Submissions

Author Guidelines

Guidelines of the journal South Sustainability

All the requirements for preparing your manuscript are listed below. If you wish to review the details of our peer review process, please access through this link. Also, please review our open-access policy and copyright statement.

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.

Please, check the aims and scope of our journal in this link.

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.

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. To declare your affiliation you can follow the following model: Institution, Department, postal address (include country and postal code). 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; use the CRediT author statement guidelines.

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.

4. TYPES OF ARTICLES

 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. In this section, all ethical precautions taken for the execution of the research should be indicated (review by an ethics or bioethics committee, informed consent, compliance with legal regulations - collections, entry into reserved areas, or others that merit it, please carefully check our ethical statement).
• 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; use the CRediT author statement guidelines.
• 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.

Review Article

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)
3. Include all the formal requierements of the Title page.
4. When necessary, indicate all ethical precautions taken for the execution of the research (review by an ethics or bioethics committee, informed consent, compliance with legal standards - collections, entry to reserved areas, or others that merit it, please carefully check our ethical statement)

 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. Include all the formal requirements of the Title page.

 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. Include all the formal requirements of the Title page.

When necessary, indicate all ethical precautions taken for the execution of the research (review by an ethics or bioethics committee, informed consent, compliance with legal standards - collections, entry to reserved areas, or others that merit it, please carefully check our ethical statement).

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. 

Use this structure:

• Introduction
• Focus and discussion
• Conclusions and recomendations
• Include all the formal requierements of the Title page.

When necessary, indicate separately all ethical precautions taken for the execution of the research (review by an ethics or bioethics committee, informed consent, compliance with legal standards - collections, entry to reserved areas, or others that merit it please carefully check our ethical statement).

 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 type 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)