Guide for authors

Guide for authors

Version 2021-3

EDITORIAL POLICY

Praxis emerged in 2001, is a scientific journal attached to the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Universidad del Magdalena, whose primary purpose is to disseminate the publication of contributions in the area of ​​education, the product of educational research and related theoretical, disciplinary developments. The journal has a biannual periodicity and is edited by the Editorial Unimagdalena. Praxis receives articles from research, review, and reflection, whose works can be presented in both Spanish and English. Peer reviewers in a double-blind process, guaranteeing objectivity in the editorial process, arbitrate the articles.

Praxis journal with registration ISSN-L: 1657-4915 / ISSN WEB: 2389-7856, is aimed at teachers, students, researchers and all interested people who wish to submit their contributions. Praxis is available in a digital version with free access at the URL: http://revistas.unimagdalena.edu.co/index.php/praxis, under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, and also has a printed version, which it is distributed in specialized libraries of academic, governmental and non-governmental institutions, without associated costs per publication.

SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES

The reception of the articles is permanent. Authors wishing to publish in the journal should register in the Open Journal System (http://revistas.unimagdalena.edu.co/index.php/praxis) and send the article from there with a letter of intent and approval in which the following should be indicated: Full name (s) of the author (s) and addresses for sending correspondence (it is necessary to place an email address of the author or person in charge with whom we will establish contact) and complete title of the article.

As an alternative option, the author may send this information through the email: praxis@unimagdalena.edu.co

The sending of an article to the journal implies that all the authors have approved it and they agree with its content in the case of being published.

It will be understood that the document submitted to the journal has not been sent, nor is it in the process of being published, nor has it been published in any other scientific journal, that is, it is unpublished and original. Although all contributions will be subject to prior review, the responsibility for the content of the contributions rests with the authors and not with the editors, the advisory editorial committee or the Universidad del Magdalena.

TYPES OF ARTICLES FOR THE JOURNAL

The articles that are submitted for possible publication in the Praxis journal must correspond to one of the typologies considered in the journal.

• Article of scientific and technological research. Document that presents in detail the original results of completed research projects. It is recommended that the structure contain the following sections: Title (in  English and Spanish), abstract, keywords, resumen, palabras clave, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, conflict of interest declaration, acknowledgments (optional) and bibliographic references. Manuscripts of this type must have an extension between 6 000 and 10 000 words.

• Reflection article. Document that presents results of finished research from an analytical, interpretative or critical perspective of the author, on a specific topic, using original sources. It is recommended that the structure contain the following sections: Title (in English and Spanish), abstract, keywords, resumen, palabras clave, introduction, development of reflection, conclusions, conflict of interest declaration, acknowledgments (optional) and bibliographic references. Manuscripts of this type must have an extension between 6 000 and 8 000 words.

• Review article. Document result of an investigation where the results of published or unpublished research are analyzed, systematized and integrated, related to the educational sciences and related disciplinary fields. In a review article, it is required to give an account of the advances and the theoretical and investigative tendencies of a field of study. It is characterized by presenting a careful bibliographic review of at least 50 references, in addition to using original or primary sources for its proper preparation.

The review article should have a logical and purposeful structure that emerges naturally from the careful analysis of all the literature reviewed, and not be structured as a compendium of citations. It is recommended that the structure contain the following sections: Title (in English and Spanish), abstract, keywords, resumen, palabras clave, introduction, method, development of the topic, conclusions, conflict of interest declaration, acknowledgments (optional) and bibliographic references. Manuscripts of this type should have an extension between 8 000 and 10 000 words.

• Editorial. Document written by the editor, a member of the editorial committee or a guest researcher, on guidelines in the thematic domain of the journal and other topics that the committee or editorial team wishes to disclose. The length of the manuscripts must not exceed 1 500 words.

• Letter to the editor. Document written by an author, a reader, or a guest researcher, generally commenting on a work previously published in the journal or transmitting information of interest to readers in the thematic domain of the journal. The length of the manuscripts must not exceed 1 500 words.

• Literature review. Critical analysis of the literature of interest in the thematic domain of the journal. The length of the manuscripts should not exceed 1 500 words.

In each case, the author must indicate the type of article that he postulates for publication through the letter of intent and in the header within the document.

STRUCTURE OF ARTICLES

The articles must be written in Word format, with Times New Roman, 12-point font size, single-spaced, with all margins of 2 cm, without columns and justified alignment.

1) Title. Clear descriptive and not too long, maximum 20 words. It is requested in English and Spanish. The title of the work should be placed in a central position and initial capital letters; the titles of the main sections of the manuscript should be placed in a central position and capital letters; the second rank titles should be placed in an aligned position to the left in initial capital letters and those in the third rank with indentation and capital letters. All titles and subtitles should be set in boldface.

Examples:

Title of work:

Decolonizing research in education

Decolonizar la investigación en educación

Titles of the main sections:

INTRODUCTION

Second rank titles:

Configurations in the education sciences

Third rank titles:

      Reality, the world, and human knowledge

2) Name (s) of the Author (s). The full names should be written, in initial capital letters, in boldface and each author should be distinguished with Arabic numbers in superscript. In the case of several authors, the first name must be that of the main author.

Example:

Marina Sánchez-Sanabria1, France Herrera-Salazar2, María Emma Socarras-Vega3

3) Address of the author (s). The highest level of academic training should be indicated, the institution to which each one of the authors belongs, the electronic mail for correspondence and the ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID.). This information must be complete for all authors.

Example:

1Ph.D. Popular University of Cesar, City Country. Email: marinasanchez@hotmail.com ORCID: 0000-0000-0000-0000

2Ph.D. Popular University of Cesar, City Country. Email: franciaherrera@hotmail.com ORCID: 0000-0000-0000-0000

3Ph.D. Popular University of Cesar, City Country. Email: mariaemmasocarras@hotmail.com ORCID: 0000-0000-0000-0000

4) To quote this article: The way of quoting the article must be indicated.

 Example: 

Viloria, J., Bertel, M. & Daza, A. (2015). Percepciones estudiantiles sobre el proceso de acreditación por alta calidad del Programa de Administración de Empresas de la Universidad del Magdalena. Praxis, x(x), xx-xx.

5) Abstract. an abstract in English should be written, not to exceed 200 words. In the abstract,  the most important aspects of the work will be noted: it must synthetically contain the objectives of the study, a concise description of the methodology, main results, justification and importance, and conclusions. In the abstract, bibliographic references should not be included and should be written in a single paragraph.

6) Keywords. After the abstract, a list of three to six keywords (separated by semicolons) identifying the manuscript will be included.

7) Resumen. The resumen must be a Spanish translation of the abstract in English.

8) Palabras clave. The Spanish translation of each of the keywords will be included.

9) Introduction. The importance of the subject must be indicated, and an updated review of the bibliography pertinent to the work must be presented (suitably referenced sources), to substantiate the working hypothesis and show the proposed objectives.

10) Methodology. The primary materials should be described clearly and concisely, as well as the methods and instruments applied so that the methodological procedure carried out during the study is accurately expressed. In case your method is validated it is enough to quote the related works and reference them in the bibliography. If you use a modified method, the modification must be indicated. You can use different sections under appropriate subtitles (a type of study, population, and sample, techniques and instruments, procedure, data analysis, a statement on ethical aspects, etc.). The information presented in this chapter will be related to the achievement of the proposed objectives.

11) Results. The results must be presented clearly and accurately, including tables, figures and, if necessary, statistical analysis.

12) Discussion. The results obtained must be contrasted with the knowledge registered in the literature, highlighting the contribution of the article for the understanding of the subject treated. The information presented in this part will have a logical and objective order.

13) Conclusions. In any type of article presented, it must be indicated in a precise way, the contributions that come from the work done, making use of the most relevant results, the objectives, and the research problem. The conclusions drawn from the work must be consistent and related to the results presented. Within this section, you can include the recommendations.

14) Acknowledgments. If deemed necessary by the authors, some gratitude may be added for financial contributions, consultancies, donations or any other type of collaboration that made the work possible. If the publication is the result of a research project, it is recommended to write the full name, project number, and name of the funding entity.

15) Declaration of conflict of interest. The authors manifest that during the execution of the work or the writing of the article they have not affected personal interests or those beyond their control, including misconduct and different values from those that the research usually and ethically has.

Praxis journal will only consider articles in which the authors have no conflict of interest. If necessary, the authors will be asked to relate in the manuscript the support received (financial, equipment, work personnel, in kind, etc.) from people or from public or private institutions for the study, as well as the personal or institutional relationships that can affect the driving, the results, the interpretation of the same and the writing of the article.

The declaration of conflicts of interest will be included in the body of the articles. This section will have a main title and will be located before the bibliographic references section.

16) Bibliographical references. At the end of the article a complete list of all the bibliographical references must be included, which will be ordered alphabetically by the surname of the first author of each citation of the document and with French indentation (line spacing 1,5), following the quotation and style of the American Psychological Association (APA), latest version. The accuracy of the bibliographic references is the responsibility of the authors, (remember that all authors cited in the body of the text should be referenced in the bibliography and vice versa). It is necessary to take into account the following rules:

• Quotations in the Text: It is recommended to follow the examples for citations.

