Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1969. It focuses on the inquiry into philosophical and methodological principles of scientific knowledge. It traces the interrelationship of science, technology, and society; the problems of the historical development of science and knowledge; and the interdisciplinary relations across and within Humanities, Social, Natural, and Life Sciences. Public relevance of science is also addressed. The journal publishes original research articles in Czech and English languages. Unsolicited book reviews are typically in Czech. Currently, the journal is listed in databases Scopus, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, CEJSH.

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is published by the Insitute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Centre for Science, Technology, and Society Studies). Since 2017, it is published twice a year.

Since 2019, the journal provides open access to its content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

ISSN 1210-0250 (Print) ISSN 1804-6347 (Online). The journal is registered by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic under No. E 18677.

 

Section Policies

Classical texts

Reprints of (translated) important scholarly articles in the field. Typically, this section only appears in the Czech edition.

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Translation

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Thematic articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Articles

Original research, essays, and review articles.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Review articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Commentary

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Miscellanea

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Essays

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Information

Conference reports, research reports, jubilees, etc.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Diskusní článek

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Questionnaire

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Survey articles

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Original research articles, survey articles and review articles are subject to double-blind peer review policy. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field. Based on the reviews, the editors of the journal (in possible cooperation with the editorial board) issue a final decision about the conditions of (non)acceptance of the submission for publication. The reviews are internal material of the editorial office and are archived.

Submissions to the the rubric/section “Miscelanea” (containing e.g., reviews of books, annotations, reports from conferences or research reports) are (usually) not subjected to double-blind peer review, only to the editorial supervision.

Peer Review Practice

The editors of the journal manage the peer review process. The submissions may be rejected by the editors or the editorial board before the review process commences, if they do not meet the general formal and content requirements of the journal. The following criteria are particularly important:

  • the submission was not previously published and is not under consideration by another journal,
  • the submission is prepared in accordance the the journal’s style,
  • the topic of the submission is relevant to the focus of the journal.

The review process is double-blind. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field who have no conflict of interest with the author or the reviewed work. If the reviews are contradictory, the submission is sent to the third reviewer.

The final decision to accept or to reject the submission make the editors of the journal or the editorial board on the basis of the received reviews. The reviews are also sent to the author. If some changes are proposed, the submission is returned back to the author for revisions.

When preparing the revised version of the submission, the author is required to take into account the recommendations of the reviewers and to supply additional document with a brief overview of the changes to the text, or justification why some objections or suggestions have not been taken into account. Based on this revised version, the final decision is made on whether to accept it or not.

 

Publication Frequency

Since 2017, TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE publishes two issues (Spring and Fall) per year.

 

Open Access Policy

Since 2019, TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE journal provides open access to its content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Authors who publish in this journal agree that:

  1. Authors retain copyright and guarantee the journal the right of first publishing. All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows others to share this work under condition that its author and first publishing in this journal was acknowledged.
  2. Authors may enter into other agreements for non-exclusive dissemination of work in the version in which it was published in the journal (for example, publishing it in a book), but they have to acknowledge its first publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are allowed and encouraged to make their work available online (for example, on their personal websites, social media accounts, and institutional repositories) as such a practice may lead to productive exchanges of views as well as earlier and higher citations of published work (See The effect of open access).

There are no author fees.

The journal allow readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Guidelines for Authors

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE accepts manuscripts of original (theoretical, methodological, and empirical) research articles, survey articles, and review articles in the range of 20–35 pages (Times New Roman, size 12, spacing 2). The manuscripts must be accompanied by a title in Czech and English, an abstract (at maximum 150 words, or 1000 characters including spaces), 4–5 keywords in Czech and English, and the authors' contact details (name, institutional address, email, url). Within the limited space and without the use of jargon, the abstract must describe the problem addressed by the article, account for the method and inform about the main conclusions of the article. The journal editors can arrange for the required Czech translations. If the authors wish to include an acknowledgement or indicate a grant support relevant to the article, these should be stated in a footnote associated with the first word of the main text. Original, survey, and review articles are submitted for peer review. The authors are obliged to take the changes recommended by the reviewers into consideration and, along with the final manuscript, provide a separate document that briefly summarizes the changes made in the text or the reasons why certain objections and suggestions have not been accounted for.  

An original research article presents new research findings. Its text is structured by subheadings and accompanied by references in the footnotes. The article must comply with the usual standards of scientific work.

In a survey article, the author reviews and interprets findings made by other authors. The survey article can have an introductory character and does not need to emphasize a critical assessment of the commented texts.

