Instructions for authors

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Thank you for submitting your paper to Geografický časopis (Geographical Journal). These instructions help you to move your paper through peer review, production and publication smoothly. Please take the time to read and follow them as closely as possible, as doing so will ensure your paper matches the journal's requirements.

Geografický časopis (Geographical Journal) publishes original and timely scientific articles that advance knowledge in all the fields of geography and significant contributions from the related disciplines. Papers are written in the English language or occasionally in Slovak language. Articles should be 4000-6000 words long (excluding Figure / Table captions and References). However, articles over 6000 words will be accepted occasionally if the topic demands this length of treatment.

You are submitting to an international peer-reviewed journal, so it is important that you carefully proofread your document before submission and check that only references cited in the text, tables and figures are included in the list of references. Authors should arrange for their paper to be language edited before submission via colleagues or professional companies.

Open access statement

Geografický časopis (Geographical Journal) is published quarterly as an Open Access journal. Articles in the Journal are distributed under the Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits the sharing and adapting of licensed material in any medium and format for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work is properly cited, the license is properly linked, and any changes are properly indicated. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles or use them for any other lawful purpose without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

The full content of the licence is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Article Publishing Charge

The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges. Colour figures are possible in the electronic version. Colour figures in the printed version are possible on the base of the official order (please contact the Editorial Office). The price for colour printing depends on the extent of the colour appendices (50 € – 400 €).

Submission checklist

You can use this list to check your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details. Ensure that the following items are present and that all necessary files have been uploaded:

  • Title page
    • One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
      • E-mail address
      • Full postal address
      • OrcID
    • All authors have provided:
      • E-mail addresses
      • OrcIDs
    • Acknowledgement
  • Manuscript
    • Include Title, Abstract, Keywords, Manuscript body and References
    • All figures (include relevant captions)
    • All tables (including titles, descriptions and footnotes)
    • Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
    • Indicate clearly if colour should be used for any figures in print
    • Supplemental files (where applicable)
  • Further considerations
    • The manuscript has been ‘spell-checked’ and ‘grammar-checked.’
    • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa.
    • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
    • A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
    • Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
    • Referee suggestions and contact details provided based on journal requirements

Generative AI in scientific writing

The guidance below only refers to the writing process and not the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process. Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing by following the instructions below. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work. This does not apply to basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, etc. There is no need to add a statement if there is nothing to disclose.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or an academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright holder. To verify compliance, your article may be checked by originality or duplicate checking software.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through entering your article details and uploading your files. Editable files (e.g., Word) must typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, is e-mail. Individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be uploaded separately.

To submit your paper, please click here: https://journals.savba.sk/index.php/geograficky-casopis/about/submissions

Title page

Essential title page information:

  • Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
  • Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelt. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and the e-mail address of each author and ORCID.
  • Corresponding author. Indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, as well as post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
  • Acknowledgements. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section. Include them on the title page. You may list here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., language help, writing assistance, proofreading the article, etc.). List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance with the funder’s requirements:
    • Funding: This work was supported by the VEGA Agency [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the National Science Foundation [grant number zzzz]; and the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) [grant number aaaa].
    • Including detailed descriptions of the programme or type of grants and awards is unnecessary.
    • Suppose no funding has been provided for the research. In that case, it is recommended to include the following sentence: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Main text file

The manuscript must be submitted in separate files. Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. The authors’ names, addresses, and acknowledgements should not be included anywhere in the paper.

Formatting requirements:

  • All manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to convey your manuscript, for example, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusions, Artwork and Tables with Captions.
  • If your article includes other supplementary material, it should be included in your initial submission for peer review purposes.
  • Divide the article into clearly defined sections.
  • Figures and tables embedded in text
  • Please include the figures and the tables in the main text file and ensure that they are placed next to the relevant text in the manuscript rather than at the bottom or the top of the file. The corresponding caption should be placed directly below the figure/above the table.
  • Math formulae - Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images.
  • Footnotes are not allowed

Article structure

  • Title - concise and informative. Titles are often used in information retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
  • Abstract - a concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should be avoided.
  • Keywords - immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using British spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts. Only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
  • Introduction - state the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
  • Theoretical-methodological section (optional) - a theory section should extend, not repeat, the background of the article already dealt with in the introduction.
  • Material and methods - provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods already published should be summarized and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.
  • Results - results should be clear and concise.
  • Discussion - this should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is acceptable. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
  • Conclusions - the study’s main conclusions may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which stands alone or forms a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
  • Appendices (optional) - if there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. 1, Eq. 2, etc.; Similarly for tables and figures: Table 1; Fig. 1, etc.
  • References - there are strict requirements on reference formatting at submission. The use of DOI is highly encouraged. The reference style used by the journal will be applied to the accepted article by Elsevier at the proof stage. Note that missing data will be highlighted for the author to correct at the proof stage.

Maps

Maps should follow standard cartographic formatting. Maps should have a scale, a legend, and an inset map (where appropriate), be visually clean, convey the information clearly, and correctly attributed.

Tables and Figures

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations to a minimum, but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Please include the figures in the main text file and also in separate single files during the submission process in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, or TIFF. Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour).

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. The data presented in tables should not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

  • Ensure consistent lettering and sizing in your original artwork.
  • If possible, embed the fonts used in the application like Bookman (Old Style). If not, please use standard fonts: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman.
  • Number illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
  • Employ a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
  • Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions for the published version.
  • After accepting your manuscript, you will be prompted to submit each illustration / artwork as a separate file.

References

Geografický časopis (Geographical Journal) journal uses APA style of reference citation, see https://apastyle.apa.org/

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the summary must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal. They should include substituting the publication date with either ‘Unpublished results’ or ‘Personal communication’. The citation of a reference as ‘in press’ implies that the item has been accepted for publication. For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation.

Example: “(Korec, 1996a, 1996b and 1999; Korec & Slavík, 1995) or as Madleňák et al. (2000) or Jančovič and Kidová (2024) have recently noted”

Ensure that every reference mentioned in the text is also included in the reference list, and vice versa. Avoid listing unpublished results and personal communications in the reference list, but they may be referenced in the text. If included in the reference list, follow the standard format of the Journal, substituting the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication.' When citing a reference as 'in press,' it indicates the item has been accepted for publication. Utilize DOIs whenever possible, as their use is highly encouraged. Groups of references should be listed first chronologically, then alphabetically. References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters “a”, “b”, “c”, etc., placed after the year of publication.

References (examples):

  • Book, monograph
    • Lehotský, M., & Boltižiar, M. (Eds.). (2022). Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89293-7
    • Smith, N. (1996). The new urban frontier. Gentrification and the revanchist city. Routledge.
  • Chapter in an edited book
    • Dumitrașcu, M., Himiyama, Y., Gabrovec, M., Kopecká, M., Kupková, L., & Bicik, I. (2023). Land Use and Land Cover Changes in a Global Environmental Change Context—The Contribution of Geography. In J. Bański, & M. Meadows (Eds.), Research Directions, Challenges and Achievements of Modern Geography. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences (pp. 175–203). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6604-2_10
  • Journal Article
    • Ira, V., & Matlovič, R. (2020). Challenges and opportunities for human geography: A few remarks. Geographia Polonica, 93(4), 525–537. https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0184
    • Labaš, P., & Kidová, A. (2022). Anthropogenic and environmental impacts on the recent morphological degradation of the meandering Hornád River. Geografický Časopis - Geographical Journal, 74(2), 159–180. https://doi.org/10.31577/geogrcas.2022.74.2.08
    • Šveda, M., Hurbánek, P., Madajová, M. S., Rosina, K., Förstl, F., Záboj, P., & Výbošťok, J. (2024). When spatial interpolation matters: Seeking an appropriate data transformation from the mobile network for population estimates. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 110, 102106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2024.102106

Peer review

This journal operates a double anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to two or three independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor’s decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves.

Double anonymized review

This journal uses double anonymized review, which means the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa.

  • Title page (with author details): This should include the title, author’s names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and any Declaration of Interest statement, as well as a complete address for the corresponding author, including an e-mail address.
  • Anonymized manuscript (no author details): The main body of the paper (including the references, figures, tables and any acknowledgements) should not include any identifying information, such as the author’s names or affiliations.

Manuscript revision

Before submitting your revisions, please prepare the following documents:

  1. Answer for reviewer document (saved with the label « response ») giving a point-by-point response to the reviewers' and Editors’ concerns. In order to expedite the processing of the revised manuscript, please be as specific as possible in your response. This should be uploaded via the editorial system as a supplementary file (for review).
  2. A revised manuscript (Article Text (tracked version)), highlighting all the changes made in the document. Please try to address all of the concerns raised by the reviewers and Editors within the manuscript. Should you disagree with the reviewers' comments, please provide explanations. This should be uploaded via the editorial system as a supplementary file (for review).
  3. A “clean” version of your revised manuscript (Article Text (clean version)) where the changes are not marked. This should be uploaded as your main document file via the editorial system.

Ethical Principles

An Author’s/Authors’ submission of a text to the Geografický časopis (Geographical Journal) shall be taken to denote that publication elsewhere is not foreseen. The submission of a work for publication is tantamount to Authors’ expressing consent for the free publication of it by the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, both in print and electronic formats and open Internet.

In line with the principles of propriety, authors are expected to reveal the identities of all entities and persons contributing to a given publication’s emergence (be this contribution substantive, financial or of any other kind). Where there is more than one author, it will be necessary for the Editorial Office to be informed in writing of the roles given individuals have played (as authors of the concept or assumptions, performers of laboratory analyses, etc.).

The main responsibility in these cases shall be that of the author submitting a manuscript to the Editorial Office and thus alerting the latter to the manuscript’s existence. Any concealing of information of the aforesaid kind shall be deemed scientific unreliability, with examples of this kind of activity identified being made subject to disclosure.

It is unacceptable for anyone to ascribe the authorship of the texts or findings of others to him/herself, or else to invoke such work and cite fragments thereof without indicating sources. Should cases of plagiarism be revealed, information on this will be posted in the journal.

The Editorial Office does not return unused material, though returns of this kind are possible should the author(s) so wish. This journal uses double anonymized review, which means the identities of the authors are concealed.

Lists of reviewers