Author Guidelines

1. General Requirements

1.1. Use of APA Style Guide (7th Edition)

This journal adheres to APA Style Guide (7th Edition), formally known as Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition. The official text is available at: https://apastyle.apa.org

Failure to follow these recommendations, as well as the journal’s rules and policies, will delay the editorial process and may result in the rejection of the work.

1.2. Originality of the Works

Previously published works or those simultaneously submitted to another journal will not be accepted. Papers previously presented as conference communications may be considered, provided that the presentation was partial, and the paper develops or extends the scope of the research.

Works that have been partially published (for example, methodology, partial results, prior literature review, etc.) may be accepted, as long as this is clearly indicated in the publication.

1.3. Authorship

Only those individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the development of the work will be listed as authors. (See the Authorship Policy).

1.4. Conflict of Interest

Authors of any work submitted to the journal are responsible for acknowledging and declaring any financial or other types of conflicts of interest that could bias the work. In addition to the cover letter, the article text must specify all financial support received that made the research possible, as well as any other economic or personal relationships related to it.

If no conflicts of interest exist, this must also be stated in the article.

1.5. Use of Inclusive Language

This journal actively promotes gender equality and suggests following the recommendations on inclusive language included in our Editorial Best Practices on Gender Equality policy.

2. Manuscript Preparation and Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts, in any of the languages accepted by the journal, must be prepared according to the templates provided by this journal (Download Templates) and submitted electronically through the journal’s website (REIDICS). On this website, authors can also track the editorial process.

The following links provide simple explanations on how to register and submit an article:

Tutorial to register on the journal >>

Tutorial to submit an article to the journal >>

2.1. Types of Contributions

REIDICS publishes the following types of works:

• Original Articles: Quantitative or qualitative research papers. They must follow the structure introduction, method, results, and discussion. These papers should be between 7,000 and 8,000 words.
• Literature Reviews: Reviews and analysis of scientific literature. It is recommended to use a systematic technique and follow the same structure as for original articles. Reviews should be between 7,000 and 8,000 words.
• Reviews: An open section for collaborators to review and discuss editions associated with different institutions or on a personal basis.

2.2. Style and Format Guidelines

All works must include at least two components: the Title Page and the Body of the Article. Authors may also include Appendices with additional information.

Cover Letter

This text should be entered in the “Comments to the Editor” field in Step 1. The following information must be included:

• The title and type of article.
• A declaration that the work has not been previously published, or that it has been partially published or previously presented at a conference. In the last two cases, a full reference must be provided to allow its identification.
• A statement confirming that the work is not currently under review by any other journal.
• Confirmation that the necessary permissions have been obtained for the reproduction of previously published material (if applicable) and that these permissions will be provided to the journal’s editorial committee once the work has been accepted for publication.
• Any potential conflicts of interest or a declaration of their absence.
• Grants or financial support received for the research from which the article is derived.

Title Page

It will be prepared using the manuscript templates and will contain the following:

• Title of the Paper: The title must be as brief, clear, and informative as possible, and should accurately describe the content of the work. It should not exceed 15 words. If the study focuses on a specific population group, that group should be mentioned in the title. The use of acronyms, codes, and symbols that are not commonly used should be avoided. The title must be written in both English and Spanish.
• Author Names and Affiliations: Provide the full names and surnames of all authors, ensuring they are spelled correctly and according to each author’s bibliographic signature. Each author should have a superscript Arabic numeral referencing their affiliation (name of the institution, departments or centers, and country). The ORCID must be included. Do not include academic degrees or professional titles for any of the authors. The email addresses of all authors must also be provided.
• Corresponding Author: Clearly indicate who will be responsible for handling correspondence throughout the evaluation and publication process, as well as after publication. The corresponding email address must be provided.
• Funding: Any financial or material support that contributed to the study must be acknowledged, indicating the organization, agency, institution, or company, along with the project number, agreement, or contract. If no external funding was received, this should be indicated with the phrase “No funding”.
• Conflicts of Interest: Any potential conflicts of interest for each of the signatories must be declared. Conflicts of interest may be work-related, research-related, financial, or moral. The editorial committee may request that this conflict declaration be expanded or detailed if deemed necessary. Likewise, if no conflicts of interest exist, this must be explicitly stated with the word “None”.
• Other Declarations: A statement must be made that all authors have approved the final manuscript and that the manuscript has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, to other journals simultaneously with REIDICS.

