AUTHOR GUIDELINES

“Where most fields construct canons and invent jargons to keep visitors out, Comparatists assemble libraries – and invite the public in” (Redmond 2003)

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION   

    

Tentatively a yearly throughout the first ten issues, CDDC will turn fashionably biannual in 2019.

Contributors are invited to submit research articles in English, French, German, Spanish or Italian pertaining to comparative research on the major topic being investigated by each respective issue, as well as topic-, section- or research-field-related review- and interview-articles (s. Call for Contributions). In exceptional cases, for vastly transdisciplinary issues, we also accept manuscripts in Romanian. All manuscripts are anonymously refereed (double blind peer-review system). Authors are requested to check their manuscript very carefully before submission. The full text of the contribution should be sent as an e-mail attachment by the date specified in the Call for Contributions (CFC) to the issue at hand. Manuscripts submitted are expected to conform to the journal’s  Style Sheet.

          In order for the submission and evaluation processes to run smoothly, authors are also kindly invited to consider the following calendar:

End of June: launching of the CFC proposal featuring the topic(s) of debate in the issue(s) at hand

End of August:  abstract submission (along with keywords, bionote, language and thematic section options, affiliation and e-mail address: s. Style Sheet for further details)

End of September: notification of abstract submission/rejection

End of December: submission of contribution in extenso

Mid March (of the following year): notification of full-length contribution acceptance/rejection (with simultaneous e-mailing of peer-reviews)

For fuller details on manuscript resubmission or return deadlines s. description under QUALITY CONTROL FILTERS.

SUBSIDIZING POLICY

         There will be neither submission nor processing charges levied to authors, as well as no publication fee for one author copy delivered. Authors will, however, pay 40 euro/copy for extra copies requested (postage included). While welcoming top quality articles contributed by leading or established researchers in the areas covered by the journal, CDDC also warmly invites submissions by researchers in doctoral or even pre-doctoral training, more precisely by all young bold researchers willing to take the long view of the tremendous benefits of deploying comparative strategies in the province of humanities. And just to prove that “actions speak louder than words”, for PhD candidates publication fee payment for two extra copies requested is 50% subsidized by CDDC’s editorial staff, and, as an added incentive, MA students are exempt from it

QUALITY CONTROL FILTERS

          In order to detect and eliminate low quality contributions as well as scientific misconduct at the earliest stage possible in the review process, CDDC’s editors deemed appropriate to resort to a five-stage quality control filter, operating as described below:

1 Initial-stage editorial screening,

when CDDC’s editors screen out all manuscripts submitted which do not conform to the Style Sheet. Authors are notified via e-mail and invited to resubmit their manuscript formatted as required within a week of receiving notification.

2 Second-stage language quality filter,

when CDDC’s editors filter out all manuscripts displaying blatantly incorrect language use. Authors are notified via e-mail and invited to resubmit their manuscript, within two weeks, revised so as to comply with the required language quality standards.

NOTA BENE

Failure to meet any of the resubmission deadlines indicated above inevitably results in automatic rejection of the manuscript submitted.

3 Third-stage cross-check plagiarism filter,

when all manuscripts which have not been filtered out in the previous two stages are screened for plagiarism through one of the several detection services in use at the university to which CDDC’s publisher is affiliated. The manuscripts which test positive are automatically rejected. CDDC’s editors notify the authors via e-mail of the decision, as well as of the reason(s) for the rejection.

In all, first-, second- and third-stage screenings should be carried out within no more than two weeks (resubmission deadlines not included).

NOTA BENE

CDDC’s editors reserve the right not to accept any further submissions by authors rejected for reasons of plagiarism for an indefinite period.

4 Fourth-stage double blind peer-review filter,

when all manuscripts which have emerged unscathed , i.e. have successfully come through the previous three filters, are subject to double blind peer-reviewing, with both external referees and the author remaining anonymous throughout the process. CDDC’s editors deemed important to employ this particular procedure which most accurately reflects the Principles of Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Each peer-reviewer is expected to assess a manuscript within two months (allowing for unpredictable delays) in terms of (s. Manuscript Reviewer’s Form for further details):

·                     - originality of approach;

·                     - compliance with appropriate ethical criteria;

·                     - significant contribution made to the advancement of the research field;

·                     - rigorously documented and coherently constructed arguments;

·                     - recourse to sound methodology;

·                     - scientific corroboration of results and consistent conclusions;

·                     - faithful  referencing of prior literature on the topic investigated;

·                     - academic style features displayed.

A word of reassurance to our contributors

CDDC’s editorial team are confident that, dispiriting as this Caliban of a quality control filter may look, honest and dedicated researchers ‘with a comparative streak’ will brave out  all stage-specific difficulties and come through with flying colours, for, in order to “fiercely resist any attempt to enclose or freeze their field in place” (Redmond, 2003), “Comparatists of a feather” would be well-advised to “flock together”.

Both accepted and rejected contributors will be notified by  CDDC’s editors via an e-mail carrying the two anonymous evaluations as attached documents. Those accepted will, in addition, receive pdf page proofs for correction, which must be returned by dates determined by the publication schedule. Along with the final proof returned authors must also send a pdf copy of the Author’s Warranties Form to the editor-in-chief at ginamaciuca@litere.usv.ro.

5 Final-stage editorial screening,

when CDDC’s editors check the author’s final proof for typos prior to the issue being typeset.

NOTA BENE

Only manuscripts of which the final proof returns accompanied by the Author’s Warranties Form are allowed to go to press.

Author warranties