A review article is an original study based on critical analysis of a work by another author, or of several works by different authors focusing on a similar subject. The review article puts emphasis on an original assessment of the issues raised by the reviewed work(s).

Under the rubric of "Miscellanea", the journal also publishes the following:

Reviews of monographs and edited volumes recently published in Czech or other languages (the recommended range is 5–10 pages). Besides a summary of the contents, a review should situate the publication in the context of related works and include an evaluation by the review's author. The journal editors will typically procure a review copy for the author.

The journal also offers a publication venue for annotations (synopses of a publication's contents and a brief introduction of its author), conference reports, research reports, and other "smaller genres" if their contents is relevant to the journal's aims and scope (in all of these instances, the recommend length is between 2-4 pages).

Authors must submit the manuscripts via the online submission interface on the journal's website. Submissions should not be simultaneously reviewed by another journal, nor should they be already published elsewhere or simply translated from another language. Authors of the manuscripts are responsible for obtaining permissions for reprinting copyrighted illustrations.

The editorial team consults stylistic changes in the submitted articles with the authors; for other types of texts, the editors reserve the right to independently make any changes deemed necessary. Submission process is completed upon receiving a confirmation email. Inquiries should be sent electronically to the editors or to the journal's address teorievedy(at)flu.cas.cz.

Bibliographic citations in text should be listed in numbered footnotes and styled according to the following examples (in 2017 the journal adopted the Chicago citation style. For more, see The Chicago Manual of Style):

Book:
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945 (New York: Knopf, 2007).

Edited book/Anthology:
David S. Barnes, “Confronting Sensory Crisis in the Great Stinks of London and Paris,” in Filth: Dirt, Disgust, and Modern Life, ed. William A. Cohen and Ryan Johnson (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005), 115.

Journal article:
Walter Blair, “Americanized Comic Braggarts,” Critical Inquiry 4, no. 2 (1977): 331–32. 

WWW:
Douglas Kellner, “Jean Baudrillard,” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed January 13, 2017, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/.

Repeated reference to the same item:
Surname, Short Title, #.
Or: Surname, “(Short) article title,” #.
When referring to the same work as in the citation immediately preceding, use the abbreviation Ibid. for the second reference: Ibid., #.

Bibliographic references in footnotes:
List the reference according to the above-mentioned examples as a self-standing sentence after the citation. Alternatively, according to the context, parenthesis may be used, as well as introduction of the reference by the word “see” or the abbreviation “cf.”.
In book reviews, the relevant work may be cited using the page numbers in parenthesis. If other items than a reviewed book are referenced, comply with the instructions above.

Bibliography at the end of the journal article:
As of 2017 all manuscripts should also have a separate bibliography containing references to all cited works. Examples:

Book in a bibliography:
Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945. New York: Knopf, 2007.

Edited book/Anthology in a bibliography:
Barnes, David S. “Confronting Sensory Crisis in the Great Stinks of London and Paris.” In Filth: Dirt, Disgust, and Modern Life, ed. William A. Cohen and Ryan Johnson, 103–29. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.

Journal article in a bibliography:
Blair, Walter. “Americanized Comic Braggarts.” Critical Inquiry 4, no. 2 (1977): 331–49.

WWW in a bibliography:
Kellner, Douglas. “Jean Baudrillard.” In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, 1997–. Article published April 22, 2005. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/.

 

Guidelines for Reviewers

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1969. Currently, the journal is listed in several databases (Scopus, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, CEJSH). The journal publishes original research articles in Czech and English. Unsolicited book reviews are typically in Czech.Original articles are subject to blind peer review policy. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field. Based on the reviews, the editorial board issues a final decision about the conditions of (non)acceptance of the submission for publication. The reviews are internal material of the editorial office and are archived. The editors kindly ask the reviewers to focus primarily on the following aspects in their reports:

Expertise

The article is an original scholarly contribution in accordance with journal's aims and scope. The research problem is clearly stated and important in the relevant field. Methodology and argumentation are adequate to the addressed problem. Empirical data are correctly treated. 

Structure

The text is lucid and logically coherent. Individual sections - introduction, literature review, discussion, method, conlusions - are mutually balanced. The title and abstract are congruent with the text. The abstract intelligibly conveys the problem, method and main conclusions of the article. Tables and illustrations facilitate comprehension and are well-placed.

Language and style

The grammar is correct and the style is intelligible and concise. The choice and application of terminology is justified and correct.

