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    Submissions

    As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

    Author Guidelines

    BASIC INFORMATION

     

    1. Publication Policy

    1.1. No publication fees

    The journal “Civitas et Lex” does not charge authors any fees for article submission, peer review, or publication.

    1.2. Open access

    The journal operates under an Open Access model, providing all users with free, unlimited, and immediate access to published content.

    1.3. License

    All articles published in the journal are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
    The license allows copying and distribution of works with the obligation to credit the author and source, exclusively for non-commercial purposes and without the possibility of creating derivative works.

    1.4. Copyright

    By submitting an article for publication, the author submits the required copyright declaration in accordance with the rules of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Publishing House and agrees to make the publication available under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

    1. Thematic Scope

    The journal publishes original scholarly works in the fields of:

    • legal sciences,
    • political and administrative sciences,
    • security studies,
    • social communication and media studies,
    • pedagogy,
    • history,
    • canon law,
    • other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences (Varia section).

    The editorial board accepts for publication:

    • research articles,
    • review articles,
    • case notes (glosses),
    • scholarly reviews,
    • reports from conferences and academic events.
    1. Article Submission

    Articles are accepted exclusively via the Journal Platform of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.

    When submitting an article, the author is required to:

    • confirm that the submitted text is original, has not been previously published, and is not simultaneously submitted to another journal (unless the relevant information has been communicated to the Editorial Office),
    • declare that the article does not infringe copyright or other third-party rights,
    • submit the full text and title page in DOC, DOCX, ODT, or RTF format,
    • provide academic affiliation and ORCID identifier,
    • submit the required editorial declarations,
    • prepare the text in accordance with the journal’s editorial requirements.
    1. Terms and Timeline of the Publication Process

    The publication process in the journal Civitas et Lex follows the following indicative timelines:

    • average time for the initial manuscript evaluation: 7 days,
    • average time for the peer-review process: 28 days,
    • average time to publish an article:
      • 35 days – if no revisions are required,
      • 50 days – if revisions are required,
    • journal issue publication schedule: the end of each calendar quarter.

    The above timelines are indicative and may be subject to change depending on the review process and the number of submitted manuscripts.

     

     

     

    REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTHORS

     

    1. Author Information (Metadata)

    When submitting an article, the Author provides:

    • first and last name,
    • academic affiliation,
    • email address,
    • ORCID identifier.

    Authors are required to have an ORCID identifier. Those who do not have one should create a free account before submitting the article.

    1. Formal Requirements of the Article

    The article should include:

    • a title in English,
    • an abstract in English (100–150 words),
    • one to five keywords in English,
    • a reference list (bibliography),
    • alternative (ALT) descriptions for all graphical materials, if applicable.
    1. Article Length

    The article should be between 25,000 and 40,000 characters with spaces.
    Footnotes are included in the character limit.
    The bibliography is not included in the article length.

    1. Substantive Requirements

    The article should:

    • present a clearly defined research problem and research objective,
    • include properly defined concepts,
    • describe the applied methodology,
    • use appropriate sources and literature,
    • present logical and coherent argumentation,
    • have a clear structure,
    • conclude with findings resulting from the conducted research or analysis.
    1. Originality of the Work

    The Author is responsible for the originality of the submitted article.
    The following are not permitted:

    • plagiarism,
    • self-plagiarism,
    • data falsification or fabrication,
    • violation of third-party copyright.

    The article must not contain personal data of third parties without an appropriate legal basis.

    1. Language and Text Preparation

    The text should be prepared using the Latin alphabet.
    If other alphabets are used, transliteration or transcription must be applied in accordance with applicable standards.

    1. Editorial Process and Author Proofreading

    After editorial work is completed, the Author receives a PDF file for approval.
    The Author is required to submit any corrections within the deadline set by the Editorial Office (as a rule, within 14 days).
    After publication, changes may only be introduced in the form of an erratum or correction in accordance with applicable publishing procedures.

    1. Alternative (ALT) Descriptions

    Graphic materials should include alternative descriptions.
    The description should:

    • be 5 to 15 words long,
    • be concise and unambiguous,
    • describe the function of the illustration,
    • avoid phrases such as “the image shows…”.
    1. Footnotes and Citation Style

    The journal uses the Chicago Notes and Bibliography system with modifications resulting from editorial guidelines.
    Footnotes should include full identifying information for cited:

    • legal acts,
    • academic publications,
    • online sources.

    Examples of citation style are provided in the editorial guidelines.

    1. Bibliography

    The bibliography should be prepared in a consistent format and include full bibliographic details of all cited publications.

    1. Ethical Standards

    The journal applies the standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
    Authors are required to:

    • comply with principles of academic integrity,
    • disclose any conflicts of interest,
    • provide accurate authorship information,
    • adhere to rules regarding plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

    The Editorial Office applies COPE procedures in case of suspected violations of publication ethics.

    1. Research Transparency

    Authors are encouraged to:

    • indicate sources of research funding,
    • provide the research project number,
    • include a Data Availability Statement, if the nature of the research allows it,
    • apply principles enabling verification of research results.
    1. Publication Identification

    Each published article receives a DOI identifier.
    Publication metadata is prepared in accordance with Crossref standards.
    Publications are subject to long-term digital archiving.

