Statutes

Introduction

Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura (p-ISSN 1130-0531, ISSN-e 1988-2548) is an annual scientific journal edited by Ediciones Complutense and promoted by the Department of Languages, Arts and Physical Education (Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid). Founded in 1988 by Professor Eduardo Tejero Robledo, the journal publishes national and international research on the Didactics of Language and Literature, Teaching Second Languages and Children’s and Young People’s Literature. It accepts articles in Spanish, English and French, all offering useful didactic guidelines for teachers at the primary, secondary and university levels.

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 Ethical Code 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 full-time 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 be composed of a maximum of fifteen members, along with the director and secretary. Likewise, as the journal is responsible for the fields of Spanish, English, French and their specific didactics, the members of the Editorial Board shall cover these three areas in percentages similar to the number of papers received: around 55% for Spanish, 40% for English and 5% for French.
  • 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 of the Editorial Board will be able to propose new candidates. These will be elected by the Editorial Board and confirmed by the Board of the Department of Languages, Arts and Physical Education. The position of Secretary will be directly appointed by the Director.
  • Each person interested in occupying the position of Director shall present the proposal to the Editorial Board, whose members will vote to the candidate they consider most appropriate, in the maximum period of fifteen working days. In the case that there are no candidates, the position will be elected by raffle. The Director will be elected for a period of 4 years, and may only be re-elected to their position for a second period of 4 years. After two four-years terms, a two-year period shall elapse before they can be reappointed, unless there are no other candidates to fill the vacancies.
  • All members will be elected for a period of 4 years, and may only be re-elected to their position for a second period of 4 years. After two four-years terms, a two-year period shall elapse before they can be reappointed, unless there are no other candidates to fill the vacancies.
  • The appointments of the Director and the Secretary shall be communicated to the Vicerrectorado de Cultura, Deporte y Extensión Universitaria [Vice-Rectorate for Culture, Sports and University Extension] and to the Ediciones Complutense Director [Complutense Editions], including the corresponding accrediting documentation issued by the Board of the Department of Languages, Arts and Physical Education. The appointment will proceed from the moment of receipt of the aforementioned document, and effective from the date of appointment by the Board of the Department.

1.1.1. Duties of the Director

  • The Director will be in charge of the coordination and representation of the journal, as well as of the relations with the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board and Ediciones Complutense. Additionally, s/he will be in charge of the relations with other institutions for any issue 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 management 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.
  • 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, s/he 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 publishing 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 attend the convened meetings. In the case of members from other provinces or countries, the Board may articulate a procedure so that their participation is effective even if they are not present at the meetings.
  • The Members of the Editorial Board, under the coordination of the Secretary, will collaborate in the preliminary reading of originals in order to decide which are submitted for assessment and which are returned to the authors.
  • The Members will collaborate in the search for external reviewers for the papers and will avoid acting as reviewers themselves.
  • The Members will advise and collaborate with the management of the journal in any duties deemed necessary for the proper operation of the journal, including ensuring compliance with punctuality and periodicity.

1.2. Advisory Board

  • The Advisory Board will consist of professionals and researchers of recognized prestige and reliability, with no institutional ties with the journal. It should serve not only to give the journal rigour, but also to set editorial policy, make the journal attractive to both authors and readers, and disseminate it, to the best of its ability, in all forums. Additionally, it will collaborate in the assessment and auditing processes.
  • At least ten percent of the members of the Advisory Board will include professionals and researchers from foreign institutions. The process for the election of its members will be as follows: the members of the Advisory Board will be appointed by the Editorial Board and ratified by the Board of the Department of Languages, Arts and Physical Education.
  • The Members of the Advisory Board may participate in the assessment of originals as external peers, as long as at least one of the assessments is conducted by a reviewer external to the Advisory Board.

2. Features and operation

2.1. Frequency

The journal will be published once a year. Furthermore, on an extraordinary basis, the journal may propose to Ediciones Complutense the publication of a special issue attending to the considerations established by this authority and the others confirmed in these Statues.

2.2. Structure

The journal will consist of the following sections:

  • Research and studies. This section will include papers about teaching of language and literature, teaching of second/foreign languages and children’s and young people’s literature. The journal will publish papers written in Spanish, English or French.
  • Reviews. This section will include reviews of books published in the last years about teaching and learning of language and literature.

2.3. Special issues

Special issues will follow the next rules:

  • They will be proposed by the Director of the journal, will be elected by the Editorial Board and accepted by Ediciones Complutense. All the proposals will follow the template enabled for this purpose.
  • The editing of the special issue will be the responsibility of the Coordinator(s) appointed, under the supervision of the Director and the Secretary. 
  • Only one special issue may be published per year and its publication may not be consecutive. A period of three years must elapse from the edition of a special issue and the next. The special issue will not serve as the ordinary number and will not take its place.
  • The edition of special issues will follow the same evaluation process and the same standards of quality required for the regular issues of the journal.
  • Special issues will follow the same structure as regular ones: research and studies, and reviews.

2.4. Publication and submission guidelines

The style and submission guidelines can be consulted in the section Submissions of the web page, where the authors will find detailed information about the manuscripts, the publishing process, the evaluation, etc.