Publication ethics

Authors’ responsibilities

Authors submit only original texts that have not been published before. In the case of a reworked version or the translation of a text, authors should truthfully, exactly, and in detail describe its relationship to the original text in the cover letter. To submit the same or very similar text to other journals while the text is undergoing the review process for Religio is considered extremely unethical.

By submitting the manuscript for publication in Religio, the authors assert that:

• all data in their text are authentic;
• they have the right to use and publish the data (if there is material taken from other publications, e.g. images, maps, and graphs, the authors must prove that they have consent from the copyright owner to publish the material in Religio);
• they are not committing plagiarism;
• all authors mentioned in the text contributed significantly to the published results, were involved in writing the submitted text, and approved its publication.

The authors have to declare truthfully all financial resources that supported the creation of the submitted text, except for the institutional support of their employer.

The authors are expected to follow the instructions published in the Guidelines for authors and to cooperate closely with the Managing Editor while preparing their text for publication. If authors have any suggestions or questions, they should address the Managing Editor.

Reviewers’ responsibilities

Reviewers aim to assess articles objectively and impartially. They should decline to assess a text if there is the possibility of a conflict of interests, such as:

• a close professional or personal relationship with the author or any member of the collective of authors (when the identity of the author of the text is obvious to the reviewer in spite of the anonymization of the article under review);
• a professional, financial or personal benefit from accepting or rejecting the article under review;
• cooperation with the given project in the past five years;
• a crucial difference in opinion on a key topic of the article under review.

If a reviewer agrees to prepare a peer review, the editorial office presumes that there is no conflict of interests.

Reviewers are obliged to respect the confidentiality of information from the reviewed texts. They must not publish or use such information for personal or other purposes.

Editors’ responsibilities

The editors and the Editorial Board are responsible for the content of the journal and the quality of the published texts. They aim to approach all submitted texts objectively and impartially.

The editors are responsible for the correctness of the peer review process and for preserving the anonymity of both reviewers and authors in this process. The editors adhere to the confidentiality of information concerning submitted manuscripts.

If significant errors are published, the editors ensure the publication of corrections and additional explanations.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The Editorial Board strives to maintain excellence with respect to the academic quality of the journal and supports both a plurality of opinions and the ethicality of research and publishing in the study of religions.

In the light of peer reviews, the editorial board decides whether to accept or reject submitted manuscripts according to the criteria of the academic quality, importance, originality, and relevance of a submitted text with regard to the thematic orientation of Religio. If there is the possibility of a conflict of interests, the affected members of the Editorial Board restrain from deciding about the article. The members of the Editorial Board are obliged to respect the confidentiality of information concerning submitted texts and their authors.

The Editorial Board inspects observance of this statement on publication ethics and malpractice.