INSTRUCTION FOR AUTHORS

General Information

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts to the journal Academic Review. All submissions will first be evaluated by an editor to determine whether they fit the aims and scope of the journal. Suitable manuscripts will then undergo peer review before a final decision on acceptance or rejection.

The editor may reject manuscripts that do not meet minimum academic or technical standards. Authors are advised to ensure that their study design, argumentation, and presentation are clearly structured before submission. The title should be concise and informative, and the abstract must be self-contained. Proper preparation increases the likelihood of successful peer review.

Manuscripts may be submitted in Serbian or English, but the title, abstract, and keywords in English are mandatory. For broader international visibility, English-language submissions are strongly encouraged.

All submissions must be made via the journal platform: https://doisrpska.nub.rs/index.php/AKPGD/index

Editorial contact: redakcija@ubn.rs.ba

Submission Requirements

Papers are submitted in two copies, with the authors' information removed from one copy, so as not to violate the anonymity of the review process. The second copy of the paper contains all the information about the authors (in the required form) necessary for further correspondence and full transparency of the published paper. Authors must ensure that all co-authors approve the submission and are properly listed. Submission implies that the manuscript is original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.  Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is strictly prohibited. The publisher reserves the right to check plagiarism using detection software.

Ethical Standards

Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscripts. Submissions must not contain unlawful, defamatory, or unsubstantiated claims, nor violate the rights of third parties.

Ethical approval must be obtained for research involving humans or animals, along with informed consent where applicable, in accordance with relevant legal and institutional requirements.

Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and identify funding sources, including project titles, codes, and funding institutions.

If a published article contains significant errors, authors are required to promptly inform the editor-in-chief and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.

Authorship and Acknowledgements

Only individuals who have significantly contributed to the research should be listed as authors. Others who contributed in a supporting role (e.g., technical assistance, language editing, proofreading) should be acknowledged in a separate Acknowledgements section.

If the research was presented previously (e.g., at a conference), this should be clearly stated in a note.

Formatting Requirements

  • File format: MS Word (.doc or .docx)
  • Paper size: B5 ISO (176 × 250 mm)
  • Margins: 25 mm
  • Orientation: Portrait
  • Font: Times New Roman, 11 pt
  • Alignment: Justified
  • Line spacing: Single; spacing before 6 pt, after 3 pt
  • No page numbering
  • Header/Footer: 12.5 mm

Subheadings are written in Times New Roman, size 11, bold, centered, only the first letter is capitalized, spacing between subtitles and text: before 6pt and after 3pt.

Title Page Information

  • Title

Must be concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations and formulas.

Formatting: Alignment centered, font size Times New Roman, size 12 pt, bold, uppercase, maximum two lines

  • Authors and Affiliations

Full names of authors must be provided.

Formatting: Alignment centered, font Times New Roman, size 11 pt, Italic

Affiliations should reflect where the research was conducted. Use superscript numbers to link authors to affiliations. Provide full postal addresses and country. Indicate the corresponding author with a valid email address.

  • Abstract

Maximum 150 words. Must briefly state: purpose, methods, main results, and conclusions. Must be self-contained (no references). Avoid abbreviations unless defined.

Formatting: Alignment justified, font Times New Roman, size 11 pt

  • Keywords

Maximum 5 keywords, separate with semicolons, avoid general terms and repeated concepts

Formatting: Alignment left, font Times New Roman, size 11 pt

Article Structure (IMRAD)

  • Introduction

Define the objectives and provide background information without extensive literature review.

  • Materials and Methods

Provide sufficient detail for reproducibility. Previously published methods should be referenced; only modifications should be described.

  • Results

Present findings clearly and concisely.

  • Discussion

Interpret the results and their significance without repeating results. A combined Results and Discussion section is acceptable.

  • Conclusion

Summarize main findings. May be a separate section or part of Discussion.

Figure Captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

References (APA 7th Edition)

The journal uses the APA referencing style (7th edition). All references must be accurate and verifiable. DOI links should be included where available.

Citations in text

Please keep in mind that Research papers should not contain more than 35 references and Review articles should not contain more than 60 references. Use scientific journal articles as sources (over 80% of references), and keep books and internet sources to a minimum. Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference links

Increased discoverability of research and high-quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, CrossRef and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is encouraged.

A DOI can be used to cite and link to electronic articles where an article is in-press and full citation details are not yet known, but the article is available online. A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Data references

This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Reference style:

  • In text:
  1. One author: (Author, Year)
  2. Two authors: (Author & Author, Year)
  3. Three or more: (Author et al., Year)
  •  In reference list:

References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

  1. Journal article: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., & Lupton, R.A. (2010). Title. Journal Name, 163(1), 51–59. https://doi.org/...
  2. Book: Strunk Jr., W., & White, E.B. (2000). The Elements of Style. Longman.
  3. Book chapter: Mettam, G.R., & Adams, L.B. (2009). Chapter title. In B.S. Jones & R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Book title (pp. 281–304). Publisher.
  4. Website: Cancer Research UK. (1975). URL (accessed date)
  5. Dataset: [dataset] Author (Year). Title. Repository. DOI/URL.

Review Procedure

Academic Review uses a double-blind review process. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. The identities of authors and reviewers are concealed. Editorial decisions are based on reviewer reports and academic merit. Editors may request revisions before making a final decision.

Manuscripts are submitted for review only after an initial assessment of their suitability for publication in the journal, given their form and thematic scope. Special attention is taken to ensure that the initial assessment does not take longer than necessary.

The review process takes a maximum of four weeks, and only exceptionally up to three months. The period from receipt of the paper to its publication lasts on average 45 days.

During the review process, the editor-in-chief may request that the author submit additional information, including primary data, if necessary to make a judgment about the manuscript. The editor and reviewers must keep such information confidential and may not use it for other purposes.

Post-Publication Responsibilities

Authors must immediately inform the editor of any significant post-publication errors and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions if necessary.

Repository Policy

The journal allows authors to deposit Author's Post-print (accepted version) and Publisher's version/PDF in an institutional repository and non-commercial subject-based repositories, such as PubMed Central, Europe PMC or arXiv. or to publish it on Author's personal website (including social networking sites, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.) and/or departmental website, at any time after publication. Proper citation and link to the published version must be included.

Privacy Statement

Personal data (names, emails) collected through the journal platform will be used exclusively for editorial purposes and will not be shared with third parties.