Authorship Policy

A. Introduction
Following the Authorship Policy is an integral part of the policies of the Editorial Office of Bratislava Law Review; the individuals submitting papers to Bratislava Law Review and editors of Bratislava Law Review shall follow this policy.

B. Why Authorship Policy?
(1) The inclusion of authors' names in the paper is an essential mechanism for recognising those who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work. It also guarantees transparency for all those who are ultimately responsible for the integrity of the published content.
(2) The following guidelines are intended to ensure that those individuals who have made “substantial intellectual contribution” to the paper are acknowledged as authors, but also that contributors recognised as authors understand their role in taking responsibility and being accountable for the paper and its contents published.

C. Author Identification
(1) In our efforts to improve transparency and unambiguous attribution of scientific contributions, corresponding authors of papers must provide their Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID-iD). ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognised.
(2) The collection of ORCID-iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the initial stages of the publication process. If authors already have an ORCID-iD, they will be asked to associate that to their submission during the preliminary check before the review process (there will be a request from the editors of BLR).
(3) We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID-iD to their accounts within our journal system. If you do not already have an ORCID-iD, please follow this link to create one or visit ORCID homepage to learn more. It literally takes seconds to do:
- click the link sent by the editor of BLR;
- sign into your ORCID account, and
- our systems are automatically interconnected and updated.
(4) The author´s ORCID-iD will become part of the accepted publication’s metadata, making published work attributable to the author and only to the author. ORCID-iD is posted with the published paper, so that fellow researchers reading the author´s work can link to his/her ORCID profile and from there link to his/her other publications.
(5) Authors are also required to list all relevant affiliations to indicate where the research was supported and/or conducted. In cases where an author has moved to a different institution before the paper has been published, they should list the affiliation where the work was conducted, and the current affiliation and contact details should be listed in the acknowledgment section.
(6) Similarly to ORCID-iDs, the editors of the BLR may require authors to submit correct affiliation information as a part of the initial stages of the publication process. In selected cases, they may require evidence of the existence of a relationship with the sent affiliation (such as a confirmation from the institution that the author is working there, a link to the institution's profile, etc.).
(7) We also strongly encourage authors to use the institution's emails where they work and not their private emails.

D. Authorship and Author Responsibilities
(1) Authors listed in the paper must meet all of the following criteria:
- made a significant contribution to the submitted work, whether in terms of study conception and its design, implementation, data acquisition, analysis and the interpretation of findings, or all of these activities;
- have drafted or written, or substantially revised or critically reviewed the paper (in terms of intellectual content, not simply language correction);
- have agreed to submit the paper to the BLR;
- reviewed and approved all versions of the paper at all stages of its publication (before submission, during the review process, the final version accepted for publication, and any significant modifications carried out at the proofreading and copyediting phase).
(2) Individuals who contributed to the work, but do not meet the above criteria, should be included in the acknowledgement section. Examples of activities that do not in themselves (without other contributions) qualify a contributor for authorship are fundraising, general supervision of the research group, general administrative support or technical editing, proofreading, etc.
(3) Where the paper has been prepared by a large group of authors, the group should specify the individuals who will take direct responsibility for the manuscript. These persons should fully meet the authorship criteria defined above, and all individuals who meet the criteria should be included in the authorship list. Individual authors must be listed so that any real or perceived conflicts of interest during the review process (e.g. for editors or reviewers) can be identified.
(4) For these reasons, the corresponding author plays a crucial part within the larger groups of authors. Prior to submission, the authorship list and order must be agreed between all the listed authors, and they must also agree on the role of the corresponding author. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to reach a consensus with all co-authors regarding all aspects of the paper, including the authorship order, and ensure that all correct affiliation data have been sent to the editors. The corresponding author should be able to clarify the presence and order of all individuals in the authorship list. It is not the role of the editors of BLR to determine who qualifies or does not qualify for authorship or to arbitrate disputes related to authorship. It is also the responsibility of the corresponding author to liaise with the co-authors regarding any editorial inquiries and to act on behalf of all authors in any communication about the paper at the time of submission, peer review, copyediting, production, and after publication.
(5) Authorship list should be complete at the time of submission. Any authorship changes must comply with this policy. All authorship changes before or after publication need to be agreed by all authors, including those who have been added or removed. However, it is the responsibility of the corresponding author to secure confirmation from all co-authors and to give a full explanation as to why the change was necessary. Requests for significant changes to the authorship list after acceptance of the paper may be rejected unless clear reasons and evidence of the author's contributions can be provided.
(6) The corresponding author should also be a submitting author. By submitting any paper (study, article, discussion paper, or commentary) for the purposes of publication in Bratislava Law Review the authors certify and warrant that the submitting/corresponding author has been authorised by all co-authors to submit the paper; and:
- they are the sole author(s) of the paper and are (legally) entitled to submit the paper and authorise BLR to publish it (upon fulfilment of all prescribed requirements, especially those listed in the Review Policy, Licence Agreement and the submissions page);
- the paper is original, has not already been published in any other journal (legal, or others related to social sciences) or is not currently under consideration for publication by another journal;
- does not infringe any existing copyright or any other rights prescribed by law;
- the paper contains nothing that would be unethical or defamatory (specifically see Publication Ethics) or that, if published, would constitute a breach of the Licence Agreement, or otherwise cast a discreditable impression on the Editorial Office of the journal;
- in preparation of the paper, due care and diligence were taken and all additional necessary investigations were carried out to ensure its accuracy and scientific quality.
(7) Consideration should be given to the number of qualified authors required to take responsibility for the publication. To some extent, this will depend on the complexity of the research and of the publication, but it would be highly unusual in legal research (with few exceptions) to require more than three authors to meet this need. A high number of authors calls into question whether they could all have provided “a significant intellectual contribution to the work submitted” (as mentioned above). For this reason, editors of the BLR may request the corresponding author to specify each co-author's contributions to the manuscript at any time during the publication process.
(8) As a recommendation, we suggest that a smaller number of authors is preferable, and other individuals can be acknowledged (e.g., as non-author contributors, collaborators, or advisors).

E. Authorship Policy and Editorial Process
(1) In order to achieve effective and timely review procedures, the authors are strongly recommended to follow all instructions of the Authorship Policy.
(2) The editor in charge may dismiss any submission if there are doubts about the author’s (authors’) identity, affiliation, or authorship and individual(s) who submitted the paper failed to provide satisfactory explanations regarding their identity, affiliation, or authorship in a timely manner.
(3)The Executive Editor shall always inquiry identity, affiliation, or authorship if:
a. ORCID-iD is not provided,
b. author(s) do not use an e-mail address associated with any scientific institution;
c. author(s) affiliation is missing;
d. author(s) profile(s) is(are) not accessible on the webpage of any scientific institution provided as affiliation of the author(s);
e. there are more than three co-authors for studies and more than two co-authors for other papers.
(4) The Executive Editor can inquire about the identity, affiliation, or authorship also in other cases if it appears necessary.
(5) The submitted paper shall not be subject to the review process until the identity, affiliation, or authorship is completed.