Format

The submission adheres to the guidelines for authors issued by the editors. Namely, the citation style of the journal is consistently used. The article includes a title, an abstract, and a list of keywords.

Ethics

The manuscript is not a case of plagiarism or an impostrous submission. All sources are properly cited. The article does not unfoundedly raise other ethical concerns.

The review report must include by the way of conclusion a final evaluation on the following scale:

  1. recommendation of unconditional acceptance for publication (or only minor editing is needed),
  2. recommendation of conditional acceptance for publication (the article requires more editing or improvements), 
  3. recommendation of acceptance upon substantial revision (a worthy topic is treated in a way unsuitable for publication), 
  4. recommendation of rejection (give an explicit reason).
The editors kindly asks the reviewers to submit their reports of at least one standard page in lenght no later than 4 weeks since the reception of the text. If the reviewers cannot accept a text for review, they should notify the editors promptly. Inquiries should be send electronically to the editors or to the journal's address teorievedy(at)flu.cas.cz.

 

Ethical Statement and Guidelines

Statement of Publication Ethics

Articles published in TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE must be in accord with the generally accepted principles of publication ethics in scientific, peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Core practices by COPE). This statement binds all parties involved in the publication and peer review processes: authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board and publisher.

Guidelines for the journals's Statement of Publication Ethics

The main responsibilities of authors include:

  • Listing all authors of the submission and only those.
  • Submitting original work in line with the journal's aims and scope.
  • Avoiding plagiarism and duplicate submissions.
  • Citing properly all relevant references and crediting previous research.
  • Avoiding defamatory and libelous statements.
  • Evidencing ethical conduct of research upon which the submission is based.
  • Obtaining publication permissions for copyrighted material.
  • Disclosing all potential conflicts of interests and sources of funding.
  • Informing the editors immediately if an mistake is identified in the published submission and cooperate to correct it.

The main responsibilities of reviewers include:

  • Evaluating submissions based on content and merit.
  • Disregarding personal identity and/or affiliation of authors.
  • Avoiding defamatory and libelous statements.
  • Submitting the review in timely manner.
  • Providing evidence for objections and offering constructive criticism.
  • Keeping the review process and the submission confidential.
  • Alerting editors to any potential breaches of publication ethics.
  • Report all potential conflicts of interest.

The main responsibilities of editors include:

  • Accepting submissions for review on the basis of aims and scope of the journal.
  • Screening submissions based on content and merit.
  • Approach submissions to special issues in the same way as standard submissions.
  • Disregarding personal identity and/or affiliation of authors.
  • In fulfilling their duties they must not discriminate on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, religion, political beliefs or ethnic or geographical origin.
  • Facilitating the review process and ensuring its confidentiality.
  • Delegating review process for their own submissions to the other editors or the editorial board.
  • Rejecting submissions and retracting articles recognized as instances of ethical malpractice.
  • Maintaining high publication standard of the journal.
  • Ensure that all possible complaints about unethical behavior are properly investigated and given appropriate attention. 

The main responsibilities of the editorial board include:

  • Provide editorial counseling to reviewing, assessing unethical behavior, and other relevant areas for running and developing the journal.
  • Promote the journal among authors, reviewers and readers.

The main responsibilities of the publisher include:

  • Supervise and ensure compliance with the main ethical obligations described above.

Plagiarism and other unethical behavior

The editors of the journal, in conjunction with the reviewers, check whether the submitted submissions are not a plagiarism, whether all resources are properly listed and whether the submission does not impose other scientific or ethical misconducts. In the case of suspicion of plagiarism, freely available applications/software can also be used to check the similarity of texts. If any of these transgressions are identified, the editors, in close cooperation with the publisher, will take all necessary steps to clarify and resolve the situation with the author of the submission.

Procedures for dealing with unethical behavior

Identification of unethical behavior

Anyone and at any time may report unethical behavior to the editors or the publisher. Unethical behavior may include, but need not be limited to, the examples mentioned above. The person reporting this behavior should provide sufficient evidence to begin investigating this potential unethical behavior.

Investigation

The editors or the publisher will collect the evidence of potential unethical behavior on the basis of which they will make a decision regarding the issue.

Results

A minor transgression can only be resolved between the editors of the journal, the publisher and the involved person(s). More serious misconduct may require consultations with external experts and informing the employer of the accused person(s).

The resolutions can include, for example,
  • Informing the author or reviewer and explaining the transgression.
  • Publishing a report detailing the unethical behavior.
  • Sending a formal letter to the employer of the author or reviewer who has been found responsible for unethical behavior.
  • Retraction of the published paper.