Scope of the Journal

The journal OCEANOLOGIA publishes original papers on fundamental aspects of marine research with an emphasis on northern European seas. Papers dealing with processes in the marine environment are preferred to purely descriptive ones; they should contribute to the understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems, including their abiotic aspects.

Article Processing Charge (APC) Information

Accepted articles are published free of charge.

Review Process

All papers are initially reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief to ensure they align with the aims and scope of Oceanologia. Papers — except for letters, obituaries, and forewords — are then reviewed by at least two external reviewers, experts in the field. The review process follows a single-blind model, where reviewers remain anonymous, but authors' names are disclosed to them.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that only legitimate reviewers and accurate contact details are submitted. Any suspected or alleged cases of fabricated reviewer information will be thoroughly investigated.

Authorship

All individuals listed as authors must meet the journal's authorship criteria as outlined in our Publication Ethics Declaration. Anyone who meets these criteria must be included as an author, and the specific contribution of each author must be clearly stated. Authors must be added to the submission through the Editorial Manager system before the manuscript enters peer review.

Any changes to the author list or order after submission must be accompanied by a formal request, including a justification, and be approved by the Editor-in-Chief.

Language

The scripts should be written in good, scientific English. Consistent use of either British English (Br.E.) or American English (Am.E.) throughout the whole script is required.

Layout of the Article

The manuscript should be organised in the following order:

• Title page — full name(s) of the author(s), their institutional affiliation(s), and the corresponding author's full correspondence address, including e-mail address.
• Abstract — no more than 250 words; a resumé of the subject.
• Keywords — 3 to 8 indexing terms that accurately reflect the main topics of the manuscript.
• List of abbreviations — if applicable, place after the Abstract and before the main text.
• Introduction — a formulation of the subject, its current stage of development, and a clear definition of the aim of the paper.
• Materials and methods — detailed enough to let other researchers reproduce the procedure.
• Results — only the author's own results should be presented under this heading.
• Discussion — interpret the findings, compare with relevant previous studies, address theoretical and practical implications, and note the study's limitations.
• Acknowledgements — individuals who contributed but do not meet the criteria for authorship.
• Authorship — the contribution of each author to the research and manuscript.
• Generative AI use — see Usage of AI tools below.
• Conflict of Interest Declaration — disclosure of anything that could be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation, or a statement that none exists.
• References — see References below.

Abbreviations, Symbols, Acronyms

In case the list of abbreviations is not included, define abbreviations (symbols, acronyms) upon their first use in the title, abstract, main text, and figure/table legends.

Use abbreviations to reduce wordiness, but keep in mind that an abbreviation familiar in one field may not be widely recognised in another.

Tables and Figures

Tables should be typed on separate sheets, numbered with Arabic numerals, with a brief title above each table. Figures must be prepared for high-quality reproduction; after revisions, all figures should be submitted separately, preferably in vector format. Authors of accepted papers will receive detailed typesetting instructions, which should be followed carefully.

References

References should be listed in alphabetical order of authors' names, based on readily available texts published in the latest and major journals, mainly written in English. References that contain unpublished data should not be entered into the list; a work accepted for publication should be referred to as 'in press'. For example:

In-text Citations

Please format your in-text references according to the current style of OCEANOLOGIA — avoid using numbers in square brackets. For example:

Usage of AI Tools

Following the COPE recommendation, authors who use AI tools in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in disclosing — in the Materials and methods or "Declaration of Generative AI Use" section — how the AI tool was used and which tool was used. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics.

Short Communications

Communications are restricted to papers describing brief but complete studies. They should not exceed 3 pages in length (including figures and tables) and should always begin with an abstract. Subdivision into introduction, material and methods, results, or discussion should be avoided.

Page Limit

Papers should be limited to 20 pages (Original Research Articles) or 3 pages (Short Communications):

Original articles — 20 printed/typeset pages (e.g. 20 pages of typescript single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, or around 40 pages double-spaced, including references, tables, figures and appendices).

Short communications — 3 printed/typeset pages (e.g. 3 pages single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, or around 6 pages double-spaced, including references, tables, figures and appendices).

Articles in Press Information

Articles in press are peer-reviewed, accepted articles awaiting assignment to a volume/issue. Although they do not yet have full bibliographic details, they can be cited using the authors' names, the year of online publication, and the DOI.

Journal pre-proofs have undergone enhancements after acceptance — a cover page, metadata, formatting for readability — but are not yet the definitive version of record; further copyediting and review follow.

Uncorrected proofs have been copy-edited and formatted but not yet finalised; the author still needs to proofread and correct them, and the text may still change.

Corrected proofs contain the authors' corrections. Final citation details — volume, issue, year, page numbers — are still to be added, and the text might change before final publication.

Corrigendum

Once a paper is published, it cannot be changed. If a part of an article contains a mistake, the authors must submit a corrigendum to address the inaccuracy or omission.

To maintain the integrity of the publication record, the corrigendum will be issued, if accepted, in one of the subsequent issues of the journal.

Retraction

If an article is seriously flawed to the extent that the results and conclusions can no longer be relied upon, the publisher may retract the article.

Cessions of Copyright

All papers — scripts, tables, and all illustrative material — published in OCEANOLOGIA become the property of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Oceanology.