Guidelines

The journal Folia Geographica aims to reflect the diversity of geographer's work in human or physical geography. It includes research in the broad field of geography, studies essential to the Latvian Geographic Society, and geographic education materials.

Research topics are mainly related to Latvia, and the Baltic region's geography, but studies focusing on other parts of the world are also welcome.

The journal Folia Geographica follows ethical standards in publishing. The ethical standards of the journal are based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal Folia Geographica right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

The journal Folia Geographica follows an open access policy, meaning that authors or copyright-holders of the manuscripts published in the journal grant a free, irrevocable, web-wide right of access to all users to perform the following actions: to copy, use, and distribute the articles; to create and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any purpose, following basic copyright provisions; to print a small number of copies for personal use. The Folia Geographica is an open-access online journal which provides open-access content online that is available to users immediately after publication. Users are allowed to use and distribute the content for non-commercial purposes in any media, referring to the author.

Submitted papers are subject to a double-blind peer review. Each paper is assigned to at least two anonymous reviewers.

Reviewers' duties include:

• If some of the chosen reviewers do not consider themselves as being sufficiently qualified to review the research presented in the manuscript or if he or she is aware that will not be able to prepare the review in due time, he or she must inform the editor about it and excuse himself or herself from the obligation to review.
• All manuscripts received for reviewing must be treated as confidential documents. Without editor’s authorisation, they can not be shown to other persons or discussed with other persons; the manuscript received for reviewing may not be used for gaining personal advantages/benefits.
• Reviewing should be conducted objectively; objections must be worded clearly, indicating substantiated objections, which the author may use to improve his or her article. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable.
• The reviewers should not review such manuscripts with regard to which they have a conflict of interest.
• In the review, reviewers should point to the relevant published work that the author has not cited. Any statement that a finding or an argument has been previously published must be accompanied by the relevant citation.
• The reviewer should also call to editor’s attention any substantial similarity (or overlap) between the manuscript under review and any other published article that he or she has personal knowledge of.

Review form

• When fulfilling obligations, the editor is objective and just, and any kind of author discrimination is prohibited. The editor follows the principle of justice. The editor’s decision to accept or reject an article is based solely on its significance, novelty, clarity of expression, and how it corresponds to the aims and objectives of the journal. The author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic background, citizenship, or political views are not considered.
• The editor preserves academic integrity and is always prepared to publish corrections, explanations, apologies, or recall articles, if necessary.
• The editor is responsible for accepting or rejecting articles submitted to the journal for publication. When making a decision, the editor may follow journal policy, drafted by the editorial board, may consult with other editors and reviewers, and consider legal standards to avoid potential copyright infringement, plagiarism, or libel.
• A submitted manuscript is considered a confidential document. The editor and the editorial staff do not have the authority to reveal information about the articles submitted to the journal or information related to these articles to the third parties; the information can solely be revealed to the respective author, reviewers, potential reviewers, advisers to the editor, and publisher.
• The unpublished data, which has been submitted to the journal in the form of a manuscript, cannot be used in the editor’s own research without the author’s consent. To prevent the conflict of interest, the editor must hold the peer-review process to the highest standard of integrity. The editor does not make decisions regarding manuscripts which pose a conflict of interest. The editor is obliged to demand manuscript authors and reviewers to reveal all potential conflicts of interest prior to review.

• The author must objectively present the significance of the research. Moreover, the publications and other sources that have influenced the elaboration of the submitted publication must be referred to in references/sources. The amount of references/sources should be sufficient to allow other persons to ascertain objectivity of the research. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable. Likewise, the opinion presented in the review must be objective, comprehensive and accurate assessment of the publication/research.
• The author must ensure that he or she has written original work. Plagiarism in all its manifestations is considered as being unethical behaviour in publishing and is unacceptable.
• Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unethical behaviour in publishing and is unacceptable. An author should not in general submit an article that, essentially, describes the same research, to more than one journal.
• The author must ensure that all co-authors have approved the final version of the article for publication and have agreed to accept it for publication.
• All those who have significantly contributed to the elaboration of the conception of the research described in publication, its design, implementation or interpretation must be acknowledged as the authors of the article. All those who have made substantial contribution, must be acknowledged as co-authors. If there are others who have participated in the elaboration of the scientific aspect of the research project, they must be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

If the author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the editor of the journal about it. The author, in cooperation with the editor and the publisher, ensures that the publication is retracted or corrected.

Authorship statement for submitted papers

This document should be filled, signed and sent to foliageographica@lu.lv after the paper is accepted for publication.