Guide for Authors

Types of manuscripts accepted

  • Original articles (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed)
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • Critical narrative reviews
  • Methodological articles / tools / software / datasets (data papers)
  • Short reports (short communications / research notes)

Originality, authorship, and rights

By submitting a manuscript, authors declare that:

  • The work is original and has not been published or is under review in another journal.
  • All authors approved the submission and final content.
  • Permission has been obtained for third-party material (figures, scales, images, tables, instruments).
  • The information presented is accurate and complies with ethical and scientific standards (data integrity, traceability).

Authorship criteria and contributions

Authorship should reflect substantive intellectual contributions, in accordance with the criteria established by COPE, including participation in the conception and design of the study, the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, the writing or critical revision of the manuscript, the approval of the final version, and the assumption of responsibility for its content.

At the end of the article, in the Authorship Contribution section, it is mandatory to explicitly state the roles of each author using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) taxonomy.

Conflicts of interest and funding

Authors must declare:

  • Funding (institution, grant, project, number if applicable).
  • Conflicts of interest (financial, employment, institutional, personal, or academic) or declare “No conflicts exist.”
  • These declarations are standard in editorial and integrity policies.

Manuscript preparation

Language

Manuscripts are accepted in Spanish and English.

Suggested length

  • Original article: 2,500 words (not including references/tables/figures) and up to 5 tables and/or figures.
  • Brief report: 1,500 words and up to 3 tables and/or figures.
  • Systematic review/meta-analysis: 2,500 words and up to 5 tables and/or figures.
  • Narrative reviews: 3000 words and up to 6 tables and/or figures.

Structure

  • Title (concise and informative)
  • Abstract (250 words) + 3–6 keywords
  • Introduction
  • Methods (ethics, design, sample, variables, analysis)
  • Results
  • Discussion (limitations and applicability)
  • Conclusions (optional)
  • Funding / Authorship contributions / Acknowledgments
  • References

Style and references

The journal uses the Vancouver style for citations and bibliographic references. Consistent and correct application of this style is essential to ensure editorial quality, metadata interoperability, and indexing processes.

Tables, figures, and supplementary material

  • Number in the order cited.
  • Include full titles.
  • Submit figures in high resolution (e.g., 300–600 dpi depending on type).
  • Recommendation: use supplementary material for extensive appendices, auxiliary datasets, or additional analyses.

Submission, revisions, and documentation

All submissions to the journal must follow the publisher's template.

When submitting:

  • Anonymized manuscript
  • Statements: ethics, COI, funding, contributions, data availability
  • Permissions for third-party material (if applicable)

In revisions:

  • Point-by-point response
  • Version with changes applied

Corrections, retractions, and post-publication debate

The journal maintains mechanisms for:

  • Errata/corrections
  • Expressions of concern
  • Retractions, when applicable in line with international ethical recommendations (COPE) and editorial integrity guidelines.