Author Guidelines

PUBLICATION GUIDELINES

I. General rules

1. Only original materials that have not been published elsewhere will be accepted. The manuscripts are deemed to express exclusively the personal research and views of the authors, who bear full responsibity for statements and opinions contained therein.
2. The journal Studia Prawnicze does not require any fee or charge for manuscript processing and/or publication.
3. Submissions in Polish and English are accepted.
4. All manuscripts published in the Studia Prawnicze are subject to double-blind peer-review.
5. In order to reduce instances of research and publication misconduct, the Editorial Board of the Studia Prawnicze strictly follows the principles listed below. By submitting an article to the Studia Prawnicze, an author agrees to comply with those principles. The same applies to reviewers upon the acceptance of a request for review.

II. Submitting a proposal

1. The text must be prepared as an MS Word document, and the tables, charts, graphs etc. (if applicable) must be prepared as an MS Excel document.
2. Texts that are badly written or which contain grammatical and spelling errors will not be accepted.
3. Submissions should be between 20.000 and 80.000 characters, including spaces and footnotes. All submissions should be sufficiently referenced. The Editorial Board assesses manuscripts on a rolling basis. It will consider requests for expedited review in appropriate instances (for example pending acceptance for publication from another journal). On average it takes about 45 days to complete the evaluation of a text, although in some instances this may be longer, depending on the availability of reviewers.
4. Texts should follow the detailed editorial instructions applicable at Studia Prawnicze. This will facilitate and accelerate the editorial work.
5. Submissions for academic articles can be submitted only via dedicated online platform of the Studia Prawnicze at http://czasopisma.inp.pan.pl/index.php/sp/about/submissions after logging into the system.
6. All correspondence with the author(s) will also be handled via this platform, including news about reviews and corrected texts submitted in accordance with the reviewers’guidelines.
7. Texts which were co-authored are submitted by one of the authors (with whom correspondence will be held), who is responsible for entering all data into the online platform of the Studia Prawnicze and for correspondence with the editorial staff of the journal. In the application submitted via the platform, the author should indicate all other co-authors of the text.
8. When submitting a proposal authors are asked to make:
   a) the statement on originality of the text and that it has not been submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere;
   b) the statement on conflict of interest and give information about the sources of financing the research presented in a proposal; a conflict of interest means that an author (or his employer or sponsor) have any direct or indirect financial, legal or professional interest or relation with other organisations or institutions, which may have impact on the research presented in a proposal. These relations may be in particular as such: receiving any honoraires or other kinds of remunaration, membership or employment as an employee, an expert or a consultant, receiving scholarships or any other financial support by the authors, including sources to finance the research. 
9. Authors submitting texts are required to upload to the system an anonymized file, i.e. a file without personal data (name and surname) or other data that would allow the author(s) to be identified, e.g. references to their publications, the institution in which the article was based, the name of the research project, etc.
10. The text must be accopmanied by:
    - an abstract in Polish and in English,
    - keywords in Polish and in English,
    - annex with bibliography
11. The submitted materials should be accompanied by a separate profile of the author(s): academic degree or title, name of the university with which the text is affiliated, ORCID number, phone number, – e-mail address.
12. Authors not holding academic degree or title are asked to present recommendation from scientific tutor (excluding the lawyers with professional titles).
13. All reviewed manuscripts are treated confidentially. Members of the Editorial Board must not use materials disclosed in a submission for their own research until the text is published.
14. An author of a text submitted to the Studia Prawnicze is expected to cooperate with the Editorial Board as well as with reviewers. In particular, an author should participate in the peer-review process to the extent required to make his/her submission ready for publication. This includes, inter alia, implementation of changes suggested by the reviewers or offering an explanation why such changes, in whole or in part, may be not acceptable to an author.
15. Authors are under an obligation to report to the Editorial Board any significant errors in their submissions, whether discovered during the review process or after publication. If significant errors are found after publication, authors agree to either retract the article or publish a correction/clarification. The detailed procedure for retraction and corrections is included in Section V below.
16. Texts already published shall not be accepted. Copyright and licensing information can be found in Section VIII.

