The statement on publication ethics and abuse of publication is published by Contributions journal, and the Editorial Board and the Institute of History, as publishers, assume responsibility for the implementation of the Journal's policy.

Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief of the journal Contributions (Prilozi), in consultation with the Editorial Board, makes the final decision on which manuscripts will be published. In making this decision, the Editor-in-Chief takes into account the peer review process, consults with members of the Editorial Board, and adheres to legal regulations concerning defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The scope of responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board is defined by the Rulebook on Publishing Activities of the Institute of History. The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are obliged to inform the author of any violations of ethical standards.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right not to publish submitted manuscripts, after evaluation, if it is determined that they do not meet the prescribed content-related and formal criteria.

The Editor-in-Chief must not have any conflict of interest regarding manuscripts under consideration for publication. If such a conflict exists, the Editorial Board shall appoint reviewers and make the decision on the manuscript’s acceptance or rejection. If a conflict of interest exists for one or more members of the Editorial Board, those members shall be excluded from the process of selecting reviewers and making decisions on the manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are obliged to disclose any conflicts of interest in a timely manner.

The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board must base their decision on publication solely on the scholarly merit of the manuscript, without any form of discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or any other grounds.

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are not permitted to use unpublished materials from submitted manuscripts for their own research; such materials must be treated as the author’s inalienable intellectual property.

The Editor-in-Chief must preserve the integrity of the peer review process by ensuring that the identity of reviewers remains unknown to the author, and that the identity of the author remains unknown to the reviewers.

Responsibilities of Authors/Co-authors

The author/co-author is required to submit a completely original manuscript, with properly cited and referenced parts of other authors’ works, if any. All data presented in the manuscript must be accurate. The author/co-author must disclose any information that may constitute a conflict of interest and potentially affect the interpretation of the manuscript.

Authors/co-authors guarantee that their contribution is original and has not been previously published (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere; and that all co-authors (if any) have approved the submission of the manuscript by signing the publishing agreement with the publisher.

By signing the agreement, authors/co-authors guarantee that the manuscript does not contain unfounded or unlawful claims and does not infringe upon the rights of others. If the manuscript includes content protected by copyright or related rights, authors/co-authors are required to obtain written permission from the rights holders.

The corresponding author guarantees that they are authorized to transfer copyright to the publisher.

Manuscripts submitted to the editorial office of the journal Contributions are subject to plagiarism detection software used by the University of Sarajevo. In addition to complying with legal regulations governing scholarly work, authors are required to fully adhere to the author guidelines provided in the journal and on the journal’s website.

Responsibilities of Reviewers and the Peer Review Process

Reviewers contribute to editorial decision-making and to improving the quality of manuscripts in an objective and fair manner, without personal criticism. Reviewed manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Information and ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal benefit or disclosed to others without the editor’s permission.

Reviewers are required to inform the editor of any conflict of interest with the author(s) or the manuscript and must not review such manuscripts. Reviewers must alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published work they are aware of, as well as to any instances of uncited material or plagiarism.

When making recommendations regarding manuscript categorization, reviewers must rely on scholarly criteria, without personal bias.

The peer review process is conducted using a review form, which is provided to the reviewer by the journal’s technical secretary along with the manuscript, with all identifying information about the author removed. After completion, the review form is returned to the author for possible revisions.

In addition to the review form, reviewers have the right to include comments and suggestions directly in the manuscript in order to improve its quality.

The peer review process is managed by the technical secretary of the journal, following the instructions of the Editor-in-Chief. The technical secretary sends manuscripts to reviewers and forwards the reviews to authors. The technical secretary reports on the entire review process to the Editor-in-Chief.

Handling of Ethical Issues

From the date of submission to the publication of the manuscript, all interested parties have the right to report violations of ethical standards, provided that such claims are supported by evidence.

The Editor-in-Chief, in cooperation with the Editorial Board, is obliged to investigate every allegation of unethical conduct. During the investigation, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board will act discreetly. Any person against whom an allegation is made has the right to respond formally.

Disputed cases are resolved in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://publicationethics.org/resources/.

Retraction of Papers

If, after publication, it is determined that the author has violated ethical principles, the publisher of the journal—the Institute of History—reserves the right to retract the paper from the digital version of the journal, in accordance with the procedures defined by relevant institutions.

Copyright

If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author automatically transfers the right to publish the work to the publisher. The publisher has the right to translate the work into other languages and to republish it, either in print or in digital form.

After publication, the author has the right to archive the work in online databases such as ResearchGate.com or Academia.edu.