Manuscript Evaluation

"Alma Mater" Publishing House has as main activity to publish books dedicated to the didactic process and books that disseminate the scientific research  results of the academic community members.

For each scientific field, "Alma Mater" Publishing House requests annually from the Faculties within the University proposals for scientific reviewers with  scientific and editorial experience, both from "Vasile Alecsandri" University of Bacau and from other Romanian universities or abroad.

1. BOOKS/COURSES/GUIDES PROPOSALS

Complete proposals of books / scientific courses, laboratory guides / practical work / seminar / project dedicated to students and not only as well as proposals for fiction books are received by "Alma Mater" Publishing House, mandatory in WORD editable format and PDF format, or on memory stick, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or by e-mail.

All official spelling and punctuation rules must be followed when writing the manuscript. To highlight certain aspects, ideas etc. (especially in works dedicated to students), it is recommended to use mnemonic methods such as: bold, italic, symbols, recapitulative schemes, borders, summaries etc.

The title page of the manuscripts must include the name of the author (s), the name of the coordinator (s) (if applicable) and the title of the paper. For collective works, a list of authors will be included, from which the contribution of each must clearly result.

The table of contents must highlight all the parts, chapters, subchapters etc. existing in manuscripts. It is recommended to format the headings and generate the content automatically.

The abbreviations used will be the usual ones and will be mentioned at the first appearance in the text. A list of abbreviations, arranged alphabetically, can also be included before the text itself.

All tables, graphs, figures, diagrams must be clear, with appropriate dimensions and resolutions for printing (blurred images, drawn tables or equations etc. are not accepted). They must have a title, be numbered and placed as close as possible to the first mention in the text. Only one variant of data representation will be chosen (e.g. the same data will not be represented in both tabular and graphical form). Manuscripts can also include lists of tables, graphs, figures, equations etc.

Manuscripts containing copyrighted materials (poems, images, tables, graphics etc.) must be accompanied by proof of ownership.

Bibliographic references must be relevant and correctly cited both in the text and in the form of a list at the end of the manuscripts. All details (authors, title, volume, number, year, publisher, city, country etc.) necessary for easy identification of any used reference shall be included in a unitary manner.

Proposals must be accompanied by a Copyright Assignement Agreement (standard form) signed by the author (s) guaranteeing that:

• the proposals are original;
• in case of acceptance for publication, the intellectual property rights will be partially/totally transfered to the Alma Mater Publishing House;
• the proposals editing and marketing will be without prejudice to other copyrights or a breach of other contracts or agreements between the authors and third parties;
• the proposals editing and / or marketing may not give rise to prosecution or civil action

2. EVALUATION OF BOOKS/COURSES/GUIDES

The manuscripts received by "Alma Mater" Publishing House go through an evaluation process that includes the steps described below.

2.1. Editorial quality analysis

"Alma Mater" Publishing House appreciates the manuscripst inclusion in its editorial fields and the compliance with the following editorial standards:

• subject topicality;
• existence of novelty elements;
• logical argumentation of scientific ideas;
• existence of bibliographic sources, their relevance and citation;
• clarity, conciseness and accuracy of the text;
• expression correctness;
• manuscript formatting.

2.2. Plagiarism check

"Alma Mater" Publishing House uses the Plagiarism Detector software approved by the University and tests all the manuscripts received to establish the works originality degree.

The generated similarity reports are brought to the attention of the author (s).

Manuscripts for which there is a suspicion of plagiarism are rejected from publication if the author (s) do not accept to correct them.

2.3. Reviewrs evaluation

The manuscripts are evaluated by at least 2 reviewers who are either part of "Alma Mater" Publishing House reviewers, or are proposed by the author (s). In the latter case, the reviews are taken into account by the Publishing House only if they are made by personalities recognized in the field.

In the evaluation, the reviewers check the following items:

• manuscripts title relevance and heir correlation with the text;
• quality of the manuscripts scientific content;
• originality and novelty degree;
• quality of presented data;
• methodology used in treating the chosen subject;
• the seriousness of the documentation (the existence in the bibliography of the reference works but also of the current ones - the last five years);
• wording clarity;
• writing and expression quality etc. 

These criteria are not exhaustive. Reviewers are advised to consider any other criteria they consider relevant.

The reviewers send to the "Alma Mater" Publishing House an Evaluation Report (standard form) from which to result if the manuscript is:

• accepted for publication;
• accepted for publication with minor modifications;
• accepted for publication with major modifications;
• rejected

If one reviewer accepts the manuscript and another rejects it, the manuscript is sent to a third contact whose conclusion is decisive.

"Alma Mater" Publishing House sends to the author (s) the reviewers decisions; if necessary, after the requested changes have been made, the text is returned to the same reviewers for the final decision.

The reviewers identity remains confidential to the author (s).

The evaluation reports are kept in manuscript folder that is archived at the Publishing House.

2.4. Publication

For the manuscripts accepted for publication, if applicable, "Alma Mater" Publishing House concludes with the author (s) an Editing - Printing Contract (standard form).   

The "Alma Mater" Publishing House prints a control copy for each title. After making the final corrections, the work is automatically considered accepted as Printable. The Publishing House is responsible only for the situations in which the printed form of the work does not contain the last corrections made by the authors, not for the corrections identified later.

3. JOURNAL ARTICLES EVALUATION

The journals that appear under the auspices of "Alma Mater" Publishing House have specific regulations and procedures, the editors-in-chief and their own editorial committees being responsible for their compliance.