  • When the quote corresponds to a document written by a single author, it will be cited as follows: (Ortiz, 2011).
  • When publications written by more than two authors are cited, the surnames will be separated from each other by "&": (Restrepo & Jiménez, 1998). If published in Spanish, they will be separated by "y."
  • When it comes to publications that have three or more authors, the last name of the first author is cited followed by the word "et al." from the first citation. Example: (Hewson et al., 1983).
  • When works by the same author are cited, a letter in sequence attached to the year will be included in the same year. Example: (Restrepo, 1999a, 1999b); to include works by several authors in the same citation, these should be ordered alphabetically: (Bustamante et al., 2000, Jurado, 2001, Restrepo & Jiménez, 1998).

The article should be carefully reviewed to verify that the spelling of the names of the authors and the year are the same in the text and the list of references.

 Use the following format in the Bibliography to cite references:

• Scientific articles:

Surname, A. A. (Year). Article title. Journal name, volume(number), pp-pp.

Examples:
Johnson, L. S. (2003). The Diversity imperatve: Building a culturally responsive school ethos. Intercultural Education, 14(1), 17-30.

Hewson, P. W., & Thorley, N. (1989). The conditions of conceptual change in the classroom. International Journal of Science Education, 11(5), 541-553.

Hewson, P. W., Tabachnick, B. R., Zeichner, K. M., & Lemberger, J. (1999). Educating prospective teachers of biology: Findings, Limitations, and Recommendations. Science education, 83(3), 373-384.

• Online scientific articles:

Surname, A. A. (Year). Article title. Journal name, volume(number), pp-pp. URL

Example:

Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W., & Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Acommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science education, 66(2), 211-227.  http://www.fisica.uniud.it/URDF/laurea/idifo1/materiali/g5/Posner%20et%20al.pdf

• Books with authors:

Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Publisher.

Example:

Aebli, H. (2002). Doce formas básicas de enseñar: una didáctica basada en la psicología (6th edition). Narcea.

• Books with editor:

Surname, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title of work. Publisher.

Example:

Wilber, K. (Ed.). (1997). El paradigma holográfico. Editorial Kairos.

• Chapters of the book:

Surname, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter or the entry. In A. A. Surname. (Ed.), Title of work (pp. ## - ##). Publisher.  

Example:

Crow, G. M. (2011). Professional identities: Developing leaders for interprofessional practice. In J. Forbes & C. Watson. (Eds.), The Transformation of Children Services: Examining and debating the complexities of Inter/professional working (pp. 92-104). Routledge.

• Thesis:

Surname, A. (Year). Title of the thesis [specify if it is an undergraduate, master's or doctoral thesis, name of the institution granting the degree]. 

Example:

Aponte, L., & Cardona, C. (2009). Educación ambiental y evaluación de la densidad poblacional para la conservación de los cóndores reintroducidos en el Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados y su zona amortiguadora [undergraduate thesis, Universidad de Caldas]. 

• Online thesis:

Published in an online database

Surname, A. (Year). Title of the thesis [Undergraduate, master's or doctoral thesis, name of the institution granting the degree]. Name of the digital database. URL

Example:

Kogan Cogan, L. (2014). La insoportable proximidad de lo material: Cuerpos e identidades [Doctoral thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú]. Dissertations & Theses A&I. https://bdbib.javerianacali.edu.co:2519/docview/2398211090/61EA0F09B31D47A2PQ/5?accountid=13250

Published online (not in a database)

Surname, A. (Year). Title of the thesis [Undergraduate, master's or doctoral thesis, name of the institution granting the degree]. Digital file. URL

Example:

Valbuena, E. (2007). El conocimiento didáctico del contenido biológico: estudio de las concepciones disciplinares y didácticas de futuros docentes de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (Colombia) [Doctoral thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid]. Digital file. https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/7731/