Manuscript File

This document must not contain any information that could reveal the identity of any of the authors. It should be prepared using the manuscript templates and must include:

• Title of the Paper: The title must be as brief, clear, and informative as possible, and should accuratelydescribe the content of the work. It should not exceed 15 words. If the study focuses on a specific population group, that group should be mentioned in the title. The use of acronyms, codes, and symbols that are not commonly used should be avoided. The title must be written in both English and Spanish.
• Abstract: The abstract should provide the context or background for the research and must mention its purpose, the basic procedures, the main findings, and the principal conclusions. It should not exceed 250 words.
  The abstract must appear in Spanish, English, and the language of submission, and the translations must be full and accurate.
• Keywords: Keywords should appear after the abstract in the corresponding language, both English and Spanish. A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 keywords should be included to complement the information contained in the title and help identify the work in bibliographic databases.
• Main Text: Original Articles and Reviews should be divided into the following sections:
  • Introduction (including objectives): This should be as brief as possible, aiming to justify the need for the paper. The problem should be framed with current data. Only essential references should be cited. No data or conclusions from the work being published should be included. The final paragraph of the introduction must include the objective(s) of the study.
  • Methods: This section should describe the research setting, the period or duration, the characteristics of the population studied, the selection criteria used, and the techniques applied, clearly explaining how the study was conducted, the design used, inclusion and exclusion criteria, treatment guidelines, statistical analysis, etc., providing enough detail for the study to be replicated based on the information provided.

For reviews, it is essential to describe the bibliographic search in as much detail as possible, including the data sources (bibliographic databases), search terms used, inclusion and exclusion criteria for works, the method for evaluating the quality of the evidence found, and the techniques for assessing the results.

• Results: This section describes the findings obtained with the referenced materials and methods, detailing both positive and negative results. Data can be mentioned in the text or presented in the form of tables or figures. Data from tables or figures should not be repeated in the text. Only important observations addressing the study’s objective should be highlighted.
• Discussion: This section should interpret the results, highlighting the novel and important aspects of the paper and the conclusions derived from them. The observations described should be related to relevant studies. Authors may express their own opinions on the topic. The meaning and practical application of the results should be discussed, as well as their relationship to similar publications, areas of agreement and disagreement, guidelines for future research, and considerations regarding possible study limitations.

The discussion should not become a review of the subject nor repeat concepts that appeared in the introduction. The results of the work should not be repeated either. Unsubstantiated statements and those not supported by data or existing knowledge should be avoided.

The discussion can be combined with the results section as “Results and Discussion”, but both elements must always be included.

• Conclusions: This section should briefly summarize the study´s contributions and indicate any limitations that may influence the interpretation of the results.
• Acknowledgments: This section must list any material or financial support received. The organization, institution, or company providing the support should be named, and, if applicable, the project number assigned should be included. Technical assistance, equipment support, academic collaboration (consultations), or other financial support (scholarships or awards) should also be acknowledged.

Every individual or entity mentioned must be aware of and consent to their inclusion in this section.

• Conflicts of Interest: In addition to being mentioned in the cover letter, the existence or absence of conflicts of interest must be included in the text. This section should also mention any economic or personal relationships that could influence the actions of editors and reviewers.
• References: Only works related to specific sections of the manuscript should be cited. Authors are responsible for thoroughly reviewing the existing knowledge relevant to their research topic. Reviewers will pay particular attention to whether all relevant literature has been evaluated. Preferably, communications and unpublished data should not be cited, though they may be referenced in the text.

References should be presented in APA 7th edition style. Examples can be consulted at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples

Where possible, the DOI identifier should be provided at the end of each reference.

• Tables: Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals and cited in the text in consecutive order. The title of the table should appear above it, and abbreviations, acronyms, or explanations should appear below. Exceptionally, large tables may occupy more than one page. The content should be self-explanatory, and the data included should not be repeated in the text, other tables, or figures.
• Figures: Figures should include all non-tabular material, such as images (morphology, algorithms, histograms, graphs, etc.), and should be cited in the text in consecutive order using Arabic numerals. Figures should be submitted with sufficient resolution and high quality. Captions should be written immediately below the figure, indicating the corresponding number in Arabic numerals. In the case of photographs of minors, the images should be prepared so that they cannot be identified. Figures should preferably be submitted in JPEG or PNG format.
• Numbers and Decimal Points: The use of a period as a decimal separator is recommended, though the comma is also valid. For example, both 10.5 and 10,5 can be used to represent 'ten and a half'.
  Numbers smaller than one should have a zero before the decimal point (e.g., 0.2 instead of .2).

To facilitate the reading of numbers with more than four digits, a space is recommended. For example: 30 000. Neither the period (30.000) nor the comma (30,000) is recommended for this purpose.

• Footnotes/Endnotes: Footnotes or endnotes should not be used unless absolutely necessary.
• Appendices: If there is supplementary material necessary for understanding the work, prepare it as separate files to be sent as attachments.

If the material is subject to copyright or requires prior permission for publication, the appropriate permissions should be submitted as attached files.

If authors deem it appropriate, figures and tables may also be submitted as separate files.