Submissions

Author Guidelines

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

We receive articles derived from research, monographs and academic reflections by the author, research notes and essays, as well as reviews and short stories, all submitted according to a series of general formats. Submissions may be in four languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. Anonymous submissions are not accepted because part of the essence of the Journal is to be able to dialogue with the authors during the review process. Furthermore, this decision facilitates the active participation of readers, allowing them to communicate and interact with the authors and to continue building knowledge through academic debates and discussions. We believe that open collaboration between authors and readers is an essential component for the continuous enrichment of scientific knowledge.

Important information before sending the text: when submitting your text, we ask authors to include their name(s), surname(s), e-mail address(es) easily accessible and contact number(s). It is also necessary to clarify whether they are submitting the text as a student, specifying the semester they belong to and the university, or if they are a teacher, indicating the university they belong to and the subjects they teach. The inclusion of this additional information is required in case of possible difficulties in e-mail communication. It is crucial to clarify that the information provided in the e-mail sending the text will be treated with total confidentiality.

Co-authored texts: the above indications must be followed, including the information of each author involved in the creation of the text submitted. The email sent to the journal should have a visible copy to all authors, to ensure that they are aware of the process.

GENERAL FORMAT OF TEXTS

All texts submitted to the Revista de Estudiantes de Ciencia Política (hereafter RECP) must follow the parameters stipulated in the Seventh Edition of the APA Style. This is a summary guide with the main points of the APA Standards 7th Edition in Spanish. For any additional questions please visit the blog https://normas-apa.org/ or the official source in English https://apastyle.apa.org/

Extension

In the case of scientific articles, papers, essays, research notes and short stories, the length is 2,500 to 8,000 words. For reviews, the length is a minimum of 800 words and a maximum of 2,000 words. For micro-stories the maximum length is 250 words and for poems the maximum length is 100 words.

Structure of the Reviews

Title, author's full name and institutional affiliation, presentation of the work reviewed, brief summary of the work, criticisms and conclusions, accompanied by a personal observation or reflection.

Structure of Academic Articles (Scientific articles, essays or papers)

Title, origin of the article, full name of the authors followed by their institutional affiliation, summary (no longer than 150 words), abstract, keywords, body of the article (introduction, methodology, results and conclusions) and references.

Origin of the articles. This information should immediately follow the title in a footnote in the form of an asterisk (*). It should specify whether the text is the product of a research project, thesis, essay or paper. If it is a research product, the name of the project, the institution that supports it and the registration code (if it has one) must be stated; if it is the product of a thesis, the academic title and the title or general topic of the thesis must be stated; and if it is the product of a paper, in addition to the requirement of not having been published in memoir format, the name of the event, the institution that financed it, the date of the event, the city and the country where it took place must be specified.

Information about the authors.

Author's name. The best way to write an author's name in an-APA document is First Name, Middle Initial(s) and Last Name. This form reduces the likelihood of mistaken identity. It is recommended that you use the same name for publishing throughout your career; that is, do not change the way you spell your name in every paper you publish. For example, if your name is María Fernanda Alcaraz, write it as María F. Alcaraz.

Institutional Affiliation. Affiliation identifies where the author(s) were located when the research was conducted. Generally, the name of the university is used. Include a dual affiliation only if two institutions contributed substantial support to the study. Authors' names should appear in the order of their contributions, centred between the side margins just below the title. The institutional affiliation should be centred under each author's name on the next line:

Institutional Affiliation

One author, no affiliation:

Agustina C. Ferrería

La Plata, Buenos Aires

Two authors, one affiliation:

Carolina C. Sánchez and Carlos M. Pedraza

National University, Bogotá, Cundinamarca

Three authors, one affiliation:

Carolina Sánchez, Carlos Pedraza and Joaquín Rueda.

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Two authors, two affiliations:

Carolina Sánchez

Mérida, Yucatán

Lina Sánchez

Mexico City, Mexico

Three authors, two affiliations:

Carolina Sánchez and Carlos Pedraza

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Lina Sánchez

Mexico City, D.F.

Note: These examples were retrieved from the 7th Edition of APA Standards in Spanish.

Once the institutional affiliation, city and country have been registered, the following information must be registered in a footnote in the form of two asterisks (**): in case the author is an undergraduate student, the name of the undergraduate degree, level or semester currently being studied and personal or institutional e-mail; in case the author is a postgraduate student (specialisation, master's or doctorate), the name of the postgraduate degree followed by previous degrees and personal or institutional e-mail must be specified.

Abstract. An abstract should be a short and clear text about the content of your article. It should allow readers to understand the content of an article quickly and, like the title, it should be written in a way that people can find it when searching databases for the categories of your text. The abstract should be informative rather than evaluative, coherent and concise.

The abstract is one of the most important parts of your article. Most readers have their first contact with an article by reading the abstract. And if they are looking for some information among several texts, they will usually make a comparison with other summaries. Readers will often make their decision about which article to read completely after reading the abstract. The abstract should be no longer than 150 words.

Resumen. The resumen is an Spanish version of the abstract of your paper. It serves to globalize your work and that of the journal. People from all over the world who are looking for papers on the topic of your research will be able to find it in databases.

Keywords. You should list the keywords of your paper in the abstract. To do this, bleed the paragraph as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, write Keywords: (in italics) and then each keyword (without italics) separated by a comma. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

Example.

Keywords: Total Peace, Urban Territorial Peace, Armed Conflict, Colombia, Social Reconciliation

Body of the article.

Introduction. One way of assessing whether your introduction is clear is to check that you have spoken precisely about the questions, hypotheses and objectives that make up your research. The idea is just to give the reader a brief overview, so there is no need to go into detail. The length can vary from 1 to 3 paragraphs.

Methodology. This section should provide enough information to allow readers to understand how your research data were collected and evaluated.

Results. Report the most relevant results in this section. Avoid omitting data from the study as much as possible. Make sure that the results presented contribute to answering your original research questions or hypotheses.

Discussion and Conclusions. After presenting the results, it is time to evaluate and interpret their implications, especially with respect to your original hypotheses. Examine, interpret and qualify the results. Draw conclusions from them. Emphasise any theoretical or practical implications of the results. Do not forget to mention the relevance of your writing to political science.

Margins

Margins in APA format should be 2.54 cm (1 inch) on all sides.

Line spacing

While double spacing is the general rule, the Seventh Edition of the APA Style allows Universities and academic communities the freedom to set a line spacing of no less than 1.5. For this reason, the line spacing for the reception of texts in the RECP will be 1.5. With the exception of Tables, Figures, Footnotes and Mathematical Equations in which single or 1.5 line spacing may be used.

Font Type and Size

Times New Roman 12 point.

Exceptions to font size.

Figures. Within the images of figures, it is recommended to use a sans serif font (Arial) with a size between 8 and 14 points.

Footnotes. When inserting footnotes you can use a font smaller than the text font such as Times New Roman 10 and single line spacing.

Paragraph Alignment

Although the Seventh Edition of APA Standards establishes left alignment throughout the document, it also leaves freedom to Universities and academic communities to establish their alignment criteria, therefore, RECP stipulates for the reception of articles that paragraph alignment should be Justified and not left aligned.

Paragraph Indent. The first line of each paragraph of text should be indented ½ inch (1.27 cm) from the left margin. You can use the Tab key or, ideally, set the paragraph style in Word to achieve the indent. Do not use the space bar to achieve this effect.

Syllable Separation. Do not insert automatic hyphens or manual breaks in your research. It is acceptable to separate long links (as in a DOI or URL in a reference list entry, but make sure the links stay working).

Paragraph Alignment and Indentation Exceptions.

Document Sections. Section headings (Abstract, References, Appendix, Tables, Figures) should be centred.

Abstract. The first line of the first paragraph of the abstract should be unindented.

Block quotations. Block quotations (quotations with more than 40 words) should be indented ½ inch (1.27 cm) from the left margin. If the block quote has more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph, as well as subsequent paragraphs, should be indented plus ½ inch (1.27 cm). So that the first line has a total indentation of 1 inch (2.54 cm).

Tables and Figures. Table and figure numbers, table and figure captions, and notes should be left-aligned (not indented).

Reference List. Entries in the list of bibliographical references should be indented ½ inch (1.27 cm).

Headings and Subheadings

Headings and subheadings help readers find the key points of a document. APA Style Standards recommend the use of up to 5 levels of headings and subheadings. Each level has its own format.

Title and Subtitle Levels

Level 1: Centered • Bold • Every Word Starting in Upper Case

Text starts in new paragraph

Level 2: Left Aligned • Bold • Each Word Beginning in Upper Case

Text begins in new paragraph

Level 3: Left Aligned • Bold • Italic • Each Word Beginning in Upper Case

Text begins in new paragraph

Level 4: Left Aligned • Bold • Bold • Each Word Beginning in Uppercase • Indented ½ inch (1.27 cm) • End point. Text starts on the same line.

Level 5: Left Aligned • Bold • Italic • Each Word Starting in Uppercase • Indented ½ inch (1.27 cm) • Full stop. Text starts on the same line.

Note: This example is taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

You must use the heading levels consecutively. If your document has up to three levels of headings, then you should use the first three heading styles shown in the table above. Avoid labelling headings and subheadings with numbers or letters.

Heading Size. The recommended, but not mandatory, length for a title should be approximately 12 words.

Footnotes.

Content Footnotes. A content note should be used to supplement or amplify some kind of information substantially in the text. Because the presence of footnotes can be distracting to readers, do not use them for complex explanations or irrelevant information. Only include footnotes if they strengthen the discussion.

Copyright Footnotes. You can use a footnote or endnote to credit copyright permissions, that is, to indicate that you received permission from a publisher to reproduce a longer than normal quotation or to use copyrighted images.

Citation

Whenever you use ideas from other authors, you must credit these ideas. The act of crediting these words is known as Citation. To ‘Quote something’, then, means to give credit to an idea, thought or phrase. For example, if you add a phrase from someone recognised in your field of research, you must cite the original author. If you do not cite correctly, you may be accused of plagiarism, which can have both academic and legal consequences. For each citation, you should give the author's surname, the year of publication of the source, and the page(s) on which the citation appears. And a full reference should appear in the list of bibliographical references at the end of your text. There are several types of citations:

In-text citations. A citation is verbatim or direct quotation when it is reproduced word for word directly from a text by another author, or even from your own text already written in another publication. Whenever you make a direct citation you should always give the author, year and the specific page and you should include the full reference in the reference list of your work.

Short Textual Citations. If the cite is less than 40 words, incorporate it into the text and enclose the cite with double inverted commas, do not use italics, this should only be used if the text to be cited is written in another language. If the quotation appears in the middle of a sentence in your text, end the passage with inverted commas, cite the source in brackets immediately after the inverted commas and continue the sentence. No other punctuation is necessary if the sentence does not require it. If the citation appears at the end of a sentence, close the cited passage with inverted commas, cite the source in parentheses immediately after the inverted commas, and end with a full stop outside the final parentheses.

Citations of More than 40 Words. Citations of more than 40 words are written separately from the text, indented, without inverted commas, without italics and with the same spacing used in the text. Start such a cite on a new line and indent the paragraph one-half inch (1.27 cm) from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph). If there are additional paragraphs within the cite, indent the first line of each paragraph an additional half inch (1.27 cm). At the end of a block quote, cite the source and the page or paragraph number in parentheses after the final punctuation mark.

Paraphrased Citations. Paraphrased citations are when you recount, in your own words, the ideas of another author. Whenever you paraphrase another author (i.e., summarise a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you must also credit the source in the text. When paraphrasing, you must cite the original work, either using the narrative citation or parenthetical citation model.

You should always include the author's surname and year of publication. It is recommended, but not obligatory, as in direct citation, that you provide the page number (or paragraph for unpaginated material), especially when you want to help a reader interested in further reading to locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text.

A paraphrase may be several sentences long. In such cases, cite the work being paraphrased in the first citation. If the paraphrase incorporates multiple sources or switches between sources, repeat the citation so that the source is clear.

Narrative Citations or Parenthetical Citations. There are two basic formats for presenting in-text citations. You can present the citation in narrative form or in parentheses after the citation.

Narrative Quote (Author-Based). This type of citation is known as author-based, because at the beginning of the sentence we will add the author's name. In narrative citations, the author's name is incorporated into the text as part of the sentence and the year follows in parentheses.

Example: At this exact moment, the particles that had been accelerated immediately pass into another state of the soul. Berrío (2019) states that ‘this is full proof of the divine existence and the presence of a more powerful being among us’ (p. 87).

Note: This example is taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

Parenthetical/Parenthetical Citation (Text-Based). In parenthetical citations, the author's name and date of publication appear in parentheses.

Example: “The acceleration of the particles and their subsequent calm is the full proof of the divine existence and the presence of a more powerful being among us” (Berrío, 2019, p. 87).

Note: This example is taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

Other Valid Ways of Writing a Quote.

Example 1: According to Sánchez (1994), “the planet is blue” (p. 147).

Example 2: In 1994, Sanchez has concluded that “the planet is blue” (p. 147).

Example 3: In fact, “the planet is blue” (Sánchez, 1994, p. 147).

Example 4: “The planet is blue” according to Sanchez (1994, p. 147) and the whole universe...

Example 5: The results of Sanchez (1994) indicate that “the planet is blue” (p. 147).

Note: These examples are taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

Secondary citations. A secondary source refers to original content reported in another source. If possible find the primary source, read it and cite it directly rather than citing a secondary source. Use secondary citations when the original work is out of print, unavailable, or only available in a foreign language. For example, if you read a paper by Sanchez (2009), in which Ayala (1983) was cited, but you were unable to read Ayala's paper and need or want to include that idea in your paper, cite Ayala's paper as the original source, followed by Sanchez's paper. Remember that, as a secondary citation, only Sánchez's work should appear in the reference list.

Citation in brackets: (Ayala, 1983, as cited in Sanchez, 2009)

Narrative quote: Ayala (1983, as cited in Sánchez, 2009) states that not all the stars that shine today will shine tomorrow.

Note: This example was taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

Personal Communications Citations. Private letters, electronic communications (such as e-mail or WhatsApp group messages), personal interviews, telephone conversations and the like are considered personal communications. As these data are generally not retrievable, personal communications are not included in the list of references. Cite personal communications in text only, provide initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and as accurate a date as possible:

Example: "Serious measures have been taken by the mayor's office to prevent teenage suicide.’ (Marri, )., personal communication, 28 September 1998).

Note: This example is taken from the 7th Edition of the APA Style in Spanish.

References

Every source you cite in your text should appear in the reference list; likewise, the reference list should not include any source that has not been previously cited in the text. The reference list should start on a new page separate from the text. The title of this page should be ‘References’ and should be centred at the top of the page. The word References should be in bold type. Do not underline or use inverted commas for the title. In addition, each source added to your reference list should be hanging indented one-half inch (1.27 cm) from the left margin.

Each source should include the four basic elements of a reference: author, date of publication, title of the work, and source for retrieval. The list of references should be ordered alphabetically by the author's first surname followed by the author's first initials.

References with more than one author. This is a point where the APA Style was updated in the seventh edition. In the sixth edition, there were references to up to 7 authors and more than 7 authors. Now, in the updated rules, we talk about up to 20 authors and more than 20 authors.

Up to 20 authors. Authors' names must be reversed (Surname, First name); You must report the names of up to twenty authors in the reference list. Before the last author, you must write the letter ‘&’:

Example: Guzmán Ramírez, A., Orgulloso Martínez, A., Nieto, A., Vera, A., Sojo, A., Uthoff, A., Rios, A., Iglesias, A., López Montaño, C., Forero Torres, D., Cuellar, E., Vasquez, H., Ocampo, J., Echavarría Soto, J., Villar, L., Vera, N., Casali, P., Montenegro, S., Clavijo Vergara, S. & Farné, S. (2019). Pension Reform in Colombia The Pending Debate. Bogotá, Colombia: Banco de la República.

Note. This example was taken from the 7th Edition of APA Standards in Spanish.

More than 20 authors. If the book has more than twenty authors, you should list the first 19 authors and then use ellipses after the 19th author's name. After the ellipses, write the name of the last author of the work.

Example: Villa Gracia, A., Meo, A., Camacho Lopez, A., Miguez Santacruz, A., Homo Lopez, A., Marcos Rafael, C., Daza Orozco, C., Rosain, D., Mercado Mercado, E., Alvarez Gandolfi, F., Paula Alejandra, F., Del Vigo, G., Elena, G., Muñoz, J., Banega Peyrot, J., Urbano, K., Diego, L., Guerra, M., Cobos Cobos, T., ... Cerdan Martinez, V. (2018). Visual narratives. Colombia: Fundación Universitaria San Mateo.

Note. This example was taken from the 7th Edition of APA Standards in Spanish.

Examples of References Taken from the 7th Edition of APA Standards in Spanish.

Book: Herrera Cáceres, C. & Rosillo Peña, M. (2019). Comfort and energy efficiency in building design. Universidad del Valle.

Journal: Castañeda Naranjo, L. A. y Palacios Neri, J. (2015). Nanotechnology: source of new paradigms. Nano World. Revista Interdisciplinaria en Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, (12), 45-49.
https://doi.org/10.22201/ceiich.24485691e.2014.12.49710

Newspaper article: Carreño, L. (9 February 2020). The trade union dispute over garment tariffs. El Espectador: https://www.elespectador.com/economia/la-disputa-

trade-union-guild-over-tariffs-tariffs-on-garments-article-903768

Theses or dissertations: Martínez Ribón, J. G. T. (2011) Propuesta de metodología para la implementación de la filosofía Lean (construcción esbelta) en proyectos de construcción [Master's thesis, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.]. http://bdigital.unal.edu.co/10578/

Website: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (October 1, 2018). New data reveals that globally, one in three adolescents is being bullied. https://es.unesco.org/news/nuevos-datos-revelan-que-mundo-cada-tres-adolescentes-sufre-acoso-escolar

Laws and Legal Documents: Ley 1060 de 2006. Por la cual se modifican las normas que regulan la impugnación de la paternidad y la maternidad. 26 de julio de 2006. D.O. No. 46341.

Interviews: If the interview is retrievable, then you will need to choose in which format. It could be an interview available in a YouTube video file, on a website or in a podcast, for example. If it is not retrievable, then you should cite it as a personal communication.

Reports/Reports: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2020). The dynamics of urbanisation in Africa 2020: Africapolis, mapping a new urban geography. West Africa Studies, OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/b6bccb81-en

PDF file: Rodríguez, R. (2019). A guide to combating bullying [PDF File]. https://www.url.com

Book in an Anthology: Strachey, J. (Ed. & Transl.). (1953) La edición estándar de las obras psicológicas completas de Sigmund Freud (Vol. 4). http://books.google.com/books

Dictionary entry: Real Academia Española (n.d.). Cultura. In Diccionario de la lengua española. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://dle.rae.es/cultura?m=form

Seminars, Congresses, Symposia or Conferences: Sánchez, C., Ayala, D. and Bocarosa, E. (17-29 November 2018). Biodiversity and human survival on earth [Keynote address]. United Nations Conference, Sharm, El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Song: Ned, N. (1971). Déjenme Si Estoy Llorando [Canción]. In Si Las Flores Pudieran Hablar. United Artists Records.

Film or TV Series: Avildsen, J. G. (Director) (1976). Rocky [Movie]. Chartoff-Winkler Productions.

APP (mobile application): MH Riley Ltd. (2020). Spending Tracker (23.1) [Mobile app]. Google Play. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mhriley.spendingtracker&hl=-en_US

Podcast: Ramos, L. (Host). (2015-present). Libros para emprendedores [Podcast]. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/show/0qXuVDCYF8HvkEyn|wHULb

YouTube Video: Canal REDMÁS. (September 19, 2017). Antanas Mockus en Confesiones [Video Archive]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/de_4nTCHt/s

X: Obama, B. [@BarackObama]. (January 12, 2016). Real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training they need to land a good-paying job. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/687098814243549185

Facebook: Gates, B. [BillGates] (April 24, 2019). One of the best investments we can make in a child's life is vaccines. Every dollar spent. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BillGates/photos/a.10150331291841961/10156153388201961/

Instagram: NASA [@nasa] (April 10, 2019). In a historic feat by the Event Horizon Telescope and National Science Foundation (@NSFgov), an image of a black hole [Image attached]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFQEn0j7v1/

Wikipedia: 1939 Chess Olympiad. (September 23, 2019). On Wikipedia. https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Olimp%C3%ADada_de_ajedrez_de_1939&oldid=119643209

Power Point: Sánchez, D. (2018). Equipos altamente efectivos sin gerentes [PowerPoint Slide]. http://www.url.com/slides

Bible and Other Religious Works: Reina Valera (1960) http://pray.baboony.com/es/reinavalera/nuevo-testamento/libro-lucas/capitulo-10/

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-59141-000 

Normas APA (February 9, 2019). APA Standards 7th Edition in Spanish. https://normas-apa.org/ 

RECEPTION OF VISUAL WORKS

The Revista de Estudiantes de Ciencia Política includes at least one image in each of its editorial issues (this one corresponds to the cover). To participate, those interested should send an unpublished proposal to the e-mail [email protected], accompanied by a brief description that allows to know who the author is and what is the message he/she wants to give. The proposal will be evaluated by the Editorial Committee and the author will be notified of the decision. In the event that the Editorial Committee decides to publish several works in the same issue, the authorization sent to the author will specify whether his or her proposal will be the one to appear on the cover.

EVALUATION PROCESS

The Journal will inform the authors of the receipt of the articles and their acceptance for publication. Based on a previous evaluation, the Editorial Committee of the Journal makes the final decision on the publication of the articles and reserves the right to suggest formal modifications that the dimensions of the journal or its editorial line may require.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Papers may not be published nor may they be submitted for simultaneous consideration by other publications.