III. Review process

1. Each submission is subject to initial verification by the Editorial Board to assess whether it meets the editorial requirements and are compatible with the scientific interests of the journal.
2. The reviewers are appointed in accordance with their specialization and the subject matter of the submitted article. The list of the reviewers is published once a year on the journal’s website. The reviewers may not be affiliated with the academic institution which employs the author or have close personal ties to the author.
3. The reviewers assess the text based on the double-blind peer review principle: the author’s name is not known to the reviewers and the name of the reviewer is not known to the author or to the other reviewer. In case of articles submitted by a foreign author at least one of the reviewers must be affiliated with a foreign institution other than that of the author.
4. Reviews are submitted through the dedicated online platform of the Studia Prawnicze. The review should clearly indicate whether, in the reviewer's opinion, the text should be published. The reviewer needs also to indicate changes which should be made to the text prior to its publication. The review is completed on a special form. The reviewer may additionally insert comments and notes directly into the text of the article.
5. The Editorial Board will accept a submitted text if both reviewers recommend publication. In the event the reviewers indicate that changes are necessary, the acceptance of the article is conditional upon the author responding to the suggested changes, either by implementation of the same or offering an explanation why they may be not acceptable to the author, in whole or in part. The Editorial Board may send the revised text back to the original reviewers for their further opinion.
6. In the event of receipt of a single negative review, the Editorial Board will decide on publication of the text. The Editorial Board may also sent the text to a third reviewer. In the event both original reviewers give a negative opinion of a submitted article, it will be automatically rejected.

IV. Detailed guidelines for reviewers

1. The Editorial Board requests a professional review of a submitted text with regard to its scholarly merits. The object of the requested review is to determine whether the submitted article meets the scholarly standards for a scientific article of its type. In particular, the reviewer is asked to assess:
   a) whether the title of the article is correct and accurately reflects its content;
   b) whether and to what extent the article is original and innovative (contains new information)
   c) whether the conclusions presented by the author are consistent with the data contained in the article; whether it is correct from the scientific perspective (no errors)
   d) whether the article accurately presents the current state of knowledge and research in a given areea including appropriate citations of and referrals to the existing literature)
   e) whether the article is clear and concise, as well as well structured

2. The reviewer is requested to perform his or her review according to the above criteria in an objective and unbiased fashion. In addition, the reviewer is asked to indicate any and all places where, in the reviewer's opinion, the author violated any norms of fair, diligent, and accurate scientific research (for example, instances of plagiarism). The review should be neutral and objective, internally consistent, and end with a clear conlusion concerning th usefulness of the text for scientific purposes. The reviewer may also suggest amendments to the text, including indications of any relevant published work which is not cited in the text.
3. Although the review process in based on the double blind-peer review principle, reviewers should refuse the review request if the are aware of any conflict of interest that may exist.
4. Reviewers shall notify the Editorial Board if they feel unqualified to conduct a review of a particular submission.
5. Reviewers should complete their reviews within a timeframe specified by the Editorial Board or one of its members.
6. Reviewers must treat the submissions received for review as confidential documents and must not disclose any information about them to anyone other than the Editorial Board.
7. Reviewers must not use materials disclosed in a submission for their own research until the text is published.
8. The list of reviewers is published once a year in December volume and on the webpage of the journal.

V. Publication ethics and malpractice statement requirements

1. Authors of submitted texts must reveal any input of third persons in the creation of the submitted work, and describe the scope and form of their participation as well as their professional or institutional affililation. Authorship of a submission should be limited to the authors who have made significant contributions to the research and preparation of the article.
2. Authors shall include information about whether they received any financial support in the process of creation of an article.
3. Authors may be asked to provide raw data and references in connection with submissions for editorial review.
4. The Editorial Board wishes to stress that 'ghost-writing' and/or 'guest authorship', plagiarism, and other authorials misconduct are considered to be manifestations of unscrupulous and/or dishonest academic professionalism. In the event the Editorial Board discovers any such instances or evidence thereof it will report the same to the appropriate organs (employing institutions, professionals, scientific or academic organisations, editorial boards, etc.)
5. In cases of plagiarism, violating ethical standards, or other authorial misconduct, the manuscript will be a subject to a retraction, and additionally in severe instances the proper authorities may be informed.
6. Members of the Editorial Board, as well as reviewers, must not use materials disclosed in a submission for their own research without the author's written authorisation, uness the text is published.
7. The Studia Prawnicze may publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.
8. The Editorial Board should seek assurances that all research has been approved by an appropriate body (e.g. research ethics commitee, institutional review board, etc.) where such a relevant body exists.

VI. Corrections and retraction policy

1. Retraction is a mechanism for correcting the literature and alerting readers to publications which contain such seriously flawed or erroneous data that their findings and conclusions cannot be relied upon. Unreliable data may result from either honest error or from research misconduct. Retractions are also used to alert readers to cases of plagiarism and cases of several similar or identical publications by the same author.
2. A retraction may be issued by the Studia Prawnicze in cases where the submission:
   a) constitutes plagiarism;
   b) is identical or similar to a submission already published by the author;
   c) is a result of research violating ethical standards;
   d) is unreliable due to author's misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation error) provided that there is clear evidence of either of the two.
3. The retraction procedure is as follows:
   a) if the Editorial Board receives reliable information about possible misconduct of an author of a submission published in the Studia Prawnicze which might serve as grounds of retraction, it will try to impartially establish the facts of the case, in cooperation with the author and other persons involved;
   b) in cases where the allegations can neither be confirmed nor denied, the Editorial Board will inform the respective authorities of the author''s institution about the possibility of misconduct, asking them to investigate the case;
   c) if the authorities of the author's institution refuse to institute appropriate proceedings, or carry them out in an unfair or biased way or do not conclude the proceedings within a six-month period from receiving information about the alleged misconduct, the Editorial Board will issue an expression of concern;
   d) an expression of concern will state the reasons for the concern, will be clearly linked to the original publication in electronic databases, and will be freely available to all readers. If more conclusive evidence about the submission becomes available later, the expression may be replaced either by a notice of retraction (in cases of confirmed unreliability or a submission), or an exonerating statement (in cases where the submission turns out to be reliable);
   e) if the author's institution or other relevant authorities investigating the case confirm that misconduct has been committed in the research or publication, the Editorial Board will issue a notice of retraction. The notice will be published both in print and in the electronic version of the Studia Prawnicze;
   f) the retracted submission will not be removed from printed copies of the journal nor from electronic archives, but its retracted status will be indicated as clearly as possible;
   g) the notice of retraction will clearly identify the retracted submission, the person or institution retracting it, and the reasons and basis for the retraction. All reasonable efforts shall be taken to make the notive clearly linked to the original publication in electronic databases and freely available to all readers;
   h) submissions may also be retracted by their authors. In such a case, the Editorial Board shall be informed about the reasons for the retraction. If the retraction is due to the actions of some, but not all, of the authors of a publication, such facts will be mentioned in the notice of retraction.
4. In minor cases, the Editorial Board may consider issuing a correction instead of a retraction. This may happen when only a small portion of an otherwise reliable publication proves to be misleading, incorrect or plagiarized (e.g. A few sentences). Corrections will not be issued for minor errors such as linguistic mistakes. The decision whether a correction or retraction will best serve the readers and any other persons involved belongs solely to the Editorial Board.
5. A digital version of a corrected manuscript will replace an original and a correction notice will be published in a subsequent volume of the print version of the Studia Prawnicze, explaining the amendments that have been made.

VII. Access to the journal and individual articles

1. Individual volumes of the journal are available for purchase in selected bookshops or for a paid order for copies through the Subito (Dokumente aus Bibliotheken e.V.) system.
2. Current and archive issues and individual articles issued in Studia Prawnicze are accessible in open access in e-Biblioteka Prawnicza (eBP) – the repository of ILS PAS; on the website of the journal http://czasopisma.inp.pan.pl/index.php/sp/issue/archive (starting from January 2014) and in the database Central and Eastern European Online Library, The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities and Ebsco – Legal Sources.
3. The access to the archived Studia Prawnicze content will be maintained even if the journal is no longer published. The eBP Repository and the National Library (CBN Polona) provides permanent archiving of the digital content of the scientific journals.
4. DOI ID’s are registered by CrossRef or DataCite (via Zenodo) for all articles (including archival articles) to ensure permanent archiving of the content.

Annex 1: Formatting and citation style

1. Abstract, keywords and bibliography

Please include an abstract in Polish and in English (not exceeding 800 characters including spaces) at the beginning of an article. Please also add a list of keywords in Polish and in English) and annex with bibliography.

2. Text

A text sent to The Legal Studies should be formatted as follows: Font: Times New Roman; Font Size: 12 pt; Leading/line spacing: 1.5; Paragraph indentation (left): 1.25; fully justified. Pages are to be numbered.

Underlying and bolding should not be used. A fragment of text can only be highlighted by increasing the character spacing. Foreign words and phrases (e.g. prima facie, de lege lata) should be italicised, and citations enclosed in quotation marks. 

3. Footnotes

Footnotes must be formatted as follows : Font: Times New Roman; Font Size: 10 pt; Leading/line spacing: 1.0; No paragraph indentation; Align to left and right margins. Footnotes are to be numbered consecutively, being with “1”, and Arabic numerals are to be used.

4. Title, headins and subheadings.

The title should be as concise as possible. Subtitles are permitted. Subtitles of English titles should follow a semi-colon and subtitles of Polish titles should follow a full stop (period).

5. Referencing

Legal regulations, including those of international conventions (in Polish or English), are not to be quoted in full in either the body of the text or footnotes unless it is absolutely necessary to do so, in which case it is to be done on an exceptional basis. When referring to other authors, their full forename(s) and surnames are to be used.

The full names of periodicals, and not their abbreviations, should be given in bibliographical footnotes and the end-of-text bibliography

When citing online sources, the date the URL was accessed should be added in square brackets, e.g. [accessed 28 February 2019].

If the article is written in Polish, the names of Polish statutes (except the Constitution) should be written in lower-case. The names of international conventions should begin with an upper-case letter. However they are not italicised. If the article is written in English, the first letter of each word (except for prepositions, articles and conjunctions) is in upper-case.

 Detailed editorial instructions for authors

Authors are kindly asked to use the following editorial instructions:

Monographs

A. Siemaszko, Granice tolerancji. O teoriach zachowań dewiacyjnych[The limits of tolerance: On the theories of deviant behaviour], Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 1993.

J. Błachut, A. Gaberle, K. Krajewski, Kryminologia [Criminology], Wydawnictwo Arche, Gdańsk 2000.

H.S. Becker, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance, trans. O. Siara, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2009.

Articles in collected works

A. Marek, Powrót chuligańskiego charakteru czynu w prawie karnym [The Hooligan Nature of an Offence Makes a Comeback in Criminal Law], in K. Krajewski (ed.),Nauki penalne wobec problemów współczesnej przestępczości. Księga jubileuszowa z okazji 70-tej rocznicy urodzin profesora Andrzeja Gaberle[The Penal Sciences on the Problems of Contemporary Crime: Anniversary Book on the Occasion of the 70th Birthday of Professor Andzej Gaberle], Wolters Kluwer Polska, Warsaw 2007.

Articles in journals

D. Wójcik, Praca kuratora dla nieletnich w opinii sędziów sądów rodzinnych i kuratorów społecznych[The Function of the Parole Officer in the Case of Minors as seen by Family Court Judges and Court-appointed Guardians], “Archiwum Kryminologii” 1988, Vol. XV.

S. Opotow, Moral Exclusion and Injustice: An Introduction, “Journal of Social Issues” 1990, Vol. 46, No. 1.

Volumes and issues should be distinguished in the case of journals in languages other than Polish.

 If the article is written in Polish, then every element of the bibliographical descriptions should be in Polish, even for publications not written in Polish.

T. Tulich, Critical reflections on preventive justice [w:] T. Tulich, R. Anian-Welsch, S. Bronitt, S. Murray (red.), Regulating Preventive Justice. Principle, Policy and Paradox, Routledge, London 2017, s. 3–22.

R. Rosenthal, L. Jacobson, Pygmalion in the classroom, „The Urban Review” 1968, t. 3, nr 1, s. 16–20.

Online sources

K. Iglicka, K. Gmaj, Undocumented Migration. Counting the Uncountable. Data and Trends cross Europe. Country report: Poland, November 2008, http://clandestino.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/clandestino_report_poland_final_2.pdf [accessed: 15 March 2011]

Journal of Laws

Until 2012: Journal of Laws 2009 No. 20, item 107

After 2012 r. (not divided into numbers): Journal of Laws 2016 Item 2290

The foregoing should be preceded by “i.e.” when referring to a consolidated text.

Subsequent citations

1. Siemaszko, Granice tolerancji…, s. XX

English-language texts cited in footnotes and listed in bibliographies should be written as follows: lower-case (except for any proper names) for titles of journal articles and articles from collected works; upper-case (except for prepositions, articles and conjunctions) for monographs and collected works.

Examples:

Sykes G., Matza D., Techniques of neutralization. A theory of delinquency, “American Sociological Review”, 1957, t. 22, nr 6, s. 664–670.
Tulich T., Critical reflections on preventive justice [w:] T. Tulich, R. Anian-Welsch, S. Bronitt, S. Murray (red.), Regulating Preventive Justice. Principle, Policy and Paradox, Routledge, London 2017, s. 3–22.
Pascoe P., What Comes Naturally. Miscegenation and the Making of Race in America, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010.