About the Journal

Focus and Scope

"Pytannia literaturoznavstva" ("Problems of Literary Criticism") is the oldest Ukrainian periodical scientific Journal on problems of poetics and history of world literature.

The editorial policy of the Journal is aimed at the development of education and science through scientific publications in the field of philology.

The Journal "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" publishes articles of general theoretical, historical and literary focus. Thematics of the Issue is covered under the headings: "Poetics", "Methodology", "Historical Poetics," "Literary Historiography", "Typology of the Literary Process," "Literature as a Social Phenomenon", "Axiology", "Philosophical Aspects of Literature", "Literary Anthropology", "Myth. Archetype. Folklore", "Sacred and Profane", "Comparative Literary Criticism", "Traditional / Transitive Plots and Images", "Translation Study", "Imagology", "Genre Study", "Poetics of Time and Space", "Prosody (Versification)", "Narratology", "Hermeneutics", "Gender Studies", "Theory of Interpretation", "Receptive Poetics", "Discourse Theory", "Theory of Communication", "Literature and Mass Media, "Poetics of Postmodern Text", "Intermediality Theory", "Poetics of Intertextuality", "Multiculturalism", "Topical Problems of Foreign Literature", "Ukrainian Literature in the Global Context", "Reviews", "Anniversaries of Writers and Scholars".

Literary Problems brought up in the articles are based on the material of the World Literature.

Articles are published in Ukrainian, English, Bulgarian, German, Polish, Romanian, French and Czech.

Among the authors of the Journal are the leading philologists of Ukraine and foreign countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Russia).

The Journal is addressed to scientists-philologists: doctoral students, postgraduates, University students and lecturers. 

Peer Review Process

Procedure for Reviewing Manuscripts

1. The author provides an article to the editorial board; the article should meet the requirements of the policy of the journal "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" and the rules of the preparation of articles and scientific papers before publication. Manuscripts that do not meet the adopted requirements are not accepted for further consideration.

2. All manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Board are directed according to the profile of research to a reviewer. The chief editor of "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" assigns reviewers. Under certain circumstances reviewers can be assigned at the meeting of the Editorial Board by its members. According to the chief editor's decision some articles of the eminent scientists as well as specially requested articles may be exempted from the standard procedures of reviewing.

3. For reviewing articles as reviewers may act both members of the Editorial Board of the scientific journal "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" and foreign top-qualified professionals who have profound professional knowledge and experience in a particular scientific direction, usually PhDs and professors.

4. After receipt of article for review reviewer evaluates the possibility of reviewing materials based on his own skills under the direction of the author and the absence of any conflict of interest. If there are any competing interests reviewer should not review the article and should inform the Editorial Board about this. The latter should decide to appoint another reviewer.

5. Reviewer usually concludes the possibility of printing the article. Terms of review depend in each case on conditions for the most objective evaluation of quality of materials.

6. Reviewing is held in confidence by the principles of double-blind reviewing (two-way “blind” review, when neither the author nor the reviewer know each other). The interaction between the author and reviewers occurs (in a way of correspondence by e-mail) through the executive secretary of the scientific journal. At the request of the reviewer and in agreement with the working group an interaction between the Editorial Board and reviewer can occur in an open mode (such decision is made only if the interaction of openness will improve the style and presentation logic of research material).

7. After the final analysis of the article the reviewer fills out a standardized form, which contains a summary of recommendations.

8. If the reviewer points to the need to make certain corrections in the article, it is sent to the author with the offer to consider the comments in the preparation of an updated version of the article or to refute them reasonably. With a revised article, the author adds the letter, which contains answers to all comments and explains all the changes that were made in the article. Revised version is given to a reviewer again for the decision and preparation of a reasoned conclusion about the publication appropriateness.

9. In case of inconsistency with the reviewer opinion the author is entitled to a reasonable response to the editor of the journal. In this case the article is considered at a meeting of the Working Group of the Editorial Board. Editors may submit an article for additional or new review to another expert. Editorial Board has the right to reject articles in case of the author's failure or unwillingness to consider suggestions and comments of reviewers. At the request of the author the Editorial Board can give the article to another reviewer with mandatory compliance with the principles of double-blind review.

