The Institute of Balkan Studies with the Centre of Tracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) publishes scholarly works in Bulgarian and in foreign languages, such as: monographs, series, conference proceedings, collected volumes, journals, online catalogues, bibliographies. The studies included in them are on topics related to the social, economic, political, demographic, cultural and religious history of the Balkan peoples and states, their languages and contemporary development. The published works examine historical figures, social groups, individual Balkan states, their bilateral and multilateral relations, the regional development of the Balkans, as well as the interaction between the Balkan states and the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the Middle East. In the publishing policy of IBSCT, special attention is paid to current topics (the image of the other, the neighbour in particular, tolerance and intolerance, minority problems and others). Chronologically, the studies cover periods from prehistory to the present day. IBSCT publishes books also together with leading academic publishers in Bulgaria.
The publications of IBSCT are included in the National Reference List of modern Bulgarian scientific publications of the National Center for Information and Documentation (NACID).
Many of the IBSCT's publications are in open access mode, others are distributed by the Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL) and the EBSCO full-text publication portal. The journals offer an annual subscription.
Editorial policy Publication
Ethics Statement
All parties involved in the publication process (authors, editors, reviewers) are required to comply with the ethical standards developed in accordance with the Code of Conduct and Guidelines for Good Practice of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics, https://publicationethics.org/).
Conflict of interests
All authors must declare any conflict of interest that is or may be perceived as related to the publication.
A conflict of interest may arise when an author (or his employer, sponsor or family/friends) has financial, commercial, legal or professional relationships with other organizations or with people working with them that could influence the research or interpretation of the results. The conflict of interest can be of a financial or non-financial nature. To ensure transparency, all associations that may be perceived by others as a competing interest must also be declared.
Obligations of the publisher
IBSCT, in its capacity as a publisher, makes these guidelines available to all parties involved in the creation and production of works published by it. The guidelines should be followed by editors, reviewers, and authors as part of a common effort to provide objective and useful information to all concerned.
In cases of suspected or proven scientific controversy, fraud or plagiarism, the publisher, in close cooperation with the editors, will take all necessary measures to clarify the situation. If necessary, this includes the immediate publication of a notice, clarification or, in more serious violations, the withdrawal of the particular text. The publisher stores the information about the published scholarly research and ensures its accessibility in partnership with organizations and maintenance of its own digital archive.
The publisher, together with the editors, takes the necessary steps to identify and prevent the publication of texts containing controversial research or scholarly practices, under no circumstances encourages such misconduct or knowingly allows such misconduct to take place.
Duties of editors and editorial boards
The editor-in-chief of each journal published by IBSCT is responsible for each published text. Its duty is to strive to meet the needs of readers and authors, to continuously improve the journal, to ensure the quality of published materials and to maintain proper documentation. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for ensuring that the scholarly materials published in the journal comply with the internationally accepted ethical norms recommended by COPE.
The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board evaluate manuscripts solely on their merits.
The Editorial Board ensures that the review process is conducted in such a way that the identity of all contributors is protected in accordance with the requirements of the double anonymous peer-review procedure.
The Editorial Board selects articles for publication based on their quality and suitability for the journal and without foreign interference. The editorial board examines the submitted articles entirely on the basis of their compliance with the IBSCT profile and their academic quality. Commercial considerations do not influence its decisions. The Editorial Board's take decisions without regard to the authors’ gender, nationality, citizenship, academic or institutional position, religious affiliation, political or sexual orientation. Avoiding conflicts of interest is a guiding principle for the Editorial Board, as well as for authors and reviewers. The Editorial Board publishes and regularly updates guidelines for reviewers regarding their role.
Duties of reviewers
Reviewers are expected to evaluate the texts they have agreed to review in accordance with the highest academic standards in their field of expertise, to declare any potential conflict of interest that might affect their review, to decline to review manuscripts that they are not competent to review, and to report in their reviews any kind of academic misconduct noticed, including errors, inaccuracies, missing important references, plagiarism or others. Reviewers are not allowed to use ideas or any part of the reviewed text in their own research before the text is published.
Obligations of authors
All submitted texts must be the result of original research that has not been published or submitted to other publishers. Submitting a manuscript to more than one publisher at the same time is considered unethical and unacceptable behaviour.
Only individuals with significant contributions to the concept, acquisition of data, analysis, interpretation of the study, elaborating of the manuscript, its critical evaluation of intellectual content, or participants in the finalization of the text and its submission for publication should be credited authors, as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content of the text.
Authors must ensure that they have written and submitted entirely original texts and that they have correctly indicated all sources used and/or quotes from other authors. Plagiarism in all its forms is viewed as unethical and unacceptable behaviour. Authors should also report any conflicts of interest (including financial) that could affect the results or their interpretation in the text.
Authors must present accurate information about the presented work and results, as well as an objective justification of their significance. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to allow others to use the methodology and results. Misleading or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Authors are required to participate in the evaluation process and respond promptly to editors' inquiries regarding primary data, text clarifications, or copyright. Authors should respond promptly to reviewers' comments. They have to correct and resubmit their text after considering the comments and guidelines provided if any.
If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own text, it is their responsibility to immediately notify the editors or publisher and cooperate with them to correct or, if necessary, withdraw the text. If a third party reports that the published text contains a significant error or inaccuracy, it is the responsibility of the authors to immediately correct or withdraw the manuscript or provide the editors with evidence of the correctness of their text.
Evaluation and publication procedure
Journals
- The articles are reviewed anonymously by at least two Bulgarian or foreign experts in the relevant field and period, who are not part of the journal's editorial team. Exceptions are made for invited articles and for book reviews, which are subject to direct editorial evaluation only. No honoraria or fees are provided to authors and reviewers.
- The reviewers fill out a form in which they recommend one of the following options: that the article be accepted; the article to be accepted after revision taking into account the recommendations and resubmission; the article to be rejected.
- In case of serious disagreement between the two reviewers, the article is sent to a third reviewer.
- When the article needs significant changes and resubmission, it is sent after revision for approval to the same reviewers.
- The reviewers' recommendations determine the editorial board's decision to publish the article. Leading criteria for publication of a given text are its relevance to the thematic and chronological scope of the journal; its contribution to the relevant scientific field; its relevance and high academic standards.
- After the approval of the Editorial Board, the author is informed about the period of publication.
- Authors receive their article in an electronic version and a paper copy of the full issue of the journal. They are not allowed to publish their article on the Internet in any form.
Monographs, series and collected volumes
A leading criterion for the publication of monographs, series and collected volumes is their compliance with the problematic of the IBSCT and their scientific contribution to the enrichment of academic knowledge. Each volume proposed for publication goes through two levels of evaluation.
- Peer review by two habilitated scholars who are established specialists in the relevant field. Their nationality is irrelevant. If the two reviews differ substantially, a third reviewer is appointed, whose opinion is final.
- If the reviewers recommend the book for publication, the Scientific Council of IBSCT takes the final decision.
Guidelines for Authors
Journals
Manuscripts (received by e-mail) should contain keywords and a brief abstract in English. For more information, see the journal homepage.
Monographs, series and collected volumes
Authors of monographs and editorial boards of series and collected volumes adhere to established requirements for preparing texts for publication, which include formatting, citation style, standard of illustrations, and clarified copyright.