Submissions

Author Guidelines

Articles Reception

Email for IUSTITIA Magazine: revista.iustitia@ustabuca.edu.co

General Instructions for Authors

The IUSTITIA Magazine, published by the Division of Legal and Political Sciences and the Faculty of Law at Universidad Santo Tomás Seccional Bucaramanga, in compliance with the indexing requirements of the Ministry of Sciences, provides the necessary publication guidelines for authors submitting contributions. The following rules must be adhered to:

Article Originality: To be considered for acceptance by the Editorial Committee, articles must be unpublished and entirely original, with no prior partial or total publication.

Author's Curriculum Vitae: Each article submission must be accompanied by the author's Curriculum Vitae, which should include the author's full name, date of birth, nationality, educational qualifications, affiliations with research centers or institutions, and current position held. The author's publication history, including articles, book chapters, and books, must be detailed within the curriculum vitae. This information should include the title, name of the journal or compilation, ISSN or ISBN, total number of pages of the full text, number of pages of the article or chapter, year of publication, publisher, and country.

Specific Instructions for Authors

Article Presentation Format

The IUSTITIA Journal welcomes articles of the following typologies:

Research Article: These scientific documents present partial or definitive research results. To be considered original, they must offer novel and significant findings within a specialized field of knowledge. The articles should follow the IMRyD structure, comprising Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion.

Reflection Article: This original document presents research results from an analytical, interpretive, and critical perspective. The author analyzes a specific topic using original sources, aiming to provide a point of view on the impact of the findings on social reality or the academic field. The article should be constructed as a meta-analysis, incorporating dominant, alternative, and critical ideas in the field to develop the author's thesis.

Review Article: These research outcome documents organize, analyze, and integrate published or unpublished research on a scientific or technological field. The aim is to highlight advances and development trends within the field. Review articles extensively analyze existing literature, theories, and works related to a specialized field of knowledge. A minimum of 40 bibliographic references should be included to support the article's analysis, reflections, and analytical insights.

Structuring Articles According to the Typology Described Above:

Research Articles: The structure of research articles should adhere to the following elements:

I. Title: The title should be concise, not exceeding 13 words, avoiding excessive use of prepositions and articles. It must be clear, precise, and easily understandable. Abbreviations should be avoided.

II. Author(s): The author(s) can be natural persons or legal entities. This section should include the full name(s) of the author(s), their academic background, and their institutional affiliation with IUSTITIA or any other relevant institution. Only the author(s) of the article should be listed, excluding advisors or directors. For this call, articles prepared by a maximum of four (4) co-authors will be accepted.

III. Abstract: The abstract provides readers with an overview of the article's structure and main content. It should consist of a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 250 words. It should include the following components: a. The objective or possible hypothesis to be demonstrated, b. The sections of the document (titles, subtitles), c. An overview of the results or conclusions (depending on whether the article is a review, reflection, or research).

IV. Keywords: Keywords or phrases should be self-explanatory and provide guidance on the themes addressed in the article. They should be clear and precise. Five (5) keywords will be required, along with their English translations.

V. Introduction: This section outlines the research's purpose or objective, provides a summary of the existing literature, historical background, and the practical significance of the findings (briefly and suggestively).

VI. Methodology: In this section, the author(s) must describe the chosen methodological approach and the research techniques employed throughout the investigation.

VII. Results: The results should be concise, clear, and precise. They should align with the objectives set forth in the research proposal and provide an account of the positive or negative outcomes derived from the academic research endeavor.

VIII. Conclusion: This section involves interpreting the results within the context of the theoretical, conceptual, legal, and/or jurisprudential references. It is an opportunity for the author(s) to draw general conclusions from the research process and propose avenues for future inquiry.

IX. References: This section presents a comprehensive list of the sources cited within the article.

Reflection and Review Articles:

I. Title: The title should be concise, not exceeding 13 words, and should avoid excessive use of prepositions and articles. It must be clear, precise, and easily comprehensible. Abbreviations should be avoided.

II. Author: The author's complete name, academic profile, and institutional affiliation should be included, regardless of their association with the IUSTITIA journal. Only the author(s) responsible for the text should be listed, excluding any accompanying advisors or directors. This call accepts documents authored by a maximum of four (4) co-authors.

III. Abstract: This section aims to provide readers with a synopsis of the article's structure and content. The abstract paragraph should consist of a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 250 words. It should comprise the following elements: a. The objective of the article, b. The document's sections (titles, subtitles), c. An overview of the results or conclusions (depending on whether the article is a reflection, review, or research).

IV. Keywords: This section aims to provide readers with a synopsis of the article's structure and content. The abstract paragraph should consist of a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 250 words. It should comprise the following elements: a. The objective of the article, b. The document's sections (titles, subtitles), c. An overview of the results or conclusions (depending on whether the article is a reflection, review, or research).

V. Introduction: This section should outline the purpose or objective of the research, along with a summary of the current state of knowledge, historical background, and the practical significance of the findings (briefly and propositionally).

