About the Journal

Focus and Scope 

ALTAICA is a peer-reviewed journal annually published by the Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. ALTAICA was launched in the year 2001, by the Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The opinions and positions expressed in the articles in the АLTAICA are entirely those of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and positions of the Institute of Language and Literature, MAS or any member of its editorial board.

The ALTAICA aims to publish articles which are interesting, relevant and challenging to readers who seek a broader and deeper understanding on comparative linguistics and especially of Mongolian language and altaic studies. It aims both to analyses use of general and specialized language issues for Mongolian readership and to present Mongolian perspectives to readers in other countries. Accordingly, the views expressed in contributions to the ALTAICA are those of the individual contributors.

Journal Abbreviation: ALTAICA

Scope and Aims:
ALTAICA publishes refereed, original articles, reviews, and short communications covering all aspects of Altaic studies. The journal also welcomes translations of significant scholarly works relevant to the field.

The criteria for publication include:

  • Outstanding scholarly importance
  • Scientific rigor and excellence
  • Originality of research
  • Broad relevance to comparative and contrastive linguistics

Topics of interest encompass (but are not limited to):

  • Comparative and historical linguistics of Altaic languages
  • Typological and areal studies
  • Philological research and textual analysis
  • Language contact and linguistic change in the Altaic region
  • Documentation and description of lesser-studied Altaic languages
  • Cultural and historical aspects related to Altaic linguistics

ALTAICA aims to serve as a leading international forum for the advancement of research in Altaic linguistics and its related disciplines.

Specifically, the aim of the ALTAICA journal is to publish articles about the relationship between Altaic languages such as Mongolian-Turkic, Mongolian-Manchu, Mongolian-Korean and Mongolian-Japanese, their dialects, scripts and historical written monuments.

Audience: 
Audience effects are increasingly recognized as an important aspect of intraspecific communication. The journal ALTAICA is a general science journal and all papers should be intelligible to a broad scientific audience. 

Exemption of responsibility 
ALTAICA assumes no responsibility for all contents of the published articles. 

Article Processing Charge (APC) 
ALTAICA does NOT charge authors article submission fees and it does NOT charge article processing fees. 

Editor Responsibilities                                                          

The editor of a peer-reviewed journal is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published, and, moreover, is accountable for everything published in the journal. In making these decisions, the editor may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board as well as by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.

  • The editor may confer with other managing editors or reviewers when making publication decisions. The editor should maintain the integrity of the academic record, preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards, and always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
  • The editor should evaluate manuscripts for intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s). The editor will not disclose any information about a manuscript under consideration to anyone other than the author(s), reviewers and potential reviewers, and in some instances the editorial board members, as appropriate.
  • 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.
  • The editor will be guided by COPE’s Guidelines for Retracting Articles when considering retracting, issuing expressions of concern about, and issuing corrections pertaining to articles that have been published in the journal. 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. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
  • The editor is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.
  • The editor should seek so ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process. Editors should recuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
  • Editors should guard the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions when needed and pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct. Editors should pursue reviewer and editorial misconduct. An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • If the reviewer considers that there is any conflict of interest that may make compromise their review, they are required to make this known to the editorial office, and may be excused from performing the review. The reviewer may not be aware of this until they have accepted the invitation to review.
  • Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
  • Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the editor.
  • Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inacceptable. Reviewers should express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments.
  • 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 data of which they have personal knowledge.
  • Reviewers are required to respect the confidentiality of the peer review process and "refrain from using information or ideas obtained during the peer review process for your own or another’s advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others.
  • Reviewers are asked to return their reviews by the requested date, and to inform the editorial office if there is likely to be a delay.

Peer Review Process 

Altaica uses DOUBLE BLIND peer-review and authors’ names and affiliations are deleted from the manuscripts when they are sent to reviewers. All submitted manuscripts are subjected to an intensive peer review in consultation with members of the journal’s editorial board and independent external referees (usually 2-3 reviewers).

  • Reviewers are asked to evaluate a manuscript for:
  • Suitability interns of content and novelty;
  • Coverage of appropriate existing literature;
  • Adequacy of methodology, analysis and interpretation;
  • Relative importance;
  • Language of composition

All manuscripts are assessed within suitable time and the decision based on all the peer reviewers’ comments, taken by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief.

Submissions from the Editor-in-Chief will undergo independent peer-review and will be submitted to another editor for decision on acceptance.

Average duration of manuscript processing from submission to final decision is 9-10 weeks.

For a copy of the Journal's current style guide, please contact the Editorial Manager at urtnasand@mas.ac.mn before producing the final text of any article or commentary. Articles must be no less than 4500 word and no longer than 7000 words including references and endnotes. Any articles exceeding this will not be accepted for publication.

Please note that the Journal’s policy is to publish original work for the first time. While articles based on speeches, seminar papers, working papers and the like may be acceptable as Commentaries, they cannot normally be accepted as refereed articles if they have been ‘published’ in some form elsewhere. If in doubt about the acceptability of a proposed article, please discuss the matter with the Journal Editor before submitting a text.

All manuscripts are assessed by at least two reviewers, within a suitable time and the decision is based on all the peer reviewers’ comments, taken by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief. 

Submissions from the Editor-in-Chief will undergo independent peer-review and will be submitted to another editor for decision on acceptance. 

The average duration of manuscript processing from submission to final decision is 9-12 weeks. 

Publication Frequency 

The ALTAICA is published annually by the Institute of Language and Literature of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

Open Access Policy 

We support open-access publishing as part of our commitment to the widest possible dissemination of research outputs. 

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. 

Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles in this journal, or to use them for any other lawful purpose. 

Publication Ethics and malpractice statement

Publishing ethics of the ALTAICA is based on those by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) code of conduct guidelines available at www.publicationethnics.org 

It is important to lay down standards of expected ethical behavior by all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society-owned. This includes all parties treating each other with respect and dignity and without discrimination, harassment, bullying or retaliation.

Publisher 

Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences 

Sources of Support 

Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences