Guidelines

⇑  Focus and scope

The journal’s mission is to disseminate original and unpublished scientific works in the field of social sciences that contribute to strengthening knowledge management and fostering local and human development. It promotes academic production that addresses, in an integrated manner, the economic, political, technological, environmental, social, cultural, and educational dimensions of contemporary development.

Its scope includes the publication of research results, theoretical essays, critical analyses, and applied studies that encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and academic exchange on the challenges of sustainable development, innovation, and social transformation at the local, regional, and global levels.

The journal is intended for researchers, educators, professionals, knowledge managers, students, and policymakers interested in social sciences, human development, sustainability, technological innovation, and education.

The journal publishes various document types, including: Original Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications, Essays, Thesis Summaries, Viewpoints, Communications, Re-readings, and Event Reviews.

The main topics covered by the journal include, among others:

  • Knowledge management and local development.
  • Human development and sustainability.
  • Food sovereignty and security.
  • Social and solidarity economy.
  • Technological innovation and social change.
  • Education, culture, and civic participation.
  • Environment and territorial development.
  • Public policy and local governance.
  • Science, technology, and society.
  • Gender perspectives and social equity.
  • Universal access to knowledge and open science.

Through this approach, the journal seeks to establish a space for critical reflection and interdisciplinary dialogue that promotes the collective construction of knowledge and sustainable development from the perspective of the social sciences.

⇑  Sections

Original Articles

An original article reports novel research findings, usually structured with introduction, methodology, results, and discussion, conclusions and bibliography. Its purpose is to communicate new knowledge that advances understanding in a specific scientific field. These manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review to ensure quality, originality, and validity.

Review

A review article analyzes, synthesizes, and discusses the existing literature on a given topic, offering a comprehensive and critical overview of the state of the art. It does not present new experimental findings but organizes and evaluates published evidence. These manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review.

Short communication

A short communication reports preliminary results, research advances, or relevant findings that need rapid dissemination. It is usually shorter than an original article but maintains scientific rigor. These manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review.

Essays

An essay presents a critical, reflective, or theoretical argument on a topic of academic interest, with an expository style supported by bibliographic references. Unlike scientific articles, it does not necessarily follow the IMRaD structure. This type of manuscript undergoes editorial review only, not double-blind peer review.

Thesis Summary

A thesis abstract provides a concise overview of the objectives, methodology, results, and conclusions of a graduate or postgraduate research project. Its purpose is to disseminate completed academic research of interest to the scientific community. This type of document undergoes editorial review only, not double-blind peer review.

Points of view

Presents a critical, reflective, or theoretical argument on a topic of academic interest, with an expository style supported by bibliographic references. Unlike scientific articles, it does not necessarily follow the IMRaD structure. This type of manuscript undergoes editorial review only, not double-blind peer review.

Communications

Reports news, updates, calls, or events of relevance to the academic or professional community. It does not contain original research and its main goal is to keep readers informed. These notes are subject only to editorial review, not to double-blind peer review.

Rereadings

The Re-readings section welcomes critical reflections, reviews, or reinterpretations of significant scientific works, concepts, or schools of thought. Its aim is to provide new perspectives or theoretical contextualizations that contribute to the understanding and advancement of knowledge in the field. These texts undergo editorial review only and are not subject to double-blind peer review.

Event Review

The Event Review section publishes summaries, analyses, or commentaries on conferences, symposia, workshops, seminars, or other academic activities of scientific interest. It seeks to record and disseminate the most relevant contributions from these events. These texts undergo editorial review only and are not subject to double-blind peer review.

⇑  Other policies of the mandatory reference journal

⇑  Submission and preparation of documents

Documents must be submitted electronically to the following address: revistagcdl@unah.edu.cu. Documents must be submitted in MS Word (.docx) format, in Arial 11 font. Texts must be presented in a single column and the text format must be kept as simple as possible. Italics, bold, subscripts, exponents, etc. may be used. Equations and tables must be submitted in editable format prepared with the editing tools offered by MS Word or other professional processors. If a grid is not used, use the tab key and not spaces to align the columns.

The sheet must be set up in letter size 28 x 21.5 with 2.5 cm margins, 1.5 spaces (including summary, footnotes and references). Each line of text must be numbered (use the MS Word page format, line numbering option). With the page format options described above, each page must include 25 lines. The pages of the manuscript should be numbered, including the title, references and tables; however, references to the page number should not be made in the text if it is necessary to refer to sections of the text. Avoid excessive use of italics and underlining to emphasize parts of the text.