17) Tables

  • The maximum number of tables allowed per article is six. Those manuscripts that exceed this number will not be able to start the editorial process.
  • They must be produced in an MS Word or MS Excel table processor with the same font and the font size one point less than the text. Do not use the space bar or the tab key.
  • The tables should be numbered and cited according to their sequence in the text, in correlative order with Arabic numerals and they will have a clear and brief legend in the upper part, which will be the reference of the table. It is recommended that the caption be well-defined and informative, to avoid consulting the text to understand the table.
  • Each table must be inserted in the body of the manuscript and the content of it must be concise and summarized.
  • The information presented in the tables should not appear repeated in the figures.
  • The headings of the columns should be brief, but explanatory Set boldface only in headings (horizontal and vertical). The standard abbreviations of the units of measure should be placed in parentheses.
  • Vertical and horizontal lines should be used to separate the columns and rows. The cells will not carry colors.
  • Any additional explanation for the understanding of the table should be provided as a footnote.
  • When the text is on the left side of the table it should be aligned to the left side, if it is on the right side, it is justified, just like when the table contains only text.
  • When the numbers are on the left side of the table they should be aligned in the central position, if they are on the right side, they should be aligned to the right, and when the table contains only numbers, they will be centered.
  • The design of both the tables and the figures must be uniform throughout the document.

In all tables and figures (without exception) the source should be clarified in the immediately lower part with a 9-points font size. If the figure or table, included has not been published previously and the data was not taken from an external source, it will be placed "Source: own elaboration." If you modify a figure or table already published or extract data from different sources, you will place "Source: own elaboration based on..." and then the names of the authors or institutions following the same citation system as in the body of the text, including the complete publication and location data in the final list of References. In the case of reproducing a previously published figure or table, the source and the respective authorization of the owner of the copyright must be mentioned. Except in cases of images or public domain materials.

Example:

 

18) List of the legends of the figures

  • Like the tables, the figures should be inserted in the body of the manuscript sequentially.
  • Boldfaces should not be used, and both lowercase and uppercase letters will be accented.
  • It is recommended that the legends be informative so that the reader does not need to consult the text to understand what the figure shows.
  •  It is recommended that the explanations or descriptions considered necessary be written in the same legend to avoid text within the figures.

19) Figures

  • The maximum number of figures allowed per article is six, and these should not exceed the size of a page. Those manuscripts that do not fulfill this requirement will not be able to initiate the editorial process.
  • The figures (drawings, maps, sheets, diagrams, computer graphics, and photographs) must be sent in independent files, in high-quality digital graphics format (tiff, bmp, jpg or gif), with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. If possible, it is recommended to send graphics vector files or send the original editable file in MS Excel.
  • The name of the file corresponding to the figure will be that of the first author followed by the number of the figure, e.g., López fig.1.jpg.
  • The figures will be numbered with Arabic numerals according to their sequence of appearance in the text.
  • The figures must be designed taking into account the format of the page of the journal. Its original size should allow a 50 % reduction, without loss of clarity.
  • Composite figures with several images will be listed consecutively. E.g., Figure 1a, 1b, 1c, etc. The drawings must have a comparative scale to determine the increase.
  • The graphics must be presented in a single plane (Do not use 3D effects), without horizontal lines and with a box on the outside.
  • Use the same type of font (Times New Roman 12-point size) in all illustrations and follow the style of the journal.

Example: 

As for the tables and figures, the editorial committee during the process of the article may request the author to make changes to achieve a better quality of the same and in search of a better organization and economy of space.

20) Annexes

• The annexes will only be visible in the digital version of the journal, and these will be listed at the end of the manuscript sequentially (numbered as ANNEX I, ANNEX II, etc.), the structure of this section should be based on the figures or tables as the case may be.

21) Abbreviations

• They are written the first time they appear in parentheses, complete and in their original language. The use of acronyms that are not universally recognized will be limited.

Examples:

United Nations (UN)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

22) Scientific nomenclature

• The scientific names of genera and species should be written in italics. When they are mentioned the first time, they are placed complete, even in the title and abstract (e.g., Diadema antillarum), and then only the initial letter of the genus is capitalized, followed by the full name of the species in italics (e.g., D. antillarum).

• Regarding the decimal figures of the contributions written in Spanish should use a comma (,), and period (.) should use those written in English. In the case of units of a thousand, space must be used, not a period or a comma. When numbers that go from zero to nine are mentioned, they must be written in letters, except for those that indicate decimals, percentage or metric units.

23) Units

• The measurements must be expressed in units of the metric system; space is left between the number and the unit of measurement and should not go after the abbreviation (15 m, 10 %, 20 °C, 7 kg). The units of abbreviated measures should only be used when numbers precedes them.

24) Formulas

• Mathematical equations should be written as editable text and not as images. Present the meaning of all the symbols immediately after the equation in which they are used for the first time.

• For simple fractions use the "/" symbol instead of the horizontal line; For example:  instead of  .

• The equations explicitly referenced in the text must be numbered consecutively on the right side, in parentheses.

• The level of statistical significance must be indicated with the letter "p" lowercase and no space between the sign and the value of significance. Example: p<0.05.

25) Footnotes

• It is recommended to avoid excessive use of footers. These should only be used to expand the relevant information that cannot be included in the text, in the same way, to clarify or provide additional information. They should not be used for bibliographic references and cannot exceed three lines.

26) Copyright

• When the author cites the work of another or reproduces a figure or a table of a book or a journal article, you must ensure that you are not violating production rights (Copyright).

• Although in general, an author can reproduce tables, photographs or other illustrations, he must obtain permission from the owner of the rights. If the owner of the rights is not the author of the cited or reproduced material, it is also recommended to obtain the permission of the author.

• The authors are responsible for getting the necessary permits for the reproduction of texts, figures, tables, photographs or other illustrations, previously published.

• In case the authors have received funding from the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation Colciencias - Colombia, it is necessary to mention the assigned code (information requested by Publindex).

• Material extracted from unpublished letters and articles will not be accepted unless the corresponding permission is obtained.

• Authors should always make an appropriate acknowledgment of any material that is supplied to them. 

• Maximum three textual citations of the same author within each manuscript are allowed, to avoid any situation related to plagiarism.

EVALUATION PROCESS

The reception of an article does not imply the obligation for its acceptance, nor commitment regarding the publication. The editorial team, to verify compliance with the specific rules of the articles, as well as the suitability and quality of the same, will review all papers received with the intention of being published in the journal initially. If the article does not comply with the editorial policies of the journal, it will be returned to the author to make the corresponding adjustments.

Articles that comply with all the guidelines set out in the instructions for authors will be sent to national and international peer reviewers of recognized experience, who will advance the double-blind evaluation process. The evaluators will have a maximum time of two weeks to issue a concept on the article and may make recommendations or request clarifications. According to the results of the peer evaluation, the Editorial Committee will decide whether or not to accept the articles for publication. The journal will send the concepts of evaluation in a period of four to eight months, depending on the number of manuscripts received.

The Editorial Committee will review the evaluations and recommendations of the evaluators and decide whether the article is "Accepted without modifications," "Accepted with modifications" or "Rejected." In any of the above cases, the author will be informed of the results of the review process. The author, according to the comments received, will make the arrangements in his article and send it again for later approval.

In case a positive and a negative evaluation are presented, the article will be sent to a third pair, to define the status of the same.

Accepted articles will go through a process of style correction and layout by the editing team, whose process may be subject to adjustments by the author. When you have the galley proof of the journal, the article will be sent to the authors for review and approval; this step is before printing the corresponding number.

Anti-plagiarism policy

The journal submits all the articles it receives in its calls to the Turnitin plagiarism and originality analysis tool. When a full or high percentage is detected, the text is not sent for external evaluation, and the author is notified of the reason for the rejection; In case of being partial, the latter will be informed so that he can make the adjustments of the case and continue with the editorial process, as long as the requested modifications are made and the ethical standards adopted by the Praxis journal are not exceeded.

Ethics in research and publication is fundamental for the journal, therefore, in the event of plagiarism or copyright violation, the editors will order the cancellation of the review, editorial preparation or printing processes, as the case may be. Consequently, authors who incur in some moral fault will be subject to a sanction determined by the editorial committee of the journal.

The editorial committee of the journal before the identification of a fault may advance one of the following actions:

  • Inform the author and the funding institution about the misconduct, formally notifying him of the fault he has incurred.
  • Report the failure to an organization or higher authority for further investigation.
  • Formal retraction by the author or journal, prior notification to the author, indexing services, and readers.

For more details, consult the Editorial Best Practice Guidelines.

Take into account the following observations when citing and referencing in the article:

- Do not include articles sent for publication that have not been accepted.

- You must take into account when quoting a WEB page and Blogs; these should come from journals or scientific web pages, Example: Ulrichs Web, Redib, DOAJ, International Country, Dialnet, Ebsco, Proquest, among others.

IMPORTANT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT

Exclusive criteria for the acceptance of articles are:

  • The article does not correspond to the thematic-disciplinary field that manages the journal.
  • It does not send the structured document according to the author's guide.
  • Does not use the reference type and APA citation sixth edition (indicated in the manual for authors).
  • It does not send the complete documentation.
  • Does not address the writing in the required support (Word format).

NOTES OF INTEREST:

•  Scientific articles that are strictly original and unpublished will be privileged, either in the Spanish language or in another official language that has high interference in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• The journal will notify the author of the article, received from it, for the start of the evaluation process and its possible publication via email. No certification will be issued when the article is in this phase of the process.

• The journal will publish certifications to the different authors who request it, only if the respective article has completed the editorial process entirely and has been approved for publication.