The journal Promet – Traffic&Transportation is an internationally indexed scientific journal, published by the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb.

The mission of our journal is to provide high quality communication of research results, which is crucial for the effectiveness of scientific research, promotion of scientific information and new ideas and original research in the field of traffic and transportation engineering.

Our vision and desire is to publish relevant scientific papers to become a focal point for the promotion of scientific activity in the global environment and among our readers and authors. Therefore, the journal will continue the long tradition of open access to make scientific papers available to all interested parties.

The editorial policy of Promet – Traffic&Transportation journal will be based on providing timely, high quality and competent information so that accepted papers will be published in the shortest possible time. Our focus will be on finding good and interesting articles and helping authors prepare potentially valuable papers for international review. In doing so, we will adhere to the criteria of scientific excellence and to the highest standards and international editorial conventions that apply in scientific publishing.

In this way, we want to create a synergy between articles and the journal, because we believe that quality articles will make our journal more valuable, and our journal will be a place where quality articles are published.

English is the language of scientific communication. Although the first distinctive feature of the Croatian scientific community is the Croatian language, Promet – Traffic&Transportation will continue to publish exclusively in English in order to be accessible and understandable to the global scientific community.

We are proud of our history of continuous publishing, our thematic focus in the field of technical sciences, and our international outlook. In this context, we will strive to become even better.

Prof. Doris Novak, Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief

All persons who meet authorship criteria are listed as authors, and all authors guarantee that they have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, including participation in the concept, design, analysis, writing or revision of the manuscript. Furthermore, each author warrants that this material or similar material has not been and will not be submitted to or published in any other publication before its appearance in Promet – Traffic&Transportation.

Each author is expected to have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work; or have drafted the work or substantively revised it; AND to have approved the submitted version (and any substantially modified version that involves the author’s contribution to the study); AND to have agreed both to be personally accountable for the author’s own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.

This journal uses a double-blind process, i.e., the identities of the reviewer and the author remain hidden between them throughout the review process. To make this possible, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in such a way that their identities are not revealed.

After a paper is submitted, the editorial board decides whether the paper is acceptable. If the submitted paper meets the submission requirements, reviewers are selected and assigned to review the paper. The reviewers are prominent scientists and experts with an established scientific track record that guarantees their competence in reviewing scientific papers.

Each submission is reviewed by at least two reviewers.

The review criterion is scientific and formal appropriateness for the journal's mission.

Based on the relevant factors of paper evaluation, the reviewers submit one of three possible proposals: the paper is acceptable for publication; the paper requires changes and additions; the paper is not acceptable for publication.

If two reviewers provide a negative evaluation of a paper, the submitting author will be informed that the paper has not been accepted for publication.

Additional peer review is required when a paper has one negative evaluation. The additional review will be conducted by a new reviewer or a member of Editorial Board.

Reviewers’ opinions and suggestions are communicated to the author, who is then required to make the necessary adjustments together with other authors, as instructed by the reviewers.

If the author disagrees with the reviewers' suggestions, the Editor-in-Chief reconciles the different opinions.

The capacity to publish papers in the journal is limited. It is entirely possible that papers recommended for publication by reviewers will not be published due to space limitations. We make every effort to publish all eligible papers, but the Editor-in-Chief reserves the final decision on publication.

Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, to ensure public confidence in scientific findings and to ensure that people receive credit for their work and ideas.

All manuscripts are peer-reviewed and are expected to meet academic standards. If the editor agrees, submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by reviewers whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors.

The Editorial Board will occasionally seek advice outside the normal peer review process, for example on submissions with serious ethical, safety or societal implications. We may consult experts before deciding on appropriate action, including but not limited to recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, assessment by additional editors, or declining further review of a submission.

Plagiarism

Authors may not use the words, figures or ideas of others without acknowledging the source. All sources must be cited where used, and reuse of phrases must be limited and cited or referenced in the text. The Journal uses Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) and plagiarism prevention service Turnitin to detect submissions that overlap with published and submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts found to have been plagiarized from another author's manuscript, whether published or unpublished, will be rejected and authors may be subject to sanctions. Published articles may need to be corrected or retracted.

Duplicate submission and redundant publication

The journal considers only original content, i.e., articles that have not been previously published, even in a language other than English. Articles based on content previously published only on a preprint server, in an institutional repository or in a dissertation will be considered.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal may not be submitted elsewhere while being considered and must be withdrawn before being submitted elsewhere. Authors whose articles are simultaneously submitted elsewhere may be subject to sanctions.

If authors have used their own previously published work or work under review as the basis for a submitted manuscript, they must cite the earlier articles and indicate how their submitted manuscript differs from their earlier work. Reuse of the authors' own words should be stated or cited in the text. Reuse of authors' own illustrations or extensive wording may require permission from the copyright holder, which authors are responsible for obtaining.

The journal will consider extended versions of articles published at conferences provided this is explained in the cover letter, the earlier version is clearly cited and discussed, there is substantial new content, and all necessary permissions are obtained.

Redundant publication, i.e., inappropriately splitting study results into more than one article (also known as salami slicing), may result in rejection or a request to merge submitted manuscripts and correct published articles. Duplicate publication of the same or a very similar article may result in the later article being withdrawn and authors may be subject to sanctions.

Citation manipulation

Authors whose submitted manuscripts contain citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of citations to a particular author's work or to articles published in a particular journal may be subject to sanctions. Editors and reviewers may not ask authors to include citations solely to increase the number of citations to their own work or the work of a colleague, the journal or another journal with which they are affiliated.

