Double- Blind Peer Review in Scientific Periodicals in the Humanities – Aspects of Publons’ Usage in Bulgaria

Abstract

Based on Publons and the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) data, we analyze the state of peer-review procedures' implementation in Bulgarian SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities) scholarly journals. We establish the beginning of Bulgarian journals' transformation and the application of a specific peer-review Bulgarian model in terms of attracting foreign reviewers. At the same time, compared with our neighbouring countries, an apparent abandonment and lack of evaluation procedures' verification is observed. The paper also justifies the need to improve the higher education policy in introducing adequate criteria tracking the status and actual implementation of peerreview in scientific periodicals.