Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Editors and the editorial board adhere to editorial guidelines and scientific standards in consultation with the reviewers when assessing suitability of the contributions for publication. The editorial board will submit papers for peer review to at least two reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. The editorial board and the reviewers are bound by confidentiality of the peer review process.

Editorial decisions are based exclusively on scholarly merit, originality, academic relevance, and adherence to ethical and scientific standards.

Authors must comply with the Instructions for Authors published on the journal’s website. Authors guarantee that their submissions are original research papers and the result of their own research, that the information provided is accurate, and that the works of other authors used are correctly cited or listed. Submissions must be original and must not be under consideration elsewhere. A translation or other secondary publication of previously published work may be considered only if the prior publication is disclosed at submission, the editor approves the secondary publication, the necessary rights are secured, and the published article clearly identifies and cites the original version. The author must acknowledge work by others who contributed to the submitted manuscript. Any information obtained privately by the author may be used solely with the written permission of the source. If the submitted paper was written by several authors, consent to publication must be obtained from all of them. The authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish copyrighted images and other material. Authors retain copyright and, upon acceptance, grant the journal the right of first publication under the terms described in the Copyright and Open Access Policy below.

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Authorship Policy

Authorship is based on a substantial intellectual contribution to the research. Authors are those who have made significant contributions to the conception or design of the research, the collection, analysis or interpretation of data, and the drafting or critical revision of the manuscript.

All persons who meet these criteria must be listed as authors, and no one who does not meet these criteria may be listed as an author. Those who have contributed to the work in other ways should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section.

For manuscripts with multiple authors, confirmation must be provided at the time of submission that all authors have agreed to the submission and consent to publication. Authors share joint responsibility for the content of the published work.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors must disclose at the time of submission any circumstances that could affect the objectivity of their work or create an appearance of bias. This includes financial interests, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, and sources of research funding. Reviewers must also disclose any potential conflicts of interest and withdraw from the review process if such conflicts exist. The editorial board ensures that manuscripts submitted by its members are treated in the same manner as all other submissions, with the member concerned taking no part in the publication decision.

Plagiarism Policy

The journal Retrospektive has a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism. All manuscripts are checked using appropriate plagiarism detection tools before entering the peer review process. Plagiarism includes verbatim copying without attribution, paraphrasing without proper referencing, and improper use of others’ ideas, data, or results. Self-plagiarism, defined as the reuse of one’s own previously published work without appropriate citation, is also considered a form of plagiarism.

Manuscripts in which plagiarism is detected will be rejected without further consideration. If plagiarism is suspected after publication, the editorial board will act in accordance with the journal’s editorial policy, which may include issuing a correction or retracting the article.

Generative AI Policy

The journal Retrospektive permits the use of generative artificial intelligence tools solely as auxiliary tools in the preparation of manuscripts, for instance for language improvement or technical assistance. Authors must disclose any substantial use of such tools in the acknowledgements or methodology section of the manuscript. Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors, as they cannot assume responsibility for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and scholarly quality of the published work.

The use of AI-generated content for the fabrication of data, references, archival sources, citations, images, or scholarly claims is strictly prohibited. Undisclosed use of AI-generated content constitutes a breach of publication ethics.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of their manuscripts, including all arguments, interpretations, citations, and data, regardless of the use of such tools.

Violations of Ethical Standards

Allegations of plagiarism, fabricated or falsified sources or data, citation manipulation, or other research misconduct should be sent to info@retrospektive-journal.org with relevant supporting information. An editor without a conflict of interest examines the evidence and seeks a response from the persons concerned where appropriate. If the allegation concerns the editor-in-chief, another editorial board member without a conflict of interest handles the matter. Decisions and their reasons are documented.

Minor deviations, such as misunderstandings or minor breaches of academic standards, will be resolved directly among those involved. This may take the form of a consultation with the person who made the error or of a formal warning.

