Section Policies

- Research Articles:

This section includes works based on original research, evaluated through a double-blind peer-review process, that address the social and educational role of libraries from a critical perspective.

☑ Open submission ☑ Peer review - Double-blind system

Important note: Please take into account the guidelines provided below regarding the difference between research articles and professional practice reports.

- Review Articles:

Comprehensive review of the state of the art of a recent and current research topic related to the journal's scope.

☑ Open submission ☑ Peer review - Double-blind system

Important note: Review articles are very similar to research articles. Please take into account the guidelines provided below regarding the difference between research articles and professional practice reports.

- Special Issue:

This section includes research articles devoted to a topic of particular relevance.

☑ Open submission ☑ Peer review - Double-blind system

- Professional Practice Reports:

Works prepared by professionals that do not conform to the traditional structure of a scientific article.

☑ Open submission ☐ Peer review - Double-blind system

Important note: Please take into account the guidelines provided below regarding the difference between research articles and professional practice reports.

- Debate:

Debates, reports and interviews with recognized professionals.

☑ Open submission ☐ Peer review - Double-blind system

- Reviews:

Evaluations and short reviews of recent publications (books, reports, etc.) related to the subject matter covered by the journal.

Critical readings are encouraged that go beyond merely summarizing or excerpting other texts, instead contextualizing and constructively questioning them. Reviews should contain brief information about the author(s) and their perspective, a description and analysis of the content, as well as conclusions indicating its value and importance for readers.

☑ Open submission ☐ Peer review - Double-blind system

Difference between research articles (and review articles) and professional practice reports.

- Research Articles

Research works represent an advancement in scientific knowledge within the journal's field. In the case of RIBES, this field is Library and Information Science, covering topics related to libraries as well as other disciplines such as education and society. As such, a research work requires familiarity with the state of the art of the topic under study and must include a relevant, current, accurate and comprehensive literature review. Research articles differ from professional practice reports because they do not merely describe an activity or similar undertaking; rather, they contribute to advancing knowledge by applying existing methodologies in original ways to new areas and contexts, proposing new methodologies, or providing original and valuable results for the field or fields of knowledge concerned.

Although the structure may vary and depends largely on the specific research topic, the following may serve as an example (the sections are presented without numbering for the reasons explained above):

  • Introduction: the topic or topics addressed are presented in a general manner, citing relevant general works.
  • Literature review: this is often connected to or included within the introduction. At this stage, the review moves beyond a general overview and discusses previous research relevant to the topic. One useful approach is to organize the review chronologically, from older to more recent studies, while also taking into account the geographical context of the research by including both international and local perspectives.
  • Objectives and structure of the work: some authors also include hypotheses.
  • Materials and methodology: these depend on the nature of the work. If data from a particular source are used, the source should be acknowledged here, along with an explanation of how the work was conducted and which methods were employed.
  • Results (and discussion): presentation of the findings. Tables and figures are highly useful, provided that information already contained in them is not unnecessarily repeated in the text.
  • Discussion: in many cases, discussion is integrated with the presentation of results. This is the stage at which the findings are related to previous studies discussed in the literature review.
  • Final considerations or conclusions (or discussion and conclusions): sometimes the discussion is incorporated into the conclusions. Conclusions should not simply repeat the discussion. Instead, they may highlight the most valuable contributions of the research. It is also advisable to include limitations, value and originality, as well as future perspectives.
  • Bibliography/References.

- Professional Practice Reports

Professional practice reports describe experiences or activities carried out in libraries. Their primary purpose is to explain what was done and how it was done. It is also useful to discuss the motivation behind the initiative, why it was undertaken, and the effects it had on participants and on the library itself. Finally, given that RIBES is a scientific journal, it would be valuable to include a section providing a theoretical or scientific foundation for the experience, referring to relevant scientific literature or similar activities carried out by other libraries.

It is important to distinguish between contributions submitted to this section and scientific articles published in the research section. Although the two may sometimes overlap or be closely related, a professional practice report is primarily a description of an activity or event. By contrast, research contributes to the advancement of knowledge within the discipline of Library and Information Science and, in the specific case of RIBES, within the fields of libraries, education and society.

An example structure for a professional practice report in RIBES may be the following (this is only an example and can be adapted as needed, but it may serve as a guide):

  • Introduction: What was the name of the activity or experience? In which library was it proposed? What are the characteristics of the library and its context? What are the sections into which the rest of the document is organized?
  • Origins of the experience: Why was it proposed? What were its objectives? Have similar experiences been carried out previously by other libraries? Is there any related scientific evidence or literature?
  • The activity or experience itself: How was it prepared? How was it organized? What did it consist of? How did it unfold? Are there photographs of the activity/experience?
  • Final considerations: What was achieved thanks to the experience? Were there any problems during its implementation? What difficulties were encountered? What are the most noteworthy aspects? What has been its impact? What has been its reach? Originality and future perspectives.
  • Bibliography/References.