Policies | Pensando Psicología

Originality

All articles or reviews submitted to the peer review process of the journal Pensando Psicología must be original, unpublished, and authored by the submitter. Authors are asked to refrain from sending works that have already been partially or fully published by other means — except for online working papers — or in translations into other languages. If evidence of similar or identical previously published documents is found, the work will be automatically rejected.

Use of generative artificial intelligence

As part of the commitment to academic integrity and transparency in scientific production, all authors must obligatorily 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 type 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%. Non-compliance with this guideline may be grounds for manuscript rejection.

Article types

According to the academic quality requirements for indexing Colombian journals (National Bibliographic Index – Publindex), Pensando Psicología mainly seeks the publication of the following types of articles:

Scientific and technological research article

Document that presents, in detail, the original results of completed research projects.

Reflection article derived from research

Document that presents results of already completed and published research in other academic journals, analyzed from the analytical, interpretive, or critical perspective of the author of the reflection article on a specific topic, using original sources.

Review article

Document resulting from completed research in which the results of published research in a scientific or technological field are analyzed, systematized, or integrated, aiming to account for advances and development trends. It is characterized by presenting a thorough bibliographic review of at least 50 references.

Reviews

Pensando Psicología will accept submissions of critical reviews of monographs, articles, research books, and scientific dissemination in education that may be of interest to the journal's readers. The journal will provide a space for articles or essays selected from contests or national academic events in which the journal participates.

Languages

The journal Rastros Rostros will publish full articles originally written in Spanish, English, or Portuguese.

Article structure

The basic structure of an article includes: title, abstract, keywords, body text (which may vary according to the type of article and the author's intent), and reference list. The details that authors should consider when preparing their article for Rastros Rostros are described in more detail in a template developed for this purpose.

Purpose and coherence

All articles submitted to Rastros Rostros are expected to have a clear purpose and seek to contribute to topics of interest to the journal's readership. Similarly, regardless of the structure chosen by the author to organize the contents of their article (review or essay), texts are expected to follow a coherent scheme, including three essential elements: introduction, well-developed discussion, and conclusion.

Length

The journal Pensando Psicología will publish full articles originally written in Spanish, English, or Portuguese.

Article structure

The basic structure of an article includes: title, abstract, keywords, body text (which may vary according to the type of article and the author's intent), and reference list. The details that authors should consider when preparing their article for Pensando Psicología are described in more detail in a template developed for this purpose.

Purpose and coherence

All articles submitted to Pensando Psicología are expected to have a clear purpose and aim to contribute to topics of interest to the journal's readership. Similarly, regardless of the structure chosen (review or essay), texts are expected to follow a coherent scheme, including three essential elements: introduction, well-developed discussion, and conclusion.

Length

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

Thesauri

The journal recommends using the following thesauri for incorporating keywords into the manuscript: UNESCO Thesaurus and Virtual Health Library.

Authors

Authors participating in the journal are expected to submit original texts of their own creation, derived from rigorous research processes, not previously published, using sources appropriately, and respecting any other material protected by copyright. Texts should also be carefully written, taking into account formatting and citation requirements corresponding to the journal's style.

Reviewer profile

Peer reviewers for Pensando Psicología must have at least a master's degree and published writing in the area for which they are invited to review.

Confidentiality

As peer review will be conducted using a “double-blind” system to ensure maximum independence between parties (neither authors nor reviewers will have each other's identity, academic profile, or affiliation), this information will be handled only by the journal staff and will not be disclosed to third parties. Records of each article's review process will be preserved for indexing or verification purposes.

Peer review system

All articles submitted to the journal will undergo a “double-blind” peer review process assisted by expert reviewers in each topic. Reviewer participation is ad honorem and considered an academic reciprocity pact, constructively strengthening and validating research and contributions of other colleagues. In the case of reviews, which are dissemination documents, they may be reviewed by the editor or other editorial staff. Publication will be decided based on thematic and textual coherence, relevance to the field, or the interest of the discussion proposed.

Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to conduct a thorough and constructive reading of each article they agree to review, not only providing an approval or rejection recommendation to the editor but also offering comments that help authors improve their texts or reflect on their manuscript's strengths and weaknesses. Reviewers must treat the articles as unpublished, and any unauthorized or improper use of the information constitutes a serious ethical breach. The responsibility to review a work cannot be transferred to third parties without prior justification and consultation with the editor. Any conflict of interest identified after receiving a manuscript that may compromise independence must be reported.

Exclusivity

Articles submitted for peer review in Pensando Psicología cannot be simultaneously under evaluation by other journals or review processes.

Ethics

The journal and editorial team will promote ethics in research processes, appropriate use of copyrighted content, and the quality of published work, ensuring all collaborators operate under principles of academic integrity.

Reporting cases

If there is evidence of ethical issues in research presented in published work, doubts about scientific rigor, suspicion of data falsification or manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, previously published material (“self-plagiarism”), authorship issues, or plagiarism, please contact the journal editor immediately to investigate and take necessary actions. Reports will be handled confidentially, protecting the identity of the reporter if requested.

Retractions, corrections, and conflict resolution

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

Open access

The journal publishes its content in open access, without any embargo period. All published work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), and its use must comply with this licensing.

Digital preservation of content

The Editorial Fund will ensure the digital preservation of published content so that authors can always retrieve their articles over time and maintain access to the journal's history and development.

Use of content and self-archiving

Authors may self-archive their works in institutional repositories in the final version (or publisher’s version) in which the article was published, provided that bibliographic details of the original publication are included, giving credit to the journal. Additionally, when self-archiving, authors should include a link to the article via DOI, allowing it to be consulted on the official journal website. Authors' active role in disseminating their work among colleagues, undergraduate and graduate students, and the academic community is essential for effective contribution and higher impact.

Publication costs

Submission and editorial processing of manuscripts 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 template, and exclusively electronically. Each author must submit a fully completed author form along with a letter of originality and ethical commitment. Original files and attachments must be sent to the attention of the journal editor at: pensandopsicologia@ucc.edu.co. Reviews are also accepted exclusively electronically in the required template.

Citation style - APA sixth edition

Citation styles allow for organized presentation of the bibliographic sources on which a text is based, including background, arguments, methodology, etc., and facilitate locating and consulting these sources directly. For the journal Pensando Psicología, the standards designed by the American Psychological Association (APA), commonly used in social sciences publications, have been selected. Below are some aspects that need to be considered for the correct use of APA sixth edition and the particularities adopted by the journal.

Reference list

References must appear in alphabetical order by the first letter of the reference. Works by the same author should be organized chronologically. Below we show the scheme for citing a book, a book chapter, and a journal article, with some examples for each case.

Scheme

Book

Last Name, A. A. (Year). Title. City: Publisher.
Manzanal, M. & Rofman, A. (1989). Las economías regionales de la Argentina. Crisis y políticas de desarrollo. Buenos Aires: CEUR.

Book chapter

Last Name, A. A., & Last Name, B. B. (Year). Chapter or entry title. In Last Name, A. A. (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx-xx). City: Publisher. Banks, C. G., & May, K. E. (1999).
Performance management: The real glue in organizations. In Kraut, A. I., & Korman, A. K. (Eds.), Evolving Practices in Human Resource Management: Responses to a Changing World of Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.

Journal article

Last Name, A. A., Last Name, B. B., & Last Name, C. C. (Year). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), xx-xx. Bunk, G. P. (1994).
La transmisión de las competencias en la formación y perfeccionamiento profesionales de la rfa. Revista Europea Formación Profesional, 1, 8-14.

For additional examples for citing other types of texts, please contact the journal editor or consult the APA website directly: https://bit.ly/343ZQwR

In-text citation

When citing in the body of the text, the author's last name and publication year are included in parentheses within the sentence. References to personal communications are cited in the text but not included in the reference list. If the sentence includes the author's last name, only the year is put in parentheses; otherwise, both last name and year are in parentheses. Works with more than two authors are cited in full on the first mention, and subsequent mentions use the first author’s last name followed by et al. For more than six authors, et al. is used from the first mention. All in-text references must correspond to the reference list at the end of the article. Similarly, the reference list should not include sources not cited in the text.

Formatting and other details

Each table, figure, or chart must indicate its source (or if it is self-produced), marking the reference with the corresponding number. Charts, figures, and tables should always be provided in an editable format (Excel recommended). Photographs or images must be submitted at a minimum resolution of 350 dpi, in .jpg format, and authors must certify that they have permission to use or reproduce them.

Article peer review process

As previously described, Pensando Psicología 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 involved in the review process:

Reviewer selection

If the article is accepted for review, the editor will begin assigning reviewers by locating and inviting two researchers with expertise in the article’s subject, who will receive the full text and a form to guide their evaluation.

Editorial reception and evaluation

Once the editor receives the article submission, the author will be notified confirming receipt. Then, the editor will perform a preliminary review to check compliance with the journal’s presentation standards and the article’s alignment with thematic and editorial lines. The editor has full discretion to decide whether the article can proceed to full review or should be initially rejected. At this stage, the editor may also return the manuscript to the authors requesting corrections or clarifications before official registration for review. If so, authors must return the adjusted article (or missing documents, e.g., author form or commitment letter) to continue the process.

Evaluation timing

The usual time for locating and confirming reviewers ranges from one (1) to three (3) weeks, depending on the article topic and reviewer availability. Once articles are received, suggested evaluation time is three (3) to four (4) weeks; however, deadlines are set directly with each reviewer, considering their availability to ensure an efficient process.

Results

The editor will communicate results to authors based on at least two reviewers’ opinions. In case of conflicting reviews (one approval, one rejection), a third reviewer will be consulted before a decision is sent to authors. Evaluation outcomes may be "approved without modifications," "approved with minor modifications," "approved with substantial modifications," or "rejected." "Approved with substantial modifications" corresponds to "revise and resubmit," requiring authors to substantially revise their submission. Otherwise, the journal concludes the review, allowing authors to submit elsewhere.

Corrections

Along with the results, if the editor deems a revised version feasible, a submission deadline will be agreed with authors, ranging from two (2) to ten (10) weeks for substantial adjustments. Failure to meet deadlines allows the editor to terminate the process, excluding the article from publication. To facilitate verification, authors must use Word’s track changes and submit a letter to each reviewer explaining the adjustments. Without this, the revised article will not proceed to verification.

Verification and final version

Verification is usually done with reviewers' assistance, though the editor may check minor corrections directly. Minor adjustments should not include unverified conceptual or methodological changes. If satisfactory, the editor informs authors and requests the final version in a template for editorial production. Significant errors discovered during finalization must be reported to the editor.

Editorial production

Articles and texts approved for publication in an issue of Pensando Psicología undergo a professional editorial production process including style correction, layout, proofreading, verification, and final approval.

Editorial follow-up

Authors must submit the approved manuscript in a template provided by the journal, following all instructions. They are responsible for addressing editing observations and corrections within agreed deadlines to avoid publication delays. Authors are also responsible for text integrity and readability. Once final approval is given, any errors or omissions are authors’ responsibility.

Distribution and access

Each author will receive two complimentary copies of the issue containing their article. Digital versions of the article and issue are also provided for dissemination. Pensando Psicología follows an open access policy and seeks broad visibility for its editions. Authors are expected to actively share the digital version with colleagues and students to maximize impact.

Reproduction and translations

To reproduce or translate an article or text from Pensando Psicología, please contact the journal (pensandopsicologia@ucc.edu.co) addressed to the editor. Published texts do not require special permission for consultation, download, or linking from personal, institutional, or repository websites.

Legal notice

Opinions expressed in articles and texts are the authors’ responsibility and do not commit the journal, the Publisher, or the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. The journal’s purpose is to serve the academic community and knowledge advancement in Education. Publication selection considers academic, editorial, and legal factors. The journal is not obligated to publish any text and may decline publication at any stage if it does not align with editorial lines or policies. Claims regarding the use of works or excerpts are authors’ responsibility.