About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies (ISSN 2003-0924, Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University / Centre for the Research of the Imaginary "Speculum", "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia / University of Granada / Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest) publishes studies about Romanian language, literature, theatre and film, cultural studies, anthropology, history, translation studies, education as well as research seminars and reviews of works within these fields. It welcomes articles that focus on case studies, as well as methodological and/or theoretical issues.

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies is a new forum for scholars that sets and requires international high quality standards. The journal accepts papers written in Romanian or English, as well as in French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is an annual publication, a periodical publication appearing regularly once per year, on May, 15th.

Peer Review Process

SJRS has a two stage reviewing process. In the first stage, the articles and studies submitted for publication need to pass the scrutiny of the members of the editorial committee. The studies accepted in this stage are then undergoing a double blind review procedure. The editorial committee removes all information concerning the author and invites external scholars (whose comments are paramount for the decision of accepting for publication or not) to act as anonymous reviewers of the material. Neither the identity of the author, nor that of the reviewer is disclosed. The comments and recommendations of the anonymous reviewers are transmitted to the authors. The reviewers are independent of the authors, i.e. not affiliated with the same institution. 

The manuscripts must not have been previously published or currently submitted for publication elsewhere. The evaluation of the papers will be done with respect to: the subject’s relevance for the research field, the originality of ideas, methodology and structural organization and clarity.

The estimated time of manuscript processing (since the moment of sending the manuscript by the author till its publication): 150 days.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Indexation

SJRS is covered by SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, DOAJ, CEEOL, Index Copernicus, Ulrichsweb : Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, MLA Directory of Periodicals, and indexation is currently in progress in several other International Databases (such as Web of Science / Clarivate Analytics, ProQuest, etc.).

Article processing charges (APCs)

SJRS has no article processing charges (APCs).

Article submission charges

SJRS has no article submission charges.

Copyright and license

Authors retain copyright, retain publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-NC 4.0 (CC BY-NC : CC Attribution-NonComercial 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Archiving policy

PKP PN is the long-term preservation service(s) where the journal is currently archived. The PKP PN plugin will deposit your published content into the PKP Preservation Network.

Repository policy

Authors may deposit a copy of their paper on the publisher’s own site.

This policy is with regard to the different versions of the paper:

• Submitted version
• Accepted version (Author Accepted Manuscript)
• Published version (Version of Record)

I4OC standards for open citations

The journal complies with I4OC standards for open citations: citations are structured, separable, and open.

Publication ethics and malpractice statement

Only articles that have not previously been published, and are not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere are to be submitted. All articles will undergo rigorous peer-review, upon prior editor screening and anonymous refereeing done by at two scholars in the field.

Authors, as well as the Editors and the Peer Reviewers are required to abide by standards of expected ethical behavior, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct guidelines, available at: http://publicationethics.org. Any instance of author insincerity/dishonesty will automatically result in rejection of the manuscript. Should it be discovered, after a work is published in SJRS, that any author had breached the honesty agreement, their papers will be retracted, and due legal action will be taken against them.

Original research reports should provide an accurate account of the work carried out as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data needs to be represented accurately in the paper, with sufficient detail and references to allow for replication. Fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements represent unethical behavior and are inadmissible. The same rules apply to review and professional publication articles, and editorial "opinion" works have to be declared as such.

Should the research resort to chemicals, procedures or equipment with any unusual hazards, contributors are required to clearly state these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines. Authors have to include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. Observance of the privacy rights of human subjects is compulsory.

In the case of research on patients or volunteers authors must obtain the ethics committee’s approval and informed consent, which should be documented as such. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases are to be obtained if an author wishes to include case studies or other personal information or images of patients or volunteers. Authors must keep written consents and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been procured must be provided to SJRS upon request.

In the case of research on children, especially children with special needs or learning disabilities, or where an individual’s head or face appears, or if reference is made to an individual’s name or other personal details particular care should be taken with obtaining consent.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material in which they do not own copyright, to be used in both print and electronic media, and for ensuring that the appropriate acknowledgements are included in their manuscript.

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies - SJRS promotes a policy of non-plagiarism and expects all contributors to understand and abide by the international rules of academic conduct and integrity. All authors submitting papers for publication will have understood the SJRS rules on plagiarism, thereby taking upon themselves that the submitted work is the result of their own independent academic undertaking and research, and that in all cases, material from the work of other people (published in books, articles, essays, dissertations, etc. and on the Internet) is acknowledged, and quotations and paraphrases are clearly indicated, according to the author guidelines required by SJRS. Authors agree that no material other than that mentioned in the bibliography (in-text and end-of-text) has been used, and that their written work has not previously or not yet been published in other journal (in written or electronic format).

Plagiarizers, fraudsters, self-plagiarizers, and other insincere authors (e.g., those who make double/parallel submissions--submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal) will be black-listed and will not get another chance to be ever considered for publication. 

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the submitted manuscript. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. All co-authors must be clearly indicated at the time of first submission. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to duly notify the journal’s editors and cooperate with them to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate correction statement or erratum.

