Submissions

Author Guidelines

Cuadernos de Trabajo Social is a scientific journal from the Faculty of Social Work of the Universidad Complutense, Madrid. It is published by the Universidad Complutense’s Publications Service. The journal was established in 1987 and is published semiannually.

Its aim is to disseminate scientific articles, research, theoretical studies, and disciplinary and interdisciplinary experiences that relate to social work and the social sciences (social intervention, social policies, and social services).

The journal is aimed at readers from the academic, research, and professional communities.

Each issue includes articles on various topics, reviews, general information, and a section of readers’ correspondence.

The journal accepts articles in Spanish and English. It follows the publication guidelines of the American Psychological Association.

1. Submission of manuscripts

The following categories of article will be considered for publication:

1. Empirical research articles. These present the results of: (a) original research; (b) case studies; (c) systematization of intervention experiences in the field of Social Work, Social Services and other social-protection systems.

The structure of these articles will include at least five sections: introduction, methodology, results, conclusions and bibliography.

All articles must adopt a rigorous analytical approach and be comprehensible to international readers. In addition, the usefulness of the conclusions for similar situations in other countries must be taken into consideration.

2. Literature reviews. These have the objective of systematizing research results to report on developing trends and advances in the discipline, and to do so they are based on a comprehensive review of the literature.

3. Theoretical articles. These provides substantiated theoretical discussion, analysis and interpretation. Value judgments will indicate the perspective from which they are made and the facts that support them.

4. Critical reviews of texts. These texts present a line of argument, and their main objective is to describe a work’s main and most noteworthy ideas and/or proposals, along with a critical evaluative reflection of the work.

All submitted work must not have been previously published. Authors are required to declare that the data and results set out in their work are original, have not been simultaneously submitted to other journals for publication, and do not contain plagiarism, distortion, or manipulation.

The articles should have an approach that considers the diversity of identities, needs and abilities of people, while avoiding any bias of discrimination towards disadvantaged groups. We recommend avoiding linguistic sexism through the use of inclusive language that fosters an increased visibility of women.

When submitting a manuscript, authors should comply with the requirements set out below:

The word limits for submissions are as follows:

a) Articles (research articles, literature reviews and theoretical articles) have a minimum length of 6,000 words and a maximum length of 8,000 words (including summaries, notes, figures, maps, tables and references).

b) Critical reviews should be no more than 1,500 words in length.

c) Correspondence has a maximum length of 1,500 words.

The format of articles should follow these guidelines:

a) The article must contain: the title, the abstract (between 150 and 250 words), and a list of five keywords. These must be included in Spanish and English. Both the title and the keywords must use discipline-appropriate terminology.

b) Notes should be numbered at the foot of the page (in 10 pt Times New Roman font).

c) A reference list must be provided at the end of the article, and its entries must be double-spaced and adopt the hanging indent format. (Supplementary information is to be provided in appendices.)

d) If articles have a DOI number, this must be included in the reference-list entry.

e) Submissions must be made to the Cuadernos de Trabajo Social review platform via the following link: http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CUTS. To upload articles, authors must register by clicking on “Have you registered? Register now” (on the right-hand side of the screen). The system will assign a “user name” and a “password.” (Users should save these, as they will be needed throughout the review process.) In order to upload an article, authors must then enter the “author” profile, enter “new submission,” and follow the simple steps indicated.

Typographic rules: 

a) Articles must be written in Word or in a Word-compatible format (RTF, TXT, etc.). They must be double-spaced and fully justified, be set in 12 pt Times New Roman font, and have 2.5 cm margins on all sides. All articles must be paginated.

b) Tables and figures should be included at the end of the manuscript; their position in the text should be stated and they must follow APA guidelines.

c) Images must be sent in JPEG or TIFF format with a minimum resolution of 200 dpi (300 dpi is recommended) and a minimum width of 70 mm.

2. Editorial process: review, evaluation, and publication of manuscripts

The journal editors will confirm receipt of submitted works. Authors will subsequently be informed of whether their work has been accepted or rejected. A preliminary editorial review of submitted articles will be performed to evaluate their thematic relevance to the journal and their compliance with the applicable requirements relating to academic rigor. Manuscripts will then be reviewed anonymously by two experts (peer review). Following the instructions established by the journal for the evaluation of articles, the peer reviewers complete an evaluation that focuses on the criteria of: originality, currency, academic and professional utility, scientific significance, and whether or not the work has been previously published elsewhere. In the event of conflicting opinions, articles will be sent to a third party.

After examination of the reports by the external evaluators, the Editorial Board may reject the article, approve it on the condition that the author makes the amendments requested, or definitively approve it for publication. Whatever the outcome, reasons will be provided for the editorial decision.

The journal uses the services of English-language stylistic and copy editors as part of its publishing processes.

In order to respect the publishing process for the print version of the journal and to prevent delays within it, authors must undertake to correct their works within a short timeframe (fifteen days) that begins at the moment when they are advised of the publication of the online version of their article. Amendments should be highlighted in yellow.

Copyright

Acceptance of a work for publication means that the copyright for the work is transferred to the publisher of the journal.

4. Notes and references

Reference lists should not be unnecessarily long (their entries should be strictly limited to works cited in the text), and they must be provided in full at the end of the article. The list should be alphabetically ordered, and the works for a single author should appear in chronological order, from oldest to most recent.

Notes must only be used when absolutely necessary, and they must be positioned at the foot of the page. Bibliographical references are not to be provided in footnote form. For in-text citations, the APA guidelines will be used.

Links

http://www.apastyle.org/

http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CUTS/about/submissions

5. Principles of transparency and editorial commitment

• Governance Bodies. CTS has a governance team made up of persons with recognized experience in the academic and professional field, whose names and professional affiliations may be accessed through the web page of the journal.
• Editorial and peer-review process. Editorial decisions will be made through a double-review process, which rigorous procedure will allow reviewers to use public and transparent evaluation criteria and at the same time will permit authors to make improvements to their works. A sufficient number of reviewers, who will be selected from among the most qualified and specialized persons in the subject of the proposed article, will be guaranteed for the review, with the aim that the editorial decision be as critical, expert and objective as possible.
• Timescale for editorial process. The editorial team commits to meet the timescales established for the review and publication of accepted articles. Maximum timescales: (1) acceptance for consideration/rejection of works received on the OJS platform: 15 days. (2) Scientific peer-review process: 180 days. (3) Waiting list for publication-approved works: articles will be published in the following edition.
• Gender parity. One of the concerns of the management of CTS is to integrate a gender perspective as a transversal strategy. For this purpose, one of the areas we have sought to incorporate is gender parity in the composition of the journal’s management bodies.
• Generational perspective. One of the concerns of the journal’s management bodies is the inclusion of persons representing different generational segments.
• Scientific objectivity. The works will be objectively evaluated on the basis of the scientific merit of the content, without any discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, nationality or political opinion.
• Confidentiality. All information related with works received to be considered for publication will be treated confidentially and will not be disclosed to persons outside the editorial team. The anonymity of the authors of works will be guaranteed throughout the process of evaluation and editorial review.
• Intellectual property. The editorial team commits not to use the content of the articles received to be considered for publication in its own research without the express prior consent of the authors concerned.

Principles for reviewers

1. Contribution to quality. The persons who assume the commitment to evaluate the works received by CTS must carry out a critical, constructive and unbiased review, for purposes of ensuring scientific and literary quality in their area of expertise.
2. Objectivity. The review will be as objective as possible, without containing personal judgments regarding the authors. All evaluations must be justified in a report that will be uploaded to the virtual platform. This report must be as exhaustive as possible, so that it enables the authors to clearly the suggested modifications or corrections, or, in the event that the work is rejected, to understand the reasons for the decision. Likewise, in the event of any conflict of interest, reviewers must refuse to review the work.
3. Confidentiality. Though works are assigned in an anonymized manner, their content must also remain confidential; that is, they must not be discussed with other persons without the express consent of their authors.
4. Disclosure. The information obtained during the review process, confidential or otherwise, must not be used for private ends.
5. Time management. Although CTS establishes maximum timescales for the review process, works must be evaluated in the shortest time possible for purposes of optimizing editorial management. Moreover, if a person does not feel capable of carrying out a review, whether because they consider that the content is not within their specialist field, due to any conflict of interest, or because they do not have sufficient time, they must immediately notify the editorial team through the established formal channels.
6. Bibliographical references. The review must be attentive to any similarity or overlap with other publications by other authors. The absence of references to other authors must be indicated when it is considered important that they be included.

Principles for authors

1. Originality and plagiarism. All works sent to be considered for publication must be unpublished. Authors are required to declare that the data and results set out in the work are original and that the work does not contain any plagiarism, distortion or manipulation of the empirical data used to corroborate the hypotheses or assumptions.
2. Exclusivity undertaking. Works sent to CTS may not be simultaneously submitted to another journal for publication. Nor may they contain results or even parts of results that have already been published in other articles.
3. Citations and references. Sources mentioned or quoted must always be declared and a list of bibliographical references provided for such sources.
4. Authorship. Where more than one person has contributed to an article, authorship must be declared in accordance with responsibility for and involvement in its preparation. The inclusion of all persons who have made significant contributions of a scientific and intellectual nature to the completion of the research and the drafting of the article must also be ensured.
5. Data access and retention. The editorial team may require authors to provide the data or sources upon which the research is based, and may reserve them for a reasonable time following publication, with the possibility of making them accessible to the publisher. In any case, for this purpose, all data must be scrupulously anonymized.
6. Responsibility. All persons submitting a manuscript to CTS must accept responsibility for what they have written, which must be supported with a detailed analysis of the most current and relevant scientific literature and debate on the topic.
7. Ethics in methodology. Research must have used methodology that is consistent with respect for the dignity of persons. From among the main principles of the Ethical Guidelines for Research prepared by the American Psychological Association (APA), we highlight the following: discussion of the limits of confidentiality and safeguarding those limits, minimization of intrusion into and invasion of private lives, retention of records, and obtaining informed consent to research, record or film.
8. Attention to diversity, gender and inclusiveness. Works must adopt an approach that considers the diverse identities, needs and abilities of persons, also avoiding any bias involving discrimination toward disadvantaged groups. Likewise, sexist language is to be avoided through the use of inclusive language that promotes the visibilization of women.
9. Conflict of interest and disclosure. It is necessary to expressly declare that no conflicts of interest exist with regard to results obtained or interpretations proposed. Similarly, any source of financing from the entity or project within which framework the research underpinning the article has been carried out must be declared.
10. Coherence with the principles of Social Work. Articles must be coherent with the principles of Social Work as regards human rights, human dignity and social justice, as established in the professional statement of ethical principles of the International Federation of Social Workers (http://ifsw.org/policies/statement-of-ethical-principles/).
11. Errors in published articles. Any significant error or imprecision must be reported to the publishing team in order that it may implement the necessary corrections in the online edition.