About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The reviewed scientific journal established to disseminate international research in the field of theology, education, canon law and social studies, inspired by the person and teaching of Pope John Paul II, provides a forum for discussion connected with the above-mentioned, or closely related, areas of studies. The journal “The Person and the Challenges” is prepared by the Theology Faculty, Section in Tarnów of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków since 2011 – the year of the beatification of the Holy Father John Paul II. This journal is published by the Scientific Publishing House of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. The journal has been published by the Tarnów Section of the Theology Faculty, of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Cracow since 2011 – the year of the beatification of the Holy Father John Paul II. The Journal publishes over 30 scientific and review articles annually. The Person and the Challenges is indexed in the following databases: Web of Science (WoS), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (CEJSH), European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH Plus), Index Copernicus (IC Journals Master List), Arianta. The journal has been guided by high ethical standards since its foundation and operates in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct.

The journal “Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law, and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II” (ISSN 2083-8018) has a Unique Journal Identifier: 15881. According to the announcement from the Minister of Education and Science dated July 17, 2023, regarding the list of scientific journals and reviewed materials from international conferences in 2023, the journal has been assigned 200 points. It is associated with the following academic disciplines: ethnology and cultural anthropology, family studies, sociology, educational sciences, canon law, international relations, biblical studies and theology. Additionally, according to the communication from the Minister of Science dated January 5, 2024, concerning the list of scientific journals and reviewed materials from international conferences from 2024 onward, the journal has been assigned 100 points with the same disciplines.

Peer Review Process

Reviewers – a full list of reviewers is made available at least once a year on the journal’s website or included in a printed version of the journal.

Peer Review Process

While submitting materials for publication in the journal “The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law, and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II”,the authors agree to the review process. The review process, from the submission of the text by the author to the final decision by the Editorial Board, takes approximately three to six months.

The journal respects the standards for journals published in Poland, given by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education on 28 November 2011. Basic review process principles of the journal:

  1. Each article undergoes preliminary evaluation by the Editorial Team and the Academic Council in terms of thematic relevance, substantive level, and the editorial requirements set by the Editorial Team. Next, at least two independent reviewers from different institutions review the submission according to the rules of the double-blind review process.
  2. At least one of the reviewers is affiliated with an institution other than the nationality of the author’s text.  
  3. Articles are not sent for review to individuals who may be in a conflict of interest with the author. A conflict of interest is understood to involve professional dependency (employment relationship), direct scientific collaboration (in the two years preceding the year of preparing the review), and direct personal relationships (up to the second degree of kinship, marital relationship) existing between the reviewer and the author of the reviewed text. Members of the Editorial Team (i.e., the editor-in-chief, deputy editor-in-chief, and the editorial secretary) are also not appointed as reviewers. Exceptions to the above rules are justified in the case of a lack of specialists in the relevant discipline or research field.
  4. The review is prepared in writing according to the form set out on the website of the journal. The reviewers then confirm their approval or rejection of the submission for publication.
  5. When evaluating a paper submitted for publication, the following factors are taken into consideration: the originality of the work, substantive value, source base, cited literature, and scholarly craftsmanship.
  6. The collective list of publication reviewers is made available once a year on the website.
  7. The peer review process is conducted based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the guidelines for peer reviewers outlined in the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
  8. The names of the reviewers of particular submissions or edition numbers are not revealed.

Open Access Policy

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Articles in the journal are available at Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

The Open Access Policy of the Publisher can be viewed at Sherpa/RoMEO.

The Ethics and Malpractice

To prevent ghostwriting and guest authorship, the editorial staff requires that the input of each author be disclosed, in particular the authorship of the concept, assumptions, methods and relevant passages. The editorial staff must also be informed of the sources from which the publication has been financed. Since ghostwriting and guest authorship are manifestations of the lack of scholarly diligence, the authors of articles are requested to submit statements to the editorial staff concerning the professional and financial input of entities which have contributed to the publication.

Accountability

The editor of a peer-reviewed journal is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published, 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 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.

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.

Fairness

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.

Duties of authors

  1. The authors of articles are required to submit only original texts written by themselves which were not published anywhere before.
  2. In case of collective works the authors are required to indicate their percentage contribution to the paper; in the absence of such indication, it is assumed that the contribution of each author in the creation of this paper is equal.
  3. It is the duty of authors to disclose all the sources used in work on the publication.
  4. The contract which is concluded with the author containsthe statement about the originality of work.  [plik.doc]
  5. 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 and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. Submitting a paper simultaneously to more than one publication at a time is a breach of publications ethics.
  6. Authors of articles are required to provide their ORCID numbers (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) upon submitting their manuscripts. This number will be presented by the author’s name and affiliation. Submissions of authors who do not provide their ORCID numbers will not be accepted for publication.

In cases of suspected or alleged misconduct, we will follow the COPE flowcharts.

Disclosure, conflicts of interest, and other issues

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 Person and the Challenges.

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.

Editor’s roles and responsibilities

  • is responsible for the fast, clear and objective review process;
  • selects reviewers, taking into account their knowledge in particular thematic areas; constantly monitors the review process. It is expected of the reviewer that they undertake to prepare the assigned review as soon as possible. The reviewer may, for personal reasons, decline to prepare a review of an article. They should inform the journal’s editorial team of this fact without delay;
  • sets the review period with the selected reviewer, taking into account the publication process;
  • decides whether an article must be rejected due to a suspicion of the conflict of interests between the author and reviewer of the manuscript – in this case the reviewer is obligated not to prepare a review;  
  • ensures that each author is treated with due dignity, courtesy and fairness;
  • evaluates articles in cooperation with the members of the Scientific Council, in accordance with the principle of fairness, transparency, equality and tolerance;
  • makes the final decision in case of encountering any problem associated with the publication
  • consults all changes in the publication process with the author of the article
  • is obliged to ensure confidentiality of information related to the author, reviewer and contents of the manuscript;
  • is responsible the publication deadlines -  in case of delays, the editor contacts the reviewers or authors in order to expedite the publication process;
  • informs reviewers of the complete confidentiality of the reviews they have undertaken to prepare
  • is responsible for the efficient functioning of the publication process, in coordination with the press;
  • is responsible for exacting adherence to the guidelines and protocols provided by the UPJPII Press.

The Scientific Council's roles and responsibilities

The Academic Council oversees the operations of the UPJPII Press, particularly by:

  • resolves any disputes
  • evaluating and accepting the annual publication plan and the material-financial plan of the Press,
  • supervising execution of the annual plan,
  • ensuring high quality of publications,
  • evaluating the size of the print run,
  • providing an opinion on any doubts regarding operations of the Press,
  • issuing an appraisal on any issues submitted by the Director of the UPJPII Press.

Funding

The editors do not charge authors of submitted texts any fees for their submission, processing and publication. The editors do not pay royalties. Access to the contents of the journal is free of charge. The journal does not publish advertisements. Sources of funding for the journal are grants from universities and programmes of the Minister of Science and Higher Education. The editors are open to funding for the development of the journal. Articles published in the journal are coming from all continents, therefore are subject to proofreading by native speakers.