Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

1. About the Journal

Balkanistic Worlds is an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal devoted to interdisciplinary research on Southeast Europe, the Balkans, the Black Sea region, and the Caucasus.

The journal publishes original scholarly contributions in the humanities and social sciences and welcomes comparative, interdisciplinary, transnational, and cross-regional approaches.

The journal accepts manuscripts in English, Bulgarian, German, French, and Slavic languages.

All manuscripts must meet the journal's scholarly, ethical, and technical requirements before they can be considered for publication.

2. Types of Submissions

The journal accepts the following types of contributions.

Research Articles

Research Articles present original research and make a substantive contribution to existing scholarship.

Maximum length: 50,000 characters including spaces and references.

Research Notes and Reports

Research Notes and Reports may present preliminary findings, focused research problems, archival discoveries, methodological observations, fieldwork reports, or other substantial scholarly contributions that do not require the length of a full research article.

Maximum length: 10,000 characters including spaces and references.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews provide a critical and analytical assessment of recently published scholarly books relevant to the journal's scope.

Maximum length: 20,000 characters including spaces and references.

The Editorial Team may determine the appropriate category for a submission in consultation with the author.

3. Originality and Exclusivity

Manuscripts submitted to Balkanistic Worlds must be original.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:

• the work has not been published previously in its submitted form;
• the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publisher;
• all authors who have made a substantive contribution are appropriately identified;
• all sources, quotations, data, images, and other materials have been properly acknowledged;
• the manuscript does not contain plagiarism or inappropriate self-plagiarism;
• the research and publication comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

If substantial parts of the manuscript have previously appeared in another publication, authors must disclose this to the Editorial Team when submitting the manuscript.

4. Submission Procedure

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the Editorial Office:

bf@balkanistica.com

Authors should submit the following files:

4.1. Cover Letter

The cover letter should confirm:

• the title of the manuscript;
• the type of submission;
• that the manuscript is original;
• that it is not under consideration elsewhere;
• that all authors have approved the submission;
• any relevant conflicts of interest;
• any information that the authors believe should be brought to the attention of the Editorial Team.

4.2. Separate Title Page

The title page should contain:

• full title of the manuscript;
• full name of each author;
• institutional affiliation of each author;
• ORCID iD, where available;
• email address of the corresponding author;
• postal address of the corresponding author;
• acknowledgments, where applicable;
• funding information, where applicable;
• conflict-of-interest statement.

4.3. Anonymized Manuscript

The main manuscript must be prepared for double-blind peer review.

The anonymized manuscript must not contain the authors' names, institutional affiliations, acknowledgments, or other information that directly identifies the authors.

Authors should also check document properties and file metadata and remove identifying information where possible.

5. Manuscript File and Formatting

Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word files:

.doc or .docx

Unless otherwise agreed with the Editorial Office, manuscripts should follow these basic formatting requirements:

• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt
• Line spacing: 1.5
• Margins: 2.5 cm on all sides
• Page numbers: not required in the submitted manuscript
• Text should be clearly and consistently formatted
• Tables should remain editable
• Figures and images should be supplied at appropriate resolution

Authors should avoid unnecessary formatting, manual line breaks, excessive spacing, and other elements that may interfere with editorial production.

6. Structure of Research Articles

Research Articles should normally contain the following elements:

1. Title
2. Abstract
3. Keywords
4. Introduction
5. Theoretical Background / Literature Review
6. Methodology, where applicable
7. Analysis and Discussion
8. Conclusions
9. Acknowledgments, where applicable
10. References

The precise structure may vary according to the discipline, methodology, and nature of the research.

Title

The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the manuscript.

Abstract

The abstract should contain approximately 200–250 words.

It should clearly communicate:

• the research problem or objective;
• the methodological approach, where relevant;
• the principal findings;
• the main conclusions or contribution.

The abstract should be understandable independently of the full article.

Keywords

Provide 3–7 keywords that accurately represent the main subjects, concepts, geographical areas, periods, or methodological approaches addressed in the article.

Authors should avoid unnecessarily broad or repetitive keywords.

7. Citations and References

Balkanistic Worlds follows the APA 7th edition citation and referencing style.

All sources cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and all works listed in the reference list must be cited in the text, unless the Editorial Team has specifically requested otherwise.

Authors should:

• provide complete bibliographic information;
• use consistent APA 7 formatting;
• provide DOI information whenever a DOI is available;
• use stable URLs where appropriate;
• ensure that names, dates, titles, page numbers, and other bibliographic information are accurate.

Authors are responsible for checking the accuracy and completeness of their references.

8. Figures, Tables, and Other Illustrations

Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively and cited in the text in the order in which they appear.

Each figure or table should have:

• a clear number;
• a descriptive title or caption;
• a source, where applicable.

Images should normally have a resolution of at least 300 dpi.

Tables should be provided in an editable format and should not be submitted solely as images.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material where permission is required.

9. Supplementary Material

Authors may submit supplementary material where it contributes substantially to the transparency or reproducibility of the research.

