Submissions

Author Guidelines

All research articles must follow the IMRaD format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.

Submission and Authorship Guidelines
1. All manuscripts (research articles, short articles, reviews, etc.) must be submitted
through the journal’s online platform. Submissions sent by email or other means will
not be accepted. All submissions must include a cover letter signed by all authors.

2. Submitted work must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Once
published in the journal, articles may be republished elsewhere after one year, provided that their original publication in this journal is clearly acknowledged,
including page numbers.

3. The first line of the manuscript must include the article title (left-aligned, Times New Roman, 14 pt), followed by the authors’ names. Author affiliations, email addresses,
and ORCID IDs must be included in a footnote.

4. A second, fully anonymised version of the manuscript must also be submitted, with no identifying information in the text or metadata. The file name should begin with “Anonymised” followed by the article title.

5. Information on funding sources or research sponsorship must appear in a separate section before the references.

6. Articles must include an abstract of 230–250 words in both Spanish and English (10
pt, justified, no indentation). Abstracts should follow a structured format: Introduction,
Methods, Results, and Conclusion/Discussion.

7. Each abstract must be followed by five keywords (in Spanish) and five keywords in
English, separated by semicolons. Keywords should consist of single terms (not
phrases or combinations of words), using the most relevant and, where possible, standardised terminology.

8. The text of the articles must be divided into numbered and titled sections and subsections, using bold for all sections, italics bold for subsections, and regular (roman) type for sub-subsections. Example:
1. LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication
and Culture (Sections);
1.1. LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Culture
(Subsections);
1.1.1. LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Culture (Sub-
subsections)

9. At the beginning of each section, two blank lines (empty lines with no text) should be
left after the previous paragraph and one blank line before the new text. In the case
of subsections and sub subsections, there should be one blank line after the previous paragraph and one blank line before the new text, respectively.

10. Paragraph formatting: no indentation in the first paragraph of each section;
subsequent paragraphs should have a 0.5 cm first-line indent.

11. The manuscript text must be single-spaced (1.0), fully justified, and without spacing
between paragraphs. In other words, no blank lines should be left between paragraphs that belong to the same heading, section, or subsection.

12. For the main text and section headings, Times New Roman, 12 pt must be used. For
block quotations, Times New Roman, 11 pt must be used, without italics or quotation
marks, and with a left indent of 1.25 cm.

13. Research articles (6,000–8,000 words) must not exceed 20 A4 pages, including tables, figures, and references, and must in any case not exceed 8,000 words. Short articles should be 2,000–3,000 words. If the word limit is exceeded, the Editorial Board reserves the right to shorten or reject the submission.

14. Critical reviews, analyses of recent works, and book reviews must not exceed 5 A4 pages and must follow the same formatting guidelines as research articles.

15. The main text must not use bold, underline, italics, drop caps, or small caps. To emphasise terms or words, angled quotation marks (« ») should be used. If emphasis
is required within already highlighted text, the following hierarchy should be applied:
«“ ‘ ’ ”», always beginning with angled quotation marks (« »). For English-language
texts, double quotation marks (“ ”) should be used instead of angled quotation marks (« »).

16. Titles of literary works, films, series, journals, newspapers, and any other published
works mentioned in the text must be written in italics. This is the only case in which italics should be used. Names of brands or organisations must not be italicised.

17. The journal is published in Spanish and English. The Editorial Board reserves the
right to decide whether articles are published in their original language or in Spanish
translation.

18. Graphics and tables: To ensure proper reproduction, they must be submitted as
separate files from the manuscript text. However, a copy of each should also be
included in the appropriate place within the article, for reference. Tables must be
cited in the main text and include a title and source in accordance with APA 7
guidelines.

19. Images: Authors must submit .jpg files of all images used, alongside the main
document. Images must be print quality (300 dpi or 120 pixels/cm). The Editorial

Board reserves the right to exclude images that, due to poor quality, do not meet the
journal’s aesthetic standards. Vector files may be submitted in EPS format.

20. References: Bibliographic references must follow APA 7 guidelines and appear at the
end of the article. Only works cited in the text should be included. References should
be formatted in Times New Roman, 12 pt, justified, with a 0.5 cm hanging indent.

21. Links that are not DOIs must be shortened using URL-shortening tools, provided that traceability and access to the original source are guaranteed.

Publication Process

The Complutense Journal of LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Culture is a peer- reviewed academic publication that uses an external expert review system (peer review), in accordance with the latest APA (American Psychological Association) guidelines. It is published biannually in electronic format (e-ISSN 2792-3622 | ISSN-L 2792-3622).

General guidelines
LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Culture acknowledges receipt of submissions via the
online OJS platform and informs authors by email and through the same platform about the
processes of initial screening (acceptance/rejection for review), as well as final acceptance or rejection, and, where applicable, the editorial process. The official website (Guidelines section) provides full publication rules, pre-submission checklist, and manuscript structure requirements in line with Ediciones Complutense’s editorial policy. Within a maximum period of 30 days from submission, authors will receive a notification confirming receipt and indicating whether the manuscript has been accepted for review or rejected at the initial stage. All submissions are checked using plagiarism detection software provided by Ediciones Complutense (currently Turnitin). If a manuscript presents formal deficiencies or falls outside the thematic scope of the journal, the Editorial Board will reject it on formal or thematic grounds, with no possibility of resubmission. No further correspondence will be maintained with authors of rejected submissions. If only minor formal issues are identified, the manuscript will be returned for correction before entering the double-blind peer-review process. The submission date will only be considered valid once the correctly formatted manuscript has been received. Authors are strongly advised to carefully check their submission before uploading it.

Manuscripts are evaluated anonymously by at least two experts in the relevant field. Based on external peer reviews, a decision is made regarding acceptance or rejection, as well as any required revisions in terms of length, structure, or style, while preserving the original content.

The journal’s double-blind peer-review protocol is publicly available. To address potential
discrepancies between reviewers, LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Culture employs a minimum of two reviewers, with the possibility of extending to up to five if necessary.

The maximum timeframe for the scientific evaluation process, once the manuscript has passed the initial editorial screening, is 100 days. The average review time is 50 days, and the average time to final acceptance is also 50 days. For submissions to Special Issues (with ‘calls for papers’), the review process begins after the call has closed.

Manuscripts that are positively evaluated but require revisions (minor or major) will be returned to authors within a maximum of 15 days via the online platform.
Authors of accepted manuscripts will receive proofs for final proofreading in PDF format prior to publication. Corrected proofs must be returned within one week. Only minimal corrections to the already evaluated manuscript will be permitted.

In general, after considering external peer reviews, the Editorial Board’s decisions on
acceptance or rejection are based on the following criteria:
a) Timeliness and novelty.
b) Relevance and significance: advancement of scientific knowledge.
c) Originality.
d) Reliability and scientific validity: demonstrated methodological quality.
e) Organisation (logical coherence and formal presentation).
f) External support and public/private funding.
g) Co-authorship and degree of internationalisation of the proposal and research team.
h) Presentation: quality of writing.
i) Use of non-sexist and inclusive language.
Inclusive Language Policy
The journal promotes inclusive, non-sexist language that reflects the diversity of gender
identities.

Copyright Notice
The journal LGBTIQ+ Studies, Communication and Gender, in order to promote the global
exchange of knowledge, provides unrestricted access to its content from the moment of
publication in this electronic edition and is therefore an open-access journal. The original works published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid, and their source must be properly cited in any full or partial reproduction. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence. This must be explicitly stated whenever applicable. The informational version and the legal text of the licence can be consulted.

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