Policies | Revista Nacional de Odontología

Originality

All articles or reviews submitted to the peer-review process of the Revista Nacional de Odontología must be unpublished, original, and authored by the submitting authors. Authors are requested to refrain from submitting works that have been partially or fully published through other means—except online publications of working papers—or translations into other languages. If evidence of similar or identical documents already published is detected, the manuscript will be automatically rejected.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

As part of our commitment to academic integrity and transparency in scientific production, all authors are required to complete the Creative Honesty Declaration Form of UCC Scientific Journals. This document must explicitly report the use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools in the preparation of the manuscript, specifying the types of tools used and detailing how they contributed to the development of the article. The percentage of AI-generated content will be verified using Turnitin and must not exceed 30%. Failure to comply with this guideline may result in rejection of the manuscript.

Types of Articles

According to the academic quality requirements for the indexation of Colombian journals (National Bibliographic Index – Publindex), Revista Nacional de Odontología seeks primarily the publication of the following types of articles:

Scientific and Technological Research Article

A document that presents in detail the original results of completed research projects.

Reflection Article Derived from Research

A document presenting results of already completed research published in other academic journals, from the analytical, interpretative, or critical perspective of the author, addressing a specific topic and using original sources.

Review Article

A document resulting from completed research in which the published results of studies on a specific field in science or technology are analyzed, systematized, or integrated to highlight advances and development trends. It is characterized by a thorough literature review with at least 50 references.

Reviews

The Revista Nacional de Odontología will receive submissions of critical reviews of monographs, articles, research books, and scientific dissemination books related to education that may be of interest to the journal’s readers.

Languages

The Revista Nacional de Odontología will publish full articles originally written in Spanish, English, or Portuguese.

Structure of Articles

The basic structure of an article consists of: title, abstract, keywords, the body of the text (which may vary depending on the type of article and the author's intent), and a list of references. The details authors must consider when preparing their manuscript for the Revista Nacional de Odontología are described in greater depth in a template developed for this purpose.

Purpose and Coherence

All articles submitted to the Revista Nacional de Odontología are expected to have an explicit purpose and, in that sense, seek to contribute meaningfully to the journal’s readership. Likewise, regardless of the organizational structure chosen by the author (review or essay), submissions are expected to follow a coherent structure with three essential elements: introduction, articulated development of the topic, and conclusion.

Length

Articles should preferably have a minimum length of six thousand (6000) words and a maximum of eight thousand (8000). Critical reviews should not exceed fifteen hundred (1500) words.

Authors

Authors participating in the journal are expected to submit original texts of their own creation, derived from rigorous research processes, not previously published, properly using sources that support bibliographic background or other protected materials. Texts must also be carefully written and follow the journal’s style requirements for formatting and citation.

Reviewer Profile

Reviewers for the Revista Nacional de Odontología must hold at least a master's degree and have published written work in the area for which they are invited to evaluate.

Confidentiality

Since peer review is carried out through a “double-blind” system to ensure greater independence of the parties (neither authors nor reviewers will have access to each other's identities, academic profiles, or affiliations), such information will only be handled by the journal’s editorial staff and will not be disclosed to third parties. Documentation from each article’s review process will be preserved for indexation or verification purposes.

Peer Review System

All articles submitted to the journal will undergo a double-blind peer review process conducted by experts in each topic. Participation by reviewers is voluntary (ad honorem) and is expected to reflect a pact of academic reciprocity, contributing constructively to strengthening (and validating) the research and contributions of fellow academics within the discipline. For reviews, which are dissemination documents, they may be evaluated by the editor or other members of the editorial team. Publication decisions will be based on thematic and textual coherence, relevance to the field, or the relevance of the discussion proposed.

Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to provide a thorough and constructive reading of each article they accept to review, aiming not only to issue a recommendation of approval or rejection to the editor but also to provide comments that help authors improve their texts or reflect on the scope, possibilities, or shortcomings of their manuscript. Likewise, reviewers must consider that the texts entrusted to them are unpublished, and any misuse or unauthorized use of the information would constitute a serious ethical violation. Additionally, the responsibility of reviewing a manuscript, once accepted, cannot be transferred to third parties, especially without justification and prior consultation with the editor. Finally, any conflict of interest identified after receiving a manuscript and potentially compromising the reviewer’s independence must be reported.

Exclusivity

Articles submitted to peer review in the Revista Nacional de Odontología cannot be under evaluation by other journals and must not be submitted simultaneously to other review processes.

Ethics

The journal and its editorial team will promote, through its policies and actions, ethical research practices, appropriate use of copyrighted content, and the quality of the works it publishes, ensuring that contributors interact under principles of academic integrity.

Reporting of Cases

If there is evidence of ethical issues in the research submitted for publication, doubts about scientific rigor, suspicion of falsification or improper manipulation of data, undisclosed conflicts of interest, identification of duplicate publications, authorship problems, or plagiarism, please contact the editor immediately so the case can be examined and appropriate action taken. Reports of ethical concerns will be handled with absolute confidentiality, protecting the identity of the informant if requested.

Retractions, Corrections, and Conflict Resolution

The journal follows the guidelines and procedures of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for handling misconduct in academic publishing. Retractions or corrections will be issued for published articles whose content contains errors affecting scientific quality or proper author recognition, whether due to unintentional mistakes in research or publishing or serious ethical issues such as plagiarism, falsification, or data manipulation.

Open Access

The journal publishes its contents in open access without any embargo period. Likewise, all published works appear under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, and their use must comply with these licensing conditions.

Digital Preservation of Contents

Ediciones UCC will ensure the digital preservation of all published content so that authors may always retrieve their articles over time and maintain access to the history and evolution of the journal.

Use of Content and Self-Archiving

Authors may self-archive their work in institutional repositories, using the final version (or publisher’s version) in which the article was published, provided that the bibliographic data of the original publication are included, thereby giving credit to the journal. Additionally, when self-archiving, it is recommended that authors include a link to the article via its DOI so it can be accessed from the journal’s official website. Active dissemination of their published work among colleagues, undergraduate and graduate students, and the wider academic community is key for generating greater impact and contributing effectively to the discipline.

Publication Costs

Submission of articles and the editorial process are free of charge at all stages. The journal is fully funded by the Editorial Fund of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia.

Submission

Article proposals must be submitted in Word format, following the journal’s recommended template and exclusively through the OJS platform. Along with the article, each author must submit a fully completed author form as well as a letter of originality and ethical commitment. The original file and its attachments must be uploaded through the OJS system. Reviews must also be submitted only through this platform and in the required template.

ICMJE Citation Style – Vancouver Guidelines

Citation styles allow the organized presentation of the bibliographic support on which a text is based (its background, arguments, methodology, etc.), and they facilitate the location and direct consultation of those sources. In the case of the Revista Nacional de Odontología, the standards designed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, known by the acronym ICMJE or as the Vancouver Guidelines, have been selected and are commonly used in biomedical publications. Below are some aspects that must be considered for the correct use of the Vancouver Guidelines and the particularities incorporated by the journal.

Reference List

The reference list must be organized in numerical order, determined according to the appearance of each reference in the text (the first author or text cited is number [1], the second is [2], and so on). Unlike other styles, since there is no alphabetical organization of references by last name, authors’ names must be recorded beginning with the last name and the initials of their first name: “[2] Grotendieck A.”. Below, we show the scheme for citing a book, a book chapter, and a journal article, with some examples for each case:

Scheme

Book

[#] Lastname AA. Title. # ed. City: Publisher; year
[1] Gardner E, Simmons MJ, Snutad DP. Principles of genetics. 8th edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1995.

Book Chapter

[#] Lastname AA, Lastname BB. Title of the chapter or entry. In: Lastname AA, Lastname BB, editors. Title of the book. City: Publisher; year. p. xx-xx.
[1] Prins R, Clarke RT. Microbial ecology of the rumen. In: Ruckebusch P, Thivend B, editors. Digestive physiology and metabolism in ruminants. 2nd ed. Westport, Connecticut: AVI Publishing Company; 1980. p. 179-204.

Journal Article

[#] Lastname AA, Lastname BB, Lastname CC. Title of the article. Journal Title. Year; volume(number): xx-xx.
[1] Corona M, Díaz G, Páez J, Ferré Z, Ramones E. Extraction and characterization of pectins from passion fruit peel. Rev Odont. 1996; 13(6): 785-91.

Body Text

Although it is not required in the Vancouver Guidelines to mention authors when referencing in the body text, the Revista Nacional de Odontología, to avoid grammatical or writing confusion, prefers that in most cases the last names of the authors from whom ideas are taken be mentioned, followed by the reference number in brackets, which must appear in the final reference list. For example: “Ortiz [1] presents a methodology for analyzing this type of problem.” All references included in the body text must also appear in the final reference list. Likewise, the reference list should not include sources that were not used and cited in the text (i.e., the correspondence between both parts must be exact). References incorporated into the text must be numbered in order of appearance —Ortiz [1], Grothendieck [2], Gómez [3]— and organized in that same order in the final list, not alphabetically. Finally, if the same reference is used several times in the body text but it is necessary to add new information about the section of the text it refers to or some other detail, it should be indicated after the reference number, as follows: “Ortiz [1, p. 84] or Ortiz [1, Fig. 16]”

Finally, if you want or need additional examples for citing other types of texts, please contact the journal editor or consult the following page, which describes the Vancouver Guidelines style:

http://www.icm-je.org/urm_main.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Graphic Aspects and Other Particularities

Links

In some cases, it is recommended to review the information provided by the following links:
Chemistry and biochemistry. https://bit.ly/32RRVTn, https://bit.ly/3685QXt
Enzymatic activity. https://bit.ly/32RV45s
You may also consult summaries of the most commonly used abbreviations in the Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and the Handbook of Biochemistry (Sober ha, Chemical Rubber Company, Cleveland, latest editions).

Nomenclature, Abbreviations, and Symbols

Both medical and scientific terms, as well as nomenclature, abbreviations, and symbols (chemical compounds, biochemical terminology, enzymatic activity, medications, genetics, etc.) must follow the style used in science. In some cases, it is recommended to review the information provided by the links.

Abbreviations

Finally, abbreviations and units must use the measures and abbreviations of the International System (SI). Abbreviations included in the SI or non-standard abbreviations must be explained when they first appear in the text. They should not be used together in abbreviations.

Equations, Graphics, Tables, and Figures

Mathematical expressions must be created using an appropriate formula editor. Special symbols should be defined when they first appear, whether in figures, tables, or in the text. Each table, figure, or graphic must indicate its source (or if it is self-produced), specifying the corresponding reference number. Graphs, figures, and tables must always be provided in an editable format (Excel is suggested). Photographs or images must be sent in a minimum resolution of 350 dpi, .jpg format, and authors must certify that they have the permits to use or reproduce them. Finally, abbreviations and units must use the measures and abbreviations of the International System (SI). Abbreviations included in the SI or non-standard abbreviations must be explained when they first appear in the text. They should not be used together in abbreviations.

Article Peer Review Process

As previously described, Revista Nacional de Odontología will follow a “double-blind” peer review system to evaluate and decide on the publication of its main articles. Below is a more detailed description of the stages in which the review process is carried out:

Selection of Reviewers

If the article is accepted for peer review, the editor will begin the process of assigning reviewers by locating and inviting two researchers who are experts on the article's subject. They will receive the full text of the article and a form to guide their evaluation.

Reception and Editorial Evaluation

Once the editor receives the article submission, a notification will be sent to the author confirming receipt. The editor will then conduct a preliminary review of the article to determine whether the journal’s submission guidelines have been fully met and whether the article fits the journal’s thematic and editorial scope. The editor has full authority to decide whether the article will be accepted for a complete peer review process or rejected in the first instance. The editor may also return the manuscript to the authors requesting corrections or clarifications before the article is officially registered for peer review. In such case, authors must resubmit the article with adjustments (or the required missing documents, such as the author form or the letter of commitment) if they wish to continue with the process.

Review Timeline

The usual time for locating and securing the acceptance of reviewers may range from one (1) to three (3) weeks, depending on the article's topic and the availability of the reviewers. Once the article has been sent to reviewers, the suggested deadlines for delivering an evaluation are three (3) to four (4) weeks; however, deadlines will be agreed upon directly with each reviewer according to their availability, ensuring the process progresses as efficiently as possible.

Results

The editor will send a decision to the authors based on the reviews of at least two reviewers. In the case of conflicting evaluations (one approval and one rejection), a third reviewer will be invited before a final decision is communicated to the authors. The possible results of the review are: “approved without modifications,” “approved with minor modifications,” “approved with substantial modifications,” or “rejected.” The category “approved with substantial modifications” corresponds to “revise and resubmit,” which implies the authors' willingness to make a significant revision of the proposal. Otherwise, the journal will consider the review process concluded and the authors will be free to submit the work to another publication.

Revisions

Along with the decision, if the editor determines that a revised version of the article can be accepted, a deadline for the new version will be agreed upon with the authors, which may range from two (2) to ten (10) weeks in the case of substantial revisions. If authors fail to meet the agreed deadlines, the editor may terminate the article's process and discard its publication in the journal. To facilitate verification of the revised version, authors must modify the article using Word’s track changes tool, and must include a letter addressed to each reviewer explaining the adjustments made. Without this response to reviewers, the editor will not proceed to the verification phase.

Verification and Final Version

Verification will generally be carried out with the assistance of reviewers, but the editor may also directly review the adjustments if the corrections were minor. If only minor adjustments are requested, authors must refrain from introducing major conceptual or methodological changes not reviewed by the evaluators. If revisions are satisfactory, the editor will inform the authors of approval and request the final version of the article in the provided template for editorial production. If any significant error is identified while preparing the final version that requires correction, authors must inform the editor.

Editorial Production

Articles and other types of texts approved for publication in Revista Nacional de Odontología will undergo a professional editorial production process consisting of the following stages: copyediting, layout, proofreading, verification, and approval of final artwork.

Editorial Follow-up

Authors must deliver the manuscript approved for publication using the template provided by the journal, ensuring strict adherence to the instructions. Authors are responsible for addressing observations, questions, or corrections that arise during editing within the agreed-upon timelines to avoid publication delays. Authors must also verify the integrity and readability of the content. Once the final artwork has been approved for publication, any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.

Distribution and Access

Each author will receive two complimentary copies of the issue in which the article is published. The digital version of the article and the full issue will also be available to authors for dissemination among their target audience. Revista Nacional de Odontología follows an open-access policy and will seek as many channels and strategies as possible to ensure its editions are visible to a broad national and international audience. However, authors must understand that part of the dissemination impact depends on their active participation. Authors are expected to share the digital version with researchers in their field, both nationally and internationally, and encourage its use in academic activities among colleagues and students (undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels).

Reproduction and Translations

If you wish to reproduce or translate an article or text published in Revista Nacional de Odontología, please contact the journal’s email (revistaodontologia@ucc.edu.co), addressed to the editor. Published texts do not require special authorization to be consulted, downloaded, or linked from personal, institutional websites, or repositories.

Legal Notice

The perspectives or viewpoints expressed in the articles and texts published by Revista Nacional de Odontología are the authors' responsibility and do not represent the journal, the Editorial, or the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. The fundamental purpose of the journal is to serve the academic community and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in Education. Therefore, the selection process for materials considers academic, editorial, and legal factors evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The journal is not obliged to publish any text and may decline publication at any stage if it determines the content does not align with its editorial scope or policies. Likewise, any claims from third parties regarding the use of copyrighted material in an article are the responsibility of the authors, exempting the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia.