Submission and peer review process

Manuscripts proposed for publication in Journal of Science Policy and Scientometrics will be submitted by e-mail to rpss@snspa.ro. The editors will conduct an initial verification of the suitability of each manuscript and will invite reviewer comments if the initial screening finds that the manuscript is compatible with the aims and scope of the journal. A single-blind peer-review process is used to aid the editors in making decisions on individual manuscripts. This means that the identity of the authors will be known to the reviewers but the identity of the reviewers will not be known to the authors. Consequently, when submitting manuscripts authors need not take any special precautions to limit identifying information such as names, institutional affiliation, postal address and e-mail address. These items of information should be provided at the beginning of the manuscript where the corresponding author (in cases where multiple authors exist) should be explicitly indicated. The editorial decisions and reviewer comments will be made available to authors as soon as possible, regardless of whether or not a manuscript is accepted for publication.

Manuscript taxonomy and content

Journal of Science Policy and Scientometrics publishes the following types of content:

• original research articles usually expected to range from 5000 to 10000 words;
• opinion papers, short communications, letters and book reviews usually expected to have fewer than 5000 words.

A rigorous factual grounding is expected from all submissions. Quantitative rather than qualitative methodological approaches are generally encouraged for research article submissions. Manuscripts with an excessively narrow focus (for instance case studies with a very limited empirical focus) will not be accepted for publication unless they possess demonstrable relevance beyond their narrow object of study.

Material dealing with any of the following non-exhaustive list of topics is considered to fall within the aims and scope of the journal and will be considered for publication, subject to preliminary editorial screening and subsequent peer review:

• scientific research, scientific development and innovation;
• science and research policy analysis;
• evaluation of research in higher education;
• scientific impact indicators and performance benchmarking;
• scientometric and bibliometric analysis;
• institutional research strategies;
• performance based funding of research.

Language and format

All submissions will be made in English (British or American English is acceptable as long as it is used consistently throughout the manuscript). The title of the manuscript, the abstract, the keywords and the body of the manuscript must all be in English to be considered for review and publication. Abstracts are expected to have at most 200 words and should be accompanied by 3 to 5 keywords.

Use of 12 point Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing is encouraged to enhance readability of submitted manuscripts during review.

Use of in-text citation with name(s) and year (and, where applicable, page number) in parentheses is expected, together with an alphabetized reference list at the end of the manuscript. Although any citation style is acceptable for initial screening and peer review – as long as it is used consistently – the references in accepted manuscripts are expected to be converted by the authors following the APA Style. Authors may consider using reference management software to complete the process more efficiently.

In numbering various sections of a manuscript as many levels of detail as are needed may be used to render the content intelligible and to enhance readability. A single level 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 structure (e.g.: 1. Introduction – 2. Literature review and research objectives – 3. Methodology – 4. Results – 5. Conclusions) may work for some manuscripts whereas most others may require a multi-level format (e.g.: 1, 2.1, 2.2, 3, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2, 5; etc.).

Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively and consistently and be accompanied by information regarding the sources of the data presented within them. No ambiguity should exist regarding the source of these materials and the contribution of the authors in their creation. When reproducing material from copyrighted sources permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reproduce the material in question; written statements to this effect should be procured by the manuscript authors and provided to the editors to enable publication of the material within Journal of Science Policy and Scientometrics. For original tables and figures an explicit mention of the software used to analyze data and produce the graphical content is encouraged, either in-text or in a footnote.

Footnotes may be used to bring clarifications and/or context to the main text but their number should be kept to a minimum.

Ethical considerations

Journal of Science Policy and Scientometrics aims to publish original work contributed in accordance with the aims and scope of the journal by a diverse range of scholars, policymakers and knowledgeable stakeholders. All submitted manuscripts are expected to be original works not under consideration in any other publication venue. All submitted manuscripts are also expected to comply with international publication ethics, including (but not limited to) the following:

• manuscripts are original works and proper care is taken by the authors to avoid any form of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism;
• all contributing authors and only the contributing authors are duly acknowledged when the manuscript is submitted (no contributing author is omitted and ghost/gift authorship is excluded);
• relevant contributions from third parties (e.g. supply of data, analytical instruments, etc.) are properly acknowledged by the authors;
• no part of the empirical data that inform findings and conclusions is fabricated or distorted;
• proper care is taken by the authors to disclose and address conflicts of interest connected to the manuscript publication.