Focus and Scope

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1969. It focuses on the inquiry into philosophical and methodological principles of scientific knowledge. It traces the interrelationship of science, technology, and society; the problems of the historical development of science and knowledge; and the interdisciplinary relations across and within Humanities, Social, Natural, and Life Sciences. Public relevance of science is also addressed. The journal publishes original research articles in English and Czech languages. Unsolicited book reviews are typically in Czech. Currently, the journal is listed in databases SCOPUS, DOAJ, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, CEJSH, The Philosopher’s Index, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is published by the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Centre for Science, Technology, and Society Studies). Since 2017, it is published twice a year.

Since 2019, the journal provides open access to its content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

ISSN 1210-0250 (Print) ISSN 1804-6347 (Online). The journal is registered by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic under No. E 18677.

Peer Review Process

Original research articles, survey articles, and review articles are subject to a double-blind peer review policy. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field. Based on the reviews, the editors of the journal (in a possible cooperation with the editorial board) issue a final decision about the conditions of (non)acceptance of the submission for publication. The reviews are internal material of the editorial office and are archived.

Submissions to the rubric/section “Miscelanea” (containing e.g., reviews of books, annotations, reports from conferences, or research reports) are (usually) not subjected to double-blind peer review, only to the editorial supervision.

Peer Review Practice

The editors of the journal manage the peer review process. The submissions may be rejected by the editors or the editorial board before the review process commences if they do not meet the general formal and content requirements of the journal. The following criteria are particularly important:

• the submission was not previously published and is not under consideration by another journal,
• the submission is prepared in accordance with the journal’s style,
• the topic of the submission is relevant to the focus of the journal.

The review process is double-blind. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field who have no conflict of interest with the author or the reviewed work. If the reviews are contradictory, the submission is sent to the third reviewer.

The final decision to accept or reject the submission is made by the editors of the journal or the editorial board on the basis of the received reviews. The reviews are also sent to the author. If some changes are proposed, the submission is returned back to the author for revisions.

When preparing the revised version of the submission, the author is required to take into account the recommendations of the reviewers and to supply an additional document with a brief overview of the changes to the text, or justification of why some objections or suggestions have not been taken into account. Based on this revised version, the final decision is made on whether to accept it or not.

Publication Frequency

Since 2017, TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE publishes two issues (Spring and Fall) per year.

Open Access Policy

Since 2019, TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE journal provides open access to its content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Authors who publish in this journal agree that:

1. Authors retain copyright and publication rights without restrictions and guarantee the journal the right of first publishing. All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows others to share this work under condition that its author and first publishing in this journal was acknowledged.
2. Authors may enter into other agreements for non-exclusive dissemination of work in the version in which it was published in the journal (for example, publishing it in a book), but they have to acknowledge its first publication in this journal.
3. Authors are allowed and encouraged to make their work available online (for example, on their personal websites, social media accounts, and institutional repositories) as such a practice may lead to productive exchanges of views as well as earlier and higher citations of published work.

There are no author fees, no article processing charges, or submission charges.

The journal allows readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allows readers to use them for any other lawful purpose.

A summary of the open access policy is also available in the Sherpa Romeo database.

Guidelines for Authors

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE accepts manuscripts (in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF file formats) of original research articles, thematic articles, survey articles, and review articles in the range of 20–35 pages (Times New Roman, size 12, spacing 2), i.e., around 6,000–10,000 words. The manuscripts must be accompanied by a title in Czech and English, an abstract (at maximum 150 words, or 1,000 characters including spaces), 4–5 keywords in Czech and English, and the author's contact details (name, institutional address, email, URL). Within the limited space and without the use of jargon, the abstract must describe the problem addressed by the article, account for the method, and inform about the main conclusions of the article. The journal editors can arrange for the required Czech translations. If the authors wish to include an acknowledgment or indicate grant support relevant to the article, these should be stated in a footnote associated with the first word of the main text. Original, survey, thematic, and review articles are submitted for peer review. The authors are obliged to take the changes recommended by the reviewers into consideration and, along with the final manuscript, provide a separate document that briefly summarizes the changes made in the text or the reasons why certain objections and suggestions have not been accounted for.  

An original research article presents new research findings. Its text is structured by subheadings and accompanied by references in the footnotes. The article must comply with the usual standards of scientific work.

A thematic article presents new research findings. Its text is structured by subheadings and accompanied by references in the footnotes. The article must comply with the usual standards of scientific work and be placed in a thematic issue or section of the journal.

In a survey article, the author reviews and interprets findings made by other authors. The survey article can have an introductory character and does not need to emphasize a critical assessment of the commented texts.

A review article is an original study based on a critical analysis of a work by another author, or of several works by different authors focusing on a similar subject. The review article puts emphasis on an original assessment of the issues raised by the reviewed work(s).

