The Editorial board of the Vestnik Arheologii, Antropologii i Etnografii journal is accountable and responsible for all the materials published in the Journal. The Editorial board must make fair and impartial decisions for the purpose of ensuring a rigorous but equitable peer-review process. The Editorial board should never be guided by commercial interests. The Editorial board adheres to the editorial policy with maximal transparency and full accountability. The Editorial board is responsible for maintaining the integrity of published materials by ensuring the adherence of all parties to scientific communication both to international ethical standards and the Ethical code of the Journal.

2.  Before forwarding for peer review, all submitted manuscripts undergo mandatory testing for plagiarism. Manuscripts submitted in Russian are scanned for plagiarism using the Antiplagiat software. Manuscripts submitted in English are currently being checked using the Google Scholar tools.

3.  Independent peer review is performed by distinguished Russian and foreign specialists, who have expertise in the subject matter to be reviewed and are not members of the Editorial board or Editorial council of the Journal.

4.  Manuscrips submitted to [email protected] are scanned for plagiarism and checked against the Journal’s thematic and formal requirments (article size, technical parameters, etc.). Provided all the requiments are met, the corresponding author is notified about the acceptance of the work for peer review.

5.  Manuscripts that do not fall within the thematic scope of the Journal or do not meet its formal criteria (the paper has been previously published in another journal, inappropriate size, poor English, etc.) are not accepted for peer review, about which the author(s) are notified within 2 weeks of submission. If the manuscript does not meet only formal requirements, the author(s) are asked to revise the text and re-submit it.

6.  Reviewers for independent peer review are selected by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor or Editors of the Journal sections.

7.  Reviewers are informed that the manuscripts sent for review are privileged communications and are the private property of the author(s). Reviewers should never use information contained in the paper under review for their personal purposes, as well as pass the manuscript under review to other persons without the prior consent of the Editor-in-Chief or Deputy Editor.

8.  The peer-review process in the Vestnik Arheologii, Antropologii i Etnografii journal is normally completed within the period of 15–30 days. However, upon the request of the reviewer(s), or if an additional expert evaluation is required, the peer-review period can be extended. The author(s) are notified in writing on the extension of the peer-review period.

9.   Peer review is performed in accordance with all confidentiality rules. Information about the reviewers is not disclosed to the authors.

10. The author(s) are notified about the peer-review results in writing. The texts of the reviews are forwarded to the author(s). In cases when the reviewer(s) have recommended revisions, the Journal requests the author(s) either to introduce the necessary corrections or argue them reasonably. The revised version of the manuscript is re-submitted within the specified period for final assessment. The revised manuscript is additionally sent for review to the same reviewer having performed the intitial review.

11. In the case when the author(s) disagree with the negative conclusion given by the reviewer, they have the right to give a written response to the reviewer's comments and request that the article be sent for review to another specialist. The author(s)’ written appeal is discussed by the Editorial board, following which another reviewer might be selected. In the case of a second negative review, the author(s) are sent a copy of the review and the notification of the article rejection. 

12. A manuscript that has received a positive review and has been recommended for publication by the reviewer(s) is additionally considered by the Editorial board, which makes the final decision on its publication. The decision of the Editorial board is documented by a protocol. Following a decision to accept/refect a manuscript for publication, the Editorial Office shall inform the author(s) by email.

13. Accepted papers are normally published in order of submission.

14. Papers of particular scientific significance, containing essentially new information or advancing brand-new methodological approaches, may be published out of turn by the decision of the Editorial board.