The periodical accepts only original, primary articles that have not been published in print or online before. Republication in Slavica is not allowed. Manuscripts sent in are first scrutinised by the leaders of the different sections. Before the reviewing process, each of them is checked for plagiarism. The original works sent in by contributors are assessed by the editorial board via a double-blind peer review system and judged by uniform criteria (see Peer Review Evaluation Form).

Review process

Competent reviewers (two well-known highly qualified experts of authority in the given field) are invited by the leaders of the sections with the approval of the editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief is responsible for avoiding conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers. If their opinions differ, a third reviewer is drawn into the process, which is terminated by May 15. Non-objective reviews will not be taken into account and will not be transmitted to the author. Articles will be treated confidentiall by the editorial board until the publication is accepted. The editor may also invite a stylistic proofreader if necessary. The deadline for proofreading the text is May 31. The decision to accept or refuse publication is jointly taken by the editor and the leader of the section. The metadata of contributions accepted for publication (author, title, abstract, key words) and their preprint version appear on the homepage of the periodical. Refused articles will not be stored. Publication can be denied if the work fails the plagiarism test, if any of the viewpoints evaluated has scored zero or 1, if the amount of correct scores does not reach 60% of the possible 40 (24 points), or if the submitted manuscript fails to meet the formatting requirements. The editor informs the author about the decision and attaches the scores given by the reviewers.

After approval of the final version, the Editor-in-Chief concludes a publishing agreement with the authors (see Contract Template). The signed agreements are retained by the Editor-in-Chief. Deadline for submission of contracts: June 30.

Section editors determine the final order of articles within each section, and the technical editor performs typesetting and compiles the individual articles into a complete volume. Deadline: August 1.

The first proofreading of the typeset sections is carried out by the section editors, while the final proofreading of the entire volume is performed by the Editor-in-Chief, who also approves its publication on the OJS 3.4 platform. Deadline: August 15.

Regulation on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies in Manuscript Preparation

For Authors

Authors preparing manuscripts for Slavica may use generative artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence-assisted technologies as supportive tools. However, these tools must never be used as substitutes for human critical thinking, expertise, and evaluation. AI tools must always be applied under human supervision and control.

Authors are responsible and accountable for the content of their work. This includes accountability for the following:

• Careful review and verification of the accuracy, completeness, and impartiality of all AI-generated outputs (including the verification of sources, as AI-generated references may be incorrect or fabricated).
• Thorough editing and adaptation of all materials to ensure that the manuscript represents the author’s authentic and original contribution, and reflects their own analyses, interpretations, insights, and ideas.
• Ensuring that any tools or resources used—whether artificial intelligence-based or otherwise—are clearly and transparently disclosed to readers.
• Ensuring that the manuscript is prepared in compliance with data protection, intellectual property, and other legal rights, including verification of the terms of use of any AI tools employed.
• Statement: upon submission of the manuscript, authors must provide a separate AI disclosure statement specifying the AI tools used in the preparation of the manuscript; this statement will also appear in the published work. Authors must document the use of AI, including the name of the AI tool, the purpose of its use, and the degree of human oversight (see: Sample Statement for Authors on the Use of AI). Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not require disclosure. Any use of AI within the research process must be declared and described in detail in the “Methods” section.
• Authorship: authors must not list AI tools as authors or co-authors, nor cite AI tools as authors. Authorship entails responsibilities and duties that can only be attributed to and performed by humans.

The use of generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools for the creation or modification of images contained in submitted manuscripts is not permitted.

For Reviewers

For Editors

• Submitted manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents. Editors must not upload the submitted manuscript or any part there of into any generative artificial intelligence tool, as this may violate the authors’ rights to confidentiality and intellectual property, and—if the article contains personally identifiable information—may also infringe data protection rights.
• This obligation of confidentiality extends to all communications related to the manuscript, including notification and decision letters, as these may contain confidential information about the manuscript and/or the authors.
• The management of the editorial evaluation of a scholarly manuscript entails responsibilities that can only be borne by humans. Editors must not use generative artificial intelligence or artificial intelligence-assisted technologies to support the evaluation or decision-making process regarding a manuscript, as the critical thinking and original assessment required for this task fall outside the scope of such technologies, and there is a risk that they may produce incorrect, incomplete, or biased conclusions about the manuscript. The editor is responsible for the editorial process, the final decision, and the communication of that decision to the authors.

Sample Statement for Authors on the Use of AI

Upon submission of the manuscript, the author must include one of the following two types of statements at the end of the article:

• “During the preparation of this study, I used an artificial intelligence-based tool (type: …) for the preparation of the following section(s): (……..). The content generated by the tool was reviewed and, where necessary, revised by me, and I take full responsibility for the final manuscript.”
• “I declare that no artificial intelligence-based tool was used in the preparation of this study.”