    1. Author Responsibility

    The Author bears full responsibility for:

    • the originality of the article,
    • the reliability of the presented research results,
    • the correctness of citations and bibliography,
    • compliance with academic ethics standards,
    • obtaining all required permissions for the use of legally protected materials.
    1. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

    Artificial intelligence tools may not be listed as authors of publications.
    If AI tools were used during the preparation of the article, the Author should disclose the extent of their use. The Author bears sole responsibility for the content of the article, the accuracy of data, citations, and compliance with academic ethics standards.

     

     

    EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

     

    Editorial Guidelines – Citation System

    The journal uses the Chicago Notes and Bibliography system in a modified version in accordance with the present editorial guidelines (the journal applies a Polish-language adaptation of the Chicago system). These guidelines constitute the binding citation standard used in all journal publications.

    1. General principles of citation

    All bibliographic sources must be provided in footnotes. Footnotes should contain full bibliographic information enabling the identification of archival materials, sources, and scholarly works.

    1. Footnote requirements

    Footnotes should allow for the unambiguous identification of the cited source. This requires providing full bibliographic data at the first citation, including:

    • author or institution responsible for the content,
      • full title,
      • publication details (place and year of publication, publisher),
      • for online sources: URL and date of access,
      • for legal acts: full title of the act, date, and publication reference (if applicable),
      • for archival materials: the archival reference code (usually an abbreviation of the archive name), followed by the fonds/record group designation, the file number (signature), and the page or folio number. If the last two elements are not available, the notation “no ref. and no pagination” should be used.
    1. Chicago system – editorial modifications

    The Chicago Notes and Bibliography system may be subject to modifications resulting from the editorial requirements of the journal, in particular with regard to:

    • the order of bibliographic elements,
      • abbreviations used in subsequent references,
      • standardisation of references to online sources and legal acts.
    1. Citation examples (modified Chicago system)

    4.1. Archival materials

    State Archives in Warsaw (hereinafter: AAN), Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education (hereinafter: MWRiOP), List of vocational schools 1918–1939, ref. no. 222, fol. 7.
    Short reference:
    AAN MWRiOP, ref. no. 222, fol. 17–19.

    4.2. Book (monograph)

    First citation:
    J. Kowalski, Title of the Book, Scientific Publishing House, Warsaw 2020, p. 45.
    Short citation:
    J. Kowalski, Title of the Book, p. 78.

    4.3. Academic article

    First citation:
    A. Nowak, Title of the Article, “Journal Name” 2021, no. 3, p. 117ff.
    Short citation:
    A. Nowak, Title of the Article, p. 120.

    4.4. Chapter in an edited volume

    First citation:
    P. Wiśniewski, Title of the Chapter, in: Title of the Edited Book, ed. Maria Zielińska, Academic Publishing House, Kraków 2019, pp. 55–70, 60.
    Short citation:
    P. Wiśniewski, Title of the Chapter, p. 62.

    4.5. Legal acts

    Citation:
    Act of 23 April 1964 – Civil Code, Journal of Laws 1964, No. 16, item 93, as amended, Art. 5.
    If no official journal is available:
    Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, Art. 2.

    4.6. Online sources

    Citation:
    Ministry of Justice, Title of document or webpage, https://www.example.gov.pl, accessed: 10 January 2026.
    Short citation (if used):
    Ministry of Justice, Title of document.

    4.7. Bibliography (general rule)

    The final bibliography should be arranged alphabetically by authors’ surnames:

    AAN MWRiOP, List of vocational schools 1918–1939, ref. no. 222.
    Kowalski Jan, Title of the Book, Scientific Publishing House, Warsaw 2020.
    Nowak Anna, Title of the Article, “Journal Name” 2021, no. 3, pp. 112–130.
    Wiśniewski Piotr, Title of the Chapter, in: Title of the Edited Book, ed. Maria Zielińska, Academic Publishing House, Kraków 2019, pp. 55–70.
    Ministry of Justice, Title of webpage, https://www.example.gov.pl, accessed: 10 January 2026.

     

    Nota bene

    • In footnotes, the author’s first name initial is used; in the bibliography, the full first name is used.
      • Each footnote is treated as a complete sentence; therefore, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
      • The abbreviation “n.” (and following pages) is allowed.
      • In the bibliography, the full page range of articles or chapters must be provided.
      • A shortened form is used in footnotes from the second citation of the same source.
      • “Ibid.” refers only to the immediately preceding footnote, provided that it contains only one work. If multiple works are cited in the previous footnote, “Ibid.” cannot be used; instead, the author’s name, a shortened title, and page number must be given.
      • “Idem” refers only to the author of the previous footnote and cannot be used in composite references.
      • In composite footnotes, sources must be cited in the following order: archival sources, manuscript sources, printed sources, scholarly works.
      • If the year of publication is missing, the following abbreviations are used: n.d. (no date), n.p. (no place), or both n.d., n.p. for missing data.
      • Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page and separated from the text by a line. The bibliography is placed at the end of the article.
      • The bibliography may be divided into the following sections: archival materials, printed sources, scholarly works, Internet sources.
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