Focus and Scope

Littera Aperta. International Journal of Literary and Cultural Studiesis a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published yearly in Autumn. Littera Aperta seeks scholarly essays which clearly state its scope, either provide a new dimension to conventional approaches, or investigate new ways of interpreting literature. The purpose of the journal is to reflect the great range of research undertaken by experts in all areas of the humanistic discipline. Consequently, it invites contributions across a broad spectrum of classical and contemporary methodologies, from traditional, philologically-oriented approaches to (post)modern, cultural strategies. Didactic reports, interviews and book reviews are also welcome.

We only publish original materials, and therefore the editors do not accept manuscripts that are simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. This journal publishes articles, book reviews and interviews. Articles should have a recommended length between 3,000 and 8,000 words and book reviews should be between 1,000 and 4,000 words. Interviews should develop a line of questioning and response which provide insight into central aspects of the interviewee’s significance. Please note that submitted interviews should offer material which is not already available in other interviews. Manuscripts may be submitted at any time; the review process generally takes between 4 and 8 weeks.

Manuscripts can be submitted in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Latin. Authors must consistently follow spelling conventions.

Peer Review Process

We only publish original materials, and therefore the editors do not accept manuscripts that are simultaneously under consideration elsewhere. This journal publishes articles, book reviews and interviews. Manuscripts may be submitted at any time, but authors must know that only submissions received by 31th July of the current year will be elegible for publication in Autumn. The review process generally takes between 4 and 8 weeks.

All submitted manuscripts are first read by the editorial staff. Those papers judged by the editors to be of insufficient general interest or otherwise inappropriate are rejected promptly without external review (although these decisions may be based on informal advice from specialists in the field). To save time for authors and peer-reviewers, only those papers that seem most likely to meet our editorial criteria are sent for formal review.

Manuscripts judged to be of potential interest to our readership are sent for formal review, typically to two external reviewers o referees, but sometimes more if special advice is needed (for example on statistics or a particular technique). The editors then make a decision based on the reviewers' advice, from among several possibilities:

• Accept, with or without editorial revisions.
• Invite the authors to revise their manuscript to address specific concerns before a final decision is reached.
• Reject, but indicate to the authors that further work might justify a resubmission.
• Reject outright, typically on grounds of specialist interest, lack of novelty, insufficient conceptual advance or major technical and/or interpretational problems.

Plagiarism and double submission/publication

Plagiarism: The journal Littera Aperta is committed to publish original and unpublished material: therefore, it actively checks for plagiarism. All articles submitted to Littera Aperta are screened for plagiarism by resorting to a combination of procedures, which include use of programs and utilities such as Google Search and iThenticate. If an article contains traces of plagiarism, Littera Aperta will take further action depending on the type of plagiarism.

Duplicate submission / publication: Authors must assure that the manuscript is not being considered for publication in whole or in part elsewhere. Processing on manuscripts found to have been published elsewhere or under review will be suspended and authors will be banned from further contributing to the journal.

Publication Frequency

This journal is published once per year.

Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

It is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer and the publisher. Our ethic statements, which are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, are strictly enforced.

Publication decisions

The general editos of the journal are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair play

An editor will at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

The journal Littera Aperta is committed to publish original and unpublished material. The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

All contributing authors should take into account that all articles submitted to Littera Aperta are screened for plagiarism by resorting to a combination of procedures, which include use of utilities and programs such as Google Search and iThenticate. If an article is found to contain traces of plagiarism, Littera Aperta will take further action depending on the type of plagiarism.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Processing on manuscripts found to have been published elsewhere or under review will be suspended and authors will be banned from further contributing to the journal.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.