Submissions

Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Articles must be original and submitted through the OJS platform, accessible at https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RCED/login. Once registered as an author, they must follow the steps indicated there. Questions regarding the submission of manuscripts can be sent to rce@edu.ucm.es.

The Revista Complutense de Educación will not publish papers that do not conform to its editorial policy, that lack a sufficiently solid theoretical basis, that use weak methodologies with poor data analysis, that fail to draw conclusions consistent with their stated objectives, or that rely on small and non-generalizable samples (subjects from a single class, school, etc.). It will likewise not publish opinion pieces or summaries of academic works.

The Revista Complutense de Educación values articles written in English; however, all manuscripts must be submitted in Spanish for the evaluation process. If accepted, they may include an English version produced by certified translators, the cost of which must be assumed by the authors. Both versions will be published together.

Regardless of the methodological approach used, submissions must include a solid and updated theoretical framework, as well as a detailed description of the methodology applied.

For empirical studies (quantitative or qualitative), the sample and sampling procedure must be specified, along with the instruments used and their psychometric characteristics. When applicable, statistical significance values should be accompanied by the effect size and its interpretation. Merely descriptive studies using small, biased, or local samples will not be considered.

Theoretical studies must demonstrate systematicity and rigor, following the methodology appropriate to this type of research. Those limited to a literature summary without specific objectives or methodological precision will be rejected.

Systematic review papers must follow the PRISMA (or similar) methodology. The protocol registration must be uploaded as an additional file.

The article must be submitted in Word, with optional additional files. The author must ensure complete anonymization of the manuscript (including document properties; see Anonimizar). There is no submission template.

Authors must complete a brief professional profile in the “Metadata” section, including their academic and professional background and main research lines. This profile must also be attached as an additional file at the time of submission. Authors’ institutional affiliations and ORCID identifiers must be included in the submission metadata. No additional authors may be added after acceptance of the paper.

Articles should range between 6,000 and 7,500 words (including abstract, keywords, notes, and references). Papers not meeting this requirement will be rejected.

A summary between 150 and 300 words must be provided in both Spanish and English (Abstract). The summary should follow the IMRyD structure (with the words INTRODUCTION, METHOD, RESULTS, and DISCUSSION highlighted). This same structure should be used as the main sections of the article. Inclusive language is encouraged.

Four or five keywords should be included, in Spanish and English, using internationally accepted terms in the field of education, drawn from the European Education Thesaurus (http://www.redined.mec.es/tesauro.php) or the ERIC Thesaurus (http://vocabularyserver.com/tee/es/?tema=1288).

Sections and subsections of the text must be numbered, beginning with “1. Introduction.” Notes should be numbered consecutively and placed as footnotes on the corresponding page. References should be included at the end of the text, formatted in accordance with the APA 7th edition style. All citations in the text must appear in this section.

Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively by type and inserted in the appropriate place within the text. All must be referenced in the text. Table text must use 9-point font size, with no vertical lines, and must be in an editable format.

Any acknowledgments should appear at the end of the article, before the references.

If the research received financial support (grants, projects, etc.), this must be indicated on the first page, in a footnote to the title.

Any appendices must appear at the end of the article and must not exceed 10% of the manuscript’s total length in pages. They may include source documents, charts, tables, statistics, graphs, timelines, maps, plans, or other illustrations. Appendices must be titled, numbered with Arabic numerals (12-point font), and referenced in the text.

The Editorial Board will conduct an initial review of the submission, and if it meets the basic requirements, it will proceed to double-blind peer review. Papers not meeting these initial conditions or not complying with the editorial policy will not progress to the review stage.

Interested authors may request a copy of the evaluation criteria.

Reviewers may recommend: a) publication as is (or with minor formal changes); b) publication after specific substantive or presentation-related revisions; or c) rejection due to content and/or writing issues that cannot be resolved in a short timeframe.

If reviewers’ opinions differ, the article will be sent to a third reviewer, whose assessment will be final. Evaluation results are not subject to appeal.

The time between acknowledgment of receipt and evaluation is approximately 60 days. During this period, authors will receive reviewers’ reports, including suggestions if applicable, and will be required to make revisions within 15 days.

Authors of accepted articles will receive a proof prior to publication to correct typographical or grammatical errors. No changes affecting the article’s content will be accepted. Corrected proofs must be returned to the Journal’s Editorial Team within 8 days.

Accepted works are published in order of arrival.