Submissions

Author Guidelines

EDUCA is an interdisciplinary, educational, biannual publication. It considers for its publication original manuscripts related to all thematic areas and of any educational stage, from Early Childhood Education to University, always with a focus within the educational context.

Once the author submits the article for review and publication, if applicable, Ethe authors continue to maintain the rights over the publication of the selected papers. The concepts, judgments and opinions expressed in the articles will be the responsibility of the authors.

Next, the regulations for submitting papers are presented, which are mandatory for all those interested in publishing in EDUCA.

1.- General Standards

1.1 Papers sent for publication must be unpublished and their simultaneous presentation in another journal is not allowed. The authors maintain their rights over the submitted and published works, allowing EDUCA their subsequent transcription, citing the source properly. The journal does not contemplate any type of remuneration for the authors or any type of expense for the authors for submitting their work for peer review or for being the work accepted and published

1.2 EDUCA may receive for publication papers with the full text presented in Spanish or English (or in both languages), the use of both languages ​​being mandatory in the title, abstract and keywords. Authors are offered an inexpensive translation service. The works must be of a precise and clear wording, avoiding ambiguities.

1.3 EDUCA reserves the right to submit all original papers to the Editorial, Scientific Committee and external reviewers designated by them. All the reviews of the articles will be in pairs and double blind system. When necessary, the journal management may request the review of the article by a third or fourth reviewer.

1.4 The accepted papers will be published on the magazine's website and incorporated into the corresponding number and volume.

1.5 The dates of receipt, acceptance and online publication of the work will be, in a mandatory way, at the end of the author's data and before the abstract, on the first page of each article when it is published.

1.6. All authors must comply with the ethical standards and good practices stipulated on the journal's website.

2.- Formats

Authors may present works developed in the field of analytical research (reviews or meta-analysis), experimental research and / or qualitative research. The direction of the journal establishes the following article formats:

2.1. Original articles: Includes experimental, quantitative or qualitative research in the educational field and in any subject area or educational stage. The maximum length of the body of the manuscript will be 6000 words, including up to 40 updated bibliographic references (50% of the last five years) and abstracts in Spanish and English. All references must carry their corresponding DOI, if any.

2.2. Systematic reviews or meta-analysis: Including those of a systematic and narrative nature, it corresponds to updates on a specific topic linked to the educational context. The maximum length of the body of the manuscript is 8000 words, including up to 100 updated bibliographic references (50% of the last five years) and abstracts in Spanish and English. For those of a systematic nature, the use of the PRISMA Statement is required (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyzes, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) http://www.prisma-statement.org/PRISMA % 20Spanish% 20Sept% 202010.pdf.

3.- Bioethical aspects

3.1 All the works presented to EDUCA that involve studies with human beings, either organs and / or tissues in isolation, must expressly respect the updated Norms of the Declaration of Helsinki and comply with the ethical recommendations of the EDUCA Committee, see section in the Web.

3.2 In the illustrative and text material, the / the / student / a should not be indicated, so no names and / or initials should appear. A copy of the authorization of the athlete / student and / or legal guardian must be sent for its publication (informed consent), especially in those cases where people are working with minors.

3.3 Those studies of an experimental nature in living beings must have the authorization of the Bioethics Committee of the institution where the research was carried out, in the "Material and Method" section.

4.- Presentation of the manuscript

4.1. General format of the manuscript

Manuscripts submitted to EDUCA must be written with 1.5 line spacing.

(except the abstract and keywords that will be with single line spacing) and without spacing of the preceding and / or subsequent paragraph, on a DIN4 size sheet (21 x 29.7 centimeters), with 3-centimeter margins on the upper and lower edge and 2.5 centimeters on its right and left edges, in Time New Roman font with 12pt size characters, black ink. The beginning of each paragraph during the text will be marked with a 1.25 point tab, except in the summary. The titles of the sections of the article will be in bold and lowercase (only the first letter in capital letters).

Authors will send only two word files. The first one will bear the title of the article in Spanish and English, the full name and surname of the authors and their affiliations, the corresponding author's email address, and the abstracts and keywords in Spanish and English. This file will be called author data.

And in another word file the full text of the article will be incorporated in Spanish or English and with the title, abstract and keywords in Spanish and English. This file will not contain the data of the authors. This file will be called Full Text.

4.2. AUTHORS DATA file (Includes data on authors, title, abstract and keywords).

- The title of the article must be informative and concise of the work presented, with a maximum of 15 words, in Spanish and English. It will be bold, lowercase and centered. 1.5 point spacing.

- Authors must be clearly identified with their first name and two surnames. These will be located below the title, in lowercase, without bold and centered. The name and surname of each will be placed, separated by a semicolon.

- The affiliation (s) of each author at the time of completion of the work must be located below the authors, if they were all from the same institution, the name of the institution will be placed under the authors, if they were from different institutions, the affiliation of each one will be indicated by numbers and always placed under the authors (see model in articles already published).

- Contact email of the person responsible for the publication. It will be placed under the affiliation, without bold and centered.

- Source of financial support when it corresponds, with the identification of the project and the sponsoring institution.

- The abstract will be placed on a different page, in Spanish followed by the key words separated by semicolons (maximum 5 words preferably using the UNESCO Thesaurus and making sure that those that appear in the manuscript are also incorporated correctly, in quantity and order, in the metadata on the web), and then the summary in English with their respective keywords again separated by semicolons. The total length of the abstract should be no more than 250 words. The abstract should contain one or two lines on the foundation of the work, one or two lines with the objective, one or two lines with the methodology, one or two lines with the results and one or two lines with the conclusions. The works that do not contemplate this will be rejected. The abstract and keywords will have single line spacing.

- The titles of the sections will always be in bold and lowercase.

4.3. Full text file

This file again includes the title, abstract and keywords in Spanish and English and later the full text of the manuscript is attached, applying the regulations that correspond to each type of work.

4.3.1 For original articles they must follow the following structure:

- Rationale: It must present a contextualization of the topic, referencing recent research and clearly establishing the importance or interest of having developed the study. End with the statement of the objective of the investigation in a concrete way. Written in the present tense and third person.

- Methodology: The methods, equipment and procedures must be identified with sufficient detail to allow their reproduction by other researchers. Methods already published should be cited and those that are little known, modified or new should be briefly described. It must include an adequate description of: a) Study design; b) Population of interest; c) Selection criteria; d) Variables; e) Measurement and / or monitoring; f) Statistical analysis; and g) Ethical considerations. Drafted in the third person past tense.

- Results: They must be presented in an orderly and coherent manner, without comments or personal explanations, highlighting the most relevant to the objective of the study. They can be accompanied by a maximum of 6 tables and / or graphs and / or figures when necessary for a better understanding. These will be inserted in their corresponding place in the text. The tables, figures and images will comply with the latest edition APA regulations and will have a legend on the foot.

of the same in the case of images, graphs and figures, and a legend in the upper part in the case of tables. All of them will be numbered with correlative Arabic numerals. Eg Table No. 1. Strength levels of children 12-13 years old.

- Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study, interpreting the results obtained without repeating them. Relate to existing knowledge, pointing out the coincidences and discrepancies with other relevant studies on the subject.

- Conclusions: When the nature of the study and its results allow it. They must agree with the proposed objectives and be supported by the results obtained, thus giving an answer to the proposed working hypothesis. The author must specify in a few lines the contribution to the most prominent scientific community of his work. A final section can be added indicating the limitations of the work and proposals for improvement for future lines of research.

- Limitations of the study and future lines of research: The authors must carry out a self-criticism exercise and comment on the limitations of their work as well as guide future researchers to establish new lines of work.

Rationale, objective / hypothesis / research question, methodology, ethical compliance and good practices, results, discussion, conclusions, study limitations and proposals for improvement and bibliographic references

4.4.2 For review articles

The structure similar to the previous section will be followed, and there may be variations depending on the type of review that is carried out. Therefore, it must be adjusted to the characteristics of the subject to be presented. Reviewers can suggest changes to the structure proposed by the author.

4.4. Bibliographic references

They should be cited as they appear in the text using the latest edition APA regulations. Said regulations will also be used for the citation of authors, placement of tables, figures, images and graphics. Very important, the authors should check in this application https://search.crossref.org/references the DOI of the articles that they have referenced. Once located, they will incorporate them into the bibliographic references. It is mandatory that all references include their DOI, unless they do not have it. References will be placed without numbering. It is mandatory to enter the bibliographic references on the platform in their corresponding section in the metadata. Here the authors must leave a blank space between reference and reference.

4.5. Illustrations, tables and graphs

They must be built in appropriate programs for Word. Tables, charts, graphs, figures and photographs must be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals and be cited without exception in the text between parentheses. Tables will be numbered in this way (Table # 1, Table # 2, etc.) as well as illustrations, graphs, etc. (Figure # 1, Figure # 2, etc.). The legend for the tables will go in the upper part of the same centered, for the rest of the cases it will go in the lower part centered of the figure / image / graphic without bold and in 10-point font and single spacing. All of them will be inserted in their place in the text.

- Tables and graphs must have a title and unusual abbreviations must be explained at the bottom of it.

- Photographs and illustrations must be of an adequate size for correct viewing and a resolution of 300 dpi or dpi (dots or pixels per inch), a 10x7.5-centimeter image should have an approximate resolution of 1200x900 pixels. Any legend in the illustrations must go at the bottom of the illustrations.

4.6. Scientific terms

Scientific terms should not be written in abbreviated form. The units of measurement must be presented rigorously according to the International System of Measurements.

5.- Evaluation

The maximum review time, from receipt confirmation to the first response, will be a maximum of 60 days. The average review time in EDUCA can be consulted on the journal's website, in the statistics section, as well as the percentage of articles accepted and rejected. In any case, EDUCA, complying with its quality criteria, will try to shorten the established times.

5.1 All manuscripts will be submitted to double-blind peer review.

5.2 Originals that do not comply with any of the rules published here, in relation to their presentation, will be returned for correction before being evaluated.

5.3 Each work will be reviewed by at least 2 experts from the area addressed in the work and always anonymously.

5.4 Peer reviewers may suggest rejection, the need for minor changes, major changes or acceptance of the manuscript. In all instances, the authors' appraisals will be communicated to the authors, together with the decisión editorial.

- In case minor changes are requested, the manuscript will be accepted once it includes the requested modifications, without the need for new reviewers.

- In the case of major changes, the manuscript with the modifications will be evaluated by only one of the initial reviewers, this with the aim of providing the greatest coherence and fluidity to the process. This new review will take a maximum of 30 days.

- In the event of rejection, the possibility of resubmitting the modified manuscript or its final rejection will remain at the editorial discretion.

5.5 Accepted papers will be assigned and published in the first issue of the journal that is available and according to the needs of the Journal. The authors will know at the time of acceptance said data and the date of publication

5.6 EDUCA strictly complies with the publication dates of the magazine issues, these being the following for each year: January 1 and July 1. 2 issues are published a year on a semi-annual basis. All users registered in the magazine will receive by email each new issue that is published.

6.- Sending the manuscripts 

The manuscripts must be sent only and directly to the editor of the journal, Dr. Víctor Arufe Giráldez, Editor-in-Chief, for this the author must register as author and reader on the journal's website to later upload the article and consult the process of the same accessing with your passwords.

Guidance for authors and reviewers

In order to clarify and offer transparency to authors and reviewers who send their work to EDUCA or review a work for EDUCA, a series of recommendations are offered below, as a complementary reading to the authors' regulations. .

All articles submitted to EDUCA will be peer-reviewed anonymously. Reviewers will follow these guidelines in rendering their decision. Each section of the article will be scored from 1 to 5 with the following rating scale:

1) Not at all suitable 2) Not very suitable 3) Adequate 4) Fairly adequate 5) Very adequate.

Authors must take these sections into account:

Title: It must be clear, concise and correctly detail the content of the work presented.

Summary: The summary should begin with a brief introduction or contextualization of the problem to be addressed and subsequently the objective of the work is defined. This should be followed by a brief review of the methodology used, after which the authors will highlight the most important findings of their results and end with a brief conclusion. The abstract should not contain abbreviations or bibliographic references.

Keywords: A maximum of 5 words will be incorporated that best define the content addressed, it is recommended to use the UNESCO theaurus.

Rationale: The authors will present in one or two sheets the current state of the subject studied, the citation of relevant and current sources and a variety of studies related to the subject matter is prioritized. The rationale must introduce the reader to the context of the study and end with the hypothesis, research question or objectives of the same.

Methodology: The methodology must detail everything related to the research process, type of study, data analysis, ethical aspects, statistical treatment, ethical aspects, etc.

Results: The results must be closely linked to the objective of the study. Information that is unrelated to the stated objective should not be exposed. They can be presented in multiple ways, through graphics, tables, text ... but always giving priority to their good readability and understanding by the scientific community.

Discussion: The discussion should present the findings for and against by other researchers of the results obtained in the study. A good discussion will be one that uses different authors, various national and international journals and verifies each of the results obtained.

Conclusion: The conclusions should not be very extensive, the authors should carry out a synthesis exercise and link their objective to the results, highlighting the most important of their work.

Limitations of the study and future lines of research: A reflection exercise should be carried out by the authors and describe the weaknesses of the work as well as the possible future lines of work recommended for other researchers with a view to future studies.

Bibliographic references: Only the references cited in the text should be cited. These will follow the latest edition APA standards and will incorporate the corresponding DOI at the end of it.

General data: Work is prioritized in its entirety, and its coherence between all sections, as well as its contribution to scientific advancement in a given field of study.

Originality: The novel nature of the research and the few studies in this field should prevail.

The maximum possible score is 60 points, being necessary to reach a score of 35 points to make the decision to accept it with or without modifications or to re-evaluate it.

The reviewers will take into account the following guidelines in each section:

 Qualification

Something as important as the title must be cared for and pampered, it is surely the section that most Internet users read the most when the article is published, and therefore it must meet the following requirements:

Be clear.

Be concise.

Have an adequate length, neither too long nor too short.

Reflect in two lines what work is hidden behind the manuscript.

Do not use abbreviations or symbols.

Use valid descriptors

Summary

The abstract constitutes, together with the title and keywords, the triad of the article. A well-prepared summary should include a brief reference to each of the important sections of the work, so it will be evaluated if the summary has:

• One or two lines addressing the foundation or contextualization of the work.
• One or two lines addressing the objectives of the work.
• One or two lines with the methodology used.
• One or two lines with the most relevant results.
• One or two lines with the conclusions of the work.

The abstract must not:

• Contain acronyms, acronyms, symbols or formulas or abbreviations, unless their meaning is indicated.
• Include results that are not covered in the article
• Exceed the maximum number of words allowed.
• Incorporate citations or bibliographic references ace.

Keywords

• Keywords must:
• Reflect well the main contents of the work.
• Have a number between 3 and 5 words.
• Try to match the current TESAURUS.
• Appear in Spanish and English.
• Video tutorials to register in the journal and to submit an article

All authors are recommended to view videos on how to upload an article to the platform and how to create a user record.

Scientific dissemination on Social Networks

To ensure greater dissemination of the results obtained by researchers who have submitted their work to the EDUCA journal. EDUCA will disseminate the accepted articles through its social networks of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIN.