Instructions for Authors and Reviewers
The initial version of the blinded manuscript (without author names, affiliations and addresses) should be submitted either as Word file or compiled LaTeX file as a single PDF using CREBSS Open Journal System.
For the same reason authors need to register with the journal prior to uploading a manuscript or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five-step process. Open Journal System enables review and publishing process more effective, easier and quicker.
When submitting a blinded manuscript via Open Journal System, the authors agree to participate in peer review process, but do not entail any form of commitment on their part. Accordingly, corresponding author as well as co-authors will be assigned both roles; author and reviewer.
The final version of accepted manuscript should be submitted in LaTeX form only. If you are not familiar with LaTeX it is recommended to prepare the final version of the paper in Word, while copy editors of CREBSS journal may provide you this service as well as translation of the title, summary and keywords at the end of the paper into Croatian.
Preparation Checklist
- The submission has not been previously published or considered for publication elsewhere nor submitted to another journal while under review for CREBSS
- The corresponding author is in charge for submission process who receives all notifications and decisions by e-mail
- All references are cited in the text and where applicable URLs or DOI links for the references are provided
- Scientific paper published in CREBSS is categorized as: original paper, preliminary communication or review paper
- Paper is written in English or Croatian and professionally proofread (preferably by a native speaker)
- Authors retain copyright and grant the publishing rights to the Croatian Statistical Association under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Author Guidelines
Title of the paper should be concise, informative and straightforward (up to 15 words)
Summary should illustrate the content of the paper with clear objectives, methodology, findings and contribution (between 150 and 200 words)
Keywords (up to 5 lowercase keywords ordered alphabetically and separated by comma)
JEL classification codes (available here)
Body of the manuscript should have between 4500 and 6000 words (without summary, keywords and reference list). The structure of the manuscript should follow, but not limited to IMRAD sections: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. Additional sections are welcome such as: Literature review (theoretical background) and Conclusion.
It is strongly recommended to comprehensively elaborate scientific contribution of the paper. It should be understandable what is new (what makes current spaper distinctive from existing studies with similar subject of research) and to whom results of the paper are valuable. Additionally, methodology should be appropriately used with argumentation of its applicability or superiority against other approaches.
References in APA style should be listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Number of references is limited to 35. All references should be cited in the text using Harvard citation (author, year)
Important Notes
- Article can be classified as (i) original scientific paper, (ii) review paper or (iii) preliminary communication, depending on reviewers suggestions
- All references are validated through the CrossRef and registered DOI numbers. For published papers without DOI number and internet sources an URL address should be given along with accessed date.
- Before reference list any acknowledgement and/or attribution should be given if applicable
- If paper is accepted for publication in English, after the references the article must contain the title, summary and keywords in Croatian (this part is not mandatory when submitting initial blinded manuscript)
- Initially submitted manuscript is blindly reviewed by two independent reviewers and checked for plagiarism via Turnitin to detect instances of overlapping and similarity
- After the reviewing process and similarity checking, if the paper is accepted, the corresponding author will be kindly asked to submit a final version of the manuscript edited in LaTeX.
- If you are not familiar with LaTeX it is recommended to prepare the final version of the paper in Word, while copyeditors of CREBSS journal may provide you this service as well as translation of the title, summary and keywords at the end of the paper into Croatian
LaTeX Template
The initial blinded manuscript can be prepared using the same given template without changing arbitrary names and surnames of authors, affiliations, etc.
- CREBSS LaTeX template for papers submited in English (.zip) – compressed archive comprises of tex file as template, class file crebss and one figure as an example.
- CREBSS LaTeX template for papers submitted in Croatian (.zip) – compressed archive comprises of tex file as template, class file crebsshr and one figure as an example.
Peer Review Policy
Every manuscript is peer reviewed, according to the following procedures:
- Initial manuscript evaluation
The Chief Editors will promptly evaluate blinded manuscripts. Manuscripts not aligning with the journal’s aims, scope, or quality standards will be returned to authors. Submissions meeting the minimum criteria proceed to the Section (Associate) Editors, covering manuscript subject of interest, who are required to find two appropriate experts for review, external to the editorial board.
- Type and duration of peer review
The journal employs double-blind reviewing, in which the reviewer is unknown to the author, and the identity of the author is unknown to the reviewer. The review process is confidential, and reviewers are expected to declare any potential conflicts of interest. Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the submission. The peer reviewers should only agree to review manuscripts for which they have the subject expertise required to carry out a proper evaluation and which they can assess in a timely manner. Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Upon acceptance to review the manuscript, the reviewer is asked to submit its review, evaluating articles originality, scientific contribution, clarity, and relevance to the scope of the journal, within 4 weeks if not before. Reviewer form is embedded within Open Journal System. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and their judgments should be objective. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments and identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published data of which they have personal knowledge.
- Reviewers’ report
Referees advise the Chief Editors. The Editors’ decision to accept or to reject a manuscript will be sent promptly to the author, with suitably detailed explanations. The paper could be accepted as is, accepted with minor revisions, revised and resubmitted or declined. In most cases revisions are required to improve the manuscripts and therefore it is requested from authors to submit response to reviewers point by point along with revised manuscript.
- The Editors’ decision
Chief Editors are responsible for the final decision to accept or to decline a given manuscript. If decisions of two reviewers mismatch substantially, the second round of review is initiated.
- Copyright agreement and consent to publish
Upon acceptance of the manuscript, and before publishing in this journal, all co-authors are required to sign an agreement, consenting to transfer the publishing rights to the CSA, agreeing to retain copyrights and warranting that the article is original, authored by the given author(s), and has not been previously published or submitted elsewhere for publication before its acceptance. Additionally, corresponding author is required to deliver proofreading confirmation. The proofreading is author(s) responsibility and corrections should