Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
ARS is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by the Art Research Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Art History since 1967. The journal aims to be the publishing platform for research in the history of visual arts and architecture in Central Europe and their European context from the early Middle Ages to the present.
ARS is an open access journal with freely available content without charge to the user or institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any research, non-commercial purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. The open access is available under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.
ARS journal does not tolerate plagiarism in any form or any unethical behaviour. Authors submitting articles to the journal affirm that manuscript contents are original. Furthermore, they warrant that their article has neither been published elsewhere in any language wholly or partly nor is it under review for publication anywhere.
Under the leadership of the Editor-in-Chief, the editorial board takes the monitoring of publishing ethics very seriously as a significant aspect of the editorial and peer-review process. The editors and publisher are committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. All involved in the process, i.e. the author, the journal editor(s), publisher, and the peer-reviewers, are obliged to meet expected ethical standards at all stages in their involvement from submission to publication of an article. Concerning the highest standards of quality, the ARS journal follows the publication ethics and malpractice prevention principles. In addition, it upholds ethical behaviour and best practices regarding core practices developed by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The following duties outlined are obligatory for authors, reviewers, editors and publisher:
Duties and Responsibility of Authors
Reporting Standards / Authors must respect the guidelines and citation standards of the ARS journal listed in the Guidelines for Authors section. In addition, the quality and scope of the paper must meet the criteria and level of scientific work in the relevant category of Studies or Materials. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism / Plagiarism or deliberate publication of false or misleading information is in gross conflict with the publishing ethics of ARS journal. The authors undertake that the submitted paper is their original work, has not yet been published, or is not in the review process in another journal. Authors should be aware of and correctly cite or quote publications that are relevant to the research work.
Authorship / The authors are responsible for the correct listing of all co-authors of the paper. Authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and share collective responsibility and accountability for the results. If others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
Data Access and Retention / Authors may be asked to provide raw data regarding their manuscript and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication / Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper. If a text has already been published, a thorough revision and/or supplementation is required. The revised and/or supplemented text must include a reference to the original contribution and an emphasis on further contribution to knowledge.
Acknowledgement of Sources / Authors should acknowledge all sources of data used in the research and cite publications that have been influential in research work. In addition, authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the author’s explicit written permission of the work involved in these services.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest / All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, grants, or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible. Readers should be informed about funding sources of the research and the funders‘ role in the research. Authors must state in the text of the manuscript their affiliation (workplace).
Fundamental Errors in Published Works / If the author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in the submitted manuscript at any point in time, then the error or inaccuracy must be reported to the editor.
Peer-review Process / Authors are obliged to participate in the review process and cooperate with the editors in possible corrections of contributions.
Copyright and Licenses / By submitting their manuscripts to the editors of ARS journal, the authors grant permittion for publishing their articles in ARS without restrictions. The authors hold copyright to their manuscripts published in ARS journal.
Publication Fee / There is no publication fee for the manuscript processing in the ARS Journal.
Duties and Responsibility of the Editors and Publisher
Editorial Board / The members of Editorial and Advisory Boards are recognized experts in their fields. The contact information for the editor’s and Publisher’s Office is on the journal website, section Contact.
Publication Decisions / The editors of Ars journal may accept, reject or request modifications to the contributions offered to the journal for publication. The editors are guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Review of Manuscripts / After delivery of the paper in Slovak, English, or German, the content and formal aspects of the manuscript will be assessed. The manuscript is initially evaluated by the editor/co-editor to examine the originality of the contents. If plagiarism is detected, the paper is rejected from publication. The manuscript is further sent to two reviewers for double-blind peer review (
Fair Play / Manuscripts shall be reviewed to their scientific and intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality / Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. The editor in chief must ensure that information regarding manuscripts submitted by the authors is kept confidential. The relationship between authors and reviewers is anonymous on both sides.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest / If both reviews are positive, the text is accepted for publication. If one is positive and the other is negative, the authors are invited by the editors to finalize their text following the reviewer’s comments. If both reviews are negative, the manuscript is rejected. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in his/her research without the author’s express written consent.
Archiving and Open Access / The editors ensure digital preservation of open access to the journal content on the journal website, the complete archive since 1967 is available in the section OPEN ACCESS / JOURNAL ISSUES. Based on the Slovak publishing regulations on permanent and compulsory availability of all printed issues of scientific journals, all the printed issues of ARS journal are available in 12 most important scientific libraries in Slovakia.
Publication Fee / There is no publication fee for a published manuscript.
Website / The editors ensure that the journal website, including its text, demonstrates that care has been taken to ensure high ethical and professional standards.
Publishing Schedule / ARS journal is published twice a year by the Art Research Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Art History.
Licensing Terms / The ARS journal content is freely available in open access under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license
Duties and Responsibility of Reviewers
Confidentiality / The review procedure shall be anonymous and confidential. Any manuscript received for review must be treated as a confidential document, not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editors. The author’s anonymity is ensured by removing from the text everything that could indicate authorship (name, other personal data, etc.).
Promptness / Accepted manuscripts are sent to two reviewers who come from different institutions than the author and are experts in the field. Reviewers are obliged to submit their opinions to the editors within the set deadline. The manuscript review period in the ARS journal is up to 12 weeks. If a reviewer cannot complete the review of the manuscript within the set time, it must be communicated to the editor to be sent to any other reviewer.
Standards of Objectivity / Reviewers are required to maintain the highest degree of objectivity possible when assessing contributions. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Instead, reviewers evaluate the scientific level and contribution of the manuscript, its originality, the method of processing, and the formal level. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources / Reviewers should draw attention to relevant published works cited in the paper Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not mentioned. The appropriate citation should accompany any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported. A reviewer should also call the editor’s attention to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Conflict of Interest / Reviewers are selected and provided by the journal’s editors. Reviewers are required to follow the review process independently of the author. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors.
Contribution to editorial decisions / Peer review is an essential part of formal scientific communication that assists the editors in making editorial decisions. The communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Authors who wish to contribute to publications must do a fair share of reviewing. The final decision on the publication of the manuscript is in the competence of the editors. If the text is received, the editors continue to communicate with the authors in editorial preparation.