I. PEER REVIEW PROCESS: STANDARDS AND DESCRIPTION
I.1. EDITORIAL EVALUATION
This is the first stage evaluation, in which the paper proposed to evaluation is assessed from the technical and administrative point of view. The evaluation is made by the editor in charge with the issue following to identify if the paper is related to the specific of the journal and if it addresses subjects that are in direct connection with the current issue topic. The editor in charge will also asses if author complies to the editorial requirements such as citation system, respecting journal technical parameters from the template available online, or the structure of the article.
Only after the technical requirements are fulfilled by the author, the paper will be subject of peer review process, and the scientific quality of it will be evaluated. After texts are analyzed to see if they match disciplinary and thematic to the orientation of publication editorial quality standards of LUMEN publications, text or abstracts and significant fragments are sent to two reviewers selected from the Board of Reviewers of LUMEN Publishing House, whose scientific activity and expertise corresponds most with the proposed text;
I.2. SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION
After texts are analyzed from the scientific point of view, reviewers communicate the decision and the observations/requirements (if any) as a condition of publication; The editor in charge transmits the reviewers’s decision to the author, and if reviewers agreed the acceptance to publication, but recommend changes of the text, it is sent back to the author to make changes. Once the requested changes are made, the text returns to the two reviewers of LUMEN Publishing House Committee to check the final version of the text and to transmit the decision.
The scientific evaluation is done in at least one of the following ways, depending on the feature of the program:
- BLIND PEER REVIEW
The reviewers selected from the general Data bases of the publisher usually get to full paper, in order to be evaluated. Each reviewer will consider independently the proposed text for publication to comply to the following criteria for assessing the scientific quality:
- Quality of information with reference to the work of conceptual correctness;
- Original contribution of the work and the degree of novelty;
- Clarity of the scientific objectives of the work;
- The methodology where there is or is required;
- The credibility of the results and their clarity in research work;
- Quality bibliography and references there any scientific publication or volume;
- Originality, depth scientific contribution;
- Quality of writing and expression;
- Other criteria considered by the reviewer.
Because most LUMEN programs have a selection character and not a competition, entries must receive a minimum number of points for all criteria to be accepted for publication. The results can be of type: acceptance, acceptance with modifications, or rejected. If a reviewer rejects the paper, and and another accept it, the paper is assessed by a third reviewer, or the editor who will accomplish the advocate function, will take the final decision. If it is accepted with modifications, corrections will be asked to author.
- REVIEWERS PROPOSED BY AUTHORS
Authors are invited to propose their own specialty referrers when the submit their paper for publication. They can be coordinators of doctoral theses etc.
The opinions of the authors’ proposed reviewers will be considered in the event of disagreement between the two peer-reviewers proposals of LUMEN Publishing, or where peer reviewers accept papers with a reserve. Also this method is used as additionally editorial peer review, in the case of programs that request it.
I.3. ETHICAL EVALUATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF AND DEALING WITH ALLEGATIONS OF RESEARCH MISCONDUCT
Ethical evaluation follows two directions, namely Editorial Ethics and Research Ethics.
Regarding Editorial Ethics are analyzed suspicions of plagiarism and improper award of authorship (including authors who contributed to the text or research and that the exclusion of authors who have contributed). They also tracked potential conflicts of interest that occurs after publication by Lumen, rights to reproduce images, text or republication rights fragments where appropriate, to avoid double funding request when the volume of publicly-funded appearance.
The second direction aims of Evaluation of respecting the ethical rules in scientific research where appropriate:
- the rules of data confidentiality,
- obtaining the agreement of person / persons interviewed or for which you have done researches included in volume,
- if wore not harmed the interests of natural or legal persons, not violate any image or other rights nature provided by law.
I.4. EDITORIAL REVIEW of TRANSLATIONS
Editorial reviewers for translation exclusively targets the quality of translations in Romanian. Evaluation is done by a specialist, connoisseur of the language in which appeared the book or native speaker, and checks the quality of translation.
I.5. LUMEN Submission Platform
In order to improve the quality management system of works and peer-reviews, LUMEN Publishing House has implemented since July 2012 LUMEN Submission Platform .
LUMEN Submission Platform is a management system platform of works and peer-reviews that facilitate the submission of works by authors and peer-review process conducted by reviewers. The software is flexible and can be used both in work and management across all referents within all programs (book publishing, scientific journals, conferences).
II. COPY RIGHT AND AUTHOR’s RESPONSIBILITY
Author ensure the Publisher, by the moment of signing the contract and sending the final version of volume, that he/she holds all copyrights to tables, images etc., including the content in volume and declare expressly that he/she assume full responsibility for the existence of the copyright of the entire contents of the proposed publication and all co-authors.
For publication, where necessary, it seeks the advice of Ethics Committees of LUMEN Publishing House, both in terms of editorial ethics and ethics of research on human subjects.
III. SELECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF REVIEWERS
LUMEN Publishing reviewers are scientific and cultural personalities recognized nationally and internationally with PhD in special or exceptional circumstances having the quality of PhD student.
The reviewers must have a rich expertise and experience in the chosen as referent, certified through publications, conferences, grants etc. and have previously worked LUMEN Publishing and LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences.