Submissions

Author Guidelines

The Revista Latina de Comunicación Social considers that the formal data set out below is mandatory for any type of contribution sent to the journal. Its non-observance leads to the rejection of the manuscript.

1. Submission

No author may publish twice in the same year, even if they are a co-author.

Revista Latina publishes both (1) academic research article and (2) reviews on Social Communication, written in Spanish or English, and, finally, (3) book reviews. They must be of outstanding interest and achieve high marks in all aspects of the review process. These articles, besides being outstanding, a) must be novel; b) suppose significant contributions to knowledge about Social Communication, and c) involve the study of a topic of social and academic relevance. Priority will be given to the article of greatest interest to the entire Academy, which fosters the critical spirit of the readers.

Authors may submit their manuscripts without a predetermined date, the Editorial Board will assign them to the most pertinent issue. The monographs are closed six months before the issue of the magazine.

Articles and the mandatory letter of originality and transfer of rights will only be sent through the OJS management platform of the journal www.revistalatinacs.org. No author may send or have two manuscripts under review simultaneously, so they must have a definitive answer to a proposal before sending the next one. For technical problems, contact editor@revistalatinacs.org

• Articles will be sent in Word for PC format.
• The letter of originality and transfer of rights can be sent in .PDF format.

1. Presentation

Regarding the data, content, structure, and style of the originals; the authors will observe the following rules to achieve greater efficiency in the editorial management of the papers:

1. Letter of originality

The author(s) will send the said letter in a file titled, separated by underscores and without accent marks: originalidad_first surname of the person responsible for the submission.

(Example: originalidad_garcia).

The mandatory letter of originality and transfer of rights must be sent through the journal's OJS management platform (ATTENTION: in the "Submissions" tab, click on "Upload file" and select the "Other" option in "Article component").

1. Article
2. Name of the file on the platform. The file with the article will be uploaded to the platform, which will be titled, separated by underscores and without accent marks: article_first surname of the first author_first surname of the second author_first surname of the third author -if there are more authors it is not necessary to cite them in the title-. (Example: article_garcia_dominguez_perez).
3. Number of authors. It is recommended, not mandatory, that articles have a minimum of three authors (support for teamwork). It is intended that the journal reaches the international standard of an average of three authors per article/year. In the article, the author responsible for the correspondence will be indicated with a footnote after the name and surname, the platform marking them as the main contact when sending the submission. This author will serve as a representative on behalf of all co-authors when establishing contact during the process of submission, review, and final editing of the manuscript with the editors of the journal.
4. Maximum extension. It is recommended -although it is not mandatory- that the length of the articles does not exceed 10,000 words, including everything. Texts outside the article can be included as annexes that do not count in the recommended extension:

• Research Articles. Original and unpublished, the result of scientific research whose expression in articles has the utility of being validated and disseminated to the scientific community. In case studies, it will be indicated in this way ("Case study") in the second part of the title, without going into details of the analyzed case in the title. This template for articles will be followed.
• Review Articles. It constitutes a publication format in which an updated, critical, and evaluative analysis is carried out, based on the study of the existing scientific literature, about a specific research problem: in no case is it exclusively a meta-analysis or an uncritical compilation of published research, but must provide a novel literature review of the subject treated with exhaustive use of the existing bibliography. This template for articles will be followed.
• Book reviews (maximum 500 words) will be published, according to the review template. Reviews must have a different title than the reviewed book, provide bibliographic data (publisher, ISBN, number of pages, foreword, DOI...), and be accompanied by a scanned cover (in .gif or .jpg).

4. Format. The article must comply with the guidelines indicated in the template. Font, margins, and spacing: Line spacing 1 (single) will be used, with no before or after space (all spaces are eliminated in the PARAGRAPH setting, selection before and after to 0 and single spacing); a blank line will be included between paragraphs, with the font Times 12 and justified. Underlining will not be used, but bold and italics will be.
5. Title. In Spanish and English. The title should be informative and concise, should not include acronyms, and should not exceed 30 words including articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. It will be in lowercase, phrase type, bold, Times 28, single line spacing, and centered.

5.1 Sub-title. In Spanish and English. Enter the title of the monograph.

6. Authors' details. They will be lowercase, Times 12, bold, single line spacing, and adjusted to the left. All full names will be written, never acronyms, and both surnames for each of the signers.

6.1 The affiliation: It is written after the names of the authors; it will not be written in bold. The name of the Organization/Institution/Higher Entity to which each of the authors belongs must be written (the name of the institution must be written in its original language). The name of the country to which the institution belongs will be written next. The email of each author will be written below the line of the author's details and affiliation. It is required to indicate the institutional email, avoiding generic ones (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo...). Under the email address, the [CV] section will be left (the editor will link it later in the layout) and the different URLs of the academic identifiers of each author will be linked (ORCID, Google Scholar, Academia.edu, ResearchGate...) with the corresponding icon.

7. Reference to research or funding. It will go after the authors' details and be separated from them by a blank space. In Times 11, italics, single line spacing, and justified.
8. How to cite the article. Space for standardized reference in APA Style 7^th Edition. In Times 12, aligned to the right, and 2 cm indentation.

• Surnames, A., Surnames, B., and Surnames, C. (Year of publication). Title of the article: Subtitle. Publication Title, volume number (edition number), pp-pp. http://doi.org/...

Example:

• Jauregui Caballero, A. and Ortega Ponce, C. (2020). Narrativas transmediáticas en la apropiación social del conocimiento. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (77), 357-372. https://www.doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2020-1462

9. Abstract. It will be in lowercase, Times 12, single line spacing, and justified. In professional Spanish and English. It will be between 200 and 250 words long, and will not contain quotations. The Spanish and English abstracts will follow this presentation model:

[ES] Introducción. Se analiza (...). Metodologí­a. Se procede a (...). Resultados. Las principales consecuencias (...). Discusión. Visto lo anterior (...) Conclusiones. Al final encontramos (...).

[EN] Introduction. The response (...). Methodology. Interviews were (...). Results. The main consequences (...). Conclusions. Ultimately, we find (...).

10. Keywords. In Spanish and English below the abstracts as appropriate. 7 keywords must be written. They will be lowercase, Times 12, single line spacing, and justified, separated by semicolons. To favor a standardized description of the articles in our publication, please use, as far as possible, terms taken from the SKOS Thesaurus (UNESCO Thesaurus). (Example: descriptor 1; descriptor 2; descriptor 3; descriptor 4 ...)
11. The epigraphs and sub-epigraphs: the epigraphs and sub-epigraphs will be listed using Arabic numerals and will follow a staggered block order, which will respond to the hierarchical relationship in which the author shows the relationship of the manuscript's contents, with a maximum of 3 levels. The main epigraph (1^st level) and sub-epigraphs in Times 12, lowercase, and bold, justified, and single spacing. None will have a period. Before and after them there will be a blank line. Example:

1.1 1^st level epigraph

     1.1. 2^nd level sub-epigraph

             1.1.1. 3^rd level sub-epigraph

12. Structure. The Revista Latina de Comunicación Social maintains mandatory structures for the two accepted types of articles, as explained below. Acknowledgments to the people or institutions that have sponsored the article are allowed to be quoted, optionally (See the template for articles to know their location).

• If the proposed contribution is a Research Article, the epigraphs are:
  1. INTRODUCTION: it will present the purpose of the research and will define the research problem, its importance, and the current situation of the subject to be studied. It will present the contributions of other relevant research and will emphasize those on which we rely to define the research objectives and hypothesis, presented in a reasoned manner. If there are acronyms in the text, they must be in normal capital letters, and in their first citation they will be followed by a parenthesis with their development). Sub-epigraphs are allowed. (Example: Studies carried out by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) indicate that the third world is improving.
  2. OBJECTIVES: in this section, the authors must identify as clearly and concisely as possible the objectives of the research presented in the article. Sub-epigraphs are allowed.
  3. METHODOLOGY: in this section, the methods/techniques/procedures/approaches/models that were considered to obtain the results of the research should be exposed. The choice and design of the used methodological tool will be explained. In the case of the use of statistical tools, their suitability and functionality will be explained. The population and selected sample, and the system chosen to have the units of analysis, will be indicated. There will be a reference to the instrument chosen to capture the sample, its scientific rigor and validity will be ensured, and why it was chosen will be reasoned. If it is an original system, its characteristics will be explained. Sub-epigraphs are allowed. 
  4. DISCUSSION/RESULTS: the obtained results will be presented, analyzed, and how the hypotheses have been contrasted compared to the objectives of the research will be discussed. The relationships, consequences, and generalities that the obtained results indicate will be reflected. The results will be compared with similar research existing in the scientific community, without prejudice to what was stated in the introduction, and the methodologically improvable aspects of the presented research will be reflected. Sub-epigraphs are allowed.
  5. CONCLUSIONS: concise and decisive. The conclusions must be directly related to the objectives of the paper and the obtained results; they must suppose a set of deductions derived from the analysis of the research. The drafting of conclusions that do not have a direct relationship with the approach of the text, as well as with the presented results, will be avoided. Sub-epigraphs are allowed.
  6. RECOMMENDATIONS: (OPTIONAL) will be cited based on their direct relationship with the research results, especially if there were limitations that prevented delving into specific aspects of the presented research.
  7. REFERENCES: The style of the (North) American Psychological Association (APA Style 7^th Edition) available in: Summary of the APA Style 7^th edition will be used for the organization and writing of the bibliography. All references will be included, in alphabetical order, whatever their type (book, article, thesis...) without distinction. Times 12, French indentation 0.5 cm, and justified. There must be 1 blank space between bibliographic references, single spacing. When an author repeats, their name will be rewritten, avoiding hyphens.
     1 Recommendations: The bibliographic references will be at least 20. Ideally, 70% of the references should be from the last 5 years, except for those topics that by their nature are historical or are under review. At least 50% will be references to articles from university scientific journals indexed in high impact repositories (especially JCR, SCOPUS...), except if it is a topic so new that it does not yet present enough scientific hemerography. Up to a maximum of 3 self- quotations to works by the authors themselves are accepted. Only bibliographic references that have been cited in the text will be included. Since the world reference indexes are Saxon (JCR, SCOPUS...), a large part of the bibliography has to be in English. Entries referring to encyclopedias or dictionaries will be avoided. It is necessary to underline that the use of the references will be evaluated by the reviewers based on:
     a) the correct quotation of the reference, according to the bibliographic style of the APA Style 7^th edition,
               b) the use of current and adequate bibliography for the research topic,
               c) the use of international information sources.
  8. CURRICULUM VITAE: at the end of the bibliography, a synthesis of the professional curriculum of each author must be presented, which must not exceed 120 words per author. You must necessarily include the identifying links of at least these platforms: ORCID and Google Scholar and we advise you to optionally submit those of: ResearchGate, Academia.Edu, ResearchID, Scopus ID, Dialnet, and Redalyc.
  9. APPENDICES/ANNEXES: (OPTIONAL) Documents whose volume makes it impossible to include them within the text, but which are important for its understanding, will be included. Therefore, they will go after the text and separated, under this epigraph and numbered in Arabic if there is more than one.

In case study cases, it will be indicated in this way ("Case study") in the second part of the title, without going into details of the analyzed case in the headline.

In the case of Review Articles, certain flexibility will be maintained in the epigraphs, being mandatory only: INTRODUCTION - OBJECTIVES - CONCLUSIONS – REFERENCES, and CURRICULUM VITAE, all others being at the author's discretion. Articles about literature reviews or essays will only be published if they provide scientific news or new reading approaches. Furthermore, they must have numerous and sufficient citations to previous works.

13. Diagrams, drawings, charts, tables, equations, etc. (NEVER IN PDF). They will be consecutively numbered according to the type (figure, graph, table...), they will be inserted in the ideal place within the body of the article’s text and centered. Overlapping or redundancy of information between figures, charts, tables, and text should be avoided.

• Figures: the following specifications regarding the definition of the images must be taken into account: .JPG in color (advisable) or grayscale of the photographs (halftones). The files in .JPG (in color -advisable- or grayscale), must have a minimum of 300 dpi. The title of the figures must be clear and precise, and like the source or origin, it must be mentioned below and centered, in Times 12.
• Charts: The use of charts is suggested to reflect tendencies or relativized data. They should be presented in the simplest format that allows the correct interpretation of the underlying data, avoiding as far as possible the use of three-dimensional charts, highlights, and other elements that do not add a specific value to the interpretation of the charts. The chart must be editable. It should not be in image format, never in PDF. To incorporate an editable chart made with Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx), after copying it, click on the paste special option and select: paste special, "Microsoft Excel Chart Object". The title of the chart must be clear and precise, and like the source or origin, it must be mentioned below and centered, in Times 12.
• Tables: The title of the tables must be clear and descriptive, and will be placed as a heading, centered, in Times 12. The font in the tables will be Times 10, normal. Edges in black and ½ point. Below the table, the source will be cited, centered, in Times 12.

Authors must compulsorily attach these elements in editable formats (Excel, etc.) as additional files, named as FIGURE 1, FIGURE 2... GRAPH 1, GRAPH 2... TABLE 1, TABLE 2..., to facilitate the translation and final layout of their articles.

14. Numbering within the text (NO BULLETS ALLOWED). The lists numbered within the text (not that of the epigraphs) are always in Arabic numbers. It is not preceded by blank space but it is followed by blank space: 
15. First item (Times 12, number position left at 0.63 with French indentation, justified, single line spacing).
16. Second item (Times 12, number position left at 0.63 with French indentation, justified, single line spacing).
17.         ...
18. Footnotes. They will be consecutively numbered and their text will be collected at the bottom of the page, restricting them to the minimum necessary. Bibliographic references are NOT accepted as footnotes. 
19. How to quote in the text:

Paraphrasing quote. In the paraphrasing quote, the ideas of an author are used, but in the writer's own words.

The author's surname and year of publication must be included in the text. It is recommended (but not mandatory as in direct quotation) that the page number (or paragraph for non-paginated materials) be provided, to help an interested reader deepen their reading, or locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text. When the quote refers to more than one author, consult the appropriate form of quotation at https://normas-apa.org/citas/cita-de-parafraseo/

Direct or verbatim quote in normal text of fewer than 40 words. The quoted text is enclosed in quotation marks. If the work has one or two authors, both surnames are cited all the time (Author and Author, Year). When it has more than two authors, only write the surname of the first author, followed by the phrase et al., without italics. If the quotation appears at the end of a sentence, close the quoted passage with quotation marks, quote the source in parentheses immediately after the quotation marks, and end with a period or other punctuation mark outside the final parenthesis.

Direct or verbatim quote in normal text of more than 40 words. If the quote has more than 40 words, the text is written in block, without quotation marks, on a separate line, with a left indent of 1.27 cm, without italics, and with double spacing, without indentation of the first line of the first paragraph of the quote. If there are additional paragraphs within the quote, indent the first line of each paragraph 1.27 cm. If the paragraph is started with the information about the author and year, only the page or paragraph number needs to be added at the end. 

17. Change in authorship. Requests must be sent to the editor of the journal exclusively by the main author, who must also state:

• The reasons why the name of the author should be deleted or added, and the name of the authors in the final order that they should present in the manuscript, with all their data.
• Written confirmation from the rest of the authors of the manuscript stating their agreement with the modification of authorship. Requests not made by the corresponding author will be sent to the corresponding author and the process described above will be followed.

Until the authorship change process is complete, the manuscript will not be definitively published, which may constitute a delay in the final publication process.