Information For Authors

Lidé města / Urban People is an international peer-reviewed journal of social and cultural anthropology, with a specific focus on topics related to urban anthropology. The journal’s goal is to foster high-standard and ethically responsible academic research, the dissemination of findings and knowledge, and academic discussions. It is issued three times per year: twice in Czech and/or Slovak language (issues 1 and 3) and once in English (issue 2).

The journal particularly welcomes ethnographic and qualitative studies pertinent to the area of research, but is also open to other methodological and (inter)disciplinary approaches and perspectives that fit the journal’s goals. Besides original theoretical and empirical research, Lidé města / Urban People also publishes review articles, book reviews, and academic reports and news. Occasionally, academic editions of relevant primary sources and discussions may appear on the journal’s website.

Lidé města / Urban People journal was established in 1999, and it has been the only regularly published journal in social and cultural anthropology in the Czech Republic. It is issued by the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University, Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. The journal is governed by two independent editorial boards (one for the Czech/Slovak issues, and the other one for the English version), whose members are internationally recognized scholars in the field of social and cultural anthropology and related disciplines.

The journal Lidé města / Urban People is simultaneously published in a print version and online in an open-access format. The journal is fully indexed in Czech biographical databases, and in the international scientometric and bibliographic databases ERIH, CEEOL, and EBSCO.

 

Formal Requirements for Manuscripts (for English Editions)

The journal publishes academic papers (6,000–9,000 words), reviews, and events reports (up to 3,000 words). We also welcome creative and experimental submissions, such as photo essays, formats with forum discussions, and multi-modal ethnography.

Article manuscripts should include the following sections (in this order): title, abstract (max. 200 words), keywords (5), main text, and bibliography. Authors should anonymize their articles (i.e., eliminate all references to their names) to enable blind peer-reviewing. They should also submit a separate title sheet with the following information: name, institutional affiliation, contact information, short biography (100 words), and other necessary data.

Font: Times New Roman, font size 12, with 1.5 line spacing (for footnotes: font size 10, single spaced).

Authors should number the pages and use British spelling for texts submitted to the English editions of the journal. They are required to use precise language and avoid excessive jargon. Chicago author-date bibliography style is standard for the journal, as well as the use of in-text citations (i.e., not included in footnotes).

Authors should utilize en-dash punctuation style (with spaces), and double quotation marks (single within the double quotes). Periods and commas need to be placed outside the quotation marks. Block quotes are used for quotes longer than three lines, indented by 0.5 inches (from the left side), font size 11, with no quotation marks.

Non-English words should appear in italics, with translations in double quotation marks inside parentheses – e.g., hudba (“music”).

Numerals are used for percentages, measurements, and dates. All other numbers should be written out as words between one and ten, but included as numerals for 11 and up.

Figures, tables, and other inserts should be numbered, with captions added under each item. In addition, authors should indicate the exact placement of figures and other inserts within the text.

Authors need to obtain written permission from original copyright owners for any supplemental (textual, visual, audio, or video) materials they want to include in their texts, and for which they do not hold copyrights. They need to do so prior to submission.

Texts need to be submitted as an MS Word or RTF file. Figures should be sent separately, in TIF or JPG formats. The technical specifications of these materials should be consulted individually with the editors. The journal includes black-and-white photos for the printed version, and colour photos for the online version.

 

Peer Review Process

Articles, review articles, and essays submitted to the Lidé města / Urban People journal are subject to double-blind peer review process, which can have one or two rounds. During this time, manuscripts are treated as confidential documents.

After submission, the authors are informed about the registration of the text by the editors within a week. The Editor-in-Chief has the right to recommend language, stylistic, structural, and content modifications to the manuscript prior to its submission for peer review. The Editorial Board as a collective body has the right to refuse the text before or during the review process or at any moment before publication in cases of inconsistency with the journal’s goals, non-compliance with academic standards, and/or poor quality of the manuscript, research misconduct, or violation of ethical principles.

Every submission accepted for the review process is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers. Reviewers follow objective scholarly criteria for review recommended by the journal (included in instructions for reviewers), as related to the content and structure of the text, and must indicate whether the submission should be a) published with minor or no changes, b) revised and resubmitted, or c) rejected. According to reviewers’ recommendations, the journal’s Editorial Board either accepts the text, returns it to the author(s) for revisions/rewriting, or rejects it. No more than two rounds of reviewing are possible; in the second round, additional reviewer(s) might be recruited for evaluation of the manuscript. Each round of the review process typically takes four to eight weeks. However, the journal takes no responsibility for possible delays caused by the reviewers.

The authors of the text are informed about the peer review results and the Editorial Board’s decision in written form, usually within eight weeks from the submission of the manuscript. If revisions of the text are required, the authors need to submit them within the time frame suggested by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board—usually within six to eight weeks for English editions. If required for official purposes, formal confirmation of submission or the acceptance of a manuscript for publication are provided upon request.

Reviews and reports are not subject to the peer review process. Decisions about the publication or revisions of these texts are made by the Editors-in-Chief and the Editorial Board; they may (anonymously) ask for academic input regarding these texts from external experts.