The journal publishes materials in the fields of archaeology, history and historiography, political science and anthropology, cultural studies, philology, etc. Publication in the journal is free of charge for authors. Only unpublished texts with a scientific contribution are accepted, and the editorial board reserves the right to reject submissions that do not correspond to the journal’s scope or academic standards, as well as those that violate its Publication Ethics Statement.

1. General information

The journal accepts articles in the Bulgarian language with a volume of up to 27 000 characters for the section “Topic of the issue”, up to 5000 characters for the section “Reviews and Responses” and up to 500 characters for the section “Balkan Studies Chronicles”. For longer pieces, the editorial board must be contacted in advance.

Submissions (in doc/docx and pdf format) should be sent to the editorial office by e-mail to balkani@balkanstudies.bg no later than 31 May of the calendar year in question.

All articles must be accompanied by the following information in English: the title, an abstract of up to 1000 characters, up to 5 keywords and the author's bio in the following format:

Ivo Topalilov
Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
ivo.topalilov@balkanstudies.bg

ORCID: 0000-0002-0565-2054

Keywords and summary in English are not required for texts in the “Reviews and Responses”, “Balkan Studies Chronicles” and “Perspectives” sections.

Texts published elsewhere are not eligible for publication.

Articles are approved by the editorial board after a double-blind peer review procedure. If two reviewers provide conflicting recommendations, the the editorial board may assign an additional reviewer. Suggestions for changes and additions from the reviewers and the editorial board are provided to the authors to improve and refine the text. The authors commit to submitting a revised version of their manuscript to the editorial board within two weeks of receiving the review. Subsequently, the editorial board will decide on its acceptance for publication or rejection within an additional two weeks.

2. Formal requirements

Margins: top, bottom, left and right margins 2.5 cm, new line indent 1.25 cm.

Fonts: Times New Roman font is used for Latin, Cyrillic, and (Ancient) Greek, and CyrillicaOchrid10U (downloadable here) or BukyVede (downloadable here) for Old Bulgarian.

Title: 14 pt, bold, centered.

Author name: 12 pt, italic, centered.

Institutional affiliation: 12 pt, italic, centered.

Main text: 12 points, indent 1 cm, justified alignment, line spacing 1.5.

Footnotes: 10 pt, justified alignment, single spacing; entered as footnotes using Word’s automatic numbering function with the surname(s) of the author(s) in Latin script only, year and exact page(s) in sequence, e.g. Ivanov 2010: 24–26; Smith 1991: 17. Primary sources are also cited in Latin script only, with an exact description of the document’s location, e.g. TsDA, f. 111K, op. 1, a.u. 25, l. 1; NA-BAN, f. 15K, op. 1, a.u. 2, l. 2; Dunavski Lebed 1/01.09.1860.

The scholarly apparatus at the end of the article must include a description of the primary sources used and a bibliography: 11 pt, justified alignment, single spacing, formatted as indicated below.

The full titles of the cited publications are appended after the main text in the “Bibliography” section, following the patterns described below (Hanging indentation – 1 cm). Publications in Cyrillic and Greek are included in the list of titles cited as a whole in the appropriate places according to the Latin surname of the author(s). The transliteration of titles into Latin script is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Transliteration Act of March 9, 2009. We recommend that authors use the following transliteration systems:

• For Bulgarian Cyrillic: https://slovored.com/transliteration/

• For Russian Cyrillic: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/russian.pdf

• For Serbian Cyrillic: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/serbian.pdf

• For the Greek alphabet: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/greek.pdf

It is obligatory to use the Bulgarian version of the quotation marks („“) and the accented 'ѝ'. A short dash/ hyphen (-) is used only for grading, appendices, double names and titles, e.g. „най-значим“, „министър-председател“, „българо-румънски“, „Тъпкова-Заимова“, and a medium-length dash/en-dash (–) in all other cases, e.g. 1948–1949, XIX–XIX, 28–29 April 1955, [pp.] 56–58. The footnote index always precedes the punctuation mark (semicolon, comma, colon, or semicolon).

The following abbreviations shall be used in the absence of data on:

• author - s.n. (sine nomine)
• place of publication - s.l. (sine loco)
• year of publication - s.a. (sine anno)
• publisher - s.e. (sine editione)

In the sections the “Reviews and Responses” and “Balkan Studies Chronicles” the titles of articles and reports are given in the original and, if necessary, a translation into Bulgarian is added.

