About the Journal

Focus and Scope

DIKE is the first journal which is specifically dedicated to the study of Greek and Hellenistic Law: it publishes articles concerning the law and institutions of the Greek world, from the Mycenaean age to the Roman conquest, thereby making an internationally recognized contribution to the knowledge of a fundamental aspect of Greek civilization. In line with the mission of its founders, the journal is meant to complement and expand the scientific output of the Proceedings of the international meetings on Greek and Hellenistic Law (published under the name Symposion), which have been organized periodically at leading European and American universities since 1971 and which have a leading role in the research in this field. In addition to the members of the Organising Committee of the Symposia, other representatives of this highly specialized field of study, both from Italy and from abroad, belong to the journal's Scientific and Editorial Boards.

In accordance to the specific characteristics of Ancient Greek Law, the journal is open to contributions not only from legal historians, but also from historians tout court, philologists, archaeologists, epigraphists and, more in general, Greek social and economic historians, provided the topics addressed have a bearing on legal history.

Archive

For volumes before 11 (2008), see: http://www.ledonline.it/dike/

For volumes 11-13, see: http://www.academia-verlag.de/

Journal Bodies

The journal governing bodies (Editors-in-chief, Scientific Board, Editorial Board) are normally renewed every five years, or whenever a member leaves office.

Members of these bodies are chosen on the ground of their expertise, without discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, language, age, nationality, or political orientation.

Peer Review Process

After being approved by the Editors, submitted articles are subject to double-blind peer review.

Publication Schedule

The articles will be published “Online First” and then in block as part of a complete issue. The journal is published annually.

Open Access Policy

 

This journal provides open access to its content, believing that making research freely available to the public improves the global exchange of knowledge.

Publication Costs

The journal does not require Article Processing Charges (APCs) nor Submission Charges.

Creative Commons License

Contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Share alike 4.0 International License.

Pre-prints and post-prints can be distributed under the same license.

Plagiarism

Editors have a duty to act promptly in case of errors and misconduct, both proven and alleged. This duty extends to both published and unpublished papers. In case of such errors in articles or in the publication process, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, appropriate steps will be taken, following the COPE recommendations and guidelines.  Corrections will happen with due prominence, including the publication of an erratum (errors from the publication process), corrigendum (errors from the Author(s)) or, in the most severe cases, the retraction of the work in question. Retracted papers will be retained online, and they will be prominently marked as a retraction in all online versions, including the PDF, for the benefit of future readers.

iThenticate

The journal performs a Similarity Check on the proposals received, using iThenticate software.

Artificial Intelligence

DIKE acknowledges the importance of innovations related to artificial intelligence and understands the challenges and opportunities they entail.

Authors who have used artificial intelligence tools in the editing of a manuscript, in the production of images or graphical elements of the article, or in the collection and analysis of data, are invited to explicitly declare their use, mentioning the AI tool, the field of application, the search queries used and the date of use, in order to allow reproducibility and verification.
The author remains responsible for the accuracy and correctness of any published content and guarantees compliance with the code of ethics and anti-plagiarism rules.
Authors who have used AI, or AI-assisted tools, are required to include a paragraph at the end of their manuscript, to be titled "Declaration on Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process", with the following information:
"Preparing this paper the author(s) used [TOOL/SERVICE NAME] on [DD/MM/YYYYY] using the search terms: [SEARCH TERMS] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) have reviewed and edited the content as necessary and take full responsibility for the content of the publication."

Editors are not allowed to upload received manuscripts into artificial intelligence software, in order not to risk compromising privacy and copyright.

Reviewers undertake not to use artificial intelligence tools to evaluate manuscripts in order to guarantee the application of critical thinking and original assessment, as required for this work.

 

Archiving

This journal has enabled the PKP PN (Preservation Network) plugin, in order to preserve digital contents through LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) project.

