REFERRAL PROCESS

STEP 1
Within one week from the submission, Editors acknowledge the receipt of the paper, and inform authors on whether the subject of the paper broadly falls under the interests of the editorial policy of the Journal or not.
 
STEP 2
The paper is submitted anonymously to two independent referees (double-blind refereeing) selected by the Editors with the support of the Board, taking into account the subject and the specific expertise involved.
 Within a hundred days from the submission to the referees, a decision is made by the Editors on the basis of the referees’  report, and is communicated to the authors. Accepted papers are published within 1 year.
 All the papers published in a given editorial year are accepted by the end of the preceding solar year.
 
FURTHER POSSIBLE STEPS
a) If substantial revision is required the paper is rejected. If minor revision is suggested, the paper is sent to the authors with the report. Authors are then required to submit a new version of the paper within one month. After the submission, a final decision is made within two weeks, and is communicated to the authors.
 b) In the case of two conflicting reports by the referees the paper is submitted to a third independent referee. Within one month a final decision is made on the basis of the third referee’s report, and is communicated to the authors. If revision is suggested by the third report, procedure stated under letter a) is then followed.
 
The report is structured as follows:
1. Comments on the title
2. Positive aspects of the paper
3. Negative aspects of the paper
4. Aspects to be revised
5. Final recommendation, including priority
6. Other comments
 
In preparing the report, referees take into account: bibliography and primary sources used; methodological and theoretical soundness; originality; relevance; results achieved, and perspective made open to research.