1.1. Requirements for incoming research papers:

1.1.1. For publication in the journal “Proceedings of the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary” (hereinafter referred to as “Proceedings of SPDS”, Journal), original scientific texts that comply with the topics of the Journal, as well as the requirements for the content and design of scientific works are accepted.

1.1.2. Scientific articles submitted to the Journal must contain a title, information about the authors, an abstract (at least 100 words), keywords and a bibliography in Russian and English.

1.1.3. The volume of scientific articles sent to the Journal, excluding metadata, should be 20-40 thousand printed characters with spaces (by agreement with the editorial board is possible publication of articles of a larger volume). 

1.1.4. In addition to scientific articles, in agreement with the editorial board, reviews of current scientific literature (in the volume of 8-15 thousand printed characters with spaces), texts of translations, archival materials, and other materials of scientific interest within the scope of the Journal can be accepted for publication.

1.1.5. The following are not accepted for publication in the Journal:

— texts of a non-scientific and/or pseudoscientific nature;

— texts that do not correspond to the subject of the journal;

— texts that do not comply with the publication ethics of the journal;

— texts previously published in other sources;

— texts under consideration in other journals;

— texts that violate the legislation of the Russian Federation.

1.1.6. All texts received by the Editorial Board of the Journal are subject to checking for borrowing of material using the Anti-Plagiarism system. The level of originality of incoming scientific articles must be at least 80% (excluding metadata and references).

1.1.7. Incorrect borrowing of ideas, scientific apparatus and quotes without reference to the source of information or their presentation as one’s own achievements (plagiarism) is not allowed. If plagiarism and/or other copyright violations are detected, the article is automatically rejected.

1.1.8. It is not allowed to have quotations in foreign languages that are not accompanied by a translation into Russian.

1.2. Procedure for submitting articles:

1.2.1. Authors who wish to publish their articles in the journal “Proceedings of SPDS” send two documents in Word format to trudi-spds@yandex.ru - information about the author ((author’s card)) and scientific texts, formatted in accordance with the requirements posted on the journal website. The subject line of the letter must indicate “For publication in the journal “Proceedings of SOTS”.

1.2.2. If it is necessary to accompany the article with illustrations, diagrams, photographic materials, images are sent as a separate file in .png or .jpg with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Each image must be signed.

1.2.3. By sending a letter with materials, the author confirms his familiarization with and agreement with the terms of the “Agreement on the publication of scientific materials” and the publication ethics of the Journal. The author’s agreement with the terms of the “Agreement on the publication of scientific materials” means that if the material is accepted for publication, the author concludes with the Seminary in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 428 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an agreement on the transfer of the right to use published materials under an exclusive license for a period of 2 years.

1.2.4. Articles received by e-mail of the Journal are registered and checked by the executive secretary for compliance with formal requirements (volume, level of originality of the text, completeness of metadata, formal compliance with the subject of the Journal). In case of non-compliance with formal requirements, the article is automatically withdrawn from consideration, of which the executive secretary notifies the author via email. If the formal requirements are met, the article is submitted for review.

2.1. Procedure for appointing a reviewer:

2.1.1. The peer-reviewed scientific publication “Proceedings of SOTS” reviews all articles submitted to the editorial office that correspond to its topic for the purpose of their expert assessment.

2.1.2. All reviewers are recognized experts on the subject of the materials being reviewed and have had publications on the subject of the article being reviewed over the past three years.

2.1.3. The journal “Proceedings of SPDS” adopts “double-blind” reviewing (the reviewer does not know the name of the author of the article, the author of the article does not know the name of the reviewer). As a rule, the article is sent to one reviewer, however, in case of receipt of articles of an interdisciplinary nature, or in case of doubts about the objectivity of the initial review, additional reviewers may be appointed by decision of the Editorial Board.

2.1.4. The candidacy of a reviewer is routinely appointed by the Chairman of the Editorial Board. In difficult cases, the question of appointing a reviewer may be raised with the Editor-in-Chief and/or submitted to a meeting of the Editorial Board.

2.1.5. To avoid a conflict of interest, the author of the article, a close relative of the author of the article, or the scientific supervisor of the author of the article cannot be appointed as a reviewer of the article.

