Instructions for Authors


Submission guidelines

Manuscripts should be submitted online through the Editorial Manager®.

The detailed instructions for the authors can be downloaded here:


Peer review

Peer-review process

Mineralogia utilises the single-blind peer-review approach. Each manuscript is reviewed by anonymous reviewers (in case of original or review papers, from two to four reviewers; short notes and letters, from one to two reviewers).

Initial screening (desk review):

All submitted manuscripts are first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief. Manuscripts may be desk-rejected if they do not follow Mineralogia standards, are outside the journal's scope, or require significant language editing. If the topic is relevant but technical issues are present, authors may be asked to resubmit before formal review begins.

Handling Editor and Reviewer selection:

Manuscripts passing the initial screening are assigned by the Editor-in-Chief to a Handling Editor based on their expertise. For original research contributions, the Handling Editor typically selects two independent reviewers to evaluate the work.

Reviewer identity and anonymity:

Reviewers may choose whether to remain anonymous. If a reviewer wishes to stay anonymous, they should not sign their name at the end of the "Comments to Authors" section. If they prefer to reveal their identity, they may sign their comments.

Reviewer confidentiality and ethics:

Mineralogia maintains strict ethical standards for the review process. Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts received as confidential documents. They must not disclose any information about the manuscript or share its content with third parties without explicit permission from the editorial office. Integrity: Information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal or professional advantage before the work is published.

Reviewer recommendations and criteria:

Reviewers provide feedback through general comments, a specific questionnaire, and optionally an annotated PDF file with suggested corrections. They provide one of the following recommendations:

  • Accept
  • Revision
  • Not suitable for Mineralogia (Reject)

Procedures for conflicting recommendations:

In cases where reviewers provide conflicting recommendations, the journal typically follows these steps:

  • The manuscript is sent to an additional (third/forth) reviewer.
  • The Handling Editor may also perform an independent review of the manuscript and the existing comments to reach a balanced decision.

Revision process:

If revisions are requested, authors are generally expected to submit the revised files within 30 days (or as agreed upon for extensive changes). Authors must provide:

  • A "Clean" Word file with all changes accepted.
  • A "Track Changes" file showing all modifications.
  • A rebuttal letter providing a point-by-point response to all reviewer and editor comments.

Final decision and appeals

The Handling Editor makes a recommendation, and the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on acceptance or rejection. Accepted manuscripts are then sent to Paradigm Publishing Services for proofing. Authors who believe their manuscript was rejected due to a misunderstanding of the technical content or a procedural error may submit a formal appeal to the Editor-in-Chief. The appeal must provide a detailed scientific justification for reconsideration.

Review timeline:

The standard time for the peer-review process is 30 days for regular-long formats (Original Research Papers and Review Papers) and 14 days for Letters and Short Notes. This timeline may be extended if additional expert opinions are required or depending on the complexity of the research.

Reviewers are asked to prepare reviews according to the following points:

  • General Overview (Manuscript Rating Card)
    • The subject addressed in this article is worthy of publication (1 - not, 2 - I am not sure, 3 - yes)
    • Please, rate the degree of innovation/novelty of the research presented in the manuscript. (1 - none, 2 - low, 3 - medium, 4 - high, 5 - outstanding)
    • The conclusions were supported by the data. (1 - not, 2 - most of them not, 3 - half of them yes, 4 - most of them yes, 5 - yes)
  • Custom Review Questions
    • Is this manuscript of the quality you expect to see in a high-level journal? Rate it from 1 (poor quality) to 5 (top quality)
    • Are the major innovative points of this study clearly explained in the abstract section?
    • Please, rate the degree of innovation/novelty of the research presented in the manuscript.
    • Is the study of general or local meaning? Please, rate from 1 (local) to 5 (general).
    • Does the author give sufficient credit to related work?
    • Please, rate the quality of the language and writing style.
    • Is language revision by native English speakers necessary?
    • Should the text be shortened?
    • Should the figures and/or tables be improved?
  • Reviewer Recommendation Term (Accept, Revise, Not suitable for publication)

Article processing charges

There are no Article Processing Charges or any other publication charges.

Copyright

Open Access License


Copyright and license terms: Mineralogia is an Open Access journal that allows free, unlimited access to all its contents immediately upon publication. Since 2021, all articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Allowed uses: Under this license, users are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, including commercially.


Conditions/Disallowed uses: Users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. This may be done in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses the user or their use. Users may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.


Rights retained by authors and the journal


Authors: Retain full and unrestricted copyright and all publishing rights without limitations. This includes the right to deposit their work in any repository or archive. By publishing in Mineralogia, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.


Journal/Publisher: Paradigm Publishing Services (on behalf of the Mineralogical Society of Poland) holds the right to produce, archive, and distribute the article globally in various formats (print and digital) under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.


For more details see Author Instructions