Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University Directive No. 1/2020
PRINCIPLES OF THE PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES
OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY
(as amended with effect from 10 February 2020)
In accordance with § 28, Paragraph 1 of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on Higher Education
Institutions and on Modification and Amendment of Other Acts (Higher Education Act), as
later amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”), I issue the following Directive:
Part One
Basic provisions
Section 1
Introductory provisions
(1) The editorial activities of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University (hereinafter
referred to as “the faculty” or the “FF MU”) are part of the editorial activities of
Masaryk University and its principles are regulated in accordance with the
principles of the editorial activities of Masaryk University, formulated in the
Masaryk University Directive No. 6/2008 Masaryk University Principles of
Publishing Activities (in the version effective from 11 February 2019).
(2) The editorial activities of the FF MU are carried out as:
a) editorial activities of the faculty,
b) editorial activities of individual faculty units.
(3) The faculty’s editorial activities are carried out in cooperation with the Munipress
Publishing House (hereinafter referred to as “MU Press”).
(4) The subject of regulation of this directive are the editorial activities of the faculty
and that part of the editorial activities of individual faculty units which are carried
out in cooperation with MU Press.
Part Two
Background and objectives of editorial activities
Section 2
Basic principles
(1) Within the framework of editorial activities, the faculty and its units publish mainly
monographs, scholarly journals, and teaching texts.
(2) Individual works are peer reviewed. Monographs and articles in scholarly journals
by two reviewers, teaching texts by one reviewer. Works undergo specialist,
linguistic and editorial editing.
(3) The graphic and typographic form of the publications is appropriately based on the
principles of the MU Unified Visual Style.
(4) Book and magazine production is published under the name of the Faculty of Arts
of Masaryk University and bears the MUNI ARTS and MUNI PRESS emblems.
(5) ISBN, ISSN and DOI assignment for book and journal production are ensured by
MU Press.
(6) Editorial activities are financed from
a) faculty-wide funds earmarked for editorial activities,
b) the funds of individual units,
c) funds from external bodies.
(7) Publications financed from faculty funds are usually published in the series Spisy
Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy Univerzity (‘Writings of the Faculty of Arts of
Masaryk University’) (in printed and electronic form).
(8) MU Press cooperates with the faculty in publishing and distributing publications on
the basis of a request for publishing and distribution services from the publishing
house. Communication with MU Press in this matter is handled by an authorized
employee of the FF MU Centre for Information Technologies.
(9) MU Press prepares license agreements with authors of university works and external
collaborators for the faculty. These are signed by the Dean based on a
recommendation of the FF MU Publications Board.
(10)Contracts with external publishers for the publication of employees’ and university
works are always concluded between the faculty, represented by the Dean, and the
external entity.
(11)Published books and journals are archived in printed form in the Faculty of Arts of
Masaryk University Archive Fund and in electronic form in the Faculty of Arts of
Masaryk University Digital Library (hereinafter referred to as the FF MU Digital
Library).
Section 3
Faculty editorial activities
(1) The basic activity of the FF MU Publications Board is the management of publishing
production, which is carried out in cooperation with MU Press and is open to all MU
academic and research staff, students, graduates, and external collaborators who
participate in fulfilling the faculty’s research and development tasks.
(2) Publishing production of the faculty means
a) monographs concentrated in the editorial series Spisy Filozofické fakulty
Masarykovy univerzity (“Spisy FF MU”),
b) publications published by the FF MU units in cooperation with MU Press
outside the editorial series,
c) scholarly journals published by the FF MU academic units that meet generally
accepted quality criteria (see criteria for the evaluation of journals included
in Scopus and Web of Science databases).
(3) The editorial activities of the faculty support
a) publishing quality titles that contribute to increasing the prestige of the Spisy
FF MU series among experts and the wider public,
b) the publishing of successfully defended outstanding doctoral theses
appropriately adapted for book purposes,
c) improving the standard of scholarly journals published by the faculty units,
d) monographs and teaching texts published by academic units.
(4) To ensure these objectives, editors and editorial boards are appointed for each
edition to guarantee the professional quality of the published works. A responsible
editor is appointed for each publication to ensure that the principles of the
respective edition are followed.
Section 4
FF MU Publishing Plan
The main tool for managing the faculty’s editorial activities is the FF MU Publishing Plan,
which is created by the:
a) publishing plan of Spisy FF MU, and the
b) publishing plans of scholarly journals.
Part Three
Subjects of editorial activities
Section 5
FF MU Publications Board
(1) Managing the faculty’s editorial activities is carried out by the Dean, who delegates
the performance of tasks related to editorial activities to the faculty’s employees
competent to do so according to the FF MU Organizational Regulations.
(2) The Dean of the faculty appoints the Publications Board of the Faculty of Arts of
Masaryk University (hereinafter referred to as the “FF MU Publications Board”),
which is responsible for the conceptual management, quality, and coordination of
the faculty’s editorial activities.
(3) The FF MU Publications Board is responsible for coordinating editorial activities and
taking care of their development. Its members are the:
a) editor-in-chief of Spisy FF MU (Vice-Dean responsible for the faculty’s
editorial activities),
b) secretary of the Publications Board and, at the same time, executive editor
of Spisy FF MU, and
c) members of the Publications Board from among the academic staff.
(4) Members of the FF MU Publications Board are appointed and dismissed by the Dean.
The composition of the Board is designed to ensure that all the faculty’s fields of
study are proportionally represented.
(5) Representatives of MU Press are external collaborators of the FF MU Publications
Board without voting rights.
(6) The FF MU Publications Board meets as needed, but at least once a year.
Section 6
The position of the faculty bodies in the process of editorial activities
The position and responsibilities of individual bodies, units, and employees of the faculty
in planning, implementing, and inspecting the faculty’s editorial activities are set out as
follows:
(1) Dean of the faculty
a) adopts measures on major issues concerning publishing activities,
b) approves basic documents for editorial activities, in particular directives and
publishing plans,
c) appoints and removes members of the FF MU Publications Board,
d) evaluates the editorial activities of the faculty.
(2) Vice-Dean responsible for the faculty’s editorial activities
a) chairs the FF MU Publications Board and convenes its meetings,
b) coordinates and conceptually manages the faculty’s editorial activities,
c) manages the activities of FF MU employees responsible for performing tasks
related to editorial activities,
d) in cooperation with the Faculty Bursar and the FF MU lawyer, prepares copublishing
agreements with external publishers,
e) submits the FF MU Publishing Plan to the Dean for approval,
f) informs the Dean about the progress of the Publishing Plan.
(3) FF MU Publications Board
a) is a collective consultative body of the Dean, whose mission is mainly to set
out the concept and objectives of the editorial activities of the faculty,
b) is chaired by the Vice-Dean in the position of the editor-in-chief of Spisy FF
MU,
c) the Faculty Bursar and the executive editor of Spisy FF MU are responsible
for its activities,
d) draws up the publishing plan of Spisy FF MU and updates the list of scholarly
journals supported by the faculty-wide budget,
e) continuously supervises the fulfilment of the FF MU Publishing Plan,
f) approves the publication plans of individual faculty units to be implemented
in cooperation with MU Press.
(4) Faculty Bursar
a) is responsible for drawing up and adhering to the faculty’s publishing budget,
b) monitors the income and expenditure aspect of editorial activities,
c) supervises the setting out of the usual amounts of money allocated from the
faculty budget to individual publications.
(5) publishing team of the FF MU Centre for Information Technologies
a) assigns the order number within Spisy FF MU,
b) for publications in the relevant publishing plan, it ensures communication
with MU Press (sends requests for publishing and distribution services),
c) cooperates with MU Press in concluding license agreements in the cases of
university works or works of an author who is an external collaborator of the
faculty,
d) carries out archiving and keeps records of documentation related to the
activities of the FF MU Publications Board
i. FF MU Publishing Plan,
ii. list of published monographs in the Spisy FF MU series,
iii. archive of requests for publications in the editorial series Spisy FF
MU
iv. archive of requests for publishing and distribution services (MU
Press),
e) administers a file created in the Masaryk University Information System
(hereinafter referred to as the “IS MU”) for the submission of manuscripts
and the peer-review reports of titles included in Spisy FF MU,
f) monitors the use of allocated funds for editorial activities,
g) supervises the entry of publications financed by the faculty into the IS MU
Publications administration, so that the work is credited to the faculty,
h) administers web pages related to the faculty’s editorial activities and
participates in the promotion of publishing activities,
i) archives and publishes the results of editorial activities in the FF MU Digital
Library,
j) administers the FF MU Archive Fund,
k) provides support to the editors of scholarly journals when submitting to
international databases and with the regular submission of journal issues
and other publications to international databases,
l) prepares documents for the FF MU Publications Board to evaluate requests
for publication in Spisy FF MU and to update the list of faculty-supported
scholarly journals,
m) ensures voting by the FF MU Publications Board on the publication plans of
individual units to be implemented through MU Press, notifies applicants of
the results of voting.
(6) Finance Office of the faculty
a) takes care of the reimbursement of costs related to the editorial activities of
the faculty,
b) executes orders based on requirements,
c) keeps records of contracts with authors of university works and external
publishers, and ensures they are archived,
d) ensures the monthly account statement of sales from MU Press for the entire
faculty.
(7) Office for External Relations of the faculty
a) publishes information on the implementation of the Publishing Plan on the
website,
b) promotes the results of the faculty’s editorial activities on all available
communication platforms (in faculty, university, regional, national and
international media),
c) participates in organizing promotional events in which the faculty presents
its editorial activities.
Part Four
Implementation rules
Section 7
Spisy FF MU
(1) The publishing plan of Spisy FF MU is based on submitted requests for publication
in the Spisy FF MU editorial series. Requests are submitted by filling in the form in
Appendix No. 1 to this directive.
(2) Applications are sent by heads of units in electronic form from an authorized email
address (listed in the IS MU) to the e-mail address spisy@phil.muni.cz.
(3) The latest date for submitting a request is 20 October of the year preceding the
year of publication.
(4) The FF MU Publications Board will review the submitted applications and will draw
up the publishing plan of Spisy FF MU from the selected titles for the following
year. When selecting titles, the board primarily considers the quality of the
proposal, the importance of the published research for the field, including its social
need, and also takes into account the financial provision for publishing the work.
(5) The Publications Board draws up the publishing plan of Spisy FF MU by 30
November of the relevant year and submits it to the Dean of the faculty for
approval.
(6) The approved FF MU Publishing Plan, which consists of a list of titles included in
the Spisy FF MU series and a list of supported scholarly journals, is published on
the publicly accessible part of the faculty website.
(7) The proposers and authors of proposed titles are informed by e-mail as soon as
possible after the decision of the FF MU Publications Board about the
inclusion/inclusion with reservations/non-inclusion of the title in the publishing
plan of Spisy FF MU.
(8) Authors of titles included in the publishing plan of Spisy FF MU undertake to deliver
their manuscripts by 28 February of the year of publication.
(9) The FF MU Publications Board participates in selecting reviewers for the
manuscript.
(10) Titles not submitted by the above deadline will lose their right to be published in
that year.
(11) The latest deadline for the delivery of manuscripts for typesetting (i.e. manuscripts
that have undergone peer review and proofreading) is the end of May of the year
of publication.
Section 8
FF MU scholarly journals
(1) The faculty supports the publication of scholarly journals that contribute to the
promulgation of the faculty’s reputation as a research institution.
(2) A journal of the FF MU is usually defined as a periodical published by Masaryk
University and edited by FF MU academic staff as executive editors.
(3) A journal supported by the faculty-wide publishing budget must be listed at least
on the ERIH PLUS list.
(4) The faculty’s publishing fund finances approximately 50% of the annual costs of the
publishing a periodical (usually the typesetting and printing of one of the two
issues).
(5) Funds are allocated differentially with regard to the inclusion of journals in respected
international databases (ERIH PLUS, Scopus, Web of Science).
(6) Journals funded from the faculty’s publishing budget must meet internationally
recognized formal and qualitative criteria for the evaluation of scholarly journals
(conditions for inclusion in the ERIH PLUS, Scopus, and Web of Science databases).
(7) The list of supported periodicals is approved by the FF MU Publications Board by 30
November and is part of the FF MU Publishing Plan for the following year, which the
board submits to the Dean for approval.
(8) The FF MU Publications Board will inform the heads of units and editors of scholarly
journals of the results of the evaluation via e-mail.
Section 9
Editing activities of individual units
(1) Academic units of the FF MU publish publications in MU Press in specialist series,
the quality of which is guaranteed by established publications boards (see Section
3 subsection 2 clause b)).
(2) If a title is to be published outside an editorial series, the FF MU Publications Board
approves such plan on the basis of a request to publish the work in MU Press, sent
to the e-mail address edicni@phil.muni.cz, which includes the manuscript which is
the subject of the plan as well as peer-review reports, the number of which
corresponds to the nature of the publication (see Section 2 subsection 2).
(3) The FF MU Publications Board only approves the publication of specialist
monographs and teaching texts.
(4) The FF MU Publications Board votes by postal voting (per rollam) on individual plans
that are documented in the prescribed manner, and the result of the vote is notified
to the submitter within two weeks of the submission of a request.
Section 10
Manuscript processing for the Spisy FF MU series
(1) The author will submit a manuscript of the publication prepared in Word
by 28 February of the year for which the title has been accepted into the publishing
plan.
(2) The executive editor of the Spisy FF MU series will check the manuscripts, especially
with regard to the formal requirements specified in the Manual for Authors of Spisy
FF MU, and will inform the authors of any requirements to edit the text. The Manual
for Authors of Spisy FF MU is published on the FF MU Editorial Activities website.
(3) Authors are responsible for meeting the requirements for editing manuscripts
according to the suggestions of the executive editor of the FF MU. The edited
manuscript is then submitted for peer review and proofreading (see the review
form, proofreading form).
Section 11
Peer review
(1) The manuscripts must be assessed by two generally recognized experts in the
relevant field in the form of a peer reviewer’s report. These reviewers must not be
employees of the same unit as the author. This procedure is governed by the rules
laid down in the Methodology for Evaluating Research Organizations and RD&I
Purpose-Tied Aid Programmes, which is Appendix No. 2 to the directive.
(2) The FF MU Publications Board reserves the right to appoint reviewers for
publications who have not been proposed by the submitters of the request.
(3) If at least one of the reviewers does not recommend that the work be published,
the Dean will decide on further action based on a proposal of the FF MU Publications
Board.
(4) If the reviewers recommend that the manuscript be published subject to revisions
or modifications, the author is obliged to respond to the reviewers’ comments and
make the appropriate modifications without delay.
(5) The final manuscript, taking into account the reviewers’ comments and the
proofreading, together with the proofreader’s written assessment, will be sent by
the author to the executive editor of Spisy FF MU. If the executive editor agrees
with the submitted manuscript, the complete manuscript is immediately submitted
to the typesetter, including all appendices, in the quality intended for print.
Section 12
Publication, distribution, and archiving of publications included in the FF MU Publishing Plan
(1) The publication, promotion and distribution of publications included in the FF MU
Publishing Plan is ensured by the faculty in cooperation with MU Press.
(2) The publishing officer will provide typesetting and two proofreadings of the typeset
text.
(3) The graphic design of publications is approved by the executive editor and the ViceDean
in charge.
(4) In accordance with the Masaryk University directive Principles of Publishing
Activities, MU Press ensures the following for the faculty publications:
a) ISBN and DOI assignment,
b) registration with the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic for new titles
of periodicals, assignment of ISSN,
c) selecting the supplier of printing works and, if necessary, choosing the
graphic design of the publication,
d) preparation of the publishing license agreement and documents for the
payment of royalties (in the case of university works and the works of the
faculty’s external collaborators),
e) basic editorial processing of publications,1
f) archiving publications in print and electronic form,
g) distribution of compulsory copies and fulfilment of the obligation to offer:
• ten obligatory copies of monographs,
• for works not for sale, ten more for regional libraries,
• twenty-three copies of journals,
h) in collaboration with the faculty, the presentation, marketing, sale and
distribution of publications.
(5) The publishing team of the FF MU Centre for Information Technologies archives one
copy of faculty publications and scholarly journals in the FF MU Archives and, in
electronic form, in the FF MU Digital Library.
1
I.e. at least their registration, completion of copyright, imprinting, and the filling in of the ISBN card.
(6) The FF MU Central Library makes publications of FF MU employees available in
printed form.
(7) The publishing team of the FF MU Centre for Information Technologies will arrange
for the delivery of two copies to the FF MU Central Library in cooperation with MU
Press.
(8) The unit that proposed the manuscript for publication will receive a total of twentyfive
copies of the publication, fifteen of which will belong to the unit and ten to the
author of the publication. In the case of two authors, the unit will receive thirty-five
copies, fifteen of which will go to the unit and ten to each author. In the case of a
multi-author or collective monograph, the number of author copies shall also be
twenty, to be shared by the author collective in a proportion to be determined by
the lead author or editor.
(9) As a rule, in order to have publications reviewed, five copies are reserved, which
are included in the total number of copies to be forwarded to the lead author’s unit
(see Section 12 subsection 8).
(10)The executive editor of Spisy FF MU, the specialist editor of Spisy FF MU, the FF MU
publishing officer and the graphic designer will receive one copy each for the needs
of editorial activities.
(11)One copy is kept in the Dean’s office for the purpose of presenting the publishing
activities of the faculty.
Part Five
Final provisions
Section 13
Final provisions
(1) This Directive cancels Directive No. 4/2014 Principles of the Editorial Activities of
the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University effective from 30 September 2014.
(2) This Directive builds on Masaryk University Directive No. 6/2008 Principles of
Publishing Activities.
(3) The implementation of this Directive, its interpretation and updating, is carried out
by the Vice-Dean responsible for the faculty’s editorial activities.
(4) The competent Vice-Dean responsible for the faculty’s editorial activities, the
secretary of the FF MU Publications Board and the executive editor of Spisy FF MU
are responsible for checking compliance with this directive.
(5) This Directive comes into force upon signature.
(6) This Directive comes into effect on 10 February 2020.
Annexes: No. 1 – Request for publication in the Spisy FF MU (‘Writings of the Faculty of Arts
of Masaryk University’) series
No. 2 - The definition of a book according to the Methodology for Evaluating
Research Organizations and RD&I Purpose-Tied Aid Programmes
Brno, 3 February 2020
Prof. PhDr. Milan Pol, CSc.
Dean