10. The final decision on the expediency of the publication is adopted by the chief editor, and if necessary at the meeting of the Editorial Board. After deciding on the admission of articles for publication executive secretary shall notify the author and indicate the expected date of publication.

11. In the case of a positive decision on the possibility of publishing an article comes to the editorial magazine portfolio for its publication in the order of turn and relevance (in some cases, by the decision of the Editorial Board, the article may be published out of turn, in the nearest issue).

12. The date of acceptance of articles for publication is the date of a positive opinion by editorial reviewer (or the decision of the Editorial Board) about the possibility of publishing an article.

13. The approved for publication article is provided to a technical editor. Minor stylistic or formal corrections which do not affect the content of the article are made by the technical editor without the consent of the author.

14. Responsibility for the validity and independence of the findings, theoretical and practical level of the article is imposed on the author.

Publication Frequency

Twice per year.

Open Access Policy

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. Creative Commons Attribution License.

Journal Publication Ethics

Editorial policy of the Journal "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" is intended to comply with the ethical norms accepted by the international academic community.

1. The efforts of the Editorial Board in this regard are based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org), as well as on the best practices of reputable international journals and publishing houses.

2. The presence of new original scientific results that have never been published before is an essential precondition for accepting the article for publication.

3. If the research materials have been already published, the author shall provide the Editorial Board with bibliographical notes on the previous publications and justify the relevance of the publication of the new variant with the explanation of the nature of the additions and changes in the final variant of the article.

4. All manuscripts submitted to the Editorial Board are directed according to the profile of research to a reviewer. The chief editor of "Pytannia literaturoznavstva" assigns reviewers. Under certain circumstances reviewers can be assigned at the meeting of the Editorial Board by its members. According to the chief editor's decision some articles of the eminent scientists as well as specially requested articles may be exempted from the standard procedures of reviewing.

5. Controversies of any nature (academic, personal, financial, etc.) are examined in detail by the members of the Editorial Board.

6. In case of the confirmation of plagiarism or falsification of research results, the article is rejected with prejudice.

 

Submitting an article for publication, the author thereby agrees to:

- putting its full text at the disposal in the Internet;

- publication of information about the author (position, scientific degree, place of employment, e-mail).

 

All ethics issues that arise between the authors and the Editorial Board of the Journal and that are not stipulated in this document are regulated by the international standards of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics – http://publicationethics.org/international-standards-editors-and-authors). 

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

The scientific journal “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” accepts for publication only original materials and papers that have never been published before or submitted for publication to other scientific journals.

Executive secretary check all submitted manuscripts by Unicheck software solution at the stage of initial review.

If plagiarism is detected – the Editors have the right to reject the submitted manuscript.

 

Article Processing Charges (APCs) / Submission Charges

The price of the publication is 600 UAH, which includes editing, layout, printing and shipping of one copy of the magazine per post. 

The money transfer is expected after the decision of the committee and confirmation that the article was accepted.

The reviewing of the submitted articles is free of charge.

Journal History

“Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”) is the oldest Ukrainian periodical scientific Journal on problems of poetics and history of world literature. Published since 1966. In 1966–1991 it was published under the title “Voprosy russkoi literatury” (“Problems of Russian Literature”) (ISSN 0321-1215). Since 1993, under the decision of the editorial board (editor-in-chief A. R. Volkov), the title of the periodical is changed to “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”).

Here is, for example, what was promised in Preface to the first issue “Voprosy russkoi literatury” (“Problems of Russian Literature”) (the scientific collection adhered to this trend actually till the end of the Soviet era):

Ukrainian republican interdepartmental collection “Voprosy russkoi literatury” (“Problems of Russian Literature”) starts to be published from 1966 3 issues per year, each of them has a volume of 10 printed pages. The collections will highlight the history and theory of Russian classical and Soviet literature, and also the history of literature and the university methods of teaching literature.

The specific character of literary studies, which are led in our republic, will be taken into consideration in regular publication of material on the Russian-Ukrainian literary interrelations.

The first issue of the collection is dedicated to Russian classical literature, the second – to Soviet literature, the third – to questions of literary theory and the mastery of Russian writers.

Since 1991, the scientific collection changes almost entirely its format, which was accentuated in the Preface of managing editor A. R. Volkov, which should be quoted almost entirely, because in terms of methodology the edition follows this program, because it doesn’t lose its relevance even today:

The editorial staff aims to fill the “gaps” that exist in national literary periodical editions. In addition, we engage foreign scientists to cooperate with us.

The creation of self-reliant, independent Ukraine advances fundamentally new tasks for national science. Ukrainian science should get rid of the secondary, so to speak, peripherality, one-sided orientation toward Russian science. We seek to maintain scientific dialogue with the world on an equal footing. Unfortunately, today this equality hasn’t been achieved yet.

Developing the traditions of academic science, “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”) will pay main attention to theoretical aspects, general problems of historical and literary process, comparative study of literature, exploring these issues on material of the works of world literature. First of all it’s supposed to make room to the fundamental articles of Ukrainian studies, but to those, which wouldn’t isolate the literature of our nation from cultural whole, would consider it just in a global context. In particular, we want to represent the experience of international cooperation in the field of Slavonic Studies. Unfortunately, even in a zonal circle of Slavonic Studies the Ukrainian studies haven’t occupied its appropriate place.

The editorial board, changing thematic range and the scientific conception of collection, seeks to create periodical printing organ, which would represent a wide range of ideas of literary criticism in Ukraine. In particular, we are committed to promote the further development of literary methodology. Trying to inspirit the theoretical thought, the editorial board will welcome the hypothesis articles, even such, with ideas of the authors of which they may not agree. Such articles will be published in the course of the discussions. The rise of the scientific discussion will contribute to further development of science.

In the next issues it is planned to highlight the question of teaching in higher institutes of education, methodical experience of the personnel of higher and secondary schools. The editorial board is also interested in reviews or specific articles, which would reflect the concepts of foreign literature studies, the rate of achievement of national scientific schools. It doesn’t exclude the publishing of single researches on specific narrower questions. The modern science tends to complexity of research; therefore a special place has to be taken by articles from related scientific disciplines: study of folklore, mythology, translation studies etc.

The scientific publication changed its format several times during its existence, responding to professional requirements and capabilities of the appropriate time, but keeping the methodological basis. It’s natural that editorial staff of the collection changed more than once in the half century. In historical retrospective review we will mention those, who were involved in its publishing history.

At the beginning the editorial board was led by Mikhailo Nazarok (executive editor from 1966 till 1979 р.), Olexander Pulynets (deputy editor), Anatoliy Volkov (executive secretary). In this first period the editorial board in different years included Lidia Berlovska (Odessa), Olga Bykova (Chernivtsi), Olexiy Vasylkivsky (Donetsk), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (Lviv), Vasyl Vorobyov (Kyiv), Isay Zaslavskyi (Kyiv), Volodymyr Kapustin (Kyiv), Mykola Kozlov (Uzhgorod), Vasyl Kuznetsov (Chernivtsi), Andriy Kulinych (Kyiv), Makar Lehavka (Kharkiv), Antonin Orishyn (Lviv), Kateryna Sitnikova (Dnipro). Over time they were joined by Mykhailo Homon (Kharkiv), Mykhailo Levchenko (Odessa), Volodymyr Malynkovskyi (Vinnytsia), Vitalyi Mosentsev (Kharkiv), Mykola Nikolayev (Chernivtsi), Vsevolod Pavlichenko (Simferopol), Volodymyr Popov (Lviv), Vira Rudenko (Odessa), Grygoriy Sinchenko (Chernivtsi), Evhen Tolstov (Uzhgorod), Viktor Udalov (Uzhgorod).

Starting with the issue 25 in 1975, the format of the collection changed from 70х108/16 to 60х84/16, correspondingly the cover design became different (the cover obtains its modern look since the issue 87 in 2013).

The editorial management of the collection in 1980 (issue 35) was taken by Mykola Nikolayev (executive editor till 1988), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (deputy editor), Dagmara Stepaniuk (executive secretary). There are new members of the editorial board: Ivan Kruk (Kyiv), Gennadiy Ponomariov (Uzhgorod), Ivan Spivak (Chernivtsi).