Examples may include:

• datasets;
• archival documents;
• methodological appendices;
• interview materials where ethically permissible;
• additional tables or figures;
• research instruments;
• other supporting files.

The Editorial Team may determine whether supplementary material will be published and how it will be presented.

10. ORCID

Authors are strongly encouraged to provide an ORCID iD.

ORCID identifiers help distinguish researchers with similar names and improve the accuracy of scholarly attribution, indexing, and author records.

Authors should provide their ORCID iD on the title page and, where supported by the submission system, in their author profile.

11. Funding

Authors must disclose financial or institutional support that contributed to the research or publication.

A Funding Statement should identify:

• the funding organization;
• the grant or project number, where applicable;
• the role of the funder, where relevant.

If no external funding was received, authors may state:

“This research received no external funding.”

12. Author Contributions

For multi-authored manuscripts, authors should provide a statement describing individual contributions.

Contributions may include, where applicable:

• Conceptualization;
• Methodology;
• Investigation;
• Data Curation;
• Formal Analysis;
• Writing – Original Draft;
• Writing – Review & Editing;
• Supervision;
• Project Administration;
• Funding Acquisition.

All listed authors should have made a meaningful contribution to the work and should approve the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.

13. Data Availability

Authors are encouraged to make research data, materials, and supplementary files accessible whenever this is ethically, legally, and practically possible.

Where applicable, manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement.

For example:

“The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.”

Where data cannot be shared because of ethical, legal, privacy, confidentiality, or other restrictions, the statement should briefly explain the applicable limitation.

14. Ethical and Research Integrity Requirements

Authors must ensure that their research complies with appropriate ethical and professional standards.

Authors are responsible for:

• ensuring the originality of their work;
• accurately presenting research findings;
• properly citing sources;
• avoiding plagiarism and inappropriate self-plagiarism;
• avoiding fabrication or falsification of data;
• declaring relevant conflicts of interest;
• obtaining necessary permissions for copyrighted material;
• obtaining appropriate ethical approval where required;
• respecting confidentiality and privacy requirements;
• correcting errors identified after submission or publication.

The journal follows relevant principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Additional information is available on the journal's Ethics & Policies pages.

15. Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence tools when such tools have been used in the preparation of a manuscript in a way that is relevant to the submitted work.

Generative AI tools must not be listed as authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• the accuracy and originality of the manuscript;
• the integrity of the research;
• the verification of AI-assisted content;
• appropriate citation and acknowledgment;
• protection of confidential or sensitive information.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, references, quotations, sources, research results, or other scholarly evidence.

Authors should consult the journal's Generative AI Policy for detailed requirements.

16. Peer Review

All research articles are subject to double-blind peer review.

The review process normally consists of the following stages:

Stage 1 — Editorial Assessment

The Editorial Team evaluates the submission for:

• relevance to the journal's scope;
• originality and scholarly contribution;
• basic methodological and academic quality;
• compliance with the submission requirements;
• ethical and research-integrity considerations.

Manuscripts may be declined at this stage if they fall outside the journal's scope or do not meet the basic requirements for peer review.

Stage 2 — External Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial assessment are normally reviewed by at least two independent experts.

The identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other during the double-blind review process.

Stage 3 — Editorial Decision

Possible decisions include:

• Accept;
• Minor Revision;
• Major Revision;
• Reject.

The average review period is approximately 4–8 weeks, although actual processing times may vary depending on the availability of suitable reviewers and the complexity of the manuscript.

Revised Manuscripts

When revisions are requested, authors should normally submit the revised manuscript within 30 days, unless a different deadline has been agreed with the Editorial Team.

A revised submission should be accompanied by a point-by-point response explaining how the authors have addressed the reviewers' comments.

17. After Acceptance

Following acceptance, the manuscript enters the editorial production process.

Authors may be asked to:

• provide final files;
• confirm author information and affiliations;
• provide ORCID identifiers;
• confirm funding and conflict-of-interest statements;
• review editorial or language corrections;
• check the final proofs;
• provide clarification concerning references, figures, tables, or permissions.

Authors should carefully review proofs and promptly report substantive errors.

Changes to the accepted manuscript that are not necessary to correct errors may require editorial approval.

18. Copyright and Open Access

Balkanistic Worlds is an Open Access journal.

Published articles are made immediately available online without subscription or access fees.

The journal currently publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Authors retain copyright in their work, while granting the journal the rights necessary for first publication and dissemination.

Further information is available on the journal's Copyright & Licensing and Open Access pages.

19. Article Processing Charges and Submission Fees

Balkanistic Worlds does not charge authors any fees.

There are currently:

• no Article Processing Charges (APCs);
• no submission fees;
• no peer-review fees;
• no publication fees;
• no Open Access fees.

The absence of author fees applies to manuscripts submitted through the journal's regular editorial process.

20. Contact

Questions concerning submissions and author requirements may be addressed to:

Editorial Office — Balkanistic Worlds

Email: bf@balkanistica.com

Alternative email: bforum1992@gmail.com

Editor-in-Chief: Assoc. Prof. Petar Vodenicharov

Authors are encouraged to consult the relevant journal policies before submitting a manuscript.