Submissions

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Author Guidelines

Guideline of the journal South Sustainability for the authors.

  1. Formal requirements.

    When submitting your manuscript, you must submit 1) the text of the article, 2) the cover letter of the manuscript (click here to see a model and the minimum information required), and 3) the figures or tables according to the indications for the authors (see details below). SEND THE THREE COMPONENTS SEPARATELY.

    The journal will not accept previously published manuscripts (not originals, except preprints). Manuscripts with a percentage greater than 20% of coincidence in Turnitin will be observed. If you are submitting a manuscript product of a public access thesis, ensure that the submitted manuscript does not coincide more than 20% with the original manuscript.

    The text could be in English or Spanish language. The title, abstract, and keywords must be submitted in both languages. 

    The text must use standard fonts (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri…), size12. The use of hyperlinks or other advanced options on the word processor must be avoided. The symbols and acronyms used should be consistent throughout the text. The use of the units of measurement of the International System and their symbols will be prioritized (except in cases such as the temperature where Celsius grade and its symbol will be used: °C). The maximum lengths for each type of publication must also be taken into account and are listed below in table 1.

    Figures should be sent in TIFF or JPG format with a minimum resolution of 300ppp (600ppp recommendable). Draws, images, maps, photography, or graphics are all considered figures. Each figure should be accompanied by its own numbering (Arabic numbers), a short and descriptive title, and the legend and abbreviations explanation that helps the understanding of the figure.

    On the other hand, the numbering (Arabic numbers) and the titles for the tables should be placed above them. The abbreviations or symbols must be clarified at the bottom of the table.

    During the entire editorial process no payment or fee will be requested, the publication of articles in this journal is free of charge.
  2. Title page.

    In the upper right must be clearly indicated the category of the paper: Original research article, Short original research article, Review, Methods, Policy Brief, Letter to the editor or Editorial.

    Moreover, it should be included:

    I - A descriptive and clear title with a maximum of 20 words in Spanish and English.

    II - Under the title, it must be shown the names (Surname, Name) of the authors. Unless the author suggests any particularity, the first name and the first surname of each author will be used. For more information about authorship and the order of the authors check the Authorship criteria in the section About the journal.

    III - The affiliations where the research was conducted (department/faculty/etc, institution, city, country) for each author. "Present address" can be indicated in case the author has moved since the work described was done. In addition, during the submission process, the ORCID code of the authors (about ORCID) will be requested.

    IV - E-Mail of each author indicating who is the corresponding author.

    V - Not segmented abstract with the main points of the research (objective, materials and methods, results, and conclusions). It should be clear and simple, and it must be written both in Spanish and English. Optionally a scheme or image that helps to understand the theme of the article can be included.

    VI - Include 4 to 6 keywords related to the investigated topic must be included, also in both languages.
     
    VII - Indicate the author's Contribution. Indicate the contribution of each author.
     
    VIII - Indicate the Source of financing. In the case that it was a self-financed work, indicate it.
     
    IX - Potential conflicts of interest. If there is not, indicate it.
  3. References 

    The important references and the references read by the authors must be included. The references must follow the Harvard format (Author-date system for the citation and the bibliographic references have a listed format ordered by author and publishing year in a section at the end of the paper).  The author is responsible for the accuracy of the references and citation information, for example, that all the cites must appear in the references section and vice versa. References to papers published in peer-reviewed journals (original research articles, reviews, etc.) and books should be given priority over references to thesis or similar works.

    Preferentially the references should include the DOI when available. Example:

    -Cite in text: (Merrill and Mech, 2003)

    -Reference: Merrill, S. B. and Mech, L. D. (2003) ‘The usefulness of GPS telemetry to study wolf circadian and social activity’, Wildlife Society Bulletin, 31(4), pp. 947–960. doi: 10.2307/3784439.

    It is highly recommended to use a bibliographical manager like Mendeley.

    More information about Harvard style or also here.

     

    TYPES OF ARTICLES
  4.  Original articles

    1. -Abstract: Maximum 250 words.
    2. -Main text: It must be divided into different sections: Introduction; Materials and Methods; Results; and Discussion. Results and Discussion can be combined or kept separate. Further divisions by subheadings are allowed in all the sections except for the introduction.
    • Introduction: a brief explanation about the present knowledge about the field of research, from general to specific. This section ends with a summary of the objectives and conclusions of the research in the last paragraph.
    • Materials and methods: The materials and methods used during the work must be explained, with sufficient information to allow an independent researcher to reproduce the work. The methods that were already published should be stated and referenced. Modifications from a previous method must be described.
    • Results*: The discovery must be explained clearly. Tables and figures must be included when necessary.
    • Discussion: The results should be interpreted appropriately and must not be a simple repetition of the results. Statistical analyses are included when necessary. The main results are compared with previous studies and the conclusions are explained.
    • Acknowledgments (optional) and funding information should be included
    • Authorship contribution: Role of each author in the research.
    • Conflict of interest: The authors must include information about any relation or condition either institutional or economical, that could affect the unbiased interpretation of the work. When no conflict of interest exists it has to be indicated too.
    • References: All the references must be cited in the text and vice versa in alphabetic order.

* It is recommended to write the Results and Discussion sections separately; however, they could be merged into one (Results and Discussion) whenever the article needs it. The jury and the associated editors will evaluate the relevance of this merger.

  1.  Article review

    1. -Abstract: Maximum 250 words.
    2. The review articles consist of a clear and concise presentation of the recent literature (or state of art) about the field by an expert (or more than one). The main body of the text can be distributed on: Introduction, optional subhead with the main contributions to the area, conclusions, and references. The number of references must be enough, according to the length of the text (recommended at least 30 references)
  2.  Short research article

    It follows the same structure as Research articles but with a limit in the maximum number of words and figures/tables. The limits can be checked in Table 1.

  3.  Methods

    An article, where a new and original methodology to resolve a scientific problem, is detailed. It also makes a comparison with the previous methodologies.

  4. Policy briefs 

    Short article (up to 1 500 words) that communicates the most important evidence of an area to non-specialized readers (such as political actors or policy-makers) raising the main conclusions and recommendations to support future decision making. 

    For more information, you can check here or also here.
  5.  Letters to the editor

    Section where the readership can make comments about previous journal publications. A replica from the mentioned author is admitted, if that were the case. Preliminary works can be also included when under some circumstances it could not be included in other sections of the journal.

                     Table 1. Length and kind of publications.

     

     The maximum length of the document, without include references.

  • Self-archiving policy

Authors are permitted to deposit all versions of their paper in an institutional or preprint repository.

  • Preprint
  • Author’s Accepted Manuscript
  • Published article (Version of Record)

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The submission file is in OpenOffice or Microsoft Word file format.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all the figures and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author/s Guidelines
  • Whenever possible, URLs for the references are provided. Preferably by using DOI.
  • The submission meets the focus and scope of the journal described in the section About the journal
  • The submission has not been previously published (with the exception of preprint servers like Open Preprint Systems), nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor). Once submitted, the author agrees not to send the paper to other journal until the conclusion of the editorial process.
  • In the case of preprint publication, it must be communicated to the editorial team of the journal when submiting.

Original article

Original research article

Review

Review articles

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