Policies | Rastros Rostros

Originality

All articles or reviews submitted to the peer-review process of the journal Rastros Rostros must be unpublished, original, and the authors’ own work. Authors are asked to refrain from submitting works that have already been partially or fully published elsewhere —except for online publications of working papers— or in translations into other languages. If evidence is found of similar or identical documents already published, the submission 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 complete the mandatory Creative Honesty Declaration Form of the UCC Scientific Journals. This document must explicitly disclose the use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools in the preparation of the manuscript, specifying the type of tools employed and detailing how they contributed to the development of the article. The percentage of AI-generated content will be verified through Turnitin and must not exceed 30%. Failure to comply with this guideline may be grounds for rejecting the manuscript.

Types of Articles

According to the academic quality requirements for indexing Colombian journals (National Bibliographic Index – Publindex), Rastros Rostros primarily seeks to publish the following types of articles:

Scientific and Technological Research Article

Document presenting in detail the original results of completed research projects.

Reflection Article Derived from Research

Document presenting results of previously completed and published research in other academic journals, from the analytical, interpretative, or critical perspective of the author, on a specific topic, based on original sources.

Review Article

Document resulting from completed research in which published research results on a field of science or technology are analyzed, systematized, or integrated in order to report advances and development trends. It is characterized by a thorough literature review of at least 50 references.

Reviews

Rastros Rostros will receive submissions of critical reviews of monographs, articles, research books, and scientific dissemination works in education that may be of interest to the journal’s readership. The journal will also have a space to publish articles or essays selected from contests or 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 consists of: title, abstract, keywords, body text (which may vary depending on the type of article and the author’s intent), and reference list. The details an author must consider when preparing an article for Rastros Rostros are described more extensively in the template developed for this purpose.

Purpose and Coherence

All articles submitted to Rastros Rostros are expected to have an explicit purpose, with a contribution of interest to the journal’s readership. Likewise, regardless of the structure the author chooses for their article (review or essay), the text should follow a coherent scheme that includes three essential elements: introduction, articulated development of the topic, and conclusion.

Length

It is suggested that articles 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.

Thesauri

The journal suggests the use of the following thesauri for the inclusion of keywords in the document: UNESCO Thesaurus and Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara.

Authors

Authors participating in the journal are expected to submit original texts of their own creation, derived from rigorous research processes, not previously published, making appropriate use of the sources that serve as bibliographic support and any other material protected by copyright. Texts must also be carefully written and follow the formatting and citation requirements corresponding to the journal’s style.

Reviewer Profile

All articles submitted to the journal for its issues will undergo a double-blind peer-review process conducted with the help of expert peers external to the publishing institution for each topic.

Confidentiality

Since the peer review will be carried out through a double-blind system, ensuring the independence of the parties (neither authors nor reviewers will know each other’s identity, academic profile, or affiliation), this information will only be handled by the journal’s staff and will not be disclosed to third parties. All supporting documents from the process of each article 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 with the help of expert peers for each topic. Participation of reviewers will be ad honorem and is expected to be assumed as an academic reciprocity agreement, intended to constructively contribute to strengthening (and validating) the research and contributions of colleagues within the discipline. In the case of reviews, which are dissemination documents, they may be reviewed by the editor or other members of the editorial team. Publication decisions will rely on thematic and textual coherence, relevance to the field, or the interest or timeliness of the discussion proposed.

Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to conduct a thorough and constructive reading of each article they agree to review, not only issuing an approval or rejection recommendation for the editor but also providing comments that allow authors to improve their texts or reflect on the scope, possibilities, or shortcomings of their manuscript. Reviewers must also consider that the texts entrusted to them by the editor are unpublished, and any improper or unauthorized use of their content would constitute a serious ethical breach. The responsibility of reviewing a manuscript, once accepted, cannot be delegated to third parties unless justified and previously discussed with the editor. Finally, any conflict of interest identified after accepting a manuscript that may compromise the reviewer’s independence must be reported.

Exclusivity

Articles submitted to Rastros Rostros for review may not be under evaluation by other journals nor submitted simultaneously to other review processes.

Ethics

The journal and its editorial team will promote ethics in research processes, the appropriate use of copyrighted content, and the quality of published works, ensuring that collaborators interact under academic integrity principles.

Reporting Concerns

If there is evidence of ethical issues in research presented in works published by the journal, doubts about scientific rigor, suspicion of falsification or data manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, identification of previous publications (“duplicate publications”), authorship issues, or plagiarism, please contact the editor immediately so the case can be investigated, and appropriate actions taken. Reports on ethical issues will be handled confidentially, protecting the identity of the person reporting the concern, 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 containing errors that affect their scientific quality or proper author recognition, whether due to unintentional mistakes in the research/publication process or due to serious ethical issues such as plagiarism, falsification, data manipulation, among others.

Open Access

The journal publishes its content in open access without any embargo period. Furthermore, all published works appear under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, and their use must follow these licensing terms.

Digital Preservation of Content

Ediciones UCC will ensure the digital preservation of published content so authors may always recover their articles over time and maintain access to the journal’s historical record and evolution.

Use of Content and Self-Archiving

Authors may self-archive their work in institutional repositories in the final (publisher’s) version in which the article was published, as long as the bibliographic data of the original publication are recorded, thus giving credit to the journal. Additionally, when self-archiving a published article, it is recommended that authors include the doi link to the article for consultation on the journal’s official website. Active author participation in disseminating their published work among colleagues, undergraduate and graduate students, and the wider academic community is key to achieving greater disciplinary impact and research influence.

Publication Costs

Submitting works to the journal and the full editorial process are free of charge for authors 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 template suggested by the journal and exclusively through the OJS platform. Along with the article, each author must submit a fully completed author form and 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 using the required template.

Citation Style – APA Seventh Edition

Citation styles allow bibliographic support to be presented in an organized manner, forming the foundation of a text’s background, arguments, methodology, and more. They also facilitate the location and direct consultation of those sources. In the journal Rastros Rostros, the standards designed by the American Psychological Association, known by the acronym APA, and commonly used in social sciences publications, have been selected. Below are some aspects that must be considered for the correct use of the APA Seventh Edition standards and the particularities adopted by the journal.

Reference List

References must appear in alphabetical order based on the first letter of the reference. For works by the same author, the surname must be rewritten followed by the title of the work in accordance with APA guidelines. These works must be organized chronologically. Similarly, references must include the surnames and initials of up to 20 authors. Below, we show the structure of how to cite a book and a journal article, along with examples for each case:

Structure

Book

Surname, 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

Surname, A. A. & Surname, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter or entry. In Surname, A. A. (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx-xx). City: Publisher.
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

Surname, A. A., Surname, B. B. & Surname, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the publication, volume(number), 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.

If you wish or need to consult additional examples for citing other types of texts, please contact the journal editor or consult the APA page https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition or the following link for citation guidelines: https://normasapa.pro/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Normas_apa_septima_edicion_spanish.pdf *Tables and some examples were taken from Moreno, D. & Carrillo, Javier. Normas APA 7th edition. Citation and Referencing Guide. Universidad Central Coordinación Editorial. https://www.ucentral.edu.co/sites/default/files/inline-files/guia-normas-apa-7-ed-2019-11-6.pdf

Body of the Text

When making a reference in the body of the text, the author's last name and the date of the work 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 date is placed in parentheses; otherwise, the last name and date are placed in parentheses. If a work has more than two authors, it is cited the first time with all surnames, and in subsequent mentions only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.” is used. If there are more than six authors, “et al.” is used from the first mention. All references included in the body of the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the article. Likewise, the reference list must not include works that were not cited in the text (i.e., both parts must correspond exactly).

Graphic Aspects and Other Particularities

Each table, figure, or chart must indicate its source (or whether it is self-produced), citing the reference with the corresponding number. Graphs, figures, and tables must always be submitted in an editable format (Excel is suggested). In the case of photographs or images, they 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, Rastros Rostros follows a “double-blind” peer review system to evaluate and decide on the publication of its main articles. Below is a more detailed outline of the stages in which the peer review process is developed:

Selection of Reviewers

If the article is accepted for peer review, the editor will begin the reviewer assignment process, locating and inviting two researchers who are experts on the article’s topic. These reviewers will receive the full text of the article along with a form that will guide their evaluation.

Reception and Editorial Evaluation

Once the editor receives the article submission, a notification will be sent to the author confirming delivery. The editor will then conduct a preliminary review of the article to determine whether the journal’s formatting requirements have been fully met and whether the article corresponds to the thematic and editorial line. The editor has full authority to decide whether the article can proceed to a full peer review process or whether it should be rejected at the initial stage. In this phase, the manuscript may also be returned to the authors requesting corrections or clarifications before the article is officially registered for peer review. If this occurs, the authors must resubmit the article with adjustments (or the missing documentation, such as the author form or the commitment letter) if they wish to continue the process.

Evaluation Timeframes

The time required to locate and secure acceptance from reviewers may range from one (1) to three (3) weeks, depending on the article’s topic and the availability of the reviewers. Once reviewers receive the articles, the suggested timeframe for submitting an evaluation is between three (3) and four (4) weeks; however, deadlines will be agreed upon directly with each reviewer based on their availability (while ensuring that the process is carried out as efficiently as possible).

Results

The editor will send a result to the authors based on the assessment of at least two reviewers. In the case of conflicting reviewer opinions (one approval and one rejection), a third reviewer will be invited before the editor communicates a final decision to the authors. The evaluation outcome may be “approved with no modifications,” “approved with minor modifications,” “approved with substantial modifications,” or “rejected.” The category “approved with substantial modifications” corresponds to “revise and resubmit,” which implies that authors must be willing to undertake a deep reformulation of the proposal. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, the journal will consider the peer review process concluded, and authors will be free to submit their work to another publication.

Corrections

Along with the review results, if the editor considers it feasible to receive a revised version of the article, a delivery deadline for the new version will be agreed upon with the authors. This period may range from two (2) to ten (10) weeks in the case of substantial revisions. If the authors fail to meet the agreed deadlines, the editor may terminate the article’s process, discarding its publication in the journal. Additionally, to facilitate verification of the revised version, authors must edit their article using Word’s track-changes tool and send a letter to each reviewer explaining the adjustments made. Without this response letter, the editor will not send the revised article to the verification phase.

Verification and Final Version

Verification will generally be carried out with the assistance of the reviewers, but the editor may also directly check the adjustments made to the article if the corrections are minor. Therefore, if only minor adjustments are requested, authors are asked to refrain from incorporating deeper conceptual or methodological changes that have not been reviewed by the evaluators. Once the revisions have been deemed satisfactory, the editor will inform the authors of the approval and request the submission of the final version of the article in a template that will be sent to production. If any major error is detected during the preparation of the final version that requires substantial modification, the editor must be notified.

Editorial Production

The articles and different types of texts approved for publication in a Rastros Rostros issue 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 submit the manuscript approved for publication using the template provided by the journal, ensuring that all instructions are followed fully. Additionally, authors are responsible for addressing comments, questions, or corrections that arise during editing within the agreed timeframe to avoid publication delays. Ensuring the integrity and readability of the text is also the authors’ responsibility. Once the articles or texts in editing have been approved in their final version for publication, any errors or omissions become the responsibility of the authors.

Distribution and Access

Each author will receive two complimentary copies of the issue in which their article was published. The digital version of the article and the full issue will also be available for the author to support its dissemination among the intended audience. Rastros Rostros follows an open-access policy and will seek as many channels and strategies as possible to ensure that its publications are visible to a broad national and international audience. Nonetheless, authors should understand that the impact of their article’s dissemination depends significantly on their active involvement in the process. It is expected that authors will share the digital version of the article with researchers in their field nationally and abroad and encourage its use as bibliographic support in research or classroom settings among undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students.

Reproduction and Translations

If you wish to reproduce or translate an article published in Rastros Rostros, please write to the journal’s email address (rastrosrostros@ucc.edu.co), addressed to the editor. However, the texts published in the journal do not require special authorization to be consulted, downloaded, or linked to the journal’s website from personal, institutional, or repository pages.

Legal Notice

The perspectives or viewpoints expressed in the articles published in Rastros Rostros are the responsibility of their authors and do not in any way compromise the journal, the Publisher, 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, which is why the selection process considers academic, editorial, and legal aspects evaluated in each case. Depending on these factors, the journal is under no obligation to publish any text and may decline publication at any stage if it deems the material inconsistent with its editorial line or policies. Likewise, any claim from third parties regarding the use of works or excerpts in an article will be the sole responsibility of the authors, thereby exempting the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia.