The editor-in-chief and scientific secretary accept the thematic issue submissions for Balkanistic Forum and forwarded them for peer review.
The submitted manuscripts that fall outside the journal’s academic scope and the scholarly concept of the call for papers will be returned without undergoing a double-blind anonymous peer review. Likewise, manuscripts not formatted in accordance with the journal’s Guidelines to the authors will not be accepted for peer review.
Submissions undergo a double-blind peer review by at least two expert specialists in the field. Under this policy, the identities of both the authors and the reviewers remain completely confidential.
When a scholar manuscript is submitted by the editor-in-chief as an author, it is received by the scientific secretary, who assigns it for review and forwards it to the reviewers. When a scholar manuscript is submitted by the scientific secretary as an author, it is received by the editor-in-chief, who assigns it for review and forwards it to the reviewers.
Reviewers agree to evaluate the manuscript critically and objectively, providing their comprehensive assessment of its theoretical framework, methodological accuracy and empirical validity by completing the journal's specific evaluation form to ensure consistent editorial criteria.
The editor-in-chief and reviewers may recommend changes, reductions or additions to the material that the author must address all feedback. Contradictory reviewer reports prompt the engagement of a tertiary arbiter as well as additional evaluations maintain strict double-blind standards to preserve objectivity.
The indirect communication between reviewers and authors is performed by the editor-in-chief and/or scientific secretary.
The editor-in-chief and the editorial board ultimately decide on the publication of the reviewed manuscripts.
The materials in the section Book Reviews, Vita Academica, In Memoriam are accepted by the editor-in-chief and are subjected to a critical reading by him/her and/or another member(s) of the Editorial Board but are not subjected to a double anonymous review.
The accepted materials are checked by the technical editor for the qualities of the illustrative material and the authors are informed of his/her findings.
The deadline of the overall peer review process after accepting the manuscript for peer review is limited to 2 months.
Guidelines to Reviewers
Reviewers of the journal are Bulgarian and foreign scholars, experts in the relevant scientific subject. They are required to notify the editor in cases where they are not qualified to review a scientific paper or are unable to review a paper accurately enough.
Reviewers are required to declare any possible conflict of interest that could affect their review.
The deadline for reviewing a manuscript is one month after the reviewer’s acceptance.
The reviewer is required to evaluate the submitted manuscript in accordance to the scholar criteria. He/she shall clearly express his/her opinion and support it with objective arguments and constructive criticism.
The reviewer is obliged to ensure the correctness of citations. He/she must promptly inform the Editorial Board in cases of incorrect citation or of noticed duplication of parts of the material with an already published article.
The use of generative artificial intelligence in the creation of scientific texts is not permitted, as only original contributions with clearly established authorship are accepted.
Reviewers are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence in the preparation of their reviews. However, the use of specialized software tools for plagiarism detection is allowed.
Any manuscript to be peer-reviewed must be treated as a confidential document. It is not permissible for the reviewer to discuss it or show it to third parties, except when authorized by the journal editor, or to use ideas and information contained in it for his/her own interest.
If the evaluations of the two reviewers differ significantly, the manuscript might be sent to a third anonymous reviewer. The final decision to publish a submitted manuscript is made by the Еditorial Board. Once made, the final decision cannot be changed unless, in the case of a positive decision, serious fraud is detected in the accepted paper.
The use of generative artificial intelligence in the creation of scientific texts is not permitted, as only original contributions with clearly established authorship are accepted.
The use of software for transliteration, language editing, and translation is permitted.