Submission
Prospective authors should send their contributions by e-mail to the editorial office (see the box on the right). The editors reserve the right to adjust manuscripts to the style of the journal.
Papers may be written in German, French, Italian or Spanish, but English is preferred. Texts must be checked by a native speaker before submission.
Length and format
| Page | A4, single-spaced |
|---|---|
| Font | Garamond, 12 |
| In English | Title, abstract (max. 200 words) and keywords |
| Author details | Professional address and e-mail, sent together with the manuscript |
| Notes | Footnotes, numbered consecutively |
| References | Every cited author must appear in the references or in the footnotes |
Headings and emphasis
Normally one level of subheading is used; a second level is allowed where needed. First-level headings are capitalized, roman (not bold) and centered. Second-level headings are lowercase, italic and not centered.
Use italics for emphasis sparingly. Bold type is used only in the title.
Notes and citations
Give full bibliographic details the first time a work is cited. Titles of books and journals are italicized; titles of articles go in single quotation marks. Titles of series and periodicals are not abbreviated.
Merleau-Ponty, M. 1945. Phénoménologie de la perception (Paris: Gallimard), p. 25.
Fowler, T. 1977. ‘Feminist Hermeneutics’ in Garth I. Harries and R. Fisher (eds.), Biblical Hermeneutics (Edinburgh: McTaigh Publications), pp. 143-61.
Later references use a short title. Ibid. and op. cit. may be used when the reference is clear. Page ranges are elided (pp. 143-61).
Quotations, translations and page references must be exact. Quotations of 40 words or more are displayed, indented on the left and without quotation marks. Shorter quotations take single quotation marks, with double marks only for a quotation within a quotation. Short references go in the text, not in footnotes.
Please note
- Authors are responsible for the ideas expressed in their published articles.
- Authors must comply with copyright law.
- Every article is reviewed by 2 experts through double-blind peer review. The process may take 2 to 3 months or longer. The editors may ask for revisions and reformatting.
- The journal is open access.
- An article may not be published in more than one journal.
- Copyright is transferred to the journal, and the material may be used under the Creative Commons license.
COGITO policy on the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)
COGITO promotes genuine multidisciplinary research that respects the standards of academic research ethics, intellectual honesty and freedom of thought. The journal firmly rejects any departure from good research practice, such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of data. Generative AI is a tool, not an author, and it cannot replace scientific thinking. Our aim is to keep a sense of measure and to defend the dignity of research through real knowledge.
Principles
- Mandatory transparency. Authors must state in the “Acknowledgements” or “Methodology” section whether and how they used GenAI tools. Example: “The language of some sections was revised with ChatGPT-5 for stylistic clarity.”
- Clear limits. GenAI cannot be an author or co-author, and it cannot generate scientific ideas, analyse data, interpret results or write conclusions. Its role is limited to grammar correction, translation and help with formatting the bibliography.
- Full human responsibility. Authors take full responsibility for the content, accuracy, originality and ethical implications of the manuscript. Errors, “hallucinations” or plagiarism produced by GenAI are the authors’ responsibility.
- Verification. The editors may ask for intermediate drafts, raw data or a clarification meeting in order to assess the authors’ genuine contribution.
What is allowed and what is not
Allowed, only as technical assistance
- Language and style editing: grammar, punctuation, fluency, clarity.
- Translation, as a first draft, always followed by human revision.
- Formatting help: managing references, bibliographic style, tables.
- Early brainstorming, only in the author’s private work, without carrying generated text into the final manuscript.
Not allowed (leads to immediate rejection)
- Listing GenAI as an author or co-author. Under COPE guidance, only people can be authors, because only people can take responsibility.
- Generating substantial scientific content: abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis, results, discussion, conclusions.
- Creating or manipulating data, images or graphs. The only exception is improving the readability of a figure made by the author, with explicit mention.
- Generating bibliographic references.
- GenAI-assisted peer review: uploading unpublished manuscripts to external GenAI systems breaches confidentiality.
Any use must be declared, for example:
Author responsibilities
- Full accountability: the author guarantees the originality of the scientific content and of their intellectual contribution.
- Checking: the author has personally checked every element generated or assisted by GenAI for accuracy, plagiarism and bias.
- Transparency: failing to disclose the use of GenAI is treated as ethical misconduct, similar to plagiarism.
Editorial process
- Screening: every manuscript goes through an editorial check for signs of “textual entropy”: generic language, no critical stance, inconsistent bibliography.
- Dialogue: if in doubt, the editor may ask for the raw data, earlier versions of the manuscript or a short interview with the corresponding author about their intellectual contribution.
- Decision: the editors may reject the article, ask for a major rewrite or inform the author’s institution, in line with COPE guidelines.
For reviewers
Reviewers must not upload manuscripts to GenAI tools. A review has to be the product of the reviewer’s own expert judgement. Using GenAI to write the review report breaks confidentiality and objectivity.
This policy is reviewed every year, in line with technological developments and with COPE, ICMJE and WAME guidelines. Last updated: June 2026.