About the Journal

Focus and Scope

ESPIRAL publishes research articles, interviews, reports, chronicles and literary texts in Spanish, Portuguese and English languages. ESPIRAL publishes contributions within the subject scope of the Social Sciences, as a major subject area, and Education Sciences, as a specific area. ESPIRAL is especially focused on articles dealing with teaching and research on educational and pedagogical issues, preferably pertaining to the following lines: pedagogical subjects and processes, environmental education and sustainable development, society, education and culture, policies and curriculum management in higher education, ICTs and distance education.

Espiral, Revista de Docencia e Investigación is recognized by Publindex and indexed in Fuente Académica (Fuente Académica, Premier, Plus) and in Latindex. Also, it is visible in Google Scholar.

Peer Review Process

Peer Review Process

Upon receiving the articles, the Editorial Committee will evaluate the essential compliance of the requirements. Those are:

  1. Structure of the text.

  2. APA citation style.

  3. Anti-plagiarism Software (Turnitin) approved by the Center of Investigations of Santo Tomás University, Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Once the article has fulfilled these requirements, it will be selected for arbitration, in double-blind form. Also, considering the concept of the Scientific Committee, it will be determined whether an article will be published or not.Once the article has fulfilled these requirements, it will be selected for arbitration, in double-blind form. Also, considering the concept of the Scientific Committee, it will be determined whether an article will be published or not

The results of the evaluation will be announced through a letter of acceptance, acceptance with changes or rejection which will be sent to the authors by email.

If the work is accepted and changes are requested, the authors have within three weeks to work on them. After assessing the changes the author will be informed about the final approval and publication dates via email. During the evaluation times, the Editor may contact the author via e-mail and personal calls.

The Editorial Board shall decide which texts may be published in future issues and reserves, also, the decision on copyediting and modifications to adjust the texts according to the editorial line of the magazine, when deemed necessary.

Responsibilities of academic-peer reviewers and privacy.

  1. Peer evaluators define whether a text is publishable or not. If it is not, they should provide sufficient reasons to support the rejection. In all cases they should guide the authors to improve the text submitted to the Journal, in absolute confidentiality.

  2. Peer evaluators should accept those texts which have sufficient competence, experience and knowledge to develop the responsibilities expected from them.

  3. Peer evaluators must avoid any conflict of interest identified in reference to the text that has been sent to them.

  4. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public will encourage a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Publication Frequency

Scientific articles, educational chronicles, reviews, interviews and literary texts will be published in ESPIRAL, journal of Teaching and Research, which has semiannual edition, once they have been reviewed by the Editorial Committee, they will send them to two peer reviewers.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate access with no costs to its contents in accordance to the principle of granting free of charge access to research, which increases the exchange of global knowledge.

Author Guidelines

ESPIRAL, Journal of teaching and research, is published twice a year. It opens spaces so there can be diverse interdisciplinary views about Education and Pedagogy, such as scientific articles, interviews, reports, chronicles, reviews, literary texts and images (photographs, paintings, drawings, etc.) to recreate educational processes, representations and dierent elements of everyday life and the subject of education.

ESPIRAL is published in Spanish, but it also may publish works in other languages, in its original version, when the Editorial Committee and the Scientific Committee determine so.

TEXT TYPOLOGY

Works received should have these features:

  1. Research article This text shows, in detail, the original results of completed research projects in education or pedagogy. The structure usually contains four important elements: introduction, methodology, results and conclusions. This type of article is the dominant text type of ESPIRAL, Journal of Teaching and Research of CEE.

  2. Reflective article
    Text that shows completed research results, from an aesthetic, analytical, interpretative or critical author or authors' view on a specic topic using original sources and arguments of fact, reasoning, authority and examples.

  3. Review article
    Document resulting from a completed investigation which analyzes, systematizes and integrates research ndings, published or unpublished, on a field of education, science or technology, in order to account for the progress and development trends. It is characterized by a careful bibliographical review of the literature of at least 50 references.

  4. Educational Chronicle
    The chronicle is the type of text where the structure consists of narration, description and statement, answers in a scientic and aesthetic way to the treatment of the characteristics that teaching and student practices in educational institutions have. To create educational chronicles, authors are encouraged to use tools such as interviews and collections of life stories that after a while will become chronicles.

  5. Bibliographic review
    It is the ESPIRAL, Journal of Education and Research editorial policy to promote writing reviews because it is considered that this type of text presents a structure that encourages critical and analytical performance of the reader-researcher teacher. When designing a review as a brief critical note about written statements, such as books, projects or monographs on education and pedagogy-, the journal aims to set up a bank of reviews which will be a useful analyzed bibliography for readers.

    Each review must be accompanied by a data sheet of the book or material of the review. It must include: title, author, year of publication, city of publication, publisher.

