Principles of publication

Data a výzkum – SDA Info is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on empirical social research and publishing texts on the application of advanced methods of social data analysis, methodology and review articles about data sources, infrastructures, information technologies and other resources for social research. The Journal is published two times a year in print and electronic versions. Its website is at http://dav.soc.cas.cz.

The Journal is published by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IS). The goal is to create a wide-open scientific periodical of scholarly standards that is able to contribute to the development of social research methodology and to the utilization of social data sources in the Czech Republic. The Journal’s operations are subject to applicable laws and internal regulations of the Academy of Sciences, including the Code of Ethics for Researchers of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The outcomes of its activities are supervised by IS bodies and published in IS Annual Reports.

Editorial work is done by the Czech Social Science Data Archive at the IS (CSDA) in collaboration with the IS Press and Publications Department. The Editorial Board comprised of important experts from empirical social sciences supervises the Journal’s quality and makes sure it conforms to the standards of scientific work. It has at least seven members, a majority of whom shall not be internal employees. The Editorial Board formulates opinions about the Journal’s strategy and orientation, discusses and approves the contents of individual issues and the publication of individual articles.

The Journal has a peer-reviewed section (original research and review articles) and a non-reviewed section (information, book reviews, non-reviewed review articles). These two sections have their distinct places in the Journal’s layout and are distinguished through formal and graphical elements.

In order to be accepted for peer review, papers should be in line with the Journal’s orientation, be structured as and comply with the standards of academic articles. The Journal strives to ensure impartial double-blind peer review with emphasis on preventing authors’ and reviewers’ conflict of interest. Every manuscript shall be reviewed by at least two independent scholars who are not employed in the same institution as the authors. Editors assigned to the given article shall inform the authors about the course of the peer review process. In the peer review process and in creating the Journal’s content, all editors and the Editorial Board shall prevent the influence of personal interests, the publisher’s interests or the interests of other institutions and shall ensure that only academic and technical respects of the publication are taken into consideration.

The authors are bound by the ethical principles of scientific work and obliged to conform to the following policies:

• Falsification of data and manipulation of results contravenes the principles of scientific work. Authors must be able to document their procedures and answer editors’ questions about data sources and methods applied.
• All sources used must be properly cited and referenced in line with the Copyright Act and ethical rules of scientific work to avoid plagiarism.
• Authorship should be stated adequately to actual contribution to creating the text. Every researcher who contributed substantially and non-trivially is entitled to authorship or co-authorship.
• Only previously unpublished manuscripts can be offered to the peer-reviewed section of the Journal. Texts which are based on (follow, extend) a prior publication of the same author should be justified in terms of novelty. It is considered unethical to offer a paper for publication to several periodicals simultaneously.

Reviewers shall be informed about the basic peer review policies by means of a cover letter. By accepting a text for peer review, they commit to the principle of impartiality and objectiveness and to write their review within an agreed time limit, without undue delay, and if possible within three months of the start of the peer review process. The reviewers shall not disseminate or use the texts submitted for review outside the context of this exercise. The editors shall monitor the quality and impartiality of reviewers’ work and use this feedback in choosing reviewers in future.

If evidence arises that the author of a text under review acted in grave violation of the above principles, the manuscript shall be excluded from publication. If evidence arises that the author of a published text acted in grave violation of the above principles, the text shall be withdrawn from the Journal’s electronic version and a notice about these facts shall be published in the next print issue. The editors shall inform the author about their intent to withdraw a text, state their reasons and ask the author to provide an explanation if he/she does not agree with those reasons. Any explanation received from the author shall be disseminated to members of the Editorial Board along with a motion.