About the Journal

Aim and Scope

The journal publishes original scientific papers, short communications, reviews, professional papers and educational papers.

The original scientific papers report unpublished results of completed original scientific research. Experimental data should be presented in a way that enables reproduction and verification of analyses and deductions on which the conclusions are based. The manuscripts should normally not exceed 6000 words.

The short communications should contain completed (but briefly presented) results of original scientific research. The manuscripts should normally not exceed 2000 words.

The Reviews are submitted at the invitation of the Editorial Board. They should be critical surveys of an area in which preferably the author himself is active. The reviews can be longer than typical research articles but should generally be limited to 10000 words including references, tables and figures.

Professional papers report on useful practical results that are not original but help the results of the original scientific research to be adopted into scientific and production use. Manuscripts should normally not exceed 4000 words.

Educational papers report on the activities in the laboratory and classroom and the needs of the community of educators in all mentioned fields. Manuscripts should normally not exceed 4000 words.

Peer review/evaluation

Papers received by the Editorial Board are sent to two referees (one in the case of professional and educational papers). Identities of the reviewers will not be released to the authors. The review process is expected to be complete within 1 month, but conflicting recommendations and other unpredictable events may cause some delay.

The comments and recommendations of the referees and the Editorial Board are sent to the authors for further action. The authors are allowed 30 days to undertake revisions and return the corrected text to the Editorial Board. The final decision on acceptance or rejection is made by the Editorial Board. This decision, together with any relevant reasons, will be send to the corresponding author.

  • Publication process. The accepted manuscript is again checked for conformation to the Instructions to Authors and to ensure that all necessary paperwork is present. Any areas that are identified as problematic will be addressed by the Editorial Board in consultation with the corresponding author. The papers will be prepared for publication by a professional copy editor responsible for ensuring that the final printed work is consistent in form and style.
  • Galley proofs. A galley proof is sent to the corresponding author. It should be checked very carefully and must be returned within 2 days of receipt. The proof stage is not the time to make extensive corrections, additions, or deletions.
  • Reprints. The corresponding author will receive, free of charge, reprints of the paper published in the Contributions. Additionally he will receive a complementary copy of the journal.

 

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Duties of Editors

Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their originality, scientific importance, study’s validity as well as their relevance to the journal’s scope. Editors and editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, other editorial advisers and the publisher, as appropriate. Editors and editorial board members will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field.

 

Duties of Reviewers

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Any manuscript received for review is confidential document and must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief. Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Any invited referee who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted. Reviewers should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited.

 

Duties of Authors

Authors of original research should present an accurate results of the work performed, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original work, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications, and proof of ethics approval, and copyright permissions. When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editors or publisher and cooperate with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper.

 

Open Access Policy

Contributions are an open access journal and its content is freely available to the public in order to achieve a greater global exchange of knowledge. The main principles of open access we support are:

  • peer-reviewed literature should be freely available without subscription or price barriers,
  • literature is immediately released in open access format (no embargo period), and
  • published material can be re-used without obtaining permission as long as a correct citation to the original publication is given.

 

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
  • Authors are permitted to retain publishing rights without restrictions.

 

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

Begening with 2016 all articles will get a DOI string.
The DOI string will be as follows: 10.20903/masa/nmbsci.(year).(article number assigned by Publisher)
This enables authors to know the DOI number of their article (if accepted) as soon as they submit the manuscript.

 

Publication History:

Until 2012 known as Contributions, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Section of Mathematical and Technical Sciences