VI. Content: For a reflection article, this section should present the theoretical or practical analysis proposed as a thesis derived from the author's academic exercise. In the case of a review article, this section should encompass the results of the analytical exploration of existing theories and works relevant to a specialized field of knowledge.

VII. Results or Critical Analysis: For a reflection article, this section should include a discussion involving antitheses or alternative theories that challenge the proposed thesis. In the case of a review article, this section should present the results of the theoretical assessment conducted to establish the categorization of the impact or importance of each perspective in the specialized field of knowledge, and to provide the author's theoretical judgment.

VIII. Conclusions: This section should interpret the results within the context of the theoretical, conceptual, legal, and/or jurisprudential framework. It is the moment for the author to present general conclusions drawn from the reflection or review process and suggest potential avenues for future inquiry.

IX. References: This section should provide a comprehensive list of all sources cited within the submitted document.

Final Instructions:

The document must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format, with a minimum length of 15 pages and a maximum of 25 pages (excluding the reference list).

Please use Times New Roman font size 12, with 1.5 line spacing and standard margins (2.5 cm on each side) in the Microsoft Word document.

Include an abstract and 5 keywords in both Spanish and English. Ensure that all citations are formatted according to the APA 7th edition, both in the in-text citations and the reference list. Symbols and abbreviations, such as CSJC (Colombian Supreme Court of Justice), should be defined in footnotes the first time they are mentioned.

Tables and figures should be sequentially numbered, starting with number 1 (e.g., Figure 1). The titles should be in lowercase and italicized, positioned at the top of the table or figure, and written in Arial font size 10.

References to figures and tables should be made using Arial font size 8. The submission deadline for the 2023-1 period is May 30th, 2023, and for the 2023-2 period, it is September 30th, 2023. Please send the document to the email address revista.iustitia@ustabuca.edu.co.

Arbitration Process - Peer Review:

To initiate the evaluation process, articles submitted to the IUSTITIA Journal will undergo an initial review to ensure compliance with the requirements specified in the call for submissions. The Editor will then present them to the Editorial and Scientific Committees for the initial selection of relevant material within the Journal's thematic scope. Additionally, the authors' adherence to the formal requirements will be assessed to determine whether the article should proceed to peer review.

Articles that do not meet the formal requirements will be returned to the authors within one month from the submission deadline, allowing them to make the necessary adjustments or submit them to other journals.

The selected articles will undergo the following process:

Peer review by experts in the respective fields, utilizing the double-blind review method, where authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other.

The peer review process should be completed within three (3) months. Once completed, the Editor will communicate the results to the authors along with the supporting rationale.

The peer review process evaluates the academic quality and rigor of the article, as well as its adherence to appropriate scholarly publication norms, to determine its publish ability.

The response from the peer review will provide the following outcomes to the author:

1. Acceptance for publication without modifications.

2. Acceptance for publication with minor revisions.

3. Acceptance for publication with major revisions, requiring authors to make adjustments within fifteen (15) calendar days, after which a reevaluation will be necessary.

4. Rejection of the article for publication.

The evaluation provided by the peer reviewers will be communicated to the authors in all cases.

If revisions are required, authors will have a period of fifteen (15) calendar days to make the necessary corrections.

Failure to receive a response with the revised article from the author will be interpreted as a withdrawal of interest in publishing it in the journal.

Once the authors have made the necessary adjustments and modifications, the Editorial Committee will provide its final opinion.

Articles accepted for publication will undergo further editing and layout processes conducted by the Publications Department of Universidad Santo Tomás Bucaramanga.

Authors' Responsibilities:

Authors submitting their articles are required to provide a written declaration containing the following statements:

• Originality: The article is an original work and has not been simultaneously submitted to any other publication.

• Ownership of Rights: The authors hold exclusive ownership of the moral and patrimonial rights associated with the article.

• Intellectual Contribution: In the case of multiple authors, each author has made an intellectual contribution to the article's development.

• Approval of Final Version: Each author has read and approved the final version of the submitted manuscript.

• Source Acknowledgment: If any part of the article's content has been previously published or disclosed elsewhere, proper acknowledgment and citation of the respective sources and academic credits have been provided.

• Ethical Standards: The authors have adhered to the current ethical standards in conducting their research.

• Copyright Compliance: The authors have respected copyright laws and have appropriately cited any transcriptions or paraphrasing incorporated into the article.

• Truthfulness of Results: The authors declare the accuracy and truthfulness of the results and conclusions presented in the article.

• License and Authorization: The authors subscribe to and authorize the use and disclosure of the work in the IUSTITIA journal, both in print and digital media, strictly for academic purposes and non-profit dissemination.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy:

Once the articles are pre-selected for each edition, the text of the articles will undergo a review on the Turnitin platform to identify any similarities. As this practice aligns with the editorial policy outlined on the journal's website, the author acknowledges and agrees to have their article's text reviewed using the Turnitin tool.