Since the issue 46 (1985) the collection is being published with ISSN 0321-1215.

Since the issue 53 in 1989, Anatoly Volkov becomes executive editor (up to 2003). Under his leadership the staff of the editorial board is being gradually renewed. It includes Semen Abramovych (Chernivtsi), Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi (Kyiv), Boris Bunchuk (Chernivtsi), Mykhailo Hirshman (Donetsk), Roman Hrom'yak (Ternopil), Viktor Gusev (Dnipro), Ihor Dzeverin (Kyiv), Boris Ivaniuk (executive secretary from 1995 till 2000), Dmytro Zatons'kyi (Kyiv) Ihor Zvarych (executive secretary in 2002–2003., deputy editor in 2004), Viktor Zinchenko (Odessa), Volodymyr Kazarin (Simferopol), Olexander Mihiliov (Kharkiv), Emilia Morozova (Lviv), Dmytro Nalyvayko (Kyiv), Petro Rykhlo (Chernivtsi), Olha Chervinska (deputy editor in 2002–2003), Mykhailo Yatsenko (Kyiv).

In 1993 under the initiative of A. Volkov the collection “Voprosy russkoi literatury” (“Problems of Russian Literature”) was renamed to “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”). First – without saving the previous numbering, however in the issue 3 (60) in 1996 the double numbering is restored. Eventually, the unified through numbering is introduced – since the issue 71 (2006).

The years 1990 were the most difficult and dramatic in the history of the edition: the print run is drastically reduced (from the maximum number of 3700 of the issue 9 in 1968 to 100 copies), the periodicity is also lost (in 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2001 the collection wasn’t published). Despite this, scientific authority and status of the collection increases, since the issue 61 in 1997 it begins to be published jointly with the T. H. Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

In 2002 the collection “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”) was approved by Higher Attestation Commission as a special edition (The bulletin of Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine. 2002. № 3. P. 12).

Since the issue 53 in 2004 Olha Chervinska becomes the editor-in-chief of the collection, the deputy editor-in-chief – Petro Rykhlo (executive secretary in 2005–2012), the executive secretary – Roman Dzyk (since 2013). The previous editorial board undergoes some changes: there join Nataliya Vysotsky (Kyiv), Tamara Hundorova (Kyiv), Olexander Keba (Kamianets-Podilskyi), Nataliya Kostenko (Kyiv), Anna Merezhinsky (Kyiv), Boris Shalahinov (Kyiv).

In 2009 the collection has received the certificate of state registration of print media. (KB № 16266-4738 P of 31.12.2009).

In 2012 there was a re-registration of edition in Centre International de l’ISSN (Key title: Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva; Abbreviated key title: Pitannâ lìteraturozn.) with assigning of ISSN 2306-2908.

The significant enhancing of the status of scientific journals was contributed by the replenishment of the editorial board with such authoritative foreign scientists, as Dmytro Bak (Russia), Rūta Brūzgienė (Lithuania), Aloiz Woldan (Austria), Leonid Heller (Switzerland), Svetlana Evdokimova (USA), Roman Mnich (Poland), Ivo Pospishyl (Czech Republic), Eleni Stergiopoulou (Greece), Olga Tabachnikova (UK), Valeriy Tyupa (Russia). From now on “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”) is actively included in the international scientometric bases: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), MLA International Bibliography, Index Copernicus, Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe (OpenAIRE), WorldCat, Google Scholar, PKP Index, Slavic Humanities Index. Eventually, since 2016 the scientific collection receives the certificate of state registration of print media already as a scientific journal.

See also the anniversary issue of the scientific journal “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva” (“Problems of Literary Criticism”, 2016, no. 93). The anniversary issue is “Classified catalogue of articles” that from 1966 to 2015 were published in the scientific journal “Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva”/“Problems of Literary Criticism” (up to 1991 “Voprosy russkoi literatury”/“Problems of Russian Literature”). It is completed with “Bibliographical entry of the issues for 1966–2015”, “Index of names of the articles’ authors” and “Index of names of research objects”.