  6. Tales, poems and stories
    ESPIRAL, Journal of Teaching and Research invites teachers to write poems, stories and tales that address issues or problems related to pedagogical exercise, with everyday educational and avatars of academic life in all its spaces.

    Marina Mayoral says "the novel is like a slow poison and the tale, like a penknife". Here it is the first characteristic of a short story: it should give a concise, deep, and intense reality. Horacio Quiroga, author of excellent tales, advises: "Do not start writing without knowing from the rst word where you go. In a well done story, the rst three words are almost as important as the last three." In the story, all elements must be interrelated from the beginning to the end in order to achieve its objective: to catch the reader's attention.

  7. Interviews and reports
    This section is a space to give voice to people with authority in the educational field who have made significant contributions to the development of teaching and education in all its areas. Unpublished interviews that guide the educational direction of Espiral readers and approach them to the characters as human beings.

    The interview follows this structure: Introduction (presentation), question-answer and closing. The report, meanwhile, is an interview with narrative structure.

  8. Images
    Besides articles, ESPIRAL receives photographs, paintings, watercolors, drawings and all forms of artistic expression on Education and Pedagogy, its processes, its actors, daily life in institutions, among others.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION

Length and format

Papers must be submitted in digital format, in Word format, Times New Roman 12, single spaced. The maximum length is twenty-five (25) pages, including tables, graphs and illustrations. The final list of references is not included in the maximum length mentioned.

Originality

All work must be unpublished and not simultaneously be subject to evaluation by other means of dissemination.

Structure of the papers

Research, reection and revision papers must have the following elements, as well as the elements required for the specific type of document:

  1. Title.

  2. Name of author, academic degrees and the institutions that granted them, the academic institution where he/she is currently working and email.

  3. Summary of 150 words minimum and 250 words maximum, in both Spanish and English, which presents the central thesis of the article and the research methodology.

  4. Keywords: five words that express the content and a guidance of the article.

  5. Organized Content, in case of research articles in: introduction, methodology, results or findings and conclusions. Reflective and review articles will also have an introduction and conclusion, but they'll show their thesis according to the authors' criteria.

  6. References: The list of the authors and texts that are quoted in the article, presented according to the APA style.

The educational chronicles, interviews, stories, poems, stories and tales should only include, besides the elements of these types of text, the information mentioned in numbers 1 and 2.

Notes, quotes and references

The quotations and bibliographical references are presented according to the APA style (American Psychological Association), in its latest update (6th Edition).

Some general rules to consider:

Citations.

The APA Manual and its standards use an Author-Date citation system, and priority is always given to page number for textual citation and paraphrasing

O Textual or direct citations:

They reproduce exactly the material, without changes or additions. Indicate the author, year and page number. If the cited source has no pagination, then the paragraph number is written. If the quotation has less than 40 words, it is placed as part of the text body, between quotation marks and at the end the reference data are indicated in parentheses

Examples

  • In analyzing the results and according to Machado (2010): "All participants ..." (p.74)

  • In analyzing the results of previous studies we find that: "All participants ..." (Machado, 2010, p. 3005)

If the citation has more than 40 words, it should be written in a separate paragraph, without quotation marks, aligned to the left and with a margin of 2.54 cm or 5 tab spaces. All citations must be double-spaced.

Examples

  • Machiavelli (2011) in his work The Prince states the following:

    Men, when they receive good from him of whom they were expecting evil, are bound more closely to their protector. Thus, the people quickly become more devoted to him than if he had been raised to the principality through their support (p. 23)

  • It is easier for the prince not to oppress the people and to rule for them, because:

    Men, when they receive good from him of whom they were expecting evil, are bound more closely to their protector. Thus, the people quickly become more devoted to him than if he had been raised to the principality through their support (Machiavelli, 2011, p. 23)

O Indirect citations or paraphrases

In these cases, the idea of another author is reproduced in its own words. They follow the rules of the textual citation, except for the use of quotation marks and quotations in a separate paragraph.

Examples

  • According to Huizinga (1952) proper characteristics of the nobility are the good customs and distinguished ways, in addition the practice of justice and the defense of territories for the protection of the people.

  • Thus appear the great monarchies of Spain, France and England, which attempted to seize European hegemony by engaging in war on various occasions (Spielvogel, 2012, p.425).

The only case where the page number is deliberately omitted is in paraphrasing, and only when summarizing various ideas expressed throughout a work and not a particular idea easily located in the source cited

Other citation standards:

  • Two authors: Machado and Rodríguez (2015) state... or (Machado and Rodríguez, 2015, p.25).

  • O Three to five authors: when they are cited for the first time all names are given, after that only the first and “et al.” is added. Machado, Rodríguez, Álvarez and Martínez (2015) assert that... / In other experiments the authors found that... (Machado et al., 2015).

  • O Six or more authors: from the first citation, only the last name of the first one is given followed by “et al.”