Under the rubric of "Miscellanea", the journal also publishes the following:

Reviews of monographs and edited volumes recently published in Czech or other languages (the recommended range is 5–10 pages). Besides a summary of the contents, a review should situate the publication in the context of related works and include an evaluation by the review's author. The journal editors will typically procure a review copy for the author.

The journal also offers a publication venue for annotations (synopses of a publication's contents and a brief introduction of its author), conference reports, research reports, and other "smaller genres" if their contents are relevant to the journal's aims and scope (in all of these instances, the recommended length is between 2-4 pages).

Authors must submit the manuscripts via the online submission interface on the journal's website. Submissions should not be simultaneously reviewed by another journal, nor should they be already published elsewhere or simply translated from another language. Authors of the manuscripts are responsible for obtaining permission for reprinting copyrighted illustrations.

The editorial team consults stylistic changes in the submitted articles with the authors; for other types of texts, the editors reserve the right to independently make any changes deemed necessary. The submission process is completed upon receiving a confirmation email. Inquiries should be sent electronically to the editors or to the journal's address teorievedy(at)flu.cas.cz.

Bibliographic citations

Bibliographic citations in the text should be listed in numbered footnotes and styled according to the following examples (in 2017 the journal adopted the Chicago citation style. For more, see The Chicago Manual of Style):

Repeated reference to the same item:
Surname, Short Title, #.
Or: Surname, “(Short) article title,” #.
When referring to the same work as in the citation immediately preceding, use the abbreviation Ibid. for the second reference: Ibid., #.

Bibliographic references in footnotes:
List the reference according to the above-mentioned examples as a self-standing sentence after the citation. Alternatively, according to the context, parenthesis may be used, as well as an introduction of the reference by the word “see” or the abbreviation “cf.”.
In book reviews, the relevant work may be cited using the page numbers in parentheses. If other items than a reviewed book are referenced, comply with the instructions above.

Bibliography at the end of the journal article:
As of 2017, all manuscripts should also have a separate bibliography containing references to all cited works. Examples:

When preparing the citation apparatus and the bibliography in the Chicago style, we recommend considering using a citation manager (e.g., Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero), which can significantly simplify the task.

In 2020, the journal began assigning DOI (digital object identifiers) to its articles. Among other things, this implies the obligation to add DOIs to all bibliographic entries, to which DOIs have been already assigned. For looking up DOIs for your cited works, you can use, e.g., the Simple Text Query service (a direct link to the form: https://apps.crossref.org/SimpleTextQuery) provided by CrossRef.org.

Guidelines for Reviewers

TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1969. Currently, the journal is listed in several databases (SCOPUS, DOAJ, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, CEJSH, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory). The journal publishes original research articles in Czech and English. Unsolicited book reviews are typically in Czech. Original articles are subject to a blind peer review policy. Each article is reviewed by at least two experts in the relevant field. Based on the reviews, the editorial board issues a final decision about the conditions of (non)acceptance of the submission for publication. The reviews are internal material of the editorial office and are archived. The editors kindly ask the reviewers to focus primarily on the following aspects in their reports:

Expertise

The article is an original scholarly contribution in accordance with the journal's aims and scope. The research problem is clearly stated and important in the relevant field. Methodology and argumentation are adequate to the addressed problem. Empirical data are correctly treated. 

Structure

The text is lucid and logically coherent. Individual sections - introduction, literature review, discussion, method, and conclusions - are mutually balanced. The title and abstract are congruent with the text. The abstract intelligibly conveys the problem, method, and main conclusions of the article. Tables and illustrations facilitate comprehension and are well-placed.

Language and style

The grammar is correct and the style is intelligible and concise. The choice and application of terminology are justified and correct.

Format

The submission adheres to the guidelines for authors issued by the editors. Namely, the citation style of the journal is consistently used. The article includes a title, an abstract, and a list of keywords.

Ethics

The manuscript is not a case of plagiarism or an imposturous submission. All sources are properly cited. The article does not unfoundedly raise other ethical concerns.

The review report must include by the way of conclusion a final evaluation on the following scale:

1. recommendation of unconditional acceptance for publication (or only minor editing is needed),
2. recommendation of conditional acceptance for publication (the article requires more editing or improvements), 
3. recommendation of acceptance upon substantial revision (a worthy topic is treated in a way unsuitable for publication), 
4. recommendation of rejection (give an explicit reason).

The editors kindly ask the reviewers to submit their reports of generally at least one standard page in length no later than 4 weeks after the reception of the text. If the reviewers cannot accept a text for review, they should notify the editors promptly. Inquiries should be sent electronically to the editors or to the journal's address teorievedy(at)flu.cas.cz.

Ethical Statement and Guidelines

Statement of Publication Ethics

Articles published in TEORIE VĚDY / THEORY OF SCIENCE must be in accord with the generally accepted principles of publication ethics in scientific, peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Core practices by COPE). This statement binds all parties involved in the publication and peer review processes: authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board, and publisher.

