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Review procedure

The review procedure applies to scientific works.

Scientific studies that are submitted for publication at the OPI PIB Publishing House are subject to internal (evaluation by the Publishing Board) and external (scientific) review procedures.

Studies submitted for publication are subject to an internal review procedure; i.e. to evaluation by the Publishing Board. Submitted studies are initially assessed in terms of meeting formal requirements, in addition to the following criteria:

• subject: is of a scientific nature; the content focuses on the subject;
• organisation and methodology: the work is based on reliable and current information and meets the criteria of a scientific register; footnotes are properly inserted; the subject is analysed cohesively and understandably; figures and tables meet high quality standards;
• scientific relevance: the work includes original information that is appropriate to the current state of research; the subject and methodology are innovative or contribute significantly to the current state of knowledge; correct and innovative research methods have been implemented;
• substantive aspect: the work focuses on the subject and provides reliable information; the text is based on the current state of knowledge; the methodology has been implemented correctly; the arguments meet the criteria of logic and rhetoric; the conclusions align with the results presented; the standard of English is adequate;
• the work carries importance for the development of a particular field of science in Poland;
• the work is comparable in quality to other scientific studies published by the OPI PIB Publishing House.

All studies must be approved by the Publishing Board to be included in the publishing plan.

Following an external open review (the names of both authors and reviewers are known), a request is submitted to:

• accept the study without amendment
• accept the study if the reviewers’ amendments are incorporated
• reject the study.

The reviewers evaluate studies based on the same criteria that apply to the internal evaluation performed by the Publishing Board. Authors then receive the results of the review. If it is recommended that a study be included in the publishing plan on the condition that particular amendments are introduced, the authors are obliged to introduce those amendments. The reviewers must indicate which passages or elements of the studies are to be amended.

If one or more reviews are negative, a study is rejected and the Publishing House declines to include that study in the publishing plan.

In justified cases, the Publishing House may initiate a double-blind review procedure, in which neither the reviewers nor the authors know each other’s identities. The review procedure is the same as the open review procedure. All decisions on the initiation of double-blind reviews are made by the OPI PIB Publishing House.

Decisions on the inclusion or exclusion of studies from the publishing plan are communicated to their authors by a representative of the OPI PIB Publishing House.

Publication procedure

The OPI PIB Publishing House accepts the following publication types:

• scientific monographs, postdoctoral dissertations, doctoral dissertations, research reports, expert commentaries, dictionaries, and lexicons;
• handbooks for scientists, students, and entrepreneurs;
• titles that popularise scientific or research and development projects.

All materials to be published should be submitted as text files to wydawnictwo@opi.org.pl.

Any work submitted for publication is presented to the Publishing Board. The board verifies whether the materials align with the scientific profile of the OPI PIB Publishing House, are structured according to the rules of scientific methodology, and meet formal and content-related criteria. Materials cannot be published without the approval of the OPI PIB Publishing House.

All scientific publications are, additionally, subject to external scientific review. Every study is reviewed by two independent professionals of the study’s domain. No study will be published nor will any editorial work commence without the approval of both reviewers.

Pre-publishing editorial works include text editing, professional typesetting and page formatting, proofreading, copy-editing, cover art, graphic design of both text and other elements, and printing.  Information on every stage of the process is communicated to authors on a day-to-day basis by representatives of the OPI PIB Publishing House.

According to Article 5.3 of the Act on Mandatory Library Copies of 7 November 1996, the OPI PIB Publishing House is obliged to provide libraries with copies of any published title.

Publication ethics

The standards of publication ethics followed by the OPI PIB Publishing House are based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the recommendations of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education contained in the brochure, Good Practices in Scientific Review Procedures (Warsaw, 2011), and general ethical principles of scientific reliability.

The OPI PIB Publishing House undertakes to ensure that all parties involved in the publication process meet ethical standards.

To achieve this goal, the OPI PIB Publishing House adheres to fair and ethical procedures to qualify, select, and offer opinions on materials that are ready to be printed. The decisions of the OPI PIB Publishing House on the approval (or otherwise) of any work to be printed are transparent.

When approving materials to be published, the Publishing Board must consider the materials’ significance, originality, clarity, and transparency. They must also evaluate the materials’ impact on the development of science based on independent reviews. The Publishing Board attaches the utmost importance to the credibility of the sources and citations to which authors refer. The board requires authors to deliver original studies and to avoid breaches of copyright. It rejects materials that violate ethical principles, including duplicates, plagiarisms, fabricated data, factitious lists of authors, ghost-writing, and guest authorship. Copyrighted materials, such as text passages, illustrations, figures, diagrams, or tables may be included in books only if their authors have provided the OPI PIB Publishing House with the written consent of the copyright owner.

In the event of a suspected breach of ethical principles, the procedures established by the Committee on Publication Ethics will apply.

We guarantee the confidentiality and security of authors’ and other collaborators’ personal data. We do not use any materials provided by authors for unauthorised purposes.