 

Code of Ethics

DIKE is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that adheres to the Code of Ethics for Scholarly Publishing drawn up by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). The Code of Ethics must be known and upheld by editors, referees, authors and editorial staff. 

 

DUTIES OF THE BOARD

Editorial decisions

The Editors in chief are responsible for deciding whether to publish articles submitted to the journal; in making their decision, they may consult with members of the Editorial Board (and Scientific Board) and with Referees. Editors may reject an article without peer review if it is deemed of poor quality or unsuitable for readers of the journal.

This decision is made fairly and impartially, and the criteria are made explicit to the author. The decision not to accept a document is based solely on its scientific content and is not influenced by the personality of the authors or the characteristics of their institution of origin.

Fairness

Editors make their decisions regarding articles submitted for publication based on an academic evaluation of their content, without discrimination based on the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, or political affiliation of the authors.

Interaction with reviewers. Editors choose appropriate reviewers for those contributions considered interesting for publication, selecting experts with no conflicts of interest with the authors and guaranteeing the confidentiality of the material. Editors ensure that reviews are carried out in a timely manner. Reviewers are informed of what is expected of them and of any changes in editorial policies. Reviewers are asked to consider the ethical aspects of research and publication (i.e., whether they believe the research was conducted ethically or whether they suspect plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or redundant publication). Editors require reviewers to make a formal declaration regarding any conflicts of interest and ask to be informed of such conflicts as soon as possible so that they can decide whether an impartial review is possible. The presence of conflicts of interest may disqualify a peer review.

Editors give due consideration to allegations of reviewer misconduct and pursue any breach of confidentiality, failure to declare conflicts of interest, inappropriate use of confidential material, or delaying of the review process to gain a competitive advantage. Allegations of serious misconduct by reviewers, such as plagiarism, are brought before the appropriate institutional bodies.

Interaction with authors. The journal Editors explain to authors that the role of the reviewer is to provide recommendations on whether to accept or reject the received article. The Editors usually communicate with the corresponding author, who is responsible for involving the co-authors in all stages.

Editors communicate with all authors when a proposal is submitted and during the final acceptance phase to ensure that all authors are aware of the proposal's submission and have approved its publication. Normally, Editors forward all reviewers' comments in their entirety to the author (and, if deemed appropriate, to the co-authors). However, in exceptional cases, it may be necessary to omit parts of a review if, for example, they contain defamatory or offensive comments.

Editors ensure that this editorial discretion is not used inappropriately to suppress uncomfortable comments. If there is good reason to involve additional reviewers at a later stage in the process, this decision is communicated to the authors. The final editorial decision and its reasons are clearly communicated to both the authors and the reviewers. If an article is rejected, Editors are required to accept requests for reconsideration from authors. However, Editors are under no obligation to reverse their decision.

Editorial conflicts of interest. Editors must refrain from making decisions about submissions in which they have a conflict of interest, for example if they have a personal relationship with the authors. The journal has established a procedure for handling submissions sent by Editors in chief or members of the Editorial and Scientific Board to ensure impartial and independent management of such documents, in accordance with the principles of confidentiality and blind peer review. 

If an Editor in chief submits an article, the peer review process will be managed by the other two Editors in full and absolute compliance with fairness, confidentiality, and anonymity. If a member of the Editorial or Scientific Board submits an article, the peer review process will be entrusted to scholars who are not members of either.

Editors are bound by applicable laws regarding defamation, plagiarism, and copyright infringement.

Confidentiality

Editors, like members of the Editorial Board, must not disclose any information about the articles submitted to the journal, except to current/potential Referees or the publisher.

The materials contained in a submitted and not yet published manuscript must not be used by Editors and members of the Editorial Board without the author's express consent.

 

DUTIES OF THE REFEREES

Cooperation with Editors and Authors

Through the process of peer reviewing, Referees assist Editors in making editorial decisions and Authors in making improvements to their texts.

Fairness

The Referee undertakes to read the contribution submitted for consideration within the required time frame, or to promptly notify the Editors if unable to do so. Notification must also be sent if the Referee does not feel qualified to perform the task. The Referee is required not to accept articles for review if there is a conflict of interest due to previous collaborative or competitive relationships with the author and/or their institution.

Confidentiality

The Referee is bound by confidentiality and therefore cannot discuss the content of the assigned contributions with third parties without the explicit authorisation of the Editors.

Objectivity

The Referee undertakes to conduct the peer review objectively, providing adequate justification for their judgement and refraining from personal judgements about the author.

Guidelines

The Referee undertakes to provide the Author with precise bibliographical references relating to fundamental works that they have failed to cite in their contribution, and to report to the Editors any similarities with other works known to him. The Referee also undertakes to provide any other suggestions that the author may adopt in order to improve on the contribution.

DUTIES OF THE AUTHORS

Originality

Authors must ensure that the contribution submitted for review by the journal contains original content, resulting from their own research, and that the use of other people's work and research has been appropriately reported and cited.

Authorship

All those who have contributed significantly to the conception, organisation, implementation and elaboration of the research underlying the article must be included as Co-Authors. It is also necessary to indicate the names of those who have participated significantly in parts of the research. For works written by multiple authors, the Author who submits the contribution to the journal is required to declare that they have correctly included the names of the co-authors, that they have obtained their approval for the final version of the contribution, and that they have received their consent for publication in the journal to which the article has been submitted.

Fairness

The author is required to specify any financial resources received for the creation of the contribution.

The author should not publish articles describing the same research in multiple journals; simultaneously submitting the same contribution to multiple journals constitutes unethical and disgraceful behaviour.

Errors

The author is responsible for their errors; if a significant error is discovered in the published work, the author is required to promptly notify the editor or publisher and to cooperate with them to make the appropriate corrections.

Suspected Misconduct

If readers, reviewers, or others raise serious concerns about the conduct, validity, or reporting of works published in the journal, the Editors will contact the authors and allow them to respond to said comments. Editors respond to observations on misconduct in published works raised by organisations concerned with research integrity. Editors may decide independently to retract a paper if they are convinced that a case of serious misconduct has occurred, even if the outcome of an investigation by an institution or national body does not require it. Editors will respond to all allegations or suspicions of misconduct in research or publication raised by readers, reviewers or other Editors. In general, they assume collective responsibility for documenting the journal's research activity and will act whenever they become aware of possible misconduct, where possible.

Encouraging academic debate

The journal welcomes readers’ criticism of published works and will consider publishing it to promote scientific debate, provided that it is submitted in a timely manner. The authors of the original works will be given the opportunity to respond in order to further promote debate.

Funding

Publication is made possible thanks to funding from the University of Milan.

Journal History

DIKE was founded in 1998 to offer additional opportunities to disseminate the results of research in the field of ancient Greek law to the scholars participated in the Conferences of Greek Law (Symposia) periodically organized by the Society for the Study of Greek and Hellenistic Law, of which the members of the journal's Editorial Board are part. Over the years, it has opened to collaboration from other scholars and younger scholars, thus contributing to the development of Greek legal studies around the world.

Open to all authors

Dike - Rivista di Storia del Diritto Greco ed Ellenistico is committed to openness and inclusivity in scholarly publishing without author-facing charges for reading or publishing. We welcome submissions from all authors, regardless of their institutional affiliation, geographical location, or academic status. Submissions only must align with the aims and scope of the journal and meet the required quality standards once the reviewing process is completed.

Community-owned

Dike - Rivista di Storia del Diritto Greco ed Ellenistico is owned by Milano University Press, a public institution/organisation dedicated to advancing research and scholarship. The journal’s ownership and governance structure reflect its mission to support open and accessible academic publishing. We confirm that any commercial service providers involved in our operations only deal with service-related aspects of journal publishing. All content-related aspects of publishing, such as submission, peer review, acceptance, publication frequency, and scope of the journal, are controlled by the editors of the journal.