2.2. Review procedure:

2.2.1. The executive secretary sends the material without attribution to the designated reviewer via email.

2.2.2. The reviewer undertakes not to use the information obtained during the review for personal gain, not to transfer the text received for review to third parties not associated with the work of the Journal, and not to use the text in his own scientific works.

2.2.3. The period for initial review is one month from the date the material is sent to the appointed reviewer. The reviewer is obliged to notify the editorial board if he cannot complete the work within the specified period. If the review deadlines are not met, the editorial board has the right to appoint another reviewer.

2.2.4. If the article is sent to the author for revision, the author must eliminate the shortcomings within 3 months and/or write a motivated response to each reviewer’s comment. After this, the article will be sent for re-review.

2.2.5. If the scientific level of the article can objectively be improved, the reviewer undertakes to assist the author in finalizing the article by formulating reasonable criticisms and recommendations.

2.3. Requirements for the content and format of the review:

2.3.1. The text of the review is presented by the expert in free form, but in certain formulations it must contain an assessment:

— relevance of the research topic;

— scientific novelty;

— theoretical and/or practical significance of the study;

— the degree of reliability of the stated facts;

— the depth and completeness of the elaboration of the theoretical basis of the study, the degree of familiarity of the author with works on the issues under study;

— validity of the given results and conclusions;

— the degree of correspondence of the topic of the article to one of the specialties for which the Journal accepts articles;

— correspondence of the title, abstract and keywords of the article to its main content;

— the author’s degree of proficiency in scientific terminology, the correctness of the formulations used, and the author’s general style;

— other features of the article at the discretion of the reviewer.

2.3.2. The review should conclude with a conclusion about the possibility of accepting the article for publication in one of three formulations:

— The article is recommended for publication in the journal “Proceedings of the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary”;

— The article can be recommended for publication in the journal “Proceedings of the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary” only after eliminating a number of shortcomings: (the main comments must be listed);

— The article cannot be recommended for publication in the journal “Proceedings of the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary.”

2.3.3. The review is drawn up in the form of a document with the date and signature of the reviewer and is provided in printed form (or as an electronic copy if the reviewer lives in another city).

2.3.4. Reviews are stored in the editorial office of the journal “Proceedings of the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary” for five years.

3.1. The procedure for making a decision on accepting / rejecting / sending an article for revision:

3.1.1. After the members of the Editorial Board have familiarized themselves with the reviewer’s opinion, the issue of accepting the material for publication is put up for discussion at the next meeting of the Editorial Board, based on the results of which a decision is made to accept/reject/send the article for revision.

3.1.2. In controversial cases, the final decision on acceptance/rejection/sending an article for revision can be made by the editor-in-chief alone.

3.1.3. The grounds for rejecting an article may include:

— inconsistency of the presented material with the subject matter of the Journal;

— non-compliance of the presented material with the requirements for the content and design of scientific works;

— violation of publication ethics by the author;

— negative review of the presented material;

— negative decision of the Editorial Board;

— failure by the author of the material to comply with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

3.1.4. If the article is recommended for revision, the executive secretary sends a copy of the review to the author via email without attribution, indicating comments for elimination.

3.1.5. If the article is rejected, the executive secretary sends the author a copy of the review without attribution or a reasoned refusal via email.

3.1.6. The editors undertake to send copies of reviews to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation upon receipt of a corresponding request by the editors of a peer-reviewed scientific publication.

3.1.7. If an article is accepted for publication, the text is placed in a queue for publication, and the executive secretary notifies the author via email.

3.1.8. If necessary, the author of an article recommended for publication may request from the executive secretary a certificate of acceptance of the article for publication.

3.1.9. With a positive decision from the Editorial Board to publish the article, a License Agreement is concluded with the author on the granting of rights to use the scientific text, and the material is returned to the executive secretary for scientific editing and preparation for publication.

3.2. Pre-press stages:

3.2.1. Articles accepted for publication undergo scientific and literary editing and correction.

3.2.2. Scientific editing accepted for publication of material is carried out in accordance with the requirements for materials submitted to the Journal and taking into account the opinions of the author;

3.2.3. The author undertakes to regularly respond to questions arising in the process of scientific and literary editing, to proofread the article within the deadlines established by the editors.

3.2.4. The typed material is presented to the Scientific Editor for control reading and signing for publication.

3.2.5. The certified original layout is sent to the publishing house.