About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Labyrinth is a journal of the Institute for Axiological Research / Institut für Axiologische Forschungen, founded 1999 in Vienna. It was firstly published as an on-line review and later as printed volumes and special issues. It is actually both, a printed academic journal, available for purchase, and an electronic open access journal. We are working actually to make all past issues to be availble online in the archives.

As a nonpartisan philosophical and interdisciplinary journal Labyrinth is engaged in publication of high quality peer-reviewed academic articles, critical essays, interviews and book reviews. Althought it is focuced on the philosophy and theory of values and their sociocultural contexts, it is also open to related topics and inquieries in all fields of the humanities and the social sciences with a special emphasis on critical thinking, social controversies and conflict resolution, interfaith dialogue, intercultural and cross-cultural communication, gender studies and managing diversity.

Labyrinth is a bi-annual Platinum Open Access journal, i.e., there are no author's fees for publication (for the online and printed editions) nor reader's fees/subscription fees. However, the Publishers don't offer free hard copies to the authors. 

Peer Review Process

Labyrinth utilises the policy of double blind peer-review. In a first step or first screening -- specially if the auhor is unknown or/and does not submit an invited paper -- the manuscript will be carefully considered by editors and evaluators in view of the journal's topics, style, and guidelines. If it fits the cfp, topics, style, the guidelines, and in some cases also the special requirements of the issue, the manuscript will be blind reviewed by two qualified specialists and the author will recieve a feedback within two months. 

NB: The Journal accepts only manuscripts which are unpublished and not currently under review for any other printed or electronic publication!

Open Access Policy

The Labyrinth journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Publishing Ethics

Axia Academic Publishers and Labyrinth are committed to the values, ethical standards and best practices in publication of academic research presented and constantly discussed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). As books and serial publications are the products of a collaborative work between the publisher, the editors, the reviewers and the author(s), it is of crucial importance to regulate the specific duties and responsibilities of all involved parties.

 I.    Duties and responsibilities of the Publisher: 

1. To support to the editors in applying the COPE Code of Conduct  for Journal Editors.
2. To offer editors technical support including publishing tools and tools for detecting plagiarism, self-plagiarism, text recycling and redundant publications.
3. To respect the editorial independence.
4. To respect the freedom of expression of the authors.
5. To guarantee the privacy of the authors and peer reviewers.
6. To protect intellectual property and copyright.
7. To ensure fair editing and peer review.
8. To ensure the transparency and integrity of the publishing process.
9. To ensure publication of books and journals in a timely manner.
10. To take action within the editor(s) in cases of conflict interest, suspected or detected incorrect authorship contribution or/and misconduct following the COPE Best Practice Guidelines. 

II. Duties and responsibilities of the Editors: 

1. To acknowledge receipt of submitted manuscript.
2. To determine if the submitted manuscript fits the journal's topics and general guidelines and if so to ensure an efficient review process.
3. To handle the manuscript and any related information in a confidential manner, including the names and other details of the authors and the reviewers.
4. To decide to accept or reject a manuscript for publication with reference only to the manuscript's academic contribution (importance, argumentation, novelty, consistence etc.) and its relevance to the journal's topics and profile.
5. To assure and respect the intellectual independence of authors and their freedom of expression.
6. To publish and regularly update the guidelines of submission on the journal's homepage.
7. To select competent reviewers free from competing interests.
8. To provide the reviewers with the guidelines and academic criteria of evaluation of the submitted manuscripts.
9. To take action in case of suspected or detected incorrect authorship attribution.
10. To take action in case of suspected or detected misconduct following the COPE Best Practice Guidelines.

 III.  Duties and responsibilities of the Reviewers: 

1. To respect strictly the confidentiality of the manuscript during the review process.
2. To review carefully the quality of the paper and to suggest any improvements if needed.
3. To evaluate a manuscript for publication with reference only to the manuscript's academic contribution (importance, argumentation, novelty, consistence etc.) and its relevance to the journal's topics and profile.
4. To review the manuscript in a timely manner.
5. To inform the editors of any suspected or detected misconduct including disputed authorship, text recycling, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, redundant publication(s) etc.
6. To disclose any potential competing interests before agreeing to review a manuscript.

