For authors

Alma Mater (Higher School Herald) publishes original scholarly articles on higher education, the philosophy and sociology of education, pedagogy, educational policy and management, and the social development of young people.

The online editorial system is the principal submission route. Submission by email is also accepted: an editable Microsoft Word or RTF file may be sent to almavest@yandex.ru.

Types of publication

The following reference classification identifies the principal scholarly purpose of an article. The publication type is not a separate submission field: an article may combine several approaches, but its main question, method and result must be clearly expressed.

Empirical research article. Presents new results obtained through the analysis of sources or documents, observation, surveys, experiments or data analysis. The research question, material and method are defined, the results are reported, and the limits of the conclusions are stated.

Theoretical research article. Develops or compares scholarly concepts and proposes a model or explanation. Independent reasoning, theoretical or practical generalisation and a new conclusion distinguish it from a summary of previous literature.

Problem-oriented research article. Examines a significant scholarly or practical problem, compares positions, approaches or methods, and supports a proposed solution. Criticism of another position must be accompanied by evidence and a substantive alternative.

Programme and analytical article. Analyses the state and development of science or education, formulates strategic objectives, and proposes well-supported organisational measures, scenarios or solutions. Established facts, analytical assessments and recommendations must be clearly distinguished.

Review article. Provides a critical and structured synthesis of research in a defined field. A review compares approaches and results, identifies gaps, and formulates conclusions relevant to further research or practice.

Revision before submission is necessary where the scholarly question is not defined, analysis is replaced by a summary of literature, practical experience is described without evidence, criteria or comparison, or the conclusions do not follow from the material presented.

Article structure and presentation

An article must be submitted as an editable Microsoft Word or RTF file. The maximum length of a standard article is 24,000 characters including spaces (0.6 of a Russian author’s sheet). A longer review article may be considered by prior agreement with the editorial office.

The article comprises a title, an abstract of 150–250 words, keywords, the main text and a reference list. The title, abstract and keywords are provided in both Russian and English.

• Required details for every author: full name, academic degree and title, position, full institutional affiliation, city, country and email address. The corresponding author is identified separately.
• The Latin spelling of each name must be consistent and, where available, match ORCID, eLIBRARY and other scholarly profiles.
• The organisation of the main text is determined by the purpose and method of the research. An empirical article will normally include the problem, materials and methods, results, discussion and conclusions; a theoretical or review article may use a different justified structure.
• Quotations, borrowed information and verifiable factual statements are supported by references. The funding source is stated where applicable.
• Tables, diagrams and figures must be legible and suitable for editorial processing. Raster images should normally have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Symbols used in formulas are explained.

Article submission

The preferred route is the online editorial system. The form records the article and author details, accepts the relevant files, and includes confirmation that the current agreement has been read. Submitted materials and their review status remain available in the user account.

Submission by email is also accepted. The article in Microsoft Word or RTF format and the accompanying materials are sent to almavest@yandex.ru; the same requirements for structure, author information and presentation apply.

Articles by postgraduate researchers. A recommendation from the academic supervisor or the relevant university department must accompany the article. This recommendation does not replace peer review. A dissertation chapter or an excerpt from a dissertation abstract must be reworked into a complete and independent scholarly publication.

Submit an article

Email submission: almavest@yandex.ru.

Peer review and timescale

The journal uses single-blind peer review: the reviewer can see the author information, while the reviewer’s identity is not disclosed to the author. The assessment considers the journal’s scope, scholarly originality, soundness and logic, structure and quality of language.

An article may be accepted, returned for revision or declined. A response to the review comments identifies the changes made; reasoned disagreement with an individual recommendation is permitted. An article outside the journal’s scope or lacking the required elements may be declined before external peer review.

• Initial peer review normally takes up to 30 calendar days.
• The complete review and editorial preparation cycle normally takes about two months.
• At least three months should be allowed between submission and possible publication. Revision, further review and the existing publication queue may extend this period; publication in a specific issue cannot be guaranteed in advance.

Editorial fee and publication agreement

The standard editorial fee is RUB 5,000; the expedited publication fee is RUB 9,000. A fee is charged only after the article has completed peer review, been accepted by the editorial office and prepared for publication. No payment is required at the submission or peer-review stage. The possible expedited-publication timescale is agreed individually with the editorial office.

The current agreement is provided below. The online editorial system records confirmation that the same document has been read as a separate action in the submission form.

Reference formatting

The reference list follows the journal’s editorial standard. Bibliographic details are checked against the original publication, DOI record, publisher’s website or official repository; missing information must not be inferred.

Core rules

• Every cited object forms a separate numbered entry. An article, chapter or conference paper is described as a distinct part of the corresponding publication.
• Paired lists “Литература” and References contain the same sources in the same order and in equal numbers; each list begins independently with 1.
• The visible author area is italicised. One to four authors are listed in full; for five or more, the first four are followed by “и др.” or “et al.” The full author list is retained in the metadata.
• References use official Latin spellings of names and official English titles. Where no official form is available, LC transliteration is used; a translated entry for a Russian-language source ends with (In Russian).
• A DOI is written as an active https://doi.org/… link. For changing web pages, databases, legal documents and materials without a DOI, an ordinary URL follows the complete description and includes the actual access date.
• On the website, the bibliographic description is stored separately from DOI and URL links. One entry may have several links; separating them from the description does not create additional reference entries.

Formatting examples

All names, titles, DOI values and addresses below are illustrative placeholders.

Journal article in “Литература”
Иванов И.И., Петров П.П. Название статьи // Название журнала. 2025. Т. 12. № 3. С. 45–61. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Book in “Литература”
Иванов И.И. Название книги: подзаголовок. 2-е изд. М.: Наука, 2025. 320 с.

Web page
Организация. Название страницы. Название сайта. 21 августа 2026 г. URL: https://example.org/page (дата обращения: 21.08.2026).

Russian-language article in References
Ivanov, I.I., & Petrov, P.P. (2025). English translation of the article title. Official English Journal Title, 12 (3), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx (In Russian).

English-language article in References
Bolton, V.A. (2024). Article title. Journal Title, 10 (2), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

The complete instruction includes models for journal articles, books, chapters, conference materials, dissertations, web pages and other sources, an LC transliteration table, a checklist and separate rules for web presentation.

Complete bibliography standard in Markdown (Russian)

The open Markdown file contains both Russian and English reference models and is intended for authors, editors and software assistants, including AI. Its stable address, semantic headings, explicit rules and plain-text examples make it suitable as a direct source instruction without extracting content from DOCX.

Publication ethics and use of AI

Submitted material must be original, identify authorship and sources correctly, and respect third-party rights. Reports of errors and proposed corrections may be sent to almavest@yandex.ru.

Use of AI. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Human authors remain responsible for scholarly quality, reasoning, language, factual accuracy and references, observance of rights and conclusions. AI tools may be used in preparing or editing an article, including text generation; the resulting text must be reviewed and accepted by the author as their own. Disclosure of AI assistance is at the author’s discretion. The use of AI is not in itself a reason to decline an article: review assesses the quality of the article.

Pre-submission checklist

• The scholarly question and principal publication type are clearly expressed.
• The article presents an independent result and its conclusions are supported by the analysis.
• The requirements for length, structure and abstract are met.
• The Russian and English title, abstract and keywords are ready.
• All author details, references, DOI and URL values have been checked.
• The editable article file, tables and figures are ready for editorial work.
• The required recommendation accompanies an article by a postgraduate researcher; all authors have read the current agreement.

Submit an article

Questions concerning submission and presentation: almavest@yandex.ru.