  • Corporate or institutional author with acronyms or abbreviations: in the first citation, the full name of the organization is given and then the abbreviation can be used. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, 2016) and then OPEC (2016); World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) and then WHO (2014).

  • Corporate or institutional author without acronyms or abbreviations: Instituto Cervantes (2012), (Instituto Cervantes, 2012).

  • Two or more works in the same parentheses: they are sorted alphabetically following the order of the list of references: Many studies confirm the results (Martínez, 2012; Portillo, 2014; Rodríguez, 2014 and Zapata, 2015).

  • Secondary sources or a citation within another citation: Carlos Portillo (quoted in Rodríguez, 2015)

  • Ancient works: ancient and well-known religious texts. (Quran 4:1-3), Luke 3:2 (New Testament). They are not included in the list of references.

  • Personal communications: personal letters, memoranda, electronic messages, etc. Manuela Álvarez (personal communication, June 4, 2010). They are not included in the list of references.

  • Undated source: “n.d” should be placed in brackets: Alvarado (n.d.), Bustamante (n.d.).

  • Anonymous source: the first words of the title of the cited work are written (Management Report, 2013), Lazarrillo de Tormes (2000).

  • Citations of the same author with the same date of publication: in these cases, letters are placed at the year of publication to make a difference (Rodríguez, 2015a), (Rodríguez, 2015b). They are sorted by title alphabetically in the list of references.

List of References

It is organized alphabetically and the first line is indented on the left

  • Book: Last name, A. A. (Year). Title. City, Country: Editorial.

  • Book with editor: Last name, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title. City, Country: Editorial.

  • E-Book: Last name, A. A. (Year). Title. Retrieved from http://www...

  • Electronic Book with DOI: Last name, A. A. (Year). Title. doi: xx

  • Chapter of book: only in cases of compilatory books and anthologies where each chapter has a different author and a compiler or editor: Last Name, A. A., and Last Name, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter or entry. In A. A. Last name. (Ed.), Title of the book (pp. xx-xx). City, Country: Editorial.

  • Periodical publications in printed format: Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B, and Last name, C. C. (Date). Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume (number), pp-pp.

  • Periodicals with DOI: Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B. and Last name, C.C. (Date). Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume (number), pp-pp. doi: xx

  • Periodical publications online: Last name, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume (number), pp -pp. Retrieved from http://www...

  • Newspaper article in printed format: Last name, A. A. (Date). Title of the article. Name of the newspaper, pp -pp. For the version without author: Title of the article. (Date). Name of the newspaper, pp-pp.

  • Newspaper article online: Last name, A. A. (Date). Title of the article. Name of the newspaper. Retrieved from http://www...

  • Theses: Last name, A. A. (Year). Thesis title (Undergraduate dissertation, master or doctoral thesis). Name of institution, Place.

  • Online thesis: Last name, A. A. and Last name, A. A. (Year). (Undergraduate dissertation, master or doctoral thesis). Retrieved from http://www...

  • Reference to websites: Last name, A. A. (Date). Name of the website. Place of publication: publishing house. Retrieved from http://www...

  • Sources on CDs: Last name, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of the work (edition) [CD-ROM]. Place of publication: publishing house.

  • Motion picture: Last name, P. P. (Producer), & Last name, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.

  • TV series: Last name, P. P. (Producer). (Year). Name of the series [television series]. Place: Producer.

  • Video: Last name, A. A. (Producer). (Year). Name of the series [Source]. Place

  • Podcast: Last Name, A. A. (Producer). (Date). Name of the podcast [Audio podcast]. Recovered from http://www...

  • Online forums, list of electronic addresses and other online communities: Author, (Day, Month, Year) Message title [Description of form] Retrieved from http://www...

Taken from: http://normasapa.net/2017-edicion-6/

Illustrations and images accompanying articles or other texts.

When the authors of articles or other texts want to use illustrations (which can be graphics, drawings, diagrams and charts, etc.), they will be required to attach a separate le and match them by setting the number of the page where they should be included. The charts will be presented in Word or Excel format.

The images will also be submitted as separate les in TIF or JPG format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. A list of illustrations and / or pictures with the number of the page where they should be included, must be attached.

Images copyright

It is about those images whose author works as an illustrator for the journal but not as a writer. All images will be presented as separate les in JPG or TIF format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. A list of the images presented with a description of them must be attached.

Submission

All papers will be sent to the Editor (a) of the magazine via email to the address revistaespiral@ustabuca.edu.co . They must be accompanied, in all cases, of the Declaration of originality, the cession of rights of the written work or image, signed by the author or authors (each author must sign), and the Curriculum Vitae of the author or authors, in the formats established by the journal.

The documents will not be returned so it is recommended to keep the original ones.

