Cuadernos de Historia Contemporánea

Introduction

The journal Cuadernos de Historia Contemporánea (ISSN: 0214-400X / ISSN-e: 1988-2734) is a scientific periodical publication published by the Department of Modern History and Contemporary History in the Faculty of Geography and History. It covers both Contemporary Spanish and World History and includes research papers and debates on contemporary history, preferably nationally and internationally.

1.  Management bodies

1.1. Editorial Board: structure and composition

−         The Editorial Board will be made up of the Director, the Secretary, the Reviews and Bibliographic Notes Coordinator and a maximum of twelve 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.

−         Its members will be chosen by the Board of the Department of Modern History and Contemporary History at the proposal of the members of the area of Contemporary History, who will in turn be those who are eligible, together with the members external to the Department.

−         For the appointment of the Director, a vote will be taken on the proposed candidates. The candidate who obtains an absolute majority will be elected. If none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority in the first vote, a second vote will be held, in which they may be elected by simple majority.

−         When there are one or more vacancies on the Editorial Board, this Board will propose the name(s) to replace them, which will be submitted to a vote by the Departmental Board, with the prior agreement of the members of the Contemporary History area and according to the voting system it deems appropriate.

−         The position of Secretary will be directly appointed by the Director, and that of Reviews and Notes Coordinator will be appointed by the Editorial Board.

-         All members will be elected for a period of three years and may only be re-elected to their position for a second period of three 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 about the operation of the journal, as well as its needs.

−         The Director will be responsible for ensuring that the highest possible 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, in which area they will have the support 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. In this task, as well as in the following ones, to the extent that the Editorial Board considers appropriate, they will have the support of an assistant or associate.

−         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 Reviews and Bibliographic Notes Coordinator

−         The Reviews and Notes Coordinator will be responsible for the Bibliographic Notes and Reviews sections. They will be responsible for receiving the originals and managing them throughout the publication process.

−         The Reviews and Bibliographic Notes Coordinator will be responsible for acknowledging receipt of the originals sent to the sections for which they are responsible, as well as maintaining correspondence with their authors.

−         The Reviews and Bibliographic Notes Coordinator will ensure, following the advice of the Editorial Board, the formal and academic quality of the papers submitted to the sections for which they are responsible.

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.]

1.1.4. Duties of the Members of the Editorial Board

-        The members of the Editorial Board will be obliged to attend any meetings convened. Likewise, they may exercise their functions through remote means, when asked to do so.

-        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.

1.2. 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 for electing its members will be as follows: the members of the Editorial Board will make the proposals they consider appropriate, which will in turn be submitted to a vote by the Departmental Board. There must be prior notification to the members of the Contemporary History area along, where appropriate, with its express approval.

−         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.