The writing style should be completely impersonal (third person), with criteria of accuracy, brevity and paragraphs between three and five sentences. The decimal metric system should be used. Scientific names should be written in italics and in full, including the author's name when they are first mentioned (example: Leucoptera coffeella Guerin Meneville). If it is necessary to use them in several parts of the text, then they should be written in full the first time they appear and then abbreviated (example: L. coffeella).

⇑  Nomenclature

  • Authors and editors are obliged to follow the international codes governing biological nomenclature (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Index Fungorum, etc.).
  • All biotic groups (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) must be identified by their scientific names.
  • All biocides and other organic compounds must be identified by their Geneva name when they are named for the first time in the text. The active ingredients of all formulations included in the reports must also be identified.
  • For chemical nomenclature, the conventions of the International Union of Pure Chemistry and the recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on biochemical nomenclature must be followed.

⇑  Structure and format of the Articles

Articles should be divided into clearly defined sections. The sections and their fundamental characteristics are presented below.

⇑  Documentary typology

It must be aligned to the right and the exact documentary typology that the journal has defined must be used (e.g. Original Article).

⇑  Title

  • Must be concise and able to make the reader aware of the essential content of the article.
  • Its maximum length should be 15 words.
  • It should not be overloaded with information in the form of abbreviations, symbols , formulas or unknown characters, and place where the study was carried out.
  • It should not be a double meaning or literary phrase.
  • Eliminate subtitles and all non-specific words.
  • In your writing you should use a neutral approach writing style, that is, you should not suggest the result that is going to be obtained.

⇑ Authors

  • The journal prohibits and sanctions guest authorship and similar practices in scientific and academic production processes.
  • The name of each author must be accompanied by a number or character indicating which affiliation it belongs to and if it is the corresponding author.

⇑  Affiliation(s)

  • Each affiliation will present the number or character that relates it to one or more authors /es.
  • The editor must ensure that each affiliation presents at least the standardized name of the institution and the country to which it belongs.
  • To standardize or search the names of the affiliations, suggests using the services: ROR (https://ror.org/search) and Wayta (http://wayta.scielo.org/ )

⇑  Correspondence

  • The name must be defined of the corresponding author(s) and the active email account.

⇑  Abstract

  • Must be the abbreviated representation of the content of the document.
  • You must summarize in a maximum of 250 words the central aspects included in each of the sections of the document, so that you can: establish the problem, interest and objective of the research. It should describe, without details, the materials chosen and the methods used, and summarize the main results (only these), as well as state the main conclusions.
  • Reference should not be made to figures, tables and bibliographical citations. . You should not include information that is not described in the work, nor begin with the objective without first having stated the problematic situation.
  • Although a graphical summary is optional, its use is recommended as it draws more attention to the online article. The graphical summary should summarize the content of the article in a concise pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a broad readership. The graphical summary should have a clear beginning and end, preferably "reading" from top to bottom or left to right. Try to reduce distracting and cluttering items as much as possible. Please provide an image with a minimum size of 1328 x 531 pixels (width x height) with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. The preferred file types are SVG, PNG, PDF or MS Office files.

To compose a graphic summary you can use the template: visual-abstract.pptx

You can also check the publications: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semnephrol.2020.04.008 and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2020.08.054

Or view the conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=CzSvC6ZtS1I

⇑  Keywords

  • They designate and identify the most important aspects discussed in the article. They serve to locate information of interest and create databases and subject indexes. They will be written from 3 to 10 maximum in order of importance to reflect the content of the document.
  • For the standardization of keywords it is recommended to use services such as: AGROVOC https://www.fao.org/agrovoc/es/search

⇑  Declaration of conflict of interest

This declaration must be presented in each work even if the authors have no interest in competence to declare In this declaration the authors of the research must choose one of the following scenarios:

  1. The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or known personal relationships that could have influenced the work presented in this paper.
  2. The author is a member of the editorial board/editor-in-chief/associate editor/guest editor of the journal and was not involved in the editorial review or decision to publish this article.
  3. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships that may be considered potentially competing interests: … (Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, applications/ patent registrations and grants or other funds) …

⇑  Declaration of authorship contributions

  • The participation of all authors of the document will be collected.
  • Participation roles will be established as provided in the taxonomy CRediT – Contributor Roles Taxonomy (https://credit.niso.org/)
  • When the document has a single author, it will not be necessary to establish the declaration of authorship contributions.

⇑  Source of financing

You are asked to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsors, if any, in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in writing the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the financing source(s) did not have such participation, it is recommended to indicate this. Example:

  • This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number yyyy].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions about the program or type of scholarships and awards. When funding comes from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If not specified has provided funding for the research, it is recommended that you include the following sentence:

  • This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.

