“Z Dziejów Prawa” editorial board strives to ensure that all parties engaged in the publishing process adhere to publishing ethics standards. Authors, editors, reviews and the publisher are obliged to comply follow the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, published by the Committee on Publication Ethics on 7 March 2011 (https://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf).  

1. Obligations and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

• The Editorial Board shall assess article submissions in terms of their substance, original content, scholarly quality and how they fit in with the topics of the periodical, regardless of the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic background, citizenship, or political views of the author(s);
• The Editorial Board adheres to applicable laws, in particular as regards libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism, as well as personal data protection of all participants of the editorial and publishing process;
• The Editorial Board shall have the right to refuse to accept submissions which, in the Board’s view, are in violation of the law or commonly accepted ethical norms;
• The Editorial Board shall ensure confidentiality of the submission review process;
• The Editorial Board shall ensure a fair and meaningful submission review process. To this end, the Board shall appoint at least two competent reviewers for each article submission.

2. Relations with Authors

• The Editorial Board shall provide full information on editorial requirements for submissions and on the process of submission review. All relevant guidelines are available at the journal’s website at (http://www.zdziejowprawa.pl/flash/index.html);
• To combat conduct that constitutes a violation of scholarly integrity (e.g. ghost-writing, guest authorship) and copyright infringement (plagiarism), the Editorial Board requires all contributors to submit relevant declarations, as available at the Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego (University of Silesia Publishing House) website: https://wydawnictwo.us.edu.pl/node/1991;
• The Editorial Board requires that authors familiarize themselves with submission reviews and reviewers’ comments. In the event that an author does not agree with a review and reviewers’ comments, he or she should provide relevant comments and explanations to substantiate his or her position.

3. Relations with Reviewers

• Reviewers shall assess article submissions in terms of their scholarly substance. In doing so, they shall exercise due diligence and adhere to editorial deadlines. All reviews shall be made in writing;
• Reviews shall be unbiased and involve substance-based arguments to ensure scholarly integrity and compliance with ethical standards. The underlying objective of a review shall be to increase the scholarly value of a submission. Personal criticism of submission authors is inadmissible;
• Reviewers cannot have a direct reporting line to submission authors or have a direct personal relationship with them;
• Reviews shall be anonymous. The Editorial Board shall not make available to reviewers any personal data of submission authors;
• Reviewers shall inform the Editorial Board of any instances of violation of scholarly integrity identified in reviewed submissions as well as of any suspected copyright infringements;
• Reviewers shall inform the Editorial Board of any circumstances that may undermine their impartiality so as to enable the Editorial Board to appoint other reviewers. Likewise, reviewers shall inform the Editorial Board if they feel they do not have the necessary qualifications to review a specific submission;
• Reviews shall end with an unequivocal conclusion stating that a submission should be accepted for publication in its original form or after necessary corrections, or that it should be rejected.