PUBLICATION PROCEDURE

A. PUBLISHING BOOKS/COURSES/GUIDES

“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.

A. 1. MANUSCRIPT PROPOSALS

Proposals for scientific books/courses, laboratory guides/seminars/projects for students, as well as proposals for fiction books, must be received in editable WORD format and in PDF format, either on a memory stick, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or by e-mail.

A.1. MANUSCRIPT FORMAT 

For page formatting, it is recommended to use the details below:

Format Dimensions, mmPage mirror, mmPage margins,
mm		Heather/Footer, mm
A4210 x 297160 x 2472518
B5176 x 250126 x 2002518
A5148 x 210108 x 1902015

For other formats, it is recommended to contact the Publisher.

All official spelling and punctuation rules will be followed in the writing of manuscripts. Manuscripts will be submitted to the Publishing House compiled in WORD under Windows, with diacritics specific to the language of writing (e.g. Romanian diacritics: ă, â, î, ș, ț). If, for various reasons, fonts that are not usually found in WORD are used, these will be brought to the Publishing House together with the work.

To highlight certain aspects, ideas, etc., it is recommended to use mnemonic methods such as: bold, italic, symbols, summary schemes, borders, tables, summaries, etc.

The page title of the manuscripts must include the name of the coordinator(s) (if applicable), the name of the author(s), the title of the work, the logo and name of the Publishing House, the city and year of publication. For collective works, a list of authors will be included, which must clearly indicate the contribution of each one.

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

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

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

Manuscripts containing copyrighted material (poems, images, tables, graphs, etc.) must be accompanied by proof of ownership of the rights to use the material.

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

2.1. MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION

Manuscripts received by the “Alma Mater” Publishing House go through an evaluation process that includes the stages described below.

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.

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.

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

Reviewers evaluation (Peer review procedure)

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 submit to the “Alma Mater” Publishing House an Evaluation Report (standard form) indicating whether the manuscript:

  • is accepted for publication;
  • requires major revisions and re-analysis;
  • requires minor revisions that will allow acceptance for publication;
  • is 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.

A. 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.

B. JOURNAL ARTICLES EVALUATION  

The journals published under the aegis of the “Alma Mater” Publishing House have specific regulations. Compliance with these is the responsibility of the Editors-in-Chief and their respective Editorial Committees.

ISBN 

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a unique international standard number consisting of 13 digits grouped into 5 segments, separated by a hypen, with the following meanings:

  • 978 – segment that allows the identification of books at international level;
  • 973 and 606 – segments that identify Romanian publishers; represents the country code and indicates the national, linguistic (publisher’s) or geographical group;
  • publishing code – variable lenght segment (depending on the number of published works) that identifies the editor;
  • control digit – the last digit of the ISBN code; checks the validity of ISBN code.

ISBN has no legal value and does not protect copyright.

In Romania, the ISBN codes are granted by the National ISBN Center established in 1989 which, since 1996, operates at the National Library of Romania

Alma Mater Publishing House complies with the rules imposed by the National ISBN Center and usually assigns ISBN codes for:

  • printed books and brochures (a document is considered to be a brochure if it has less than 48 pages);
  • electronic books and brochures in physical format (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM) or online.

If necessary, Alma Mater Publishing House may grant ISBN codes for other types of documents if these are included in the categories mentioned by the National ISBN Center.

ISSN 

The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) code is a unique, standardized international code consisting of two segments of 4-digit (in some cases the last character – the control digit – can be X), separated by a hyphen

The ISSN-L code (link ISSN code) links the editions published on different media (print, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, online) for the same serial publication.

The ISSN code has no legal value and does not confer exclusivity on the title to which it has been assigned.

In Romania, ISSN codes are granted by the ISSN National Center, which, since 1990, has been operating also at the National Library of Romania.

Alma Mater Publishing House complies with the rules imposed by the ISSN National Center and usually requests ISSN codes for:

  • serial publications: scientific journals, student journals, school and preschool journals;
  • volumes of scientific events held regularly. 

If necessary, Alma Mater Publishing House may request ISSN codes for other types of serial publications included in the categories mentioned by the National ISSN Center.

CIP DESCRIPTION

CIP description (Cataloging In Publication) is made by CIP National Center and is sent to the Pbulishing Houses to be printed exactly (with exact observance of the form including punctuation, order of bibliographic and complementary elements whitout aligining the text) on the back of the paper title page.

Alma Mater Publishing House complies with the rules imposed by the CIP National Center and usually requests CIP descriptions for:

  • specialized works;
  • monographs;
  • volumes of occasional scientific events.

If necessary, Alma Mater Publishing House may also request CIP descriptions for other types of publications if they are mentioned by CIP National Center as being able to receive such descriptions.

LEGAL DEPOSIT

Alma Mater Publishing House assumes the responsibility of complying with the legal stipulations and, from the first edition of any manuscript or journal published, it sends the minimum number of copies mentioned in Law 111/1995 on the Legal Deposit of Documents.