Aim and Scope

The Topics Addressed In The Journal

The scientific journal "Sociology and Law" is glad to invite you to submit articles in the following scientific areas:

• 5.4.1. Theory, Methodology and History of Sociology (sociological sciences),
• 5.4.2. Economic Sociology (economic sciences),
• 5.4.3. Demography (economic sciences),
• 5.4.4. Social Structure, Social Institutions and Processes (sociological sciences),
• 5.4.5. Political Sociology (sociological sciences),
• 5.4.6. Sociology of Culture (sociological sciences),
• 5.4.7. Sociology of Management (sociological sciences),
• 5.1.4. Criminal Law Sciences (legal sciences)

Section Policies

SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF A SOCIETY

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

THE LAW IN A STATE AND PERSON LIFE

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

REVIEWS

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Publication Frequency

4 issues per year

Delayed Open Access

The contents of this journal will be available in an open access format 12 month(s) after an issue is published.

Archiving

• Russian State Library (RSL)
• National Electronic-Information Consortium (NEICON)

Peer-Review

Scientific articles submitted to the journal are subject to mandatory peer review. In order to ensure high quality and organization of an objective scientific assessment of the materials submitted to the Russian scientific journal “Sociology and Law” the following peer review procedures are introduced.

The terms of peer review procedures are determined individually in each particular case establishing conditions for a maximum prompt publication of the article. In exceptional cases, the terms of peer reviewing can be extended with the approval of the journal.

Scientific expertise of the materials submitted to the journal is divided into the following stages:

I. Pre-editorial quality control of the materials submitted to the Russian scientific journal “Sociology and Law”. The authors are required to submit a manuscript together with a certified by signatures and stamps either individual (from a well-known specialist in the profile of the article) or collective (from a department, laboratory, sector, etc.) review containing well-grounded recommendations for its publication.

II.Expert reviewing of manuscripts by specialized experts. The editorial staff determines the compliance of the article with the profile of the journal and the requirements to publication. Then the manuscript is checked by the licensed text analysis systems for borrowings and, if it is successfully passed (at least 70% of the author’s text), it is sent to scientific editors having the best expertise on the topic of the article. Employees of the university and other organizations located both in Saint-Petersburg and beyond, who are specialists in the profile of the peer-reviewed articles can act as reviewers. The following information should be included into the review:

1) whether the content of the article corresponds to the topic stated in the title;

2) whether the article corresponds to the current achievements of scientific and theoretical thought;

3) whether the publication of the article is expedient considering the literature previously published on the topic of the research;

4) what are the positive aspects, as well as the shortcomings of the article, what changes and corrections should be made by the author;

5) final conclusions on the publication: “recommended for publication”, “recommended for publication taking into account the remarks of the reviewer” or “not recommended”.

The editorial staff has the right to refuse in publishing the article or send the article for additional reviewing in case it does not correspond to the content of the journal, it contains less than 70% of the author’s text, it does not have enough novelty, the research question of the paper is not well-formulated or there is no theoretical or practical significance of the research.

In case of a negative feedback (the article is recommended to be finalized or rejected), the author receives the results of the peer reviewing procedures. The article does not pass to further stages of the expertise.

In case of a positive feedback (it is recommended to publish the article), the author receives the results of the peer reviewing procedures. The article is sent to final expertise.

When the final approval of the manuscript for printing is received, literary editing and general editing is done. The changes in the text of the publication which may influence the reflection of the author’s intention are agreed upon with the author(s) of the article individually. The printed author’s copy is given to the author together with the copy of properly executed review. In case of co-authorship the copies of the review are given to all the co-authors. The reviews are kept in the editorial office with a breakdown by publication numbers and years for the period of 5 years. The original copies of the reviews are kept in the archive of the editorial office and send upon the request to the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

Indexation

Articles in "Sociology and Law" are indexed by several systems:

• Russian Index for Science Citation (RISC) – a database, accumulating information on papers by Russian scientists, published in native and foreign titles. The RSCI project is under development since 2005 by “Electronic Scientific Library” foundation (elibrary.ru).
• Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. The Google Scholar index includes most peer-reviewed online journals of Europe and America's largest scholarly publishers, plus scholarly books and other non-peer reviewed journals.

