Publication Guidelines

Publication Guidelines

Publication Guidelines for the Journal of Science and Engineering

revistacienciaeingenieria@uniguajira.edu.co

 

Templates and Important Documents for Submitting Articles

  • Article Template (will automatically download a .docx file). Option 1 | Option 2
  • Originality Statement (will automatically download a .docx file). Option 1 | Option 2
  • Publication Guidelines (will automatically download a .pdf file in your browser). Option 1 | Option 2

This journal exclusively publishes original and unpublished content. The required statements ensure that all articles have not been published in other journals, books, or any other type or format of publication. Articles under consideration by other journals will not be accepted.

  1. Double-Blind Review Process

This journal will publish papers evaluated under a double-blind system, meaning that each paper will be sent to a minimum of two academic peers with relevant expertise to evaluate it based on the criteria outlined in our evaluation guide. Submitted papers must receive positive evaluations from both reviewers to be published; if both evaluations are negative, the paper will be definitively rejected. In cases where one review is positive and the other is negative, a third review will be sought to resolve the conflict.

Submissions should be made through the platform or sent to revistacienciaeingenieria@uniguajira.edu.co including:

  • Electronic version of the manuscript (.doc or .docx) [see "Article Template"].
  • Compressed file with figures and tables.
  • Authorship and Originality Letter [see "Originality Statement"].

The Editorial Committee will send a receipt confirmation along with a code that the author must use when communicating with the Journal of Science and Engineering.

The Editorial Committee will review adherence to editorial standards and the scientific quality of the manuscript and will perform a similarity check using Turnitin software. Papers that do not meet presentation standards will be returned without undergoing peer review. Papers that meet presentation and quality criteria will be sent to external reviewers for evaluation.

Reviewer comments may include:

  • Accepted with no changes.
  • Accepted with minor revisions.
  • Accepted with major revisions.
  • Resubmit after corrections.
  • Rejected.

Depending on the reviewers' comments, the main or corresponding author must return a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the reviewers' observations. This revised version must include a document responding to each reviewer comment and justifying any suggestions or recommendations that are not accepted.

If the suggested changes are substantial, the Editorial Committee may decide to send the revised manuscript to external reviewers again. The Editorial Committee will review the document, and the Managing Editor will communicate the final acceptance when the manuscript meets the journal's requirements.

Finally, Journal of Science and Engineering staff will edit each accepted manuscript, correcting grammatical errors, syntax, and spelling. This final version will be sent to the lead reviewer for approval.

*Clarification: Copyright remains with the authors. The Journal of Science and Engineering requires the transfer of publication rights but does not claim authorship or ownership of the research.

Publication rights will be transferred to the Journal of Science and Engineering, and only the version published by the journal (post print) may be shared without any changes to its format or content. As the owner of the publication rights, the journal will permit self-archiving and dissemination in repositories and websites as long as it is not for commercial use. The extent of this permission is outlined in the Creative Commons By NC ND 4.0 license.*

  1. Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically in Word format using the Times New Roman 12 font (see the journal’s website).

The text should follow the APA format in its latest edition, on letter-sized pages, with 1.5 line spacing; fully justified, with no indentation, and in a single column.

Only titles and section headings should be in uppercase and bold, with the title centered and section headings on the left margin.

Italicized text should be used only for Latin words, journal names, and book titles in the cited literature.

The metric system and its abbreviations (mm, cm, m, km, g, kg) should be used for all measurements, and decimals and/or superscripts should be used instead of fractions, with commas (,) for decimal separators and periods (.) for thousands.

Whole numbers from zero to ten should be written in words if not followed by units. Acronyms must be fully explained the first time they appear in the text.

Tables and figures (maps, charts, diagrams, and photographs) should be included in the manuscript for review and also submitted in a compressed folder as separate files, properly labeled in Excel and JPG or TIFF format (150-300 dpi).

2.1. Manuscript Structure

The journal accepts documents in the format of scientific articles, notes, and review articles.

2.1.1. Scientific Articles

These should not exceed 30 pages, excluding figures and tables. On the first page, the title in bold (in Spanish and English) should be provided. The title should be informative but concise. Below the title, the name(s) of the author(s) should be listed, followed by a numerical superscript (1, 2, 3, etc.) to indicate their affiliation. If there is more than one author, the superscripts should be added consecutively. The institution, country, academic qualification (highest degree), ORCID, and email address should follow, with an asterisk indicating the corresponding author.

The following should be presented:

  • SHORT TITLE: In the original language. This will be used in page headers and should not exceed ten words.

  • ABSTRACT: Write a summary of your article in a single paragraph of 200 words (maximum 250). It should be concise and informative, containing a summary of the main points covered in the manuscript. It should include an introductory sentence. The purpose of the research, materials and methods, relevant results, and main conclusions should be mentioned, without including bibliographic citations. Emphasize new and significant aspects of the study. Avoid a descriptive summary; it should be an analytical summary (including relevant data obtained from the research).

  • KEYWORDS: List 3 to 6 keywords (which may be compound) that meaningfully describe the work and allow it to be classified in a specific area of study. Separate the keywords with semicolons. It is recommended to use words different from those in the title to increase visibility in search engines.

  • ABSTRACT: Should be a faithful translation of the abstract.

  • KEYWORDS: Should be the same as the keywords, translated into English.

For texts in English, a TITLE and ABSTRACT in Spanish should be provided.

  • INTRODUCTION: Should state the nature of the problem, placing it in context and justifying its study. Additionally, it should mention the contribution the research makes to knowledge in the field. Only strictly necessary references should be given. The objectives of the work should be included at the end of the introduction. It should not be an extensive literature review, so it is recommended not to exceed three pages.

  • MATERIALS AND METHODS: Should provide the essential information needed for the work to be replicated by other researchers. Equipment used should be mentioned, including the manufacturer's name. For brevity, if the methods have been published, they should be briefly explained and the original publication cited. Experimental design and statistical analyses should be detailed and include references. New or substantially modified methods should be described, with justification for their use and evaluation of their limitations.

If necessary to include subtitles, such as reagents or statistical analysis, write them as sentences and in bold. Do not use capital letters or end with periods. Reagents used and the brand should be listed in a subsection; use subsections for each procedure used.

  • RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Should strictly include the data obtained in the work and be presented in a logical sequence, following the order of materials and methods. This is a single section, but it may be divided into results and discussion; subsections can also be used.

Highlight results that contribute to generating new knowledge and relevant aspects of the study. Avoid repeating information from the introduction. If statistical results are presented in the text, they must be accompanied by the basic parameters of the test applied. The text in this section should not be redundant with information in tables and figures.

The discussion should interpret the results, indicating the hypotheses tested and their applicability. Compare the results with those found by other authors, explaining discrepancies or agreements.

  • TABLES, FIGURES, AND EQUATIONS: This format only accepts tables and figures; avoid classifying images differently as "figures" (images, photos, diagrams, charts, maps, and any other graphic material). Figures created in Excel or Word should be sent in those programs (editable). Avoid redundancy between tables, figures, and text.

Tables, figures, and equations should be placed in the body of the article in the order of their appearance. Equations should be included using the Word editor. Both tables and figures should be self-contained (able to be interpreted without referring to the body of the article).

Each table should have a title at the top, while figures should have a caption at the bottom. Avoid isolated small figures: group related figures into composite figures labeled with letters (Figure 1A or Figures 1A-1F).

The caption for each figure or table should describe keys, abbreviations, and other explanations. It is recommended to provide not only means but also standard deviations and other relevant statistical information.

If an article contains reproduced tables or figures, the source must be declared, and permission to use them must be obtained. Figures should be of a size that allows them to be read (minimum resolution of 150 dpi and maximum of 300 dpi).

Location or detail maps should include the reference system and coordinates, spatial scale, and, if possible, geographic references. Colors and symbols on the map should be specified in the legend. Images from Google Earth can be included as map details but should indicate the referenced area and include scale and coordinates.

  • CONCLUSIONS: Must include at least one paragraph with conclusions related to the results. State the relevance and potential applications of the results obtained. Avoid repeating information from the results and discussion section.

  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Include details of institutions or people who supported the work, indicating the type of support received. List acknowledgments before the references.

  • REFERENCES: Should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the manuscript. Use the APA style format for citations.

2.1.2. Notes

These should be no longer than 15 pages, including figures and tables, and must comply with the same submission and formatting standards as scientific articles.

2.1.3. Review Articles

In general, review articles follow the same guidelines as research articles. The introduction should discuss the background information on the topic and address the objective (research question).

The article must include materials and methods, providing the necessary information to replicate the review. This should include search strategies, such as search equations or keywords used, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data sources and geographic information, characteristics of the study subjects, and statistical analyses used.

In the results and discussion section, authors should include all the results addressed in the work and mention their relevance to the objective. Results should include the heterogeneity of the study groups or samples. Statistical significance should be mentioned.

Conclusions should relate to the subject of study, mention the implications of the findings, interpretations, and identify unresolved questions. An evaluation should be made of whether the studies were adequate to reach a conclusion that can be applied to a much larger group, indicating reasons. Suggestions for future research should be provided.

In the references, only those cited in the text should be listed. Between 50 and 100 references are allowed.

3. Reference System: APA 7th Edition

Submissions to this journal must follow the APA 7th edition guidelines. All articles obtained from OJS include a citation export module that includes export to this format; these modules will facilitate adaptation to the standard. To facilitate your work, it is also recommended to use the Zotero reference manager or automated citations in Word. An automatic citation and reference generator in APA style can also be found at this link.

All references with a DOI must include it (you can search for it by the article title in Crossref).

In Citations

Bibliographic references in the text should be cited, depending on the case, as follows:

With emphasis on the author:

Arita & Rodríguez (2001)

Luna (1995; 2001)

With emphasis on the text:

(Arita & Rodríguez, 2001; Luna, 1995; 2001)

(Restrepo & Jaramillo, 2007)

When citing multiple references, they should be listed in alphabetical order; when citing multiple works by the same author, they should be listed chronologically, and if by the same author and year, they should be differentiated by adding a, b, c.

In Reference Tables

Below are examples for cited literature (reference table):

Print Journal Articles

Rodríguez, C. (2007). God’s eye does not look at signs. Early development and semiotics. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 30(3), 343-374.

Electronic Journal Articles with Pagination and DOI

Osorio-Delgado, M. A., Henao-Tamayo, L. J., Velásquez-Cock, J. A., Cañas-Gutiérrez. (2017). Biomedical applications of polymeric biomaterials. DYNA, 84(201):241-252. https://doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v84n201.60466

Electronic Journal Articles with Identifier

Buring, D., Kilteni, K., Rabuffetti, M., Slater, M., & Pia, L. (2019). Body ownership increases the interference between observed and executed movements. PLOS ONE, 14(1), e0209899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209899

Print Books

Suárez, M. F. (2011). Electrochemistry: A theoretical approach. National University of Colombia.

Electronic Books

Pichardo Galán, J., & Stefano Barbero, M. (Eds.). (2015). Sexual diversity and coexistence: An educational opportunity. Complutense University of Madrid. http://eprints.ucm.es/34926/1/Diversidad_y_convivencia_2015_FINAL.pdf

Book Chapters

Gilmartín, M. A. (2008). School environments. In J. A. Aragonés & M. Amérigo (Eds.), Environmental psychology (pp. 221-237). Pirámide.

For electronic journals, such as Ciencia e Ingeniería, it is not valid to omit author names in cited literature, even in cases with more than seven authors.

For other types of references, consult the author guidelines and the mentioned links.

4. Guidelines for Reviewers

4.1. Privacy of Unpublished Results

An unpublished manuscript is a confidential document. By accepting it, the reviewer for Ciencia e Ingeniería protects the manuscript from any form of exploitation. Our journal’s privacy policy requires reviewers not to cite a manuscript or refer to what it describes before it is published; additionally, not to use the information for their own purposes.

4.2. Peer Review Timelines

Reviews should be completed within no more than 21 days. If the reviewer is aware that they will not be able to assess the manuscript within this timeframe, they should inform the journal promptly.

4.3. Impartiality of the Review

The reviewer commits to reviewing the manuscript impartially. If the reviewer feels they cannot review a manuscript impartially, whether due to relationships with the authors or a potential conflict of interest, they should return the document with the appropriate explanation.

4.4. Evaluation Criteria

The review should provide a general impression of the manuscript and a list of its main deficiencies. Key aspects to consider include:

  • The originality of the work and whether the content is worthy of publication.
  • The articulation of the proposed hypotheses and their testing.
  • The appropriateness of the experimental design.
  • The quality of technical analysis.
  • The interpretation of the results.
  • The appropriate discussion of the results, placing them in a local and global context.

It is desirable for the reviewer to also make comments that could improve the presentation of the manuscript, such as comments on unnecessary text length or figures and tables with secondary importance, which could be presented as supplementary material or simply cited within the text.

GRAMMATICAL REVIEW: It is not within the reviewer’s duties to correct style deficiencies or grammatical errors in a manuscript. However, the journal Ciencia e Ingeniería would appreciate any help in this regard. This is particularly useful for spelling mistakes in place names, species, and terms specific to scientific jargon.