INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS


Authors are expected to:

  1. Read the "Aims &Scope” to gain an overview and assess if the article is suitable for this journal.

  2. Follow the “Paper Guidelines & Original Article Template or Review Article Template” to prepare your manuscript and apply the requirements about text and format, structure, and references.


    Types of Publications

    Articles submitted to IJBS should neither be published previously nor be under consideration for publication in another journal. The main article types are as follows:

    • Original Articles: The journal considers all original research articles, provided they are methodologically sound and contain substantial theoretical, methodological, or empirical contributions to existing literature. The quality and impact of the study will be considered during the peer review process. The standard length of an original article should be 7000 – 9000 words, including references, figures, tables, captions. The use of footnotes should be kept to a minimum.

    • Review Articles: The journal welcomes review articles that provide a current ‘state of the field's’ overview of a particular research interest related to the disciplines that are indicated in the Aims & Scope of the journal. Review articles assess the latest progress made in a given area of research and identify potential avenues for future research. Shorter than original articles, the standard length of a review article should be 5000 – 6000 words, including references. The use of footnotes should be kept to a minimum.

    • Conference Papers: Expanded and high-quality conference papers can be considered as articles if they fulfill the following requirements: (1) the paper should be expanded to the size of a research article, having 7000 – 9000 words, including references, and/or figures, tables and captions. ; (2) Authors are asked to disclose that it is conference paper in their cover letter and include a statement on what has been changed compared to the original conference paper. ; (3) the author(s) should add new material to the prior conference paper, amounting to 40 percent of the text.


Article Preparation

Authors must use the “Paper Guidelines & Original Article Template or Review Article Template” to prepare their manuscript regarding format, structure and references.


Article Submission

Articles for IJBS should be submitted online at www.ijbs.unyt.edu.al through the “Submission Form.” The submitting author, generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the article during the submission and peer review. The submitting author must ensure that all eligible co- authors have been included in the authors’ list and that they have all read and approved the submitted version of the article. Alternatively, the corresponding author can submit the manuscript to the official IJBS’s email: ijbs@unyt.edu.al

English Corrections

Your article must be submitted in grammatically correct English to facilitate proper peer review. If the author is not a native English speaker, we recommend that he/she have the article professionally edited before submission or read by a native English-speaking colleague. Professional editing will enable reviewers and future readers to read and assess the content of submitted articles more easily.


Copyright

As part of the submission process, the authors will be required to warrant that they are submitting their original work, that they have the rights to the work, and that they have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by them.


Honour Code, Plagiarism, and Artificial Intelligence

Authors should know that IJBS checks articles for unoriginal material, verifying plagiarism and AI generated content. By submitting the articles to this journal, the authors consent to originality checks during the editorial process and prior to the peer process. The accepted threshold of the originality check (plagiarism) is 20%. The accepted threshold of the AI generated content including the false positive is 20%. Commitment to ethical professional conduct is expected from every author/researcher. Research work should neither neglect nor discriminate against individuals and groups who may benefit from advances in research


Editors and Journal Staff as Authors

Editorial independence is essential, and Editorial Board members' decisions are independent. Editorial staff or editors shall not be involved in processing their academic work submitted to IJBS. Articles authored by editorial staff/associate editors will be assigned to at least two independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by Editorial Board members who do not have a conflict of interest with the author.


Editorial Process and Peer-Review

Initial Checks

All submitted articles received by the Editorial Office undergo the following steps:

  • Check if the article fits the scope of the journal, i.e., falls within the "Aim & Scope" of IJBS - done by the Chief Editor & respective Associate Editor.

  • Check the format, English editing, and references - done by Managing Editors. Manuscripts should adhere to the format of APA 7th Edition regarding references and in-text citations. Authors who do not follow these instructions and who do not rely on the Original Article Template or Review Article Template to prepare the format and structure of the manuscript may have their manuscripts returned for revision before the formal peer review process.

  • Check for Plagiarism & AI (through Turnitin) - done by Managing Editors.

The managing editors inform the Editor-in-Chief / respective Associate Editor if the article can pass on to the peer review. Articles that do not fit the journal's ethics policy or do not meet its standards of originality will be rejected before peer review, even if they have consistently followed the instructions on the formatting, structuring of the manuscript and referencing. No judgment/evaluation of the article from the scientific/research point of view will be made at this stage.


Peer-Review

Once an article passes the initial checks, it undergoes the peer review process, which includes the following steps:

  • The Editorial Team identifies two reviewers whose areas of expertise are related to the article's research focus. The reviewers may be Editorial Board members of IJBS and/or External Reviewers. Reviewers should not have published with any co-authors during the past five years.

  • The Editorial Office contacts the two reviewers and sends them the anonymized article, also notifying the deadline (usually one month).

  • A double-blind peer-review process is applied, where authors' identities are unknown to reviewers.

    Reviewers feedback

    The reviewer communicates the feedback to the Editorial Team, which will be one of the following:


    Accept after Minor Revisions:

    The article is accepted after revision based on the reviewer’s comments. Authors are given ten (10) days for minor revisions.

    Reconsider after Major Revisions:

    The article's acceptance would depend on the revisions made after the peer review process. The author(s) must address and respond to the comments provided by the reviewers. Usually, only one round of major revisions is allowed. Authors will have one to two months to submit the revised manuscript, which will be returned to the reviewers for further comments.

    Reject:

    The article has serious flaws and/or makes no original significant contribution. No offer of resubmission to the journal is provided.


    Editorial Decision

    After the peer review, the last stage includes the following steps:

  • The Editorial Office sends the reviewers’ feedback to the author and asks him/her to revise the article. The author should respond to all reviewers’ comments point-by-point. Where the authors disagree with a reviewer, they must react clearly.

  • The author must re-submit the article within the required deadline.

  • After the re-submission, the Editorial Team checks if the reviewers’ comments have been addressed. If yes, it is accepted for publication. If not, it is rejected, and the author is notified of the reason.


    • Author Appeals

    Authors may appeal a rejection by sending an e-mail to the Editorial Office. The appeal must provide a detailed justification, including point-by-point responses to the reviewers' comments. The Assistant Editor will forward the article and related information to the Editor-in-Chief, who discusses it with the Editorial Board. The academic Editor being consulted will be asked to give an advisory recommendation on the article and may recommend acceptance, further peer review, or uphold the original rejection decision. A reject decision at this stage is final and cannot be reversed.


    Publication Charges

    There are no submission fees, publication fees, or page charges for the International Journal of Balkan Studies.


    Production and Publication

    Once accepted, the article will undergo final corrections, pagination, etc. It will be published in the respective issue in two forms: online on the IJBS website, www.ijbs.unyt.edu.al, and in printed copies. The author is entitled to a copy of the journal in which the article is published.