Any request to add, delete or rearrange author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts must be made before the accepted manuscript is published. Such requests should be sent by the corresponding author to the editors and must include the reason for the request and a written confirmation from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. The publication of the accepted manuscript will be suspended until authorship has been agreed between all involved parties.

Throughout the process of paper evaluation and publication, all communication is made ONLY through corresponding authors.

Policy: Conflict of Interest for Editors and Reviewers

Purpose:

To describe the policy and practice for management of editor and reviewer conflicts of interest involving Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies.

Policy:

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies believes that all editorial board members, consulting editors and reviewers acting on behalf of Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies have a fiduciary duty to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies. A conflict of interest may occur when an editorial board member or reviewer has personal or outside financial, business, professional interests or other responsibilities that conflict with their duties to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies, including decisions and reviews of manuscripts submitted to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies. Editorial board members and reviewers are required to declare to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies any actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Practice:

1. Definitions
   
   a. Conflict of Interest: Any situation or transaction in which a person has a direct or indirect interest such that he/she may realize a personal benefit from the situation or transaction. This includes decisions to publish or not publish a manuscript.
   
   b. Financial conflict of interest includes more than nominal compensation from an entity that has a financial interest or stake in the subject of a publication or other activity of Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies. Nominal in value means no more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00). Direct interest includes ownership by you or a member of your immediate family, or an investment in a concept, product or another party developing those concepts or products. Indirect interests involve consulting or accepting any type of compensation for work involving the concept or product or any company involved in the concept or product. Indirect interest also includes receipt of external funding or grants from either commercial or governmental or nonprofit funding agencies.
   
   c. Non-financial conflict of interest includes personal (friendship, family members, co-workers, political, religious), and intellectual (competing research, fiduciary responsibilities) interests that would make a reasonable reader, author, reviewer or editor feel misled or deceived if not disclosed. These include friendship with an author, interest in competing organizations, competing research interests, or political beliefs or religious beliefs that could be perceived by a reasonable reader of Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies to interfere with your objectivity.
2. Procedures:
   
   a. Annually, members of the editorial board will provide information regarding their potential conflicts of interest. This will include at a minimum financial conflicts of interest as defined above.
   
   b. Reviewers assessing a manuscript for Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies will answer the following questions regarding that manuscript:
   i. Indicate whether there are financial competing interests, either direct or indirect.
   ii. Indicate whether there are personal competing interests.
   iii. Indicate whether there are intellectual or fiduciary conflicts.
   
   c. Evaluation
   i. Each real or potential conflict of interest of a reviewer will be evaluated by the decision editor for the manuscript involved, assuming the decision editor does not have a conflict of interest.
   ii. The decision editor may decide this potential conflict does not eliminate the value of the reviewer's opinion, and proceed, or choose another reviewer. This decision will be reported to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies staff for record keeping.
   iii. Each decision editor is expected to notify a deputy editor or the editor in chief if they have any potential conflict on a manuscript they are supervising.
   iv. Each real or potential conflict of interest of a decision editor will be evaluated by the editor in chief or his designate, and their decision reported to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies staff for record keeping.
   
   d. Actions
   i. Whenever a real or potential conflict of interest is declared, the evaluator will provide in writing a decision regarding the conflict.
   ii. If a direct financial interest has been declared, the individual will typically be recused from participation in the refereeing of the manuscript involved.
   iii. Lesser conflicts involving reviewers will be resolved at the discretion of the supervising editor. Conflicts involving a decision editor will be resolved by a deputy editor or the editor in chief.
   iv. Permanent records will be kept of all potential conflicts of interest and the decisions as to how to handle them.
   
   e. Complaints
   A complaint regarding potential conflict of interest of a reviewer will be referred to the decision editor of that paper, who will review the circumstances and send a written assessment of the merits of the complaint to the editor in chief.

A complaint regarding potential conflict of interest of an editor will be referred to the supervising deputy editor, who will review the circumstances and send a written assessment of the merits of the complaint to the editor in chief. The editor in chief will make a final decision on management of the conflict and a written summary will be sent to Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies staff for record keeping.

Corrections, retractions and updates after publication

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies journal article correction and retraction policy

Sometimes after an article has been published it may be necessary to make a change to the Version of Record. This change will be made after careful consideration by the journal’s editorial team, with support from the publisher staff to make sure any necessary changes are done in accordance with both the publisher’s policies and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Aside from cases where a minor error is concerned, any necessary changes will be accompanied by a post-publication notice, which will be permanently linked to the original article. These changes can be in the form of a Correction notice, an Expression of Concern, a Retraction, and in rare circumstances, a Removal.

The purpose of linking post-publication notices to the original article is to provide transparency around any changes and to ensure the integrity of the scholarly record. Note that all post-publication notices are free to access from the point of publication.

Read on for our full policy on corrections, retractions, and updates to published articles.

Version of Record

Each article published by Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies constitutes the Version of Record (VoR): the final, definitive, and citable version in the scholarly record.

The VoR includes:

1. The article revised and accepted following peer review, in its final form, including the abstract, text, references, bibliography, and all accompanying tables, illustrations, data.
2. Any supplemental material.

Recognizing a published article as the VoR helps to provide further assurance that it is accurate, complete, and citable. Wherever possible it is our policy to maintain the integrity of the VoR in accordance with STM Association guidelines: “Articles that have been published as the version-of-record should remain extant, exact, and unaltered to the maximum extent possible”.

What should I do if my article contains an error?

Authors should notify us as soon as possible if they find errors in their published article, especially errors that could affect the interpretation of data or reliability of information presented. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure consensus has been reached between all listed co-authors prior to requesting any corrections to an article.

If, after reading the guidance, you believe a correction is necessary for your article, please contact the journal’s Editor-in-Chief.

Post-publication notices to ensure the accuracy of the scholarly record

Correction notice

A Correction notice will be issued when it is necessary to correct an error or omission, where the interpretation of the article may be impacted but the scholarly integrity or original findings remains intact.

A correction notice, where possible, should always be written and approved by all authors of the original article. On very rare occasions where there is a need to correct an error made in the publication process, the journal may be required to issue a correction without the authors’ direct input. However, should this occur, the journal will make best efforts to notify the authors.

Please note that correction requests may be subject to full review, and if queries are raised, you may be expected to supply further information before the correction is approved.

Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies distinguishes between major and minor errors. For correction notices, major errors or omissions are considered changes that impact the interpretation of the article, but the overall scholarly integrity remains intact. Minor errors are considered errors or omissions that do not impact the reliability of, or the readers’ understanding of, the interpretation of the article.

Major errors are always accompanied by a separate correction notice. The correction notice should provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the Version of Record. Under these circumstances, Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies will:

• Correct the online article.
• Issue a separate correction notice electronically linked back to the corrected version.
• Add a footnote to the article displaying the electronic link to the correction notice.
• Paginate and make available the correction notice in the online issue of the journal.
• Make the correction notice free to view.

Minor errors may not be accompanied by a separate correction notice. Instead, a footnote will be added to the article detailing to the reader that the article has been corrected.

Concerns regarding the integrity of a published article should be raised via email to the Editor or via the Publisher.

Retractions

A Retraction will be issued where a major error (e.g., in the methods or analysis) invalidates the conclusions in the article, or where it appears research or publication misconduct has taken place (e.g., research without required ethical approvals, fabricated data, manipulated images, plagiarism, duplicate publication, etc.).

The decision to retract an article will be made in accordance with both Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies policies and COPE guidelines. The decision will follow a full investigation by the publisher’s editorial staff in collaboration with the journal’s editorial team. Authors and institutions may request a retraction of their articles if they believe their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.

Retractions are issued to correct the scholarly record and should not be interpreted as punishments for the authors.

Retraction will be considered in cases where:

• There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication or image manipulation) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
• The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper referencing, permission, or justification (e.g., cases of redundant or duplicate publication).
• The research constitutes plagiarism.
• The Editor no longer has confidence in the validity or integrity of the article.
• There is evidence or concerns of authorship for sale.
• Citation manipulation is evident within the published paper
• There is evidence of compromised peer review or systematic manipulation.
• There is evidence of unethical research, or there is evidence of a breach of editorial policies.
• The authors have deliberately submitted fraudulent or inaccurate information, or breached a warranty provided in the Author Publishing Agreement (APA).

Where the decision has been taken to retract an article, Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies will:

• Add a “retracted” watermark to the published Version of Record of the article.
• Issue a separate retraction statement, titled ‘Retraction: [article title]’, that will be linked to the retracted article on Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies
• Paginate and make available the retraction statement in the online issue of the journal.

Expressions of concern

In some cases, an Expression of Concern may be considered where concerns of a serious nature have been raised (e.g., research or publication misconduct), but where the outcome of the investigation is inconclusive or where due to various complexities, the investigation will not be completed for a considerable time. This could be due to ongoing institutional investigations or other circumstances outside of the journal’s control.

When the investigation has been completed, a Retraction or Correction notice may follow the Expression of Concern alongside the original article. All will remain part of the permanent publication record.

Expressions of Concern notices will be considered in cases where:

• There is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors, but the nature of the concerns warrants notifying the readers.
• There are well-founded concerns that the findings are unreliable or that misconduct may have occurred, but there is limited cooperation from the authors’ institution(s) in investigating the concerns raised.
• There is an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication that has not been, or would not be, fair and impartial or conclusive.
• An investigation is underway, but a resolution will not be available for a considerable time, and the nature of the concerns warrant notifying the readers.

The Expression of Concern will be linked back to the published article it relates to.

Article removal

An Article Removal will be issued in rare circumstances where the problems cannot be addressed through a Retraction or Correction notice. Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies will consider removal of a published article in very limited circumstances where:

• The article contains content that could pose a serious risk of harm if acted upon or followed.
• The article contains content which violates the rights to privacy of a study participant.
• The article is defamatory or infringes other legal rights.
• An article is subject to a court order.

In the case of an article being removed from Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies, a removal notice will be issued in its place.