In cases of major ethical violations, the editor-in-chief and the editorial board will decide, on the basis of the evidence, on the most appropriate course of action. Measures taken in response to major ethical violations may include the publication of a formal notice, consideration of the error by the editorial board, notification of the relevant department or employer of the author or reviewer by formal letter, retraction of the publication in accordance with the policy on corrections and retractions set out below, a temporary ban on submissions by the individuals concerned, and referral of the case to a professional organization or legal authority for further investigation and action.

In dealing with unethical conduct, the editorial board will rely on the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://publicationethics.org/resources/.

Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawals

The journal Retrospektive is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scholarly record. In cases where published articles contain significant errors, ethical breaches, or other issues affecting the reliability of the publication, the journal may issue corrections, retractions, or withdrawals in accordance with internationally recognized standards of academic publishing ethics and the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The principal aim of these measures is to correct errors and to preserve the credibility and integrity of the journal.

Corrections may be issued in cases of minor or unintentional errors that do not compromise the overall validity of the article.

Retractions may be issued in cases involving plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, unethical research practices, or other forms of serious academic misconduct.

Withdrawals may occur before publication if substantial problems are identified during the editorial or production process.

All decisions regarding corrections, retractions, or withdrawals are made by the editorial board following a careful review of the circumstances and, where appropriate, consultation with the authors and reviewers involved.

Corrections and retractions are published as clearly identified, dated notices linked to the affected article. The article page also links to the notice. Retracted articles remain accessible and are clearly marked as retracted, except where exceptional legal or privacy grounds require removal. Substantive changes are not made silently to published articles.

Copyright and Open Access Policy

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant Retrospektive the right of first publication. All articles are freely and immediately available online under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This licence permits sharing and adaptation, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is supplied, and any changes are indicated.

Authors may deposit the published version in institutional or other repositories and on personal websites without an embargo, with full bibliographic details and a link to the journal version.

Authors are responsible for identifying third-party material and obtaining any permissions required for publication. Material not covered by the article’s CC BY licence must be clearly identified in its credit line, together with the applicable rights information.

The journal charges no submission, peer review, article processing, or publication fees.

Complaints

Complaints about editorial procedures and appeals against editorial decisions should be sent to info@retrospektive-journal.org. The message should identify the manuscript or article concerned, explain the grounds for the complaint or appeal, and provide relevant supporting information.

The matter is reviewed by an editor or editorial board member without a conflict of interest. A complaint concerning the editor-in-chief is handled by another board member who is independent of the matter. Further advice or an additional review may be sought where appropriate. The complainant is informed of the outcome and the reasons within a reasonable time. An appeal does not guarantee a change in the original decision.

Data Availability and Research Transparency

Authors should describe their sources and methods sufficiently clearly to allow readers to assess the basis of their findings. Archival references should identify the repository, collection, file or item, and other information needed to locate the source. Datasets, digital corpora, GIS data, software, and analytical code should be cited and, where appropriate and possible, deposited in a suitable repository.

Authors should explain the availability of the materials supporting their research and any restrictions on access. For historical research, this may consist of identifying the archives and collections used and explaining restrictions on unpublished or privately held material. Authors are not required to make archival reproductions or confidential materials public where this would breach copyright, privacy, consent, or repository conditions.

Ethical Oversight

Research involving interviews, oral histories, personal data, or other sensitive material must comply with the ethical requirements applicable to the research. Authors should explain, where relevant, how informed consent was obtained and how participants’ privacy and confidentiality were protected. Where institutional ethical approval was required, the approving body and approval reference should be reported.

Historical research using archival sources does not automatically require ethics committee approval. Authors must nevertheless respect restrictions on access and reproduction and consider the implications of publishing sensitive information about identifiable individuals. Editors may request clarification where ethical concerns arise.

Post-publication Discussion

Readers may submit reasoned comments or critiques of published articles to info@retrospektive-journal.org. Submissions should identify the article, address its scholarly content, and provide evidence or references where appropriate. The editors assess their relevance and substance and may invite a response from the author. Substantive exchanges may be published as linked comments and replies, subject to editorial assessment and, where necessary, peer review. Concerns indicating an error or misconduct are handled under the journal’s correction or misconduct procedures.