Peer-Review

All articles of “Oikos” are peer-reviewed. The received manuscript is first reviewed by editors, looking whether the article meets the formal requirements, whether the problem analyzed in the article corresponds to the theme of the journal, whether the quality of the article is characterized by at least the minimum potential to be published in the journal. If the article fails to meet the formal requirements, it is returned to the author(s) for correction. If the article does not correspond to the theme of journal “Oikos”, it is rejected without review. If the quality of the article is too low to be published in “Oikos”, it is also rejected without review.

If the requirements are met, the manuscript is submitted to two independent reviewers, to the specialists in the field assisting the Editorial board. The reviewers are selected confidentially and perform a double-blind peer review. The reviewers of the manuscript do not know the identity of the author(s) and the author(s) do not know the identity of the reviewers. In the event of diverging opinions (one has a positive opinion, the other has negative), the third reviewer is appointed. After the reviewers evaluate the manuscript, the author is informed about the manuscript’s suitability/unsuitability for publication, or the author is requested to correct the manuscript according to the comments provided. The author should then correct the article considering the reviewers’ comments and prepare a written reply on the corrections made. If the author disagrees to the comments, the arguments should be provided.

The Journal follows the guidance from the Commission on Publication Ethics (Committee on Publication Ethics: COPE) in its policy and observes all the standards of academic integrity in the process of submission, reviewing and publishing. Editors, authors and reviewers comply with the standards of academic ethics.

Ethics of Reviewers

Reviewers shall ensure that:

• the review is written professionally, objectively and within the time limit intended for the review.
• confidentiality is ensured.
• any current or potential conflicts of interest are declared.
• the review meets the standards of correctness.
• editors will be informed in case the author of the article is suspected of the breach of ethics.

Ethics of Editors

The editors of the journal shall ensure that:

• decisions are taken objectively, impartially and fairly and are based on the value of the article being submitted and its suitability for publishing in the journal.
• peer-reviewing and the identity of reviewers are confidential.
• the rules and requirements which are binding to the members of the editorial board, authors and reviewers of articles are complied with.
• each volume is published in a timely manner and is in line with the established periodicity of the journal.