Fabrication and falsification

Authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles found to have fabricated or falsified results, including manipulation of images, may be subject to sanctions and published articles may be retracted.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest (COIs, also known as 'competing interests') occur when issues external to the research could reasonably be seen as affecting the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its evaluation. This may be the case at any stage of the research cycle, including the experimental phase, during the writing of a manuscript, or during the process of turning a manuscript into a published article.

If you are unsure, declare a potential interest or discuss it with the editor. Undeclared interests may result in sanctions. Submissions with undeclared conflicts that are later revealed may be rejected. Published articles may need to be re-evaluated, corrected or, in severe cases, withdrawn.

Conflicts of interest do not always mean that a paper cannot be published or that someone cannot participate in the review process. However, they must be declared. A clear declaration of all possible conflicts - whether or not they actually had an impact - allows others to make informed decisions about the work and the review process.

When conflicts of interest are identified after publication, it can be embarrassing for the authors, the editor and the journal. It may be necessary to publish a corrigendum or re-evaluate the review process.

Conflicts include the following:

• Financial - Financial contributions and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors in connection with the subject of the paper or from an organization that has an interest in the outcome of the paper

• Affiliation - Employment by or membership on the advisory board of an organization that has an interest in the outcome of the work

• Intellectual property - Patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization

• Personal - Friends, family, relationships and other close personal connections

• Ideology - Beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, that are relevant to the work

• Academic - Competitors or someone whose work is criticized

Authors

Authors must declare all potential interests which should explain why the interest might present a conflict. If there are none, authors should declare by the Authorship Statement that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to the publication of particular article. Submitting authors are responsible for ensuring that co-authors declare their interests.

The involvement of persons other than the authors who 1) have an interest in the outcome of the work, 2) belong to an organization that has such an interest, or 3) have been employed or paid by a funder, in the commissioning, conception, planning, design, conduct or analysis of the work, the preparation or editing of the manuscript, or the decision to publish, must be declared.

Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editors and reviewers.

Editors and reviewers

Editors and reviewers should decline to contribute to an article if they:

• Have a recent publication or current submission with any of the authors
• Have or have recently had an affiliation with an author
• Collaborate or have recently collaborated with an author
• Have a close personal relationship with an author
• Have a financial interest in the subject of the paper
• Do not feel that they are in a position to be objective

Reviewers must declare any remaining interests in the 'Confidential' section of the review form, which will be considered by the editor.

Editors and reviewers must declare whether they have previously discussed the manuscript with the authors.

Sanctions

When the Editorial Board learns of violations of our Publication Ethics Policy, whether or not the violation occurred in the journal, the following sanctions may be imposed:

• Rejection of the manuscript and all other manuscripts submitted by the author(s).
• Prohibition from submission for 1-3 years.
• Prohibition from acting as editor or reviewer.

The Editorial Board may impose additional sanctions for serious ethical violations.

Inquiries

Alleged violations of our publication ethics policy, both pre- and post-publication, and concerns about research ethics should be reported to editor-in-chief.

Complainants will remain anonymous if they wish. However, they may use an anonymous email service.

Corrections and retractions

When errors are identified in published articles, the Editorial Board will consider what action is required and may consult with the authors' editors and institution(s).

A correction notice may be published as an Erratum, Correction, Corrigendum or Author’s Correction

If there are errors that significantly affect the conclusions, or if there is evidence of misconduct, this may require retraction or the expression of concerns in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

All authors are asked to agree to the content of the communication.

A new issue is published bimonthly. Submissions accepted by the Editorial Board will be included in one of the future issues.

The publication schedule of submissions depends on the following criteria:

1. Assigned submission section (immediate topic of traffic and transportation engineering)
2. Classification (original scientific paper, review)
3. Decision of the Editorial Board

This journal provides instant open access to its content, on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports greater global knowledge sharing.

The Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at the University of Zagreb would like the journal Promet – Traffic&Transportation to become a place for discussion and consideration of new ideas from scientists and experts in the field of traffic and transport technology.

That is why we have chosen free and open access to provide a place for all scientists, researchers and people with new ideas to publish and protect their work.

Papers published in the journal Promet – Traffic&Transportation are indexed in the following databases:

• WoS - SCIE (Clarivate Analytics)
• Scopus
• TRID
• Directory of Open Access Journals
• GEOBASE
• Fluidex

The journal is included in Hrčak, the Portal of Scientific Journals of Croatia.

The journal operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

• Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

• Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

• Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

The journal regulations came into force on 7 December 2011.

• Fakulteta za pomorstvo in promet (Univerza v Ljubljani) Portorož, Slovenia
• Istituto per lo Studio dei Trasporti nell' Integrazione Economica Europea Trieste, Italy
• Fakulta prevádzky a ekonomiky dopravy a spojov (Žilinská univerzita) Žilina, Slovakia
• Dopravni fakulta Jana Pernera (Univerzita Pradubice) Pardubice, Czech Republic

The journal Promet – Traffic&Transportation was founded in 1989 at the Faculty of Traffic and Transport Sciences.

The mission of the journal is based on the promotion of scientific research in traffic and transport technology.

The first issue was published in August 1989. 24 articles were included on 205 pages. The articles were written by 31 authors whose scientific work in the area of traffic and transport technology had drawn attention to the significance of transport development.

The journal has been published continuously since 1989 with a new issue published every two months, and it is used by scientists and experts for the publication of research results and reviews of advanced technologies. The title of the journal changed over time.

1989–1996 Promet
1997–2005 Promet-Traffic-Traffico
2006–present Promet – Traffic&Transportation

Articles published in the journal are quoted in many scientific and expert publications and conferences.

Based on its achieved competency, the journal is today listed in the most prominent international scientific databases.