About the Journal

 

Focus and scope

Balthazar is a multidisciplinary journal, with a particular but not exclusive focus on these research fields: moral and political philosophy, sociology, anthropology and psychoanalisis. In addition to hosting papers from acknowledged scholars and promising ones, Balthazar also intends to give visibility to contributions outside the academic community.

Frequency of publication

The journal is published biannually, with two issues per year, in February and July.

Open Access Policy

The journal provides open and immediate access to its contents, on the principle that making research freely available to the public improves the dissemination and construction of knowledge at a global level.

Peer Review process

Balthazar is a peer-reviewed journal. All articles will be evaluated by at least 2 referees, chosen from a board of scholars not belonging to the editorial or scientific committee, and with high competency in the domains of the journal. Referees are not allowed to see the authors' names and vice-versa (double blind review).

On the base of the reviews, articles will be accepted for publication, rejected, or sent back to the author for corrections. The final decision will be communicated to the author within 3 months from the date of receipt of the essay.

Guidelines for authors

The articles must be sent via e-mail to this address: balthazar@unimi.it

The proposed essays must be unpublished. By submitting their essay to Balthazar, the authors certify that it has not already been published (or that Balthazar has the right to republish it) or is in the process of being published.

Images included in the articles can be reproduced only if free from copyright restrictions.

It is the author’s sole responsibility to report which images need authorization and to provide the latter.

The text must be submitted to Balthazar in its final version, following the indications of the editorial norms.

Copyright policies

Authors grant the journal a license to publish their article, but they retain the copyright to their works and are free to publish them again anywhere.

Articles are licensed under Creative Commons. Readers have free access to all content and have the right to download, copy, distribute, print, browse or create links to all published texts.

The license terms are available at the following address: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Ethics

It is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behaviour for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer and the publisher.

 

EDITOR DUTIES

Publication decisions

The decision of the editor whether to accept an article for publication is final. S/he may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair play

An editor at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Peer review

The Editor decides whether to accept the manuscripts, after submitting them to external referees (not belonging to the editorial board or to the scientific committee). Referees are not allowed

to see the authors' names (double blind).

 

REVIEWER DUTIES

We ask peer-reviewers to submit their reports within one month.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the supposed author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

 

AUTHOR DUTIES

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

If applicable, authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Article Submission Charges (APCs)

You can publish in Bathazar free of charge: no payments are required from the authors, as Balthazar doesn’t have article submission charges nor article processing charges (APCs).

Archiving

The University of Milan has an archival arrangement with the National Central Libraries of Florence and Rome within the national project Magazzini Digitali.

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

Plagiarism

Editors have a duty to act promptly in case of errors and misconducts, both proven and alleged. This duty extends to both published and unpublished papers. In case such as errors in articles or in the publication process, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, appropriate steps will be taken, following the recommendations, guidelines and flowcharts from di COPE.  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 affected work. 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.