Editorial Process

The editorial process followed in this journal follows good practice in scientific publication and aims to ensure quality, integrity and transparency in the flow from submission to dissemination.

The journal identifies the following stages and commits to the times indicated in each one:

  1. Reception of the submission and initial review 5 days from receipt of submission
  2. Review by the editorial committee or board of editors 15 days
  3. Peer review by the scientific committee 30 days
  4. Editorial decision 15 days
  5. Copyediting and style revision 30 days from acceptance
  6. Publishing (next issue or volume from the copyediting and style revision)
  7. Post-publication Immediately after publication

1. Reception of the submission and initial review

The submission must be prepared according to the Author guidelines. The call for papers remains open throughout the year.

Once this stage is completed, confirmation of receipt is sent to the corresponding author.

The editorial coordinator performs a preliminary review, considering the structure of the paper, compliance with the journal's standards, and alignment with its focus and scope (see Focus and scope).

2. Review by the editorial committee or board of editors

The Editorial Committee analyzes whether the submission meets the minimum quality criteria, both in terms of writing and content.

  • If it does not meet the requirements, the manuscript may be rejected without undergoing external evaluation.
  • If it is approved, the peer review process begins in the next stage.

Plagiarism control: The submission will be checked for originality and plagiarism using the Ithenticathe platform, and the resulting report will be shared with the section editors. As a rule, any submission with a similarity index above 30% will be analyzed in detail. If plagiarism is detected, the authors will be notified, and the submission will be rejected.

3. Peer review by the scientific committee (See Peer review process)

The editorial committee selects two international experts in the research of the submission, according to their experience in the subject matter.

  • Identities of the reviewers are kept anonymous to the authors
  • Reviewers are provided with instructions for the review
  • Reviewers will ensure that they have no conflict of interest.

If there is a discrepancy between the opinions, a third review is requested to make a fair decision.

The results of the two reports, once analyzed by the editorial committee, will be sent to the authors with the editorial decision:

  • Publish without modifications
  • Publish with modifications and the modifications will be listed. If the changes are important, the new submission will undergo another round of review.
  • Do not publish

4. Editorial decision

Authors receive an anonymous report written by the editorial committee and based on the reviewers' comments.

Authors must make the suggested corrections and resubmit the corrected paper along with a document responding to the corrections, indicating where the corrections have been incorporated or why they have not been accepted.

Review of Corrections

In case the corrections are minimal, the editorial committee will check the changes and the authors' response. In case the corrections are major, it will be submitted to a new round of review by the same reviewers.

Reasoned communication of the editorial decision

The Editorial Committee makes the final decision on the acceptance or rejection of the submission. A letter of acceptance is sent to the corresponding author. The editorial decision will always be motivated (See Peer review process).

5. Copyediting and style revision

This phase involves carrying out the technical and formal process by which a scientific article, already accepted, is revised in terms of linguistic and editorial correction and edited according to the journal's style standards.

The proposed corrections will be submitted for the authors' approval, and final approval of the corrected and formatted version will be mandatory.

In this stage, the following tasks are undertaken:

  • Language review
  • Proofreading and editing of the text
  • Layout and graphic design according to the journal format
  • Review of the galleys by the Editor in-chief
  • Review and approval of the final galley by the authors
  • Assignment of DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
  • Inclusion in the corresponding issue and creation of the publication formats.

Before publishing the article, the authors will be asked to sign the rights assignment document. Without this document, the article cannot be published.

6. Publishing

Once approved, the final version will be incorporated into the next issue or volume of the journal (see Publication Frequency).

7. Post-publication

The dissemination stage focuses on increasing the visibility and accessibility of the published article, ensuring it effectively reaches its intended audience—researchers, professionals, decision-makers, and other stakeholders. The primary objective is to increase the article’s academic and societal impact while contributing to the advancement and dissemination of scientific knowledge.

As part of this phase, the journal undertakes the following actions:

  • Indexing the article in academic databases and search engines (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ).
  • Promoting the publication through academic social networks such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu.
  • Communicating new publications via bulletins, newsletters, and institutional press releases.
  • Sharing the article on open access platforms and in institutional or subject-specific repositories.