Articles of association of the journal

Introduction

The journal Área Abierta. Revista de Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicitaria (ISSN: 2530-7592. ISSN-e: 1578-8393) is a scientific periodical publication published by the Department of Applied Communication Sciences in the Faculty of Information Sciences. This journal contains academic articles in the field of studies on film, television, advertising communication, audiovisual journalism and new media. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it covers technological, industrial, historical, social, aesthetic and cultural aspects. It is aimed at researchers, teaching staff and students in the area of communication. Área Abierta publishes original and unpublished articles through blind peer review and includes texts in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

1.  Management bodies

The management bodies responsible for the scientific coordination and publication of the journal are the Editorial Board and the Advisory Board. All members of these boards undertake to respect the principles of the Code of Ethics established for scientific journals by the Complutense University of Madrid.

1.1. Editorial Board: structure and composition

−  The Editorial Board will be made up of the Director, the Secretary and the members. The position of Director must be filled by an active lecturer with a contractual relationship with the UCM. At least one third of its members must belong to institutions other than the Complutense University of Madrid. 

−  The Editorial Board will assist the Director in all their functions and, especially, in the handling of the papers (receipt, review and acceptance) and in the definition of the contents and style of the journal (writing of guidelines for the submission of originals, creation and orientation of sections, etc.).

−  The members will be elected by the board of the Department of Applied Communication Sciences. Candidates for each of the positions will be proposed and approved: one for the election of the Director, another for the election of the members and another for the election of the external members. The position of Secretary will be directly appointed by the Director.

−  All members will be elected for a period of four years and may only be re-elected to their position for a second period of four years.

1.1.1. Duties of the Director

−  The Director will be responsible for the coordination and representation of the journal and for relations with the Editorial Board, Advisory Board and Ediciones Complutense. Similarly, they will be responsible for relations with other institutions for any matters related to the journal.

−  The Director will appoint the Secretary.

−  The Director will convene the meetings of the Editorial Board.

−  The Director will be obliged to inform the Departmental Board and the Faculty Board about the operation of the journal, as well as its needs.

−  The Director will be responsible for ensuring that the maximum scientific quality of the journal is maintained, as well as for its recognition and inclusion in national and international databases and its evaluation to obtain quality seals, for which they will have the help of the other members of the Editorial Board.

−  The Director will have a casting vote in the event of a tie in the deliberations of the Editorial Board.

1.1.2. Duties of the Secretary

−  The Secretary will be responsible for receiving the originals and managing them throughout the review and publication process.

−  The Secretary will be responsible for communication with the authors, the members of the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board and Ediciones Complutense.

−  The Secretary will confirm the receipt of all papers received with the authors.

−  The Secretary will organise the process for checking the originals received by the Editorial Board so that a decision can be made on which papers to review and which to return, once compliance with the journal’s requirements has been verified.

−  The Secretary will be responsible for sending the originals to the reviewers along with an instruction document and review template.

−  Once the decision on whether to publish the originals has been made, the Secretary will be responsible for sending notification of the decision to the authors, justifying the decision.

−  The Secretary will be responsible for monitoring the complete publishing process for the journal’s issues (preparation and delivery of originals, including the first pages and statistics, layout process, sending proofs to authors, reviewing the version prior to printing, notification to the authors of the publication).

−  The Secretary will prepare the meetings with the Director and draw up the minutes of the meetings of the Editorial Board. Similarly, they will be responsible for the safeguarding of the minutes and will certify the work carried out by the members, scientific advisers and reviewers.

−  The Secretary will collaborate with the Director in the publicising of the journal, institutional relations, exchanges, indexing and any other tasks that result in an improvement in the quality and recognition of the journal.

1.1.3. Duties of the Members of the Editorial Board

−  The members of the Editorial Board will be obliged to attend any meetings that are convened. [If members are from other provinces or other countries, the Board may establish a procedure for their effective participation even if they are not present at the meetings.]

−  The Members, under the coordination of the Secretary, will take part in the initial reading of the originals to allow a decision to be made about which will be reviewed and which will be returned to the authors.

−  The Members will help with the search for external reviewers for the papers and will not under any circumstances be reviewers.

−  The Members will advise and collaborate with the journal’s management in any tasks deemed necessary for the smooth running of the journal, including ensuring compliance with punctuality and timeliness.

1.1.4. Advisory Board

−  The Advisory Board will be made up of professionals and researchers of recognised prestige and soundness, with no institutional ties to the journal. In addition to bringing rigour to the journal, it will help establish the editorial policy, make the journal attractive to both authors and readers and publicise it, as far as possible, in all forums. Similarly, it will support the evaluation and audit processes.

−  The Advisory Board must have members who are professionals and researchers in foreign institutions.

−  The process of electing its members will be as follows: the members of the Editorial Board will propose a maximum of three candidates each for this position. This vote will result in the election of as many members of the Advisory Board as there are members present. Next, in the same way more members of the Advisory Board will be elected to serve in this role.

−  The members of the Advisory Board may participate in the processes for reviewing originals as external peers, taking into account that at least one of the reviews must always be issued by a reviewer who is not a member of the Advisory Board.

2.  Features and operation

2.1. Frequency

− The journal will be published three time a year (March, July and November). Furthermore, on an extraordinary basis, the journal may propose to Ediciones Complutense the publication of a special issue.

2.2. Structure  

-  The journal will consist of the following sections: Introduction to the issue (if it is monographic), Research articles, Annexes. In addition, the journal may publish reviews of books, exhibitions and conferences.

2.3. Publication guidelines

− The publication guidelines document will be attached as an annex. This must contain information on: manuscript submission, editorial process (review, evaluation and publication of manuscripts), notes and bibliographic references, etc.