Publishing and copyright

The authors of the articles accepted to be published, transfer proprietary rights to Espiral, Journal of Teaching and Research for the partial reproduction of the published work in electronic media (websites, indexes, directories), as long as their purposes are academic but not commercial.

ESPIRAL Code of Ethics

Responsibilities of ESPIRAL, Journal of Teaching and Research.

  1. ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal agrees to receive the submitted article and to check if it meets the identity criteria and also the first editorial filter. If that is the case, to send it to peers, experts on the subject addressed by the author, to collect their comments and proposals and to submit them to the author. Once this process is done, we commit to schedule publication of the article, and to take care of the corresponding editing process.

  2. ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, is responsible for properly informing the author of the editorial process phase in which the text is, as well as the resolutions of the first filter and academic opinion.

  3. ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, will issue formal communications to the author in the following phases of the publishing process:

    1. Reception of the original document

    2. Acceptance or rejection is the first filter determined by the Editorial Committee consisting of: anti plagiarism Turnitin software revision; verification by the Editorial Committee and the article structure that is found attached to a current research project.

    3. Results of the evaluations by academic peers.

    4. Press status at the time of accepting it for publication

    5. Published status at the time of printed and online publication

  4. The publication of an article submitted to ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal depends exclusively on:

    1. The affinity of the text with the topics of ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal

    2. Strict compliance with the requirements established by the Journal for sending originals.

    3. The results of the academic evaluation by academic peers.

    4. The satisfaction of the observations and changes required by academic peers

  5. Editorial decisions are not affected on grounds of nationality, ethnicity, religion or political position of the authors, for such purpose, in the case of peer evaluation, it will have double - blind condition.

  6. ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, ensures that articles submitted by members of its editorial and adjudicators bodies will be subject to the same evaluation processes and double - blind opinion as any other author.

  7. ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, commits to strictly respect the process established in its editorial standards.

  8. In case of disagreement with the result of the opinions, ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, asks the author for a reasoned and justified document about them and the author will send it to the Editorial Committee, who will decide what must be done.

  9. Members of the Editorial / Scientific Committee and academic peers, commit to not to use in their own work, unpublished materials that are part of articles submitted to the Journal for publication.

Responsibilities of the authors

  1. The author agrees that the submitted article to ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, is an unpublished piece of work. Any previously published text will be rejected.

    It will be considered as previously published piece of work when any of the following situations takes place:

    1. When the full text has been published.

    2. When extensive fragments of previously published materials are part of the text sent to the Journal.

    3. When the work submitted to the journal is part of memoirs published in extent.

    4. These criteria relate to previous publications in printed or electronic form and in any language.

  2. It is the responsibility of the author to avoid any conflict of interest in the publication of data and results.

  3. The author should mention and clearly reference any fragment that is taken from the someone else’s work, or texts from the author. This criterion includes appropriate reference to data sources, figures and documents. According to the guidelines for authors ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal, breaching of this criterion can be considered as plagiarism, in which case the work will be discarded for publication.

  4. It is considered a good practice to set the author claims related to all persons who have collaborated on research projects in which the article is sustained.

  5. The use of unpublished materials, except the ones from the own author, must have express permission of those concerned. The journal reserves the right to ask the author the corresponding authorizations.

  6. Since the process of academic revision of the texts for publication in the journal is based on the double-blind arbitration, it is the responsibility of the author to avoid any reference to his identity in the text.

  7. The author should not submit their work to any other publication while in arbitration in the Journal. If such situation is detected the review process or publication of the text will be suspended.

  8. The author fully accepts the rules, criteria and procedures in the treatment of information:

    • The reference to groups of people, communities, social groups and minorities should keep the scientific rigor and therefore responsible management of respectful language about the human person as a whole, avoiding value judgments, appreciations without context or deliberate expressions showing a lack of dignity of those involved in the published material.

    • The data reviewed in support of results or research analysis must adhere to the meaning and intent of the project or product referenced, without prejudice to the authenticity from which the author can draw new interpretations that favor the reader's understanding of the context or research reality.

Records of the declaration of conflict of interest

  • The author of an article, the editor of ESPIRAL, Journal of Teaching and Research and evaluators should disclose conflicts of interest that may influence the manuscript, in their assessment or approval.

  • If the author or authors declare a conflict of interest, ESPIRAL, Teaching and Research Journal will not accept to publish the article.

Specific standards of ethics in Research

  • Evaluators may decide that the article is published as:

    1. An original manuscript or with formal amendments

    2. It can be published considering some corrections in content or presentation.

    3. That it cannot be published by aspects related to substantive improvements, since it is not possible to make these adjustments in the short term.

     

  • The editor and members of the Editorial / Scientific Committee commit not to disclose information about the content of the articles to anyone different from peer reviewers.

  • In case of difference between the results of evaluations of the referees (approved / rejected article), the manuscript will be sent to a third evaluator to define the relevance of the publication.