Socrates Policy

Review process

All research articles submitted to Socrates are subject to a thorough double blind peer review. Each article in each edition is assigned to at least two reviewers.

The reviewers are required to evaluate the quality of the submitted works and point to errors, flaws, and deviations. If a high-quality article has received criticism by a reviewer, the editorial board may accept the unedited manuscript. In case of a severe disagreement the reviewer is invited to publish a comment to which the author can respond.

Review form

Open-access policy

Socrates follows an open-access policy. That means that authors, or copyright-holders, of the manuscripts published in the journal grant a free, irrevocable, web-wide right of access to all users to perform the following actions: to copy, use, and distribute the articles; to create and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any purpose, following basic copyright provisions; to print a small number of copies for personal use. Socrates is an open-access online journal which provides open-access content online that is available to users immediately after publication. Users are allowed to use and distribute the content for non-commercial purposes in any media, referring to the author.

Plagiarism policy

Socrates only publishes original research. Before handing over manuscripts submitted to the journal for peer review, their originality is verified using the plagiarism detection program Turnitin. If the editorial board and reviewers detect plagiarism at any stage, the author(s) will be requested to rewrite the text or quotation and cite the original source. The plagiarism rate must be below 20 % including references. If more than 20 % of the paper is plagiarised, the article will be rejected and the same is notified to the author.

Socrates is a multidisciplinary legal research journal; therefore, it is allowed to quote a legal document, etc., but, nevertheless, the Plagiarism policy of the journal must be respected. by the authors.

Journal policy and ethics

Socrates follows ethical standards in publishing. The ethical standards of the journal are based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Copyrights and licences

Starting form X (XXIX) number the journal Socrates has been licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) that allows the readers to read, copy, distribute and create derivative works for non-commercial purposes, including a reference to the author of the original work.

The author grants Socrates rights to publish their article in an electronic and printed form and identify Socrates as the original publisher. The author also allows third parties to use their article, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works in non-commercial purposes, including a reference to the author of the original work. Prior to publication, the author is asked to sign a license agreement. It is a legal requirement for an author to sign a copyright agreement of some kind before publication. Some journals ask authors to transfer their copyright to the journal. Others accept an Exclusive License from authors. Socrates authors wishing to make their article open access must sign an Open Access Agreement. Socrates authors can use their article in a number of ways, including in publications of their own work and course packs in their institution. Author re-use rights vary between journals. Please refer to the copyright form you have signed or are required to sign to review the applicable re-use rights.

Protecting intellectual property. Publishers are legally required to have explicit authority from an author to publish any article. The societies Socrates partners with decide which copyright arrangement they require from the range of options we provide. (Copyright Transfer Agreement, Exclusive License Agreement, Online Open and Open Access Agreements.)

Socrates authors wishing to make their article open access to sign an Open Access Agreement providing for the article to be made available under one of the Creative Commons Licenses in order to meet the terms of open access publication and ensure the widest possible dissemination. The Creative Commons website explains how these licenses work.

Copyright Transfer Agreement

It is a legal requirement for Socrates to receive a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement before publication of your contribution can proceed. Signed forms are required for all contribution types. This policy also facilitates international protection against infringement, libel or plagiarism; enables the most efficient processing of publishing licensing and permissions in order that the contribution be made available to the fullest extent both directly and through intermediaries, and in both print and electronic form.

All authors should sign the Agreement, with additional signatures attached separately if necessary. However, if it is not possible to obtain a physical signature from all authors, you must have their agreement in writing to enable you to enter into the Agreement on their behalf. Socrates will accept faxes, as well as scanned copies of the signed original forms via e-mail.

When signing the document you confirm that:

The Paper has been written by the Author who has been indicated in the Paper and in this statement. There is no any other person who would have any rights to this Paper;
All individuals identified as contributors have actually contributed to the article;
All individuals who contributed are listed;
The Paper is original and has not been published before;
The Paper will not later be submitted elsewhere;
There are references for the pictures, data and other materials used in the Paper;
The results of the Paper are genuine; they do not infringe on the original work of another person or organisation;
The Author take the responsibility for the corectness of the data in the aauthorship statement according to the binding normative acts;
The Author has been authorised to submit the Paper for publication;
The intellectual property rights will not be infringed according to the 14th, 15th articles of the Copyright law and other normative acts of the Republic of Latvia and international normative acts binding for the Republic of Latvia;
The Author takes the responsibility related to the third parties’ objections and demands concerning the publishing or using the Paper.

The Contributor or, if applicable, the Contributor’s Employer, retains all proprietary rights other than copyright, such as patent rights, in any process, procedure or article of manufacture described in the contribution. Contributors may re-use unmodified abstracts for any non-commercial purpose. For online use of the abstract, Socrates encourages but does not require linking back to the final published contribution. Contributors may use the articles in teaching duties and in other works such as theses. Contributors may re-use figures, tables, data sets, artwork, and selected text up to 250 words from their contributions without seeking permission, provided the following conditions are met:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Editor's obligations:

When fulfilling their obligations, the Editor is objective and just, and any kind of author discrimination is prohibited. The Editor follows the principle of justice. The Editor’s decision to accept or reject an article is based solely on its significance, novelty, clarity of expression, and how it corresponds to the aims and objectives of the journal, and the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic background, citizenship, or political views are not considered.
The Editor preserves academic integrity and is always prepared to publish corrections, explanations, apologies, or recall articles, if necessary.
The Editor is responsible for accepting or rejecting articles submitted to the journal for publication. When making a decision, the Editor may follow journal policy, drafted by the editorial board, may consult with other editors and reviewers, and consider legal standards to avoid potential copyright infringement, plagiarism, or libel.
A submitted manuscript is considered a confidential document. The Editor and the editorial staff do not have the authority to reveal information about the articles submitted to the journal or information related to these articles to third parties; the information can solely be revealed to the respective author, reviewers, potential reviewers, advisers to the editor, and the publisher.
The use of unpublished data, which has been submitted to the journal in the form of a manuscript, in the Editor’s own research is prohibited without the author’s consent. To prevent conflict of interest, the Editor must hold the peer-review process to the highest standard of integrity. The Editor does not make decisions regarding manuscripts which pose a conflict of interest. The Editor is obliged to demand manuscript authors and reviewers to reveal all potential conflicts of interest prior to review.

Obligations of the reviewers:

To contribute to the decision making process and help improve the quality of the work published by objectively and timely reviewing the manuscript.
To maintain full confidentiality of information received from the editor or the author. To warn the editor of plagiarism, i.e., the content similarities in published or submitted manuscripts.
To be aware of all potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative, or other relationships between the reviewer and the author) and warn the editor about them, recalling their work on this manuscript if necessary.
The reviewers help the editor decide on accepting or rejecting articles submitted to the journal for publication. By interacting with the editor, the reviewers may also help the author improve an article’s quality.
To give a written statement that the submitted manuscript is not in the review or accepted for publishing elsewhere. If parts of the content overlap with the content of a submitted or published manuscript, it should be referenced appropriately.
To conduct the research which is at the base of the submitted article in an ethical and responsible manner, and ensure that it conforms to all legal standards. The results must be clear, honest, without signs of falsification. Research methods must be described precisely. Dishonest, fraudulent manuscripts are unacceptable.
The article must include clear, unambiguous, and verifiable references. Appropriate references to other authors’ works must be provided, and publications which are not directly quoted, but have influenced the essence of the author’s work must be cited.
Authors must indicate those conflicts of interest which might affect research results in their manuscripts. Authors must indicate the source of their research funding.
Authors’ work must be original. The use of thoughts and ideas by other authors without a proper reference is unacceptable.
Copyrighted material will be published only with a proper reference and permission.
The author must give a written statement that the submitted article has not been published previously, or published in another language. Submitting one article to several journals is unacceptable.
The authors of the article are to be considered those who have greatly contributed to the concept, development, or interpretation of the research. All those who have made such contributions are listed as co-authors. If there are persons who have participated in the research project in any other way they must be acknowledged and indicated in the Acknowledgements section. The lead author must ensure that the list of authors contains all respective co-authors and that there are no unsuitable co-authors, and that all co-authors have seen and confirmed the final version of the article and have agreed to its publication.
Authors must ensure that all research involving humans or animals corresponds to national and international requirements, e.g., the Declaration of Helsinki, the Policy on Use of Laboratory Animals, and the EU Directive on the use of animals.
If a significant error is discovered in a publication, the journal’s editor or publisher must be contacted immediately and the author must collaborate with them to publish a corrected version or to recall the article.

Publisher's obligations:

To ensure that the best practice is followed according to the aforementioned standards.

Publication agreement

We are honoured to publish your Article in the scientific journal Socrates. By signing the Agreement below, you grant your rights, title, and interest including copyright in and to the Article to the Socrates Editorial Board.

Archiving policy

To create a shared archiving system with all involved libraries and allow them to regularly create journal archives for the purpose of preservation, the journal Socrates uses the LOCKSS system. The RSU repository is used for archiving to store the journal's digital content in the long-term and to ensure its accessibility and preservation.