original works. The research and/or data of other scholars used in the work should be appropriately and clearly cited or quoted. Adequate acknowledgment of the work of others shall always be given. Plagiarism or data fabrication is unacceptable. A redundant (duplicate) publication, understood as reproduction, in whole or in part, of one’s own previously published work - also in other languages, is improper. All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software.
  • Individual submissions: Authors should not publish texts presenting the same research in more than one journal. Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical behaviour.
  • Data access: Authors may be asked to provide the underlying research data. They are obliged to provide access to such data, including after publication.
  • Scientific reliability: Authors are obliged to present an account of the research performed and an objective discussion of its results. Articles should contain sufficient information in order to identify the sources used, as well as to permit others to replicate the research. Presenting and interpreting data and research results that are not compliant with the ethical publication standards is unacceptable and may result in the removal of the article.
  • Errors in the paper: Should an Author discover any significant errors or inaccuracies in their paper, they are obliged to notify the Editors immediately in order to withdraw the paper or correct the errors.

 

2. Peer review

 

All papers submitted for publication undergo double-blind peer review.

  • Confidentiality: All reviewed manuscripts and their reviews are treated as confidential documents. Sharing manuscripts with a third party is unacceptable.
  • Objectivity: Reviews should be objective and assess manuscripts based on scientific value, scholarly merit, originality, and compliance with ethical standards, even if texts are controversial. Personal criticism of Authors is inappropriate. All comments should be constructive and expressed with appropriate arguments to help Authors to improve their manuscripts.
  • Competing interests: Reviewers cannot use the manuscripts they review for their own needs or benefits. They should not assess manuscripts where they have potential conflicts of interest with the Author.
  • Selection of Reviewers: The Editorial Board is responsible for procuring reviews and selecting Reviewers. Their identity is confidential and known only to the Editors. Reviewers shall not be from the same institution as an Author and shall hold at least a doctoral degree.
  • Deadlines: Reviewers should submit reviews promptly, by the agreed deadline. If they are unable to meet the deadline or provide the review at all, they should notify the Editor immediately.

 

3. Standards for Editors

 

Editorial decisions are made independently of the Publisher, the Faculty, sponsors, and funding bodies.

  • Compliance with ethical standards: Editors ensure compliance with ethical standards in research and academic publishing. They counteract any practices contrary to these standards.
  • Impartiality: Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to race, gender, religious belief, origin, citizenship or political philosophy of the Author.
  • Publication decisions: Editors are responsible for making publication decisions, assisted by the Reviewers. When considering manuscripts, the following is taken into account: scientific value of the work, scholarly merit, originality, transparency, and compliance with ethical standards in research.
  • Confidentiality: Editors do not disclose any information on submitted manuscripts to any unauthorized person.
  • Competing interests: Unpublished manuscripts cannot be used by Editors nor by any other person involved in the publication process without the Authors’ written consent.
  • Scientific reliability: Editors safeguard scientific reliability of the publications. To this end, they may recommend appropriate corrections and changes of submitted manuscripts. In case of a suspected misconduct, they are obliged to reject the paper.
  • Retraction: The Editorial Board is entitled to retract an article after its publication, if it is defamatory, breaches copyrights or violates privacy or rights of third parties, contains major errors or irregularities or data are unreliable, constitutes unethical practices or the research has previously been published. A notice of retraction shall be sent to the Author and clearly link to the retracted article on the Journal’s website.

 

4. Conflicts of interest

 

Authors, Reviewers and Editors must disclose any potential conflict of interest upon submission or otherwise immediately, including post-publication. 

 

A conflict of interest refers to any position, activities, or relationship of an individual (financial or otherwise, direct or indirect) that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the opinions or activities of the individual, or affect their impartiality. It may refer, in particular, to matters of familial kinship, employment, supervision, exchange of remuneration or gifts, and funding between Authors and Editors, or Reviewers.

 

If a concern about a conflict of interest is made, the manuscript will be assigned to a different Editor or Reviewer.

 

Reviewers should disclose to the Editor any possible conflicts of interest immediately and the final decision on resolving the matter is vested with the Editors.

 

5. Use of Generative AI

 

Generative AI may be used exclusively to improve the readability and language quality of texts, under human supervision. The Authors are fully responsible for their texts, including their truthfulness, completeness and impartiality. The Authors should disclose the use of Generative AI in their manuscripts.

 

Reviewers and Editors shall not use Generative AI to assess texts.

 

6. Data sharing and reproducibility

 

The Journal encourages Authors to post their data in standard formats that can be accessed and re-used by others. The Journal follows the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of digital assets (FAIR) principles. It supports data integrity and encourages Authors to share the data associated with their research and any other information that supports it. The Journal supports the TRUST principles for digital repositories and encourages Authors to deposit the data in one of the repositories listed in OpenDOAR. Authors should also follow institutional and, if applicable, the funding body’s guidelines when choosing the platform to share their data. Authors are also encouraged to cite the data in their manuscript or indicate how to access the data by providing the DOI or access number.

 

7. Intellectual Property

 

All Authors are required to accept the licence agreement terms and conditions upon submission. By submitting the manuscript, the Author agrees that: i) the work is original, ii) it has not previously been published and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere, iii) all copyrighted material (e.g. block quotation or extracts) is properly acknowledged and the Author has obtained permission to use it.

 

The Journal is published in an Open Access model under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY) Licence, which allows for redistribution, reuse, and adaptation with attribution to the Authors.

 

While the copyright to the text remains with the Author(s), they grant the Editorial Board and the Publisher a licence to use the article.

 

8. Post-Publication

 

The Journal supports post-publication debates regarding the published articles. Readers may submit concerns, opinions, criticism, or letters to the Editorial Board via its e-mail. The Journal has the right to peer review the criticism, to respond to criticism, and to publish the discussion, which may include an addendum (significant information disclosed after the publication that enhances the readers’ understanding of the article), Editor’s Note, editorial expression of concern, correction, retraction, corrigendum. In any case, the COPE guidelines will be followed.

 

If an Author notices a mistake after the article has already been published, they are requested to contact the Editorial Board. Depending on the nature of the error, the Editors will investigate the case and decide whether an erratum or corrigendum needs to be published in cases of substantial errors only.

 

The Journal follows the COPE guidelines with regard to the retraction process.

 

9. Advertising

 

The Journal does not accept publication of any advertising material. In-house advertising might appear on the Journal web site and within the Journal. Advertisements are not related in any way to editorial decisions.

 

10. Research Misconduct and Complaints

 

All Authors are responsible for complying with research ethical standards. Any research misconduct (including, but not limited to plagiarism, citation manipulation, authorship misconduct, data falsification/fabrication) identified by the Editors will be subject to scrutiny. The Journal undertakes to take reasonable steps to prevent any publication of papers relating to research misconduct.

 

Similarly, any complaints relating to the activity of the journal, Editors, Reviewers, as well as any research misconduct by the Authors will be considered by the Executive Editor, after giving the person concerned an opportunity to respond. All complaints are treated confidentially.

 

Complaints and ethics enquiries shall be submitted electronically to the Board's e-mail: studiaiuridica@wpia.uw.edu.pl. Any allegations concerning research misconduct will be addressed according to COPE's guidelines. Once confirmed, an instance of research misconduct should be reported to the relevant institutions, including the institution of affiliation. 

 

Any decision of an Executive Editor may be appealed in writing with reasons for the appeal clearly stated. An appeal is considered by the Editorial Board, whose decisions are final.

 

Any decision on publication or rejection by an Editor may be appealed to the Editorial Board in writing with reasons for the appeal clearly stated. Its decisions are final.

 

11. No-Fee Policy and Revenue Sources

 

The Editorial Board does not charge any fees for submission, the review process, or publication. All texts are available free of charge in electronic form on the Journal's website after publication. Printed editions can be purchased from the University of Warsaw Press.

 

The Journal is financed by the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw and publication grants from public funds.

 

12. Access and Archiving 

 

The electronic version of the Journal Studia Iuridica is the primary version of the journal. It is available online for free for the general audience at the Journal’s website (www.studiaiuridica.pl) and at the University of Warsaw Press’ website. The Publisher deposits copies of every published issue at the National Library of Poland.