Guidelines for the Journal's Statement of Publication Ethics

The main responsibilities of authors include:

• Listing all authors of the submission and only those.
• Submitting original work in line with the journal's aims and scope.
• Avoiding plagiarism and duplicate submissions.
• Citing properly all relevant references and crediting previous research.
• Avoiding defamatory and libellous statements.
• Evidencing ethical conduct of research upon which the submission is based.
• Obtaining publication permissions for copyrighted material.
• Disclosing all potential conflicts of interest and sources of funding.
• Informing the editors immediately if a mistake is identified in the published submission and cooperate to correct it.
• Disclosing the use of generative AI tools.

The main responsibilities of reviewers include:

• Evaluating submissions based on content and merit.
• Disregarding personal identity and/or affiliation of authors.
• Avoiding defamatory and libellous statements.
• Submitting the review in a timely manner.
• Providing evidence for objections and offering constructive criticism.
• Keeping the review process and the submission confidential.
• Alerting editors to any potential breaches of publication ethics.
• Report all potential conflicts of interest.
• Avoiding the use of generative AI tools for peer-review purposes.

The main responsibilities of editors include:

• Accepting submissions for review on the basis of the aims and scope of the journal.
• Screening submissions based on content and merit.
• Approach submissions to special issues in the same way as standard submissions.
• Disregarding personal identity and/or affiliation of authors.
• In fulfilling their duties they must not discriminate on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, religion, political beliefs, or ethnic or geographical origin.
• Facilitating the review process and ensuring its confidentiality.
• Delegating review process for their own submissions to the other editors or the editorial board.
• Rejecting submissions and retracting articles recognized as instances of ethical malpractice.
• Maintaining high publication standards of the journal.
• Ensure that all possible complaints about unethical behavior are properly investigated and given appropriate attention.
• Avoiding the use of generative AI tools for peer-review purposes.

Plagiarism and other unethical behavior

The editors of the journal, in conjunction with the reviewers, check whether the submitted submissions do not exhibit cases of plagiarism, whether all resources are properly listed, and whether the submission does not impose other scientific or ethical misconducts. In the case of suspicion of plagiarism, freely available applications/software can also be used to check the similarity of texts. If any of these transgressions are identified, the editors, in close cooperation with the publisher, will take all necessary steps to clarify and resolve the situation with the author of the submission.

Procedures for dealing with unethical behavior

Identification of unethical behavior

Anyone and at any time may report unethical behavior to the editors or the publisher. Unethical behavior may include, but need not be limited to, the examples mentioned above. The person reporting this behavior should provide sufficient evidence to begin investigating this potential unethical behavior.

Investigation

The editors or the publisher will collect the evidence of potentially unethical behavior on the basis of which they will make a decision regarding the issue.

Results

A minor transgression can only be resolved between the editors of the journal, the publisher, and the involved person(s). More serious misconduct may require consultations with external experts and informing the employer of the accused person(s).

The resolutions can include, for example,

• Informing the author or reviewer and explaining the transgression.
• Publishing a report detailing the unethical behavior.
• Sending a formal letter to the employer of the author or reviewer who has been found responsible for unethical behavior.
• Retraction of the published paper.

Online First Articles

In 2021, the journal adopted the online first publication model, i.e., the immediate online publication of all accepted papers as soon as the final author corrections are completed. Thus, the accepted manuscripts will no longer need to wait for the completion of the next issue to be published, read, shared, and cited.

Online first articles are published in their final form, i.e., it is their first official publication and they can no longer be revised, changed or withdrawn.

Online first articles can be cited using the article title, journal name, year of the online first publication, and DOI. For example, the bibliographic entry might look as follows:

• Smith, Jane. “Article Title.” Teorie vědy / Theory of Science (2021): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.46938/tv.2021.example123

Once an online first article is assigned to a specific issue to be printed and published, it will also receive the final page numbers. Then, it can be cited in a standard manner. For example:

• Smith, Jane. “Article Title.” Teorie vědy / Theory of Science 44, no. 1 (2022): 45–63. https://doi.org/10.46938/tv.2021.example123

Note that while the year of publication may differ between the online first and printed versions, the DOI does not change and remains the same throughout the whole life cycle of a published article.

Publication Fees

There are no author fees, no article processing charges, or submission charges.

Repository Policy

In accordance with our open access policy, authors are allowed and encouraged to deposit (self-archive) a copy of their papers (in all versions of their papers: submitted, accepted, or published) in an institutional or another repository of their choice.

Journal History

The journal Teorie vědy / Theory of Science, published under this name since 1990, is the continuation of the bulletin Teorie a metoda initially founded in 1969. During the years 1977–89, the journal changed its name to Teorie rozvoje vědy.

Older issues of Teorie vědy / Theory of Science (from 1969 onwards) can be found at the Digital Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences.