Submission guidelines and rules for authors
Before making your submissions, check the thematic coverage of our journal in the editorial policies found in this LINK.
About the peer review process
Guarantees of evaluation
Utopía y praxis latinoamericana uses a peer-review system in double-blind format. This means that the articles will be received and sent for evaluation by a competent person in the area. The article sent will not have name, academic degree or institutional affiliation of who wrote it to avoid subjectivities in the evaluation. In the same way, no information of who evaluates will be given to authors to avoid communication between the parties. It is assured that only professional evaluators with the same or higher academic degree than the holder of the work presented for evaluation officiate.
All the recommendations made in the evaluation will be communicated through the Executive Editor of the journal. It will be revealed in no instance who evaluated a particular article.
About the evaluation process
The evaluation of the postulated works begins with the sending of the documents to our journal through utopraxislat@gmail.com.
The first stage of evaluation is exclusively relevante to the directory of the journal that will establish whether the proposals are of interest or not for Utopía y praxis latinoamericana. This is done under the criteria of our editorial line and the decision is irrefutable. Once it is considered to be of interest, all indicators of authorship will be removed from the document and sent to a minimum of two academic pairs with expertise in the area so that they will evaluate according to the criteria indicated in our evaluation guide.
The postulated works must have both positive evaluations to be published. In the cases that both evaluations reject it, this work is discarded irrefutably. In the cases of controversy in which one evaluation approves it and the other one disapproves it, a third evaluation will be used to resolve the conflict.
The possible results will be: 1) accepted, 2) rejected and 3) accepted with modifications. The rejections are unappealable and the person will have to present, if s/he wishes, another work. Papers accepted with modifications do not ensure their publication, this will only materialize if the modifications are applied in the time indicated for that purpose. If the latter is not fulfilled, the work will be rejected.
Presentation of original paper
The following aspects are considered to be especially important: The title must be concise and directly relevant to the theme studies. Sub-titles are not acceptable. The abstract must describe the central idea of the research and consider its relationship with the objectives and methodology that support it, and be no longer that 100 words. Four key words in alphabetical order must accompany the abstract. The abstract must be written in both Spanish and English. The abstract must be structured in the following manner: Introduction or presentation, general explanation with titles and subtitles, general conclusions and up-dated and specialized bibliography. All of the bibliographical references and notations must be included in footnotes, and numbered in sequence, according to the indications in the section that follows. The recommended lettering font is Arial Narrow 12, spaced 1,5. In addition to Spanish, studies, articles, essays, notes, debates, interviews and bibliographical reviews can be presented in Portuguese, French, Italian and English. An electronic support copy (“.doc”, “.docx” o “rtf”) e-mail: utopraxislat@gmail.com.
Journal sections
--Regular sections--
Artículos (Papers)
Precise research of a monographic nature, preferably the result of partial or final research where a reflexive and critical argument in relation to certain theoretical or practical, methodological or epistemological problems is raised and the area of study is explored. The length should not to exceed 20 pages.
--Occasional sections--
Estudios (Studies)
Exhaustive research of a monographic nature oriented towards one or several objectives treated in an inter- or trans-disciplinary manner, and developed from an epistemological paradigm. Emphasis is made on critical analysis and interpretation. The article must not to exceed 40 pages.
Notas y debates de actualidad (Up-dated notes and debates)
This is a relatively monographic paper, in which opinions and critical judgements are made in reference to problems and difficulties encountered in re- search processes and results. The length should not to exceed 10 pages.
Librarius (Bibliographical Reviews)
These are collaborative paper that update bibliography, gathering the principle results of national and international research in the form of an individual or collective publication. They emphasize critical analysis on diverse levels (theoretical, methodological, epistemological, political, social, etc.) where the impact of this research can be demonstrated. These papers should not to exceed 5 pages.
Ensayos (Essays)
Original and personal interpretations, which do not follow the rigid formalities of a monograph, and allow an experienced researcher to present theoretical up-dated postures and to transcend the normal forms of thought and paradigms that are developed in the respective discipline or thematic area. The paper should not to exceed 15 pages.
Interviews
These are the results of interrogative conversations with recognized theorists and researchers in relation to particular aspects of their research and the results of the same which provide the interested community with new information and knowledge in their fields.
Interlocutions
The editorial profiles of this section are transversal between the various disciplines of the social sciences, which allows addressing relevant issues that, due to their novelty, require dissemination among international research networks. Its main objective is to publish discursive practices with another understanding of the current problems of the social sciences from practical-instrumental edges from emerging experiences that can transform in their praxis the subjective relations of coexistence that are developed in the public space. The interest and purpose is to hominize the world of life that serves as sustainability for the rationality of the 21st century. We call the editorial line that worked in the section the service for disseminating scientific knowledge from Latin America to the world. Its objective is to expand coverage in terms of dissemination in the area of social sciences in general. By this we mean that we attend to an unsatisfied demand that could not be covered through the declared editorial profiles, but that through these new editions we manage to expand by making it possible to insert authors from multiple countries.
Format for bibliographical quotations
These references refer only to quotations from articles, books and chapters of books that are specialized and arbitrated by an editorial committee or evaluated by an editorial text re- view committee (university or publishing house), of recognized prestige in the thematic area of the research topic. General references from encyclopedia, dictionaries, historical texts, remembrances, proceedings, compendiums, etc. should be avoided.
Citations
They must follow the format (Surname: year, p. number page). Example: (Freire: 1970, p. 11).
Quotations from journal articles should follow the model below
- VAN DIJK, T.A. (2005). “Ideología y análisis del discurso”, Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana, 10 (29), Abril-Junio, CESA, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, pp. 9-36.
Quotations from i) books and ii) book chapters, should follow the model below
- PÉREZ-ESTÉVEZ, A. (1998). La materia, de Avicena a la Escuela Franciscana. EdiLUZ, Maracaibo.
- BERNARD, B (2001). “El eterno retorno de una Filosofía Antihegemónica”, In: Estudios de Filosofía del Derecho y de Filosofía Social. Vol. II. Libro Homenaje a José Manuel Delgado Ocando. Tribunal Supremo de Justicia. Colección Libros Homenajes, nº.4. Caracas. pp. 211-251.
In reference table: publications on web pages
IMPORTANT: Books and digital articles found on the web are cited exactly the same as the printed versions.
Publications on web pages
- If the author is known: SURNAME, FIRST LETTER OF NAME, “Title”, date of publication if it exists. Url
Legal norms
- By appointment: (Standard number, country)
- In reference table: Number of the standard. Entity that issues it. Country.
IMPORTANT: When making your bibliography (table of references), separate it into two groups: 1) scientific journals and 2) others. The former are exclusively publications of scientific journals, the latter are all other types of references such as books, newspapers, theses, etc.
NOTE: In the case of various authors, name them all in order of appearance. If there is any other type of quotation, the Editorial Committee reserves the right to adapt it to this gen- eral norm. Research publications and collaborative research efforts including appendices, tables, graphs, etc. will not be published. Any exception to this ruling must be discussed and approved by the Editorial Committee.
Evaluation of Collaborative Efforts
All studies, papers, essays, notes, debates and interviews received by the journal will be arbitrated by members of national and international arbitration committees who are well known internationally for their professionalism and knowledge in their respective fields of learning. Their decisions will not be made public. Publication of articles requires the approval of at least two arbitrators. According to the evaluation norms, the following aspects will be taken into consideration: originality, novelty, relevance, theoretical and methodological quality, formal structure and content, grammatical competence, style and comprehension, results, analysis, criticism, and interpretations.
Presentation and rights of authors and co-authors
Studies and Articles can be presented by one author or two co-authors. The principal author must sign the letter of presentation and direct it to the Editorial Committee, requesting the evaluation of the article for possible publication. A brief curriculum vitae should accompany the request (one for each author in the case of co-authors), and indicate personal and institutional information, as well as most recent publications. The copyright becomes the property of the University of Zulia. For reproduction, re-prints and re-editions of the article by any mechanical or electronic means, permission must be requested from the University of Zulia. The authors will receive an electronic copy of the journal plus the respective publication certifications.
You can download a model file to build your paper. Click HERE to download.