Publication Policies
Conditions of Submissions
Journal Policy
Example Article
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Peer review policy
The UMFST Law Review applies a rigorous selection process based on collaboration between the Editorial Board (composed of students) and the Scientific Committee (composed of faculty members and external experts). All submissions are evaluated through a Double-Blind Peer Review system, ensuring full anonymity for both authors and reviewers.
Evaluation stages:
1. Technical Evaluation and Formatting (Pre-screening):
Responsibility for this stage lies with the Editorial Board (Editorial Office). This process involves verifying compliance with technical editing requirements (format, font, margins) and ensuring the manuscript fits the specified length limits. Articles that meet these criteria are placed into the journal’s official template to ensure uniform presentation.
2. Citation Integrity Validation:
The Editorial Board verifies the validity and accuracy of bibliographic sources. Each manuscript is checked through an accredited plagiarism detection system to ensure the originality of the work.
3. Scientific Review (Peer Review):
Anonymized manuscripts are sent to specialists (faculty members within the university and external experts) for the evaluation of the scientific quality. The assessment criteria include: originality, quality of documentation, relevance, and research rigor. Professors may request modifications, clarifications, or recommend rejection of the submission.
4. Final Editorial Decision:
The final decision regarding publication rests with the Editorial Board, based strictly on the recommendations and observations provided by the Scientific Committee. Acceptance is determined by a majority vote (50%+1). Authors are notified via email concerning the final decision and any required modifications.
Open access policy
UMFST Law Review is a Diamond Open Access journal. This means that we provide immediate, free and permanent access to all published content without charging subscription ord download fees. We believe that democratizing access to legal research contributes to a more efficient global exchange of knowledge.
The journal does not charge from the authors:
- Article Processing Charges (APCs)
- Submission fees
Authors publishing with UMFST Law Review retain their copyright. By accepting publication, authors grant the journal only the right of first publication.
All articles are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC By 4.0). This license allows anyone to read, download, distribute, or adapt the work, provided that the original author and source (UMFST Law Review) are properly credited.
We encourage authors to post the published version of their article (the final journal PDF) on personal websites or institutional repositories (e.g., Academia.edu/ ResearchGate), while providing a link to the official journal website (www.umfstlawreview.ro)
Publication ethics
1. Ethics and Responsibility Standards
UMFST Law Review adheres to the standards of ethics and academic integrity, following the recommendations of COPE (Committee of Publication Ethics) Originality and Plagiarism: any form of plagiarism is strictly prohibited and results in a permanent ban from publishing in the journal. All manuscripts are verified though an accredited plagiarism detection system. Unique Publication: Authors guarantee that the manuscript has not been previously published and is not currently under evaluation at another publication AI Usage: Authors must declare the usage of generative AI tools, specifying their purpose. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
2. Author Responsibilities:
Authorship (CRediT): The journal uses the CRediT Taxonomy (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to ensure transparent reporting of individual contributions (e.g., methodology, writing, etc.). Copyright: Authors retain the copyright over their works. By submitting the manuscript, they grant the journal only the right of first publication. Conflicts of Interest: Disclosure of any possible conflict of interest or funding sources that supported the scientific research is mandatory. Post-publication Errors: Authors are obligated to promptly notify the editor if they discover significant errors in their work, collaborating for the modification or retraction of the article.
3. Editorial Board Responsibilities:
Impartiality: Manuscripts are evaluated exclusively based on their scientific value, without any discrimination related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or political philosophy of the authors. Confidentiality: Editorial board members will not disclose any information regarding received manuscripts to any person not involved in the evaluation process. Independence: Editorial decisions are not influenced in any way by advertising, reprints, or other commercial revenues.
4. Peer Review Process:
The evaluation of papers follows a rigorous 4-stage process:
1. Technical Review: Verifying compliance with editing rules
2. Citation Verification: Validating bibliographic sources to ensure they are valid, relevant, and correct.
3. Scientific Quality: Evaluating the novelty, innovation, and originality of the research.
4. Final Vote: The publication decision is made by the Editorial Committee by the majority vote.
The UMFST Law Review publication will not waive any of the aforementioned ethical standards.
