Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Submission Guidelines: The text complies with the bibliographic and style requirements outlined in the “Author Guidelines,” including those regarding length, font and paragraph format, sections, abstract and its length, tables, graphs, figures (and other elements), in-text notes, inclusive or non-exclusive language, and more.
  • Citations and References: The Manuscript adheres to the RIBES style provided in .csl format, compatible with commonly used reference management tools like Zotero and Mendeley. The csl file for import is included in this zip file. Additionally, explanations about citations and references can be found on this RIBES page. Important: URLs for DOIs, handles, and other web resources are included to facilitate access.
  • Manuscript Submission and Format: The manuscript document is submitted in one of the following formats: .odt, .doc, .docx, or .rtf. (Please consult the RIBES journal for other acceptable formats.)
  • Submission Anonymization: The manuscript is anonymized in both the file metadata and the manuscript text itself, omitting author names in citations and references, as well as references to research projects, grants, or contracts that could identify the authors.
  • Figures, Illustrations, and Graphs: All figures, illustrations, and graphs are included in their appropriate place within the text, not at the end. They are uploaded to the OJS platform along with the other documents.
  • Supplementary Materials and Data: If the work is based on data, any supplementary material mentioned in the text or used in the research is included as an attachment. After the review process, we recommend publishing these data in a repository such as Zenodo, Figshare, OSF, or an institutional repository, and adding the corresponding link to the text during the post-review style editing phase.
  • Author's data information: The document (downloadable in .docx format or .odt format) is submitted with as many fields as possible completed.
  • Declaration of Originality and Authorship: Submitting a document to this journal implies acceptance of the “Declaration of Originality and Authorship” (downloadable in .docx format or .odt format). This document includes a completed authorship contribution section for each author based on the CRediT taxonomy.
  • In Summary: The anonymized manuscript file is uploaded along with the declaration of originality and authorship, the author data form, any figures, illustrations, or graphs (if applicable), and any supplementary research materials and data (if applicable).

Author Guidelines

RIBES aims to facilitate the submission of manuscripts. Therefore, we propose a text format that could consider not closed for the submission of manuscripts. This decision is based in our experience as authors and the model of some journals such as CMI, the Revista de Ciencia Política, or publishers such as Taylor & Francis. The idea is to analyze the content rather than the form for the revisions. RIBES believe this will avoid authors waste time in formatting a manuscript even not knowing the result of the revision.

The text of the manuscript will be sent as in 2 files or formats: the first in word processor format; and the second in pdf, which will be used for the revisions. In addition, complementary materials will be added if required for the revision. As well a different document with the identification data of the author it is needed. Once the review has been completed and only in the case of a definitive acceptance of the manuscript, the papers will be formatted according to a specific style of the journal.

Although the format is non-closed, some terms must be considered. The terms are as follows:

- MAKING SUBMISSIONS:

To make an online submission, authors must Register a new account or/and Sign-in with an existing account.

- LANGUAJE:

Submitted papers may be written in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, etc.

- LENGTH OF THE TEXT:

Due to facilitate the readability and dissemination of the papers, we recommend the length to be around 7,000 words.

- FILE(S) FORMAT FOR THE SUBMISSION:

Excluding supplementary materials, at least 3 files should be submitted for each manuscript: the manuscript in word processor format, the manuscript in pdf format, and another document in word processor format with the authors' affiliation. In the first two cases, authors should remove the metadata that could facilitate their identification. In word processors, the removal of metadata can be achieved in the document properties section. for pdfs, web tools such as AvePDF o PDFYeah can be used:

  • Manuscript in word processor format file: Manuscript in word processor file format: the file format can be .odt and also .doc, .docx or .rtf. In this file, the data/metadata identifying authors must be removed for the peer review process. That includes not only the author names, but, for example, references of funding project.
  • Manuscript in pdf file format: this file will be used for the reviews. In this file, the data/metadata identifying authors must be removed for the peer review process. That includes not only the author names, but, for example, references of funding projects, etc.
  • File in word processor format with the authors' data including: names and surnames, information about the corresponding author, ORCIDs and the affiliation data. This file can be in .odt and also .doc, .docx or .rtf format.

- IN TEXT CITATIONS AND REFERENCES STYLE:

Citations and references must follow the style developed by the journal. RIBES has created its own style based on APA 7th edition style and some models from other journals. This style is explained in the guidelines for authors and is published in .csl format to be added to reference managers such as Zotero or Mendeley, etc. To install the style in your reference manager, just open the zip file and import the .csl file to the reference manager. RIBES recommends the installation of this style. We believe this will make easy the the task of formatting citations and references in manuscripts. However, it is important to consider that sometimes the metadata of the cited and referenced documents are not completely well added to the references manager software. We recommend reviewing the citations and references even when using this style created by/for RIBES. We have also some examples with comments on citations and references for different types of documents in a specific section that can be consulted from here.

- FONT TYPE AND PARAGRAPH STYLE:

The font type is not defined but it should be easy to read/perceived and in accordance with the academic and scientific context of the journal (avoiding, for example, Comic Sans font type). We recommend the font size be no larger than 12 (usually the default size). The font type could be, for example: Liberation Serif and Liberation Sans (commonly used in LibreOffice), or Times New Roman and Arial (commonly in Microsoft Office). If you use other word processors, it is possible to choose equivalent font types. No bold, colored or underlined words or phrases should be added in the text. Acronyms or abbreviations may be added, always explained at their first appearance.

- SECTIONS OF THE MANUSCRIPT:

Manuscripts must include at the beginning the title, abstract, keywords and funding (if applicable); and the same in English: title, abstract, keywords and funding. In addition, sections should be clear in the manuscript. It should be clear where a section begins, and whether a particular item is within another and is actually a subsection or subitem. Bold type may be used to highlight sections and subsections and they may also be numbered. The font size of section headings may also be 12.

- SUMMARY (ABSTRACT) AND LENGTH:

We recommend to include information about the topic of the manuscript, The objectives, method, main results (highlights), implications and conclusions. The length should be around 200 words.

- TABLES, GRAPHS, FIGURES AND OTHER ELEMENTS:

Tables, charts, figures, etc., should be placed as close as possible to the paragraph where they are mentioned. A title should be added, so that they are identifiable when mentioned in the text. The title may precede the table, graphic, etc. After revision, and in case of acceptance of the manuscript, graphs, figures, etc., will be requested, if necessary with a specific resolution so that they are legible in the final version of the paper.

- NOTES IN THE TEXT:

Notes should be added in the text with a number and not using the superscript. The number will be inserted inside square brackets where the notes go, and immediately after the paragraph where they appear, the square bracket should be added with both the number and the content of the note. For example [1], and immediately after the paragraph where the note appears:

[1] content of the note (new line).

- COMPLEMENTARY MATERIALS AND SOFTWARE USED:

In RIBES we are committed to publish the data sets used in research that as the base for the conclusions. In this sense, data should be provided at the time of the review so that reviewers can verify and guarantee that the study is replicable and the conclusions reached are valid. It is advisable to provide as many details as possible: .csv files with data, or spreadsheets in .ods, .xls, .xlsx, or .txt files with commands, syntax or commands launched in R-type software (Rstudio, etc.), or files in software formats such as SPSS or whatever is used. It is recommended to inform about the software used in the article if any specific software has been used in statistical studies or similar (e.g. Rstudio, SPSS, etc.).

(Next sections available soon in English)

- INCLUSIVE OR NON-EXCLUSIVE LANGUAGE:

We think this point only applies to content written in Spanish. we advocate for inclusive or non-exclusive language. Authors are encouraged to consider various formulations. In instances where a review identifies challenges in the readability of the work, RIBES will communicate this to authors to collaboratively find a solution. The objective is to ensure that the message is clear and reaches everyone without exclusion.

- USE OF SOFTWARE FOR DETECTING TEXT SIMILARITY WITH PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORKS:

Commonly known as "plagiarism detection software," this type of software identifies text from a manuscript that matches content from existing publications. Proper citation prevents such matches from being considered plagiarism. In RIBES, we employ text similarity detection software to uphold ethical standards. If we receive a manuscript with a high degree of text similarity to others, we first assess the originality of the text and the extent of overlap (e.g., a text with over 50% similarity indicates that more than half of the work is present in previous publications). Our evaluation goes beyond the resulting similarity percentage, focusing on a thorough analysis of the text itself rather than just the percentage. In cases of uncited text or a high degree of similarity to previous works, we thoroughly examine the situation and make a decision, notifying the authors. This analysis of text similarity or coincidence occurs even before formal reviews.

- RECOMMENDATION FOR SELF-REVIEW OF TEXT FORM AND PEER REVIEW BEFORE MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION:

In RIBES, we recommend conducting a self-review of your manuscript before submitting it for formal review. We find it beneficial to read the manuscript on different devices (such as a tablet, computer, printed paper, or using text-to-voice tools) as this often helps identify spelling and grammatical errors that may have been overlooked. Additionally, having colleagues from the field or the co-authors review the manuscript is always advisable for the same reasons.

- RESULTS OF THE REVIEW:

  • After receiving a manuscript, the editorial board (or editorial team) will assess within a maximum of 15 days whether the manuscript aligns with the journal's theme. If not, this will be communicated to the authors
  • If the manuscript is deemed of interest and complies with the author guidelines and the submission checklist, it will undergo a double-blind peer review process by external reviewers. This evaluation will not exceed 90 days
  • Following the reviews, the editorial board (or editorial team) will communicate whether the manuscript has been accepted, accepted with modifications, requires resubmission for further review, or is rejected. This communication will occur within 90 days of the review, allowing an additional 15 days
  • If a manuscript is accepted with modifications, authors must submit the revised manuscript within 15 days of the communication
  • Once the manuscript is definitively accepted, any proof corrections requested from authors must be completed within 5 days
  • Proof corrections: Authors of accepted papers will receive the proof for correction before publication, focusing on rectifying typos or grammatical errors without allowing changes affecting the article's content. As mentioned earlier, author corrections must be made within a maximum of 5 days.

- CITES AND REFERENCES:

Important: in the next link you can find some examples and extended information about the format of cites and references (in Spanish but understandable): serie de casos de de citas y referencias comentados

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