Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice
Submissions:

Stratum plus journal and collections of scientific articles
monographs, textbooks

Technical Requirements

Stratum Academic Publishing House is an international project of the High Anthropological School University. It was founded in 1999 by a group of archaeologists, historians and anthropologists, fellows of the university and its international partners.
From its beginnings, this academic publisher positioned itself as an international and supranational project aiming at promotion and development of research in archaeology, history and cultural anthropology through publication of high-quality research papers. 

The main and leading project was and still remains a well-known today international scientific journal Stratum plus, with editorial boards set in four cities: Saint Petersburg (Russia), Kishinev (Moldova), Odessa (Ukraine) and Bucharest (Romania).

Through this publishing initiative more than 90 volumes of the journal were issued, 12 collections of research articles, 13 monographs and 10 university textbooks.

Stratum initiated the following publishing projects:

Archaelogical Records of Eastern Europe series
Stratum Library series

Each title is produced in close cooperation between the author and scientific and technical experts. The level of experts, the professional environment, high publishing standards assure quality, deadlines and visibility in the academic world. Our titles are present in leading libraries of western and post-Soviet countries, international scientometric databases and in collections of many international booksellers.
Stratum prioritizes high level of publications, compliance with international standards and ethics of scientific publications.

This page presents some basic principles of the publisher’s policy and procedures for submissions. Compliance with these norms allows to manage the quality of publications and maintain the reputation of the publisher and the author in the scientific world.

PUBLICATION ETHICS & PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE

Stratum Publishing House is strongly against any form of unethical behavior or plagiarism. To prevent any such malpractices is one of our most important responsibilities. We accept and behave in accordance with the codes of conduct and international standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which can be accessed free of charge on its website (http://publicationethics.org).

Please draw your attention to the following ethical norms promoted by Stratum Publishing House:

• We do not publish information about material which is suspected as looted.
• We accept only original submissions that have not been published elsewhere. The author shall inform the editors if the same manuscript is being considered for publication elsewhere, or if a different version of the same is in press. As well, the author shall inform the editor where this manuscript has been already published. You will need to confirm the fact that your submission has not been yet published anywhere when filling in the Declaration&Submission Form.
• The editorial board draws your attention to the fact that any submitted material or publication to be reviewed are strongly confidential. Neither the board, nor the editors, nor the peer-reviewers shall use any unpublished material for personal or any other purposes. You may learn about submission rules, processing and reviewing procedures in the respective sections below.
• We insistently ask you to inform us about any sources of funding to your research, to avoid any possible conflict.
• Authorship shall concern only those individuals who made a significant contribution towards development of the concept, drafting, implementation and interpretation of the submitted research. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. The author shall assure that the list of co-authors includes all important contributors and excludes anyone uninvolved. Also, the author shall take care that all co-authors approve the final version of the manuscript and agreed to submit it for publication.
• We urge all authors to observe scholarly ethics in your papers that contain critics to your colleagues. Otherwise, the editors shall reserve the right to reject any such submission or correct its style.
• While reviewing, the Stratum Publishing House’s main concern is whether the academic value, clarity of narration and adherence to academic ethics is observed in these submissions. We ensure that all received manuscripts shall be treated without regard to sex, gender, age, race, religion, citizenship, etc. of the author.

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SUBMISSIONS

Before submitting their proposals, the authors are asked to familiarize with the publisher’s ethics, technical requirements and terms of publication.
For articles submitted to the journal or a collection of articles, the Declaration&Submission Form is a default agreement with the author.
Basic terms of publication and the framework of the author-publisher relations are always accessible here: https://www.e-anthropology.com/English/Contribute/default.aspx
For proposals of monographs, the terms of author-publisher relations concerning copyright, author’s fee and distribution terms (of both printed and electronic version) shall be agreed individually and documented in a contract; however, the author shall confirm some basic terms of publication through a Declaration&Submission Form submitted to the publisher.

Declaration&Submission Form for the contributors to Stratum plus journal
Declaration&Submission Form for the contributors to collections of articles
Declaration&Submission Form for the authors of monographs / textbooks

The Declaration&Submission Form is binding and documents the author’s consent with basic requirements and terms of publication. The terms and conditions for publication of articles in the journal / collection of articles shall be accepted under a public offer agreement and are always accessible at: https://www.e-anthropology.com/English/Contribute/default.aspx 
Author-publisher relations in this case shall be regulated by the following provisions: https://www.e-anthropology.com/English/Contribute/default.aspx#relations
Monographs share the same basic requirements to design and publication terms, with the exception of relations between the author and the publisher, where each case will be addressed individually.
Submissions unaccompanied by Declaration&Subsmission Form shall not be considered.

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PROCEDURES FOR SUBMISSIONS
Stratum plus journal and collections of scientific articles

1. You will be informed that your submission has been received (usually by email).
2. Within a month, the editors will inform you on whether your submission is accepted or not (with due explanations in the latter case, based on reviewers’ assessments), or whether it requires certain improvements.
3. The editors shall reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet the requirements or the subjects of the journal / collections of scientific articles.
4. You will receive a proof (in .pdf format) of your paper for endorsement. Please note that only such amendments shall be accepted at this stage, which do not make any major changes to the layout.
5. Once your submission has been accepted for publication, no further additions or changes are admitted.
6. The submission date is the date when the final version of your paper is approved for publication by the editor.
7. In some cases a publication may be postponed due to the overflow of submissions to the respective volume.

PROCEDURES FOR BOOK MANUSCRIPTS
monographs, textbooks

1. The authors shall receive a confirmation upon submission of their manuscript (usually by email).
2. Editor’s choice and initial evaluation of research.
The publisher shall determine the most relevant editor to review the application. While considering the application, the editor shall focus on the book’s compliance with the publisher’s profile, scientific standards, relevance and feasibility of its publication and its competition with earlier published books. In case of a positive evaluation, the editor accepts the manuscript for publication and passes it to the reviewers. If the submission is rejected, the editor shall provide a reasonable explanation thereof.
3. Independent reviewing
Should the editor decide positively, we send the manuscript to recognized experts in the respective field to obtain their independent review, as well as their recommendations to the content, quality and relevance of the book in the scientific world. As a rule, the reviewing process can take from one to two months, and sometimes it requires more time. Our final decision is usually based on two to four reviews. The reviewing procedure is the same as the procedure adopted for Stratum plus journal.
4. In case of positive recommendations from the editor and the reviewers, the publisher makes a decision on feasibility of such publication and undertakes a market survey and prepares a draft budget.
5. In case of a positive decision we shall offer a draft contract to the author, which shall stipulate all terms and conditions for publication of the book, relationships between the publisher and the author, distribution terms. The author shall also sign the contract, mentioning clear deadlines required to complete the manuscript. Thereafter, the technical department of the publisher shall closely collaborate with the author to prepare the manuscript for print. After its printing we shall care about its promotion.
6. After the manuscript is accepted for print, no significant additions or modifications shall be allowed.
If you wish to submit or if you have any questions or clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact: [email protected]

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TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Technical requirements to the text of the monographs shall be the same as for the articles. You may learn more about them here: https://www.e-anthropology.com/English/Contribute/default.aspx#technical 
Size, format and structure of the book and form of illustrations shall be agreed individually.