Publishing Ethics

The Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement of the journal “Sociology and Law” (“Sociologia i pravo”) are based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct guidelines available at www.publicationethics.org,  and requirements for peer-reviewed journals, elaborated by the Elsevier Publishing House (in accordance with international ethical rules of scientific publications)

1. Introduction

1.1. The publication in a peer reviewed learned journal, serves many purposes outside of simple communication. It is a building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. For all these reasons and more it is important to lay down standards of expected ethical behaviour by all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society for society-owned or sponsored journal: "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”)

1.2. Publisher has a supporting, investing and nurturing role in the scholarly communication process but is also ultimately responsible for ensuring that best practice is followed in its publications.

1.3. Publisher takes its duties of guardianship over the scholarly record extremely seriously. Our journal programs record «the minutes of science» and we recognize our responsibilities as the keeper of those «minutes» in all our policies not least the ethical guidelines that we have here adopted.

2. Duties of Editors

2.1. Publication decision – The Editor of a learned "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) is solely and independently responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published, often working on conjunction with the relevant society (for society-owned or sponsored journals). The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always underwrite such decisions. The Editor may be guided by the policies of the "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) 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 (or society officers) in making this decision.

2.2. Fair play – An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

2.3. Confidentiality – The editor and any editorial staff of "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) 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.

2.4. Disclosure and Conflicts of interest

2.4.1. 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. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

2.4.2. Editors should recuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers.

2.5. Vigilance over published record – An editor presented with convincing evidence that the substance or conclusions of a published paper are erroneous should coordinate with the publisher (and/or society) to promote the prompt publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note, as may be relevant.

2.6. Involvement and cooperation in investigations – An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration of the respective complaint or claims made, but may also include further communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies.

3. Duties of Reviewers

3.1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions – Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication, and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Publisher shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to publications have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.

3.2. 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 of "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) and excuse himself from the review process.

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

3.4. Standard and objectivity – Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

3.5. 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.

3.6. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

3.6.1. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

3.6.2. 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.

4. Duties of Authors

4.1. Reporting standards

4.1.1. 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.

4.1.2. Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial 'opinion’ works should be clearly identified as such.

4.2. Data Access and Retention – Authors may be 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 (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

4.3. Originality and Plagiarism

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

4.3.2. Plagiarism takes many forms, from ‘passing off’ another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

4.4. Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

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

4.4.2. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper.

4.5. 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. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

4.6. Authorship of the Paper

4.6.1. 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.

4.6.2. 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.

4.7. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

4.7.1. 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.

4.7.2. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

4.8. Fundamental errors in published works – When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the editor of "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) journal and cooperate with Publisher to retract or correct the paper, If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper.

5. Duties of the Publisher (and if relevant, Society)

5.1. Publisher should adopt policies and procedures that support editors, reviewers and authors of "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) in performing their ethical duties under these ethics guidelines. The publisher should ensure that the potential for advertising or reprint revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.

5.2. The publisher should support "Sociology and Law" (“Sociologia i pravo”) journal editors in the review of complaints raised concerning ethical issues and help communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful to editors.

5.3. Publisher should develop codes of practice and inculcate industry standards for best practice on ethical matters, errors and retractions.

5.4. Publisher should provide specialized legal review and counsel if necessary.

Founder

• Saint-Petersburg University of Management Technologies and Economics

Author fees

Publication in "Sociology and Law" is free of charge for all the authors.

The journal doesn't have any Article processing charges.

The journal doesn't have any Article submission charges.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

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

Plagiarism detection

"Sociology and Law" use native russian-language plagiarism detection software Antiplagiat to screen the submissions. If plagiarism is identified, the COPE guidelines on plagiarism will be followed.

Preprint and postprint Policy

Prior to acceptance and publication in "Sociology and Law", authors may make their submissions available as preprints on personal or public websites.

As part of submission process, authors are required to confirm that the submission has not been previously published, nor has been submitted. After a manuscript has been published in "Sociology and Law" we suggest that the link to the article on journal's website is used when the article is shared on personal or public websites.

Glossary (by SHERPA)