Attached illustrations must be in JPG or TIF format with a resolution of at least 300 dpi.

3. Examples of Source and Bibliography Formatting

(downloadable here)

Primary sources such as manuscripts and archival documents, scholarly editions of sources, periodicals, are presented in a separate list immediately preceding the bibliography under the title Извори / Sources, according to the following pattern:

- for manuscripts

BAN 73: Научен архив на БАН, ръкопис № 73, Пролог, вт. пол. XIV в. [Nauchen arhiv na BAN, rakopis № 73, Prolog, vt. pol. XIV v.]

- for archival sources

BIA-NBKM, f. 27: Български исторически архив – Национална библиотека „Св. Св. Кирил и Методий“ (БИА-НБКМ), ф. 27. [Balgarski istoricheski arhiv – Natsionalna biblioteka „Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodiy“ (BIA-NBKM), f. 27.]

TsDA, f. 1318K: Централен държавен архив (ЦДА), ф. 1318К. [Tsentralen darzhaven arhiv (TsDA), f. 1318K.]

-for scientific publications

Gregoras 1830: Nicephorus Gregoras. Historiae Byzantinae, Vol. 2, ed. L. Schopen. Bonnae: Weberi.

Vanshnata politika 1978–1998: Външната политика на България. Документи и материали. Т. 1–3. София: Наука и изкуство. [Vanshnata politika na Bulgaria. Dokumenti i materiali. T. 1–3. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo.]

- for periodicals

Augḗ, 1876: Αυγή, Αθήνα, 1876. [Augḗ, Athḗna, 1876.]

Svoboda, 1870–1872: Свобода, Букурещ, 1870–1872. [Svoboda, Bukuresht, 1870 - 1872.]

Templates for formatting the bibliography

Bibliography Section is introduced. After the abbreviated spelling of the bibliographic unit in Latin (e.g. Doynov 2005), all other data are spelled in the language of the original! The transliterated bibliographic data is placed in square brackets after the description in the original language.

Monographs

Author’s name (surname, initial(s) of personal name). Title. Subtitle (if any). Place of publication. If the volume is part of a series, it is given in brackets together with the serial number in Arabic numerals.

Danova 2020: Danova, Ts. John of Damascus' Marian Homilies in Mediaeval South Slavic Literatures. (Studies on Language and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe 36). Berlin: Peter Lang.

Doynov 2005: Дойнов, С. Българите в Украйна и Молдова през Възраждането 1751–1878. София: АИ „Проф. Марин Дринов“. [Doynov, S. Balgarite v Ukrayna i Moldova prez Vazrazhdaneto 1751–1878. Sofia: AI „Prof. Marin Drinov“.]

Lyberatos 2006: Λυμπεράτος, Α. Οικονομία, πολιτική και εθνική ιδεολογία. H διαμόρφωση των εθνικών κομμάτων στη Φιλιππούπολη του 19ου αιώνα. Ηράκλειο: Πανεπιστημιακές εκδόσεις Κρήτης. [Lyberatos, A. Oikonomía, politikḗ kai ethnikḗ ideología. H diamórphōsē tōn ethnikṓn kommátōn stē Philippoúpolē tou 19ou aiṓna. Ērákleio: Panepistēmiakés ekdóseis Krḗtēs.]

Smith 1991: Smith, A. National Identity. London: Penguin.

Stoyanov, Kodov 1971: Стоянов, М., Кодов, Х. Опис на славянските ръкописи в Софийската народна библиотека. Т. 4. София: Наука и изкуство. [Stoyanov, M., Kodov, H. Opis na slavyanskite rakopisi v Sofiyskata narodna biblioteka. T. 4. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo]

Collections and reference publications

Name of the publisher/compiler, if any (surname, initial(s) of the personal name), (role – if specified). Title. Subtitle (if any). Place of publication: Publishing house. If the volume is part of a series, it is given in parentheses along with the serial number in Arabic numerals.

Daritelstvoto 2011: Енциклопедия Дарителството. Дарителски фондове и фондации в България 1878–1951. Т. 3. София: Български дарителски форум. [Entsiklopedia Daritelstvoto. Daritelski fondove i fondatsii v Bulgaria 1878–1951. T. 3. Sofia: Balgarski daritelski forum.]

Kostov 2021: Костов, А. (съст.)  Монтана: един модерен град на 130 години. София: Тендрил. [Kostov, A. (sast.) Montana: edin moderen grad na 130 godini. Sofia: Tendril.]

Ulbert, Le Bouëdec 2006: Ulbert, J., Le Bouëdec, G. (eds.) La fonction consulaire à l'époque moderne. L'Affirmation d'une institution économique et politique (1500–1800). Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes.

Articles in periodicals

Author's name (surname, first initial/s). Title of the article. – Title of the periodical, volume (booklet – if any), pages from–to.

Hristov 1965: Христов, Х. Градиво за биографията на Георги К. Динков. – Годишник на Софийския университет, Философско-исторически факултет 85 (3), 131–165. [Hristov, H. Gradivo za biografiyata na Georgi K. Dinkov. – Godishnik na Sofiyskia universitet, Filosofsko-istoricheski fakultet 85 (3), 131–165.]

Maas 1903: Maas, P. Der byzantinische Zwölfsilber. – Byzantinische Zeitschrift 12, 278–323.

Papastathis 1968: Παπαστάθης, Χ. Τα πρώτα ελληνικά τυπογραφεία της Θεσσαλονίκης. – Μακεδονικά 8, 239–256. [Papastáthēs, Kh. Ta prṓta ellēniká tupographeía tēs Thessaloníkēs. – Makedoniká 8, 239–256.]

Articles in collections, edited volumes or collective monographs

Author’s name (surname, first initial/s). Title of the article. – В:/ In: Surname, initial of the first name of the publisher/s (ed./ed./comp./ed.). Title of the book. Place of issue: Publisher, pages from–to.

Konstantinova 2010: Konstantinova, Y. Myths and pragmatism in the political ideology of Dr. Ivan Seliminsky. – In: Kitromilides, P., Tabaki, A. (eds.) Greek-Bulgarian Relations in the Age of National Identity Formation. Athens, INR/NHFR, 163–180.

Kostov 2021: Костов, А. Град Фердинанд в българските алманаси до Първата световна война. – В: Костов, А. (съст.)  Монтана: един модерен град на 130 години. София: Тендрил, 25–44. [Kostov, A. Grad Ferdinand v balgarskite almanasi do Parvata svetovna voyna. – V: Kostov, A. (sast.) Montana: edin moderen grad na 130 godini. Sofia: Tendril, 25–44.]

Zagklas 2019: Zagklas, N. Byzantine Poetry: An Introduction. – In: Hörandner, W., Rhoby, A., Zagklas, N. (eds.) A Companion to Byzantine Poetry. (Brill's Companions to the Byzantine World 4). Leiden–Boston: Brill, 1–19.

Internet publications

Author’s name (surname, first initial/s). Post title, Post date (if available), <URL> (Date visited - day, month, year).

Todorakova s.a.: Тодоракова, М. Софийско благотворително-образователно дружество „Иван Николаевич Денкоглу“. – В: Енциклопедия „Дарителство“. [Todorakova, M. Sofiysko blagotvoritelno-obrazovatelno druzhestvo.] <https://daritelite.bg/sofiysko-balgarsko-blagotvoritelno-obrazovatelno-druzhestvo-ivan-nikolaevich-denkoglu/> (10.03.2023).

Doychinova: Дойчинова, Г. Поклонничество по стъпките на свети Павел. [Doychinova, G. Poklonnichestvo po stapkite na sveti Pavel.] <https://www.vaticannews.va/bg/church/news/2018-12/bulgarski-katolizi-po-stapki-sveti-pavel.html> (07.03.2019).

Lemac 2015: Lemac, T. Autorsko, povijesno, mitsko (pjesnički diskurz Vesne Parun – teorija i interpretacija. Zagreb: Biakova.  <https://www.academia.edu/38007275> (10.04.2022).

Solun: Солун посреща със святост на 20 века. [Solun posreshta sas svyatost na 20 veka.] <https://www.standartnews.com/lifestyle-lyubopitno/solun_posreshta_sas_svyatost_na_20_veka-369261.html> (07.03.2019).