VILNIUS UNIVERSITY PRESS EDITORIAL POLICY
糖心vlog蜜桃 Press Editorial Policy (hereinafter 鈥� Editorial Policy) sets forth and defines the processes of publishing of 糖心vlog蜜桃 Press (hereinafter 鈥� VU Press) and outlines the key rules and principles which should be followed when preparing, evaluating and issuing various publications.
I. PRESENTATION OF MANUSCRIPT
Order of presentation. VU Press evaluates proposals regarding books conforming to the field and thematic areas of VU Press. No proposal deemed evidently beyond the thematic areas of publishing shall be considered. The New book proposal form is to be filled by members of 糖心vlog蜜桃 (hereinafter 鈥� University) community when the genre of a book is popular science or any other publication of informative nature, whereas all other authors are required to fill in this form for any publication. The completed form shall be emailed to .
Approval. Those manuscripts which are approved by the corresponding departments of 糖心vlog蜜桃 shall be presented to VU Press only after the completion of the process of approval, i.e., when the publication has been unconditionally approved for publishing. Manuscripts requiring reviewing due to their type will have the process of manuscript approval initiated at the relevant departments of the University upon considering the type of the manuscript and nominating the reviewers, as defined by the order established by these departments of the University. In this case, the process of approval covers academic reviewing of the manuscript, its editing upon consideration and recommendation for publishing by following the procedures established at the relevant department of the University.
Publications of the members of the University community not requiring academic reviewing due to their type are submitted for publication upon approval by Head of the relevant department of the University once the content of the publication has been coordinated with and submitted to VU Press via email.
Requirements for manuscripts. The final version of a manuscript shall be forwarded to VU Press along with other data required for drafting an estimate. The submitted manuscript must conform to the selected type of academic publications or popular science/art publications regarding the form and the volume; the manuscript must contain all the constituent parts which are required/necessary in that type of publication. The submitted manuscript should also address the following points:
鈥� the full version of the manuscript is presented in a single Microsoft Word file (using the .docx format), or in a .pdf document if the manuscript has been prepared by using the LaTeX software;
鈥� charts created by using Word/Excel tools are provided as separate Microsoft Excel files (.xlsx format);
鈥� all other figures (photo materials, reproduced images, paintings, drawings, etc.) are submitted as separate numbered files. Their quality must be suitable for publishing (with the shorter side of the image being of no fewer than 1600 pixels). .jpg, .tif and other graphical formats are admissible, i.e., the figures are not inserted in the Word document;
鈥� the manuscript must feature notes where specifically each figure should be inserted, i.e., the exact required location must contain the number of the required figure, but the figure is not inserted into the file;
鈥� descriptions of all figures must be presented to indicate their author, title, source (depository, address of access via internet, etc.), licensing information (if it is known and required for presentation, for instance, if an illustration available online and featuring the CC BY license is reproduced and similar). Detailed information of figure descriptions may be presented in a list of figures at the end of the manuscript, whereas, next to the figure, only the basic information is provided, such as the title and any required comments);
鈥� the author must ensure the possession of the rights to use all the figures presented in the publication. Permission to use must be provided (email permission is acceptable; the permission must indicate that the author/owner of the figure agrees that the work they have created can be reproduced in the specific publication; or, if a license has been acquired, its copy must be included);
鈥� manuscripts must feature the back page information, i.e., a brief annotation of the publication to the reader, roughly 4 to 10 sentences long.
Additional requirements are applicable for manuscripts of books to be also published in the e-format .pdf or .epub). From June 28, 2025 onwards, publications using the e-format must conform to accessibility requirements. Considering this requirement, when submitting their manuscript, the authors must ensure the following:
鈥� all textual headings are marked hierarchically, and the manuscript features an interactive table of contents;
鈥� all figures (photo materials, drawings, charts, tables, etc.) that convey textual meaning (i.e., all those performing not purely decorative function) must feature descriptions explaining what is depicted in the figure and what information is presented there. Decorative figures do not require such descriptions. Descriptions of figures may be presented in a separate Word file by following the numbers of figures in the manuscript, or else they can be presented as alternative text in the manuscript;
鈥� mathematical expressions must feature textual descriptions which shall be presented as a separate document or as alternative text in the manuscript;
鈥� each reference must contain its specific text, i.e., it is not allowed to use such referencing as 鈥渟ee/read here鈥� or 鈥渕ore information here鈥�; the exact and specific source shall be indicated to which any link leads, e.g., 鈥渕ore information can be found at 糖心vlog蜜桃 website鈥�);
鈥� words and parts of the text in foreign language(s) must be marked. Insertions in each different foreign language must be marked in a different color, and an explanatory note to the VU Press shall list which color represents which foreign language.
Structure of a manuscript. A manuscript submitted to VU Press must contain the following structural parts:
鈥� first title page (author, title of publication);
鈥� second title page (reviewers, funding, etc., as relevant);
鈥� table of contents;
鈥� foreword and/or introduction, parts of the main body of the text;
鈥� list of figures (if any are used);
鈥� summary in English if required by the type of the book;
鈥� index (if required);
鈥� annexes (if any are present);
鈥� back cover information (book annotation).
Style guidelines. VU Press recommends that the following style guidelines should be adhered to:
鈥� no more than four levels of headings should be used;
鈥� the same reference style must be used throughout the entire work (Harvard, Chicago, APA, MLA or other);
鈥� the use of bolded text and/or italics should be moderate so that any emphasis should actually highlight the importance of the foregrounded text;
鈥� direct quotes longer than four lines should be singled out;
鈥� gender-neutral language must be used.
Supplementary documentation. Together with the manuscript, the following documents should be provided to VU Press:
鈥� excerpt from the minutes (in the .pdf format) issuing recommendation/approval for the manuscript to be published following the requirements approved by the corresponding department of the University structure;
鈥� copies of reviews (in the .pdf format).
The process of preparing a manuscript for publication is only initiated when the full and final version of the manuscript has been received and the copyright contract has been signed. Considering the volume of the publication and the complexity of the processes involved, the entire process of publishing from the final version of the manuscript being submitted to the physically printed book may take from three to six months.
II. REVIEWING
VU Press ensures that each and every work published by VU Press conforms to the highest academic standards by administering a rigorous process of reviewing. Book manuscripts are reviewed by following the order established at the relevant academic departments of the University. Reviewing of the manuscripts submitted by individuals who are not members of the academic community of the University is implemented by VU Press by nominating no fewer than two experts of the corresponding field while adhering to the principle of the double-anonymous review.
In order to ensure confidentiality, VU Press eliminates from the reviewed manuscript any metadata which could (help) identify the author, and, if required, introduces minor modifications. This may involve references to other works by the same author, the field of the author鈥檚 activity or a specific institution with which the author is affiliated. Such data may be modified or eliminated outright.
It is not allowed to nominate as reviewers those individuals who are relatives of the author, current or former spouses, partners or supervisors of doctoral thesis. Also, it is not allowed to nominate as a reviewer a close friend or a job colleague of the author. In each particular case, a choice is sought which would allow to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Chief Editor may nominate and appoint additional reviewers, seek expert opinion of the Publishing Committee, provide recommendations to authors and consult them regarding the content of the manuscript. In cases when the appropriateness of the suggested publication raises any doubts, the final verdict on publishing or not publishing is made by the Publishing Committee upon receiving a request of the Chief Editor upon taking into account the approval issued by the relevant department of the University, reviews and other circumstances of importance.
For submitting and reviewing journal articles, VU Press uses the Open Journal System. The submitted articles are reviewed by no fewer than two experts in the field, and the principle of double-anonymous review is followed. By following the criteria listed below, the reviewers evaluate whether the manuscript can be accepted for publishing without additional corrections, minor or major corrections are required, or the manuscript has to be rejected. The final verdict of (non-)publishing the article is passed by the Senior Editor of the journal upon considering the reviews, the relevance of the article, its scientific novelty, adherence to the thematic scope of the journal, and the editorial requirements. The key point of any reviewing is objective evaluation of the technical precision and the relevance of the submitted work. Evaluation criteria must conform to the scientific quality standards applicable to the field of science to which the work belongs.
Commitments of a reviewer to author(s):
鈥� providing in written an impartial review on the strengths of the work and its scientific value; the opinion should be reasonably grounded;
鈥� avoiding any personal (i.e., ad personam) comments and criticism;
鈥� maintaining confidentiality of the process of reviewing, i.e., not sharing, not discussing, and not revealing any information contained in the manuscript to any third parties without explicit permission of VU Press.
Commitments of a reviewer to editors:
鈥� editor(s) should be warned about any possible personal and/or financial conflict(s) of interest (see Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement; Conflicts of Interest and Funding), and reviewers should refuse to review a manuscript if there is a likelihood that such a conflict could arise;
鈥� establishing the scientific value of the submitted work, its originality and scope; proposing ways of improving the work;
鈥� noting any issues related to ethics, such as evident similarity of the reviewed manuscript to any previous publication or any other manuscript presented for publication elsewhere.
Commitments of a reviewer to readers:
鈥� ensuring that all manuscripts given a positive evaluation conform to the standards of VU Press;
鈥� protecting readers from false, erroneous and/or misleading research and scientific works which cannot be grounded/validated by other scientific research;
鈥� checking for any absence of referencing when works of other scientists are used.
Reviews may (and must) be critical, however, reviewers are kindly asked to bear in mind that humiliating/condescending language and criticism aimed at personality may be perceived as proof of bias demonstrated by the reviewer or any hidden motives.
III. PUBLISHING ETHICS AND COPYRIGHT
Publishing ethics
The Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is provided here. VU Press as a publisher of science periodicals and books is committed to adhering to enhanced standards of ethical behavior throughout all the stages of the publishing process. Should any questions/doubts arise regarding possible violations of the principles of ethics, VU Press may forward them to Academic Ethics Commissions of the University.
Should a reader or a reviewer have any suspicions regarding violations of ethical standards, we kindly ask to contact us via email .
Use of Artificial Intelligence tools
Authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript they submit to VU Press, including those parts which (if any) were prepared by using assistance provided by Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter 鈥� AI) tools. AI tools should be used responsibly and transparently. Authors should indicate which AI tools were being used in the course of their research by providing the title of the tool, its version, date of use and other relevant data along with an explication of the mode of use and the impact it made on the process of the research. If relevant, also, the obtained results and the used input (such as queries) should be provided.
Authors should consider the fact that any input that was provided to an AI tool (such as text, queries, data, visual information, etc.) may be used for other purposes, such as training AI models. Therefore, they should protect any unpublished and/or sensitive information (unpublished works of their own as well as those by other authors) and avoid uploading them onto internet-based AI systems.
Authors are responsible for the originality of any manuscript submitted to VU Press. Authors must ensure that no copyright of any third entity has been violated. Authors need not indicate AI as such and AI-based technologies as an author or a coauthor. Authorship belongs only to humans.
Note regarding copyright
When submitting a manuscript to a publication issued by 糖心vlog蜜桃 Press, the author confirms that he/she has been explicitly authorized by all the coauthors of the text to enter the contract, and guarantees and assures in person and by proxy for each and every other author(s) involved that:
鈥� they are the sole author (i.e., that no other authors are involved) to the manuscript, and that they have the right to enter the agreement and trust the rights to 糖心vlog蜜桃 Press without violating any other commitment(s);
鈥� the manuscript is an original work, and no rights of other author(s) or third parties have been violated;
鈥� the manuscript has never been published at any other publishing house and is not being considered by any other publishing house;
鈥� the manuscript contains no illegal information, no misinformation, and no data whose announcement could violate some contract and/or commitment to confidentiality and/or secrecy;
鈥� when submitting texts to journals, their authors agree with the conditions outlined in the Creative Commons attribution license 4.0 contract; by following these conditions, the articles published at 糖心vlog蜜桃 are licensed, and the authors grant the right to 糖心vlog蜜桃 to publish a previously unpublished original manuscript along with an abstract constituting an inherent part of the manuscript, together with all relevant supplementary materials and involving any later amendments (should these be required); all these processes are governed by adhering to the Creative Commons attribution license (CC-BY-4.0). The same policy applies to books published under the principles of open access. The rights of the authors of other books published by 糖心vlog蜜桃 Press are regulated by 糖心vlog蜜桃 Intellectual Property Management Regulations.
Open access
VU Press also publishes open access books under the Creative Commons license. We use CC BY, CC BY-SA licenses. The open access policy of the University can be found here.
Publishing data
If any issue is republished, it must contain the relevant publishing data. A book is deemed as a 鈥榥ew edition鈥� when:
鈥� more than 20 percent of the book content was updated or amended, or when corrections of a smaller fraction of the book were implemented but they are deemed to be of importance to the content in relation to the availability of new information, changes in legal regulations, etc. (amended edition);
鈥� no changes to the materials of the book were made, but it was supplemented with new (textual and/or visual) elements (supplemented edition);
鈥� it was published in a different format.
For each new edition, a new ISBN code is obtained. Also, the title page or the imprint page shall feature the data of the specific issue, such as the number of the edition (second, third, etc.) and/or the type of the changes involved (amended, supplemented), and the year of the initial version is indicated.
If a new publication involves only minor changes in the content (such as corrected spelling, minor factual updates, page layout upgrades, etc.), it is then deemed that this is only additional print run. In this case, the imprint page or the colophon shall indicate 鈥淔irst published in [year]鈥�, and a new ISBN code is not issued.
IV. DIGITAL ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION POLICY
For the archiving of the publications of our scientific periodicals and the backup storage of their copies, we are using the PKP Preservation Network.
On the grounds of being a publisher of scientific content, VU Press acknowledges the mission of a librarian as well as a publisher pertaining to the function of the guardian of the scientific content. Therefore, VU Press is committed to safely preserving its publications to the future generations. Digital storage is perceived as a complex of processes and activities ensuring that our publications shall be created and disseminated in such a way that long-term access will be ensured.
Our preservation policy includes the following means and strategies:
鈥� the entirety of our digital content (the website, manuscripts, etc.) is stored simultaneously on several different servers. The content which is publicly available to the readers is physically stored in Vilnius City, on a server belonging to 糖心vlog蜜桃. A copy of the same content is stored as a backup copy on another entirely independent body of mechanical equipment. If one server suffers a major breakdown, a copy can be sourced from the other server, and the accessibility of the website will be restored in less than 24 hours.
鈥� The digital versions of all articles are also stored at the Lithuanian Academic Electronic Library eLABa) as a national aggregated open access depository ().
鈥� Additional spare digital copies and archived storage is provided on the grounds of an archiving contract with the PKP Preservation Network.
鈥� Authors may have their final published versions of articles archived at personal as well as institutional depositories immediately after publication.
We intend and expect to keep on publishing our journals for a long time. In case of manifesting any rare, unforeseeable and unfortunate circumstances we are forced to discontinue the publication of a journal, all of its articles will be stored online and available to potential readers for no fewer than 10 years after the date of halted activity. Should we get faced with such unfortunate circumstances as termination of publishing by VU Press or a terminal breakdown of the website, the content will be made available via the PKP preservation network or via the Lithuanian Academic Electronic Library eLABa.
V. DISSEMINATION OF PUBLICATIONS AND ENHANCEMENT OF THEIR VISIBILITY
VU Press is contributing with the best of reasonable effort to enhance the visibility of the books it has published. However, there are several further ways for the authors to contribute to the dissemination of their publications and, consequently, to substantially increase the impact of the published research:
1. Registering at ORCID iD where each author is assigned a personal code, and referring in the author鈥檚 profile to the information on the published article or book. ORCID iD issues a permanent digital reference code which helps singling out the researched in order to avoid any cases of mistaken identity while also integrating the key elements of scientific research process, such as submission of manuscripts and granting scholarships. This platform sustains automated connection between the author and their professional activity, thereby ensuring the recognizability of the academic effort.
2. Uploading of the data of scientific research onto the university community data repository (The National Open Access Research Data Archive, MIDAS), or, if no community-based facilities are available, onto a repository of scientific data of a general nature. Provision of an access to the research data may encourage interest in the research published by the author, whereas the more easily accessible research data contributes to the acclaim and notability of the author, thereby promoting citation of the writings of the author.
3. Joining scholars-oriented social networks and listing information about the published books and articles in one鈥檚 personal profile, including ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley, and Google Scholar. In order to facilitate any search results and lists of notifications, it is reasonable to set up a Google Scholar profile which allows tracking references to the research published by the specific author and have these references listed next to the surname of the author in the Google Scholar search results.
4. Sharing one鈥檚 books and other publications via social networking platforms while using references to the websites where the book or the article are provided; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and many others can be of great use. Followers should be informed on the accounts of social networks; after a publication, a new post/message should refer to the published work.
5. Information should be updated on the Faculty website. A professional website can be created and developed to contain bibliographic data on the author鈥檚 books and articles, along with the corresponding references. A personal professionally designed website featuring the results of one鈥檚 academic research, achievements, publications and research objectives helps other members of the academic world better understand the specific author鈥檚 contributions. In order to maximize one鈥檚 visibility, references to one鈥檚 professional email and all social network profiles may be included in one鈥檚 books, articles and website.
6. It is beneficial to upload free-of-charge software Altmetric Bookmarklet allowing to observe any references to one鈥檚 academic works.
7. A Wikipedia article can be created/edited on the topic(s) related with the author鈥檚 research, along with the corresponding references to the book(s) and article(s) of interest in the subject matter.
8. One鈥檚 book(s) and article(s) can be shared via email with colleagues. Referencing links can be sent to the most prominent colleagues involved in the same field of research as well as other individuals invested in the field. Newsletters of the author鈥檚 institution/organization can be of great benefit.
9. Books and articles should be presented at conferences. By giving presentations and thereby establishing contacts, authors personalize their work, thus providing it with a 鈥榝ace鈥� and a 鈥榲oice鈥�, which may lead to further opportunities of academic cooperation.
Approved by the 糖心vlog蜜桃 Publishing Commission on June 19, 2025.