 IV. Duties and responsibilities of the Author(s):

The English Oxford Dictionary defines an author as "a writer of a book, article, or document" or "an originator of a plan or idea". The authorship includes a significant involvement in study conception, data collection, or data analysis/interpretation as well as the involvement in drafting and revising manuscript, approval of its final version for publication, and responsibility for accuracy and integrity of all aspects and data of the presented research.

The author submitting a paper to Labyrinth has the following duties and responsibilities:

1. To assure that he/she is the author of the manuscript, including all copyrights, and to provide correct information about himself/herself in form of a brief biography including name, address, institutional affiliation, academic degree and position, and main publications. In case of multiple authorship, all authors should to be able to display their individual contribution and those of their co-author(s).
2. To not use any pseudonym but to provide his/hers real name. Submitting a paper under a pseudonym will lead to an automatic rejection of the manuscript for the reason of using a fake personality.
3. To assure that the paper is original and has not been previously published in or simultaneously submitted to another serial publication (journal, book series), and consequently, not to withdraw it after accetance.
4. To not present interpretations, theses, methods, research data and/or results, as new if already published it in previous publications.
5. To not engage in falsification of the ideas of interpreted authors, data and sources, but to present it with accuracy.
6. To not use microaggressive language.
7. To give full attribution of the used sources.
8. To not breach any copyright or make use of plagiarized data, reference omissions, self-plagiarism or text recycling.
9. To not engage in redundant publication(s).
10. To declare any potential conflicts of interest.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

According to the English Oxford Dictionary the word plagiarism originates "from Latin plagiarius 'kidnapper' (from plagium 'a kidnapping', from Greek plagion) +-ism." It defines it as "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own".

2. Forms of Plagiarism

The different forms of plagiarism, as detected by a study by iThenticate, are:

• Replication: Submitting a paper to multiple publications in an attempt to get it published more than once.
• Duplication: Re-using work from one's own previous studies and papers without attribution.
• Secondary source: Using a secondary source, but only citing the primary sources contained within the secondary one.
• Misleading attribution: Removing an author’s name, despite significant contributions; an inaccurate or insufficient list of authors who contributed to a manuscript.
• Invalid source: Referencing either an incorrect or not existent source.
• Paraphrasing:  Taking the words of another and using them alongside original text without attribution.
• Repetitive research: Repeating data or text from a similar study with a similar methodology in a new study without proper attribution.
• Unethical collaboration: Accidental or intentional use of each other’s work without proper attribution; when people who are working together violate a code of conduct.
• Verbatim:  Copying of another’s words and works without providing proper attribution, indentation or quotation marks.
• Complete: Taking a manuscript from another researcher and resubmitting it under one’s own name.

 3. Anti-Plagiarism Policy

Labyrinth has very strong anti-plagiarism policy that does not allow any plagiarism of others ideas, discoveries, data, and/or work, nor self-plagiarism, text recycling or duplicate publication. All submitted articles have to pass through an initial screening and will be checked through a plagiarism detection software. In addition, the reviewers should instantly inform the editors if they suspect or discover any form of plagiarism.  

Any quotations, paraphrases or reproductions of charts should acknowledge the original source(s). Republication of a published conference paper is acceptable if at least 1/3 of the content is new, a permission is given from the original copyright owner, and the previous publication has to be properly acknowledged. 

Sharing and Republication

The rights to share a paper does not include the right to republish it in a third party serial publication, collective work, book, textbook etc. Under no circumstances is it allowed Labyrinth's articles to be republished in third party journals or collective works, printed or online. However, Labyrinth grants permission to the author:

• To incorporate his/hers article or parts of it in a future single author book publication by giving appropraite credit
• To incorporate his/hers article or parts of it in his/hers dissertation by giving appropriate credit
• To republish the article in other languages by giving appropriate credit and informing the Editors 

On special occasions, Axia Academic Publishers may republish Labyrinth articles in textbooks or collective works giving appropriate credit. 

Sponsors

Published with the suppport of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna 

Referat Wissenschafts- und Forschungsförderung der Kulturabteilung (MA 7) der Stadt Wien

Sources of Support

Published and supported by Insitute for Axiological Research/ Institut für Axiologische Forschungen, Vienna

Journal History

The Journal was founded in 1999 and published firstly online under the title Labyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Feminist Theory & Cultural Hermeneutics. After 2003 it became a printed publication. Actually it appears as a printed (free to buy) and online open access journal (free to read).