⇑  Declaration of use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies

⇑  Data declaration

  • This journal requires and allows you to share data that supports the publication of your research where appropriate, and allows you to interconnect the data with your published articles.
  • Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings, which may also include data files, software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods, and other useful materials related to the research.
  • You will have the opportunity to provide a statement of data during the shipping process. The statement will appear with your published article.

⇑  Introduction

  • It will be brief, try to use the main keywords and will go from general to specific.
  • In it you must establish the contextual framework in which the problem to be solved is inserted, what is known and what is unknown about the issue in question, what the research would represent economically, socially, technologically and scientifically, and the objective of the work with the that must close.
  • You can also use the three-paragraph outline, where the first paragraph will present the background, in the second the why it is necessary to study the problem, and in the third the objective.

⇑  Materials and Methods

  • It must provide sufficient information so that the research can be replicated, and unnecessary descriptions must be avoided.
  • The materials used must be mentioned. They quantitatively or qualitatively determined the obtaining of the data, not the instruments used.
  • In relation to the methods, three possible scenarios must be taken into account:
    1. When the method is standard, simply mention it and include the bibliographic reference.
    2. When the method is not standard but has been used before, discuss why it is necessary to use it and put the bibliographic reference where the method is described.
    3. When the method has been generated or adapted for the study, describe it completely or at least the transformed part.
  • This section of Materials and Methods can be organized into 6 areas that contemplate:
    1. Environment: Indicates where the study has been done.
    2. Design: Describes the design of the experiment.
    3. Variables and treatments: Dependent or independent variables. Main treatment, combined, sequential and control.
    4. Sample and sampling: Characterizes the sample and how its selection and taking.
    5. Interventions: Describes the techniques, methods, measurements and units, equipment and technology.
    6. Statistical analysis: Indicates the statistical programs and methods used. The programs are referenced.
  • The subtitles used to name the areas are freely selected by the authors, examples: General conditions, Treatments, Measurements, Statistical Analysis.

⇑  Results and Discussion

  • You should never show data that is not clearly related to the objective of the work.
  • The research data is shown in figures and tables, which must be self-contained. explanatory and marked with titles and legends.
  • While the table provides precision, the figures provide a clearer visual impact of the effects of the treatments and of trends and interactions.
  • Both Central elements of the discussion are to indicate, with neutral judgment and some speculation, what the findings mean and how these findings relate to what was known until then.
  • In the discussion, data from the studies should not be repeated. figures and tables.
  • Make clear the principles, relationships and extrapolations that could be derived from the results (speculations). Exceptions must be highlighted.
  • Indicate how the results and their interpretations agree with, or conflict with, other scientific research.
  • Present the theoretical implications of the work and the practical applications it could have.
  • Figures must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, and must be inserted in the body of the text after their first mention. It is recommended that each figure present a consecutively numbered figure caption. Example:

figure example

Figure 1. Description of the image caption.

  • The tables will be inserted in the body of the text after their first mention and must be editable (and not as images). It is recommended to use a consecutively numbered table header. If you use MS Word, use the table layout: "Table with grid". Example:

Table 1. Table header description.

Estaciones

Viento máximo sostenido promediados en 10 min.

Racha máxima

Día /Hora (Z)

Velocidad (Km/h)

Día /Hora (Z)

Velocidad (Km/h)

Bahía Honda

08 /20:35

40

08 /20:35

78

Güira de Melena

09 /03:25

30

09 /04:05

70

Bauta

09 /01:40

25

09 /04:40

63

Source: Prepared by Cervantes (2019)

  • Equations and terms must be presented in editable format (not images) built with MathType or with the equation editor Word. Example:

x=-b±b2-4ac2a

  • The nomenclatures and units of measurements used must follow the internationally accepted rules and conventions for the treatment of units of measurements such as International System of Units (SI).

⇑   Conclusions

  • They should highlight the main implications of the data obtained in the research and not make a statistical count of the values shown.
  • In all cases the conclusions must be justified by the data presented and respond to the proposed objectives.

⇑  Acknowledgments

  • Collate the acknowledgments in one section separated at the end of the article before the bibliography and therefore do not include them on the home page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those people who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, assistance with writing or proofreading the article, etc.).

⇑  Footnotes

  • Footnotes page layouts should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can incorporate footnotes into the text and you can use this feature. Otherwise, indicate the position of the footnotes in the text and list the footnotes separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the reference list.

⇑  Abbreviations

  • Define non-standard abbreviations in list form and within this section.
  • Make sure abbreviations are consistent throughout the article.

⇑  Bibliography

In the section, it is very common that the metadata of the documents used are incomplete and are not presented with the homogeneity established by the APA standard, which is the style bibliographical of the journal. In this way, in the arbitration processes various errors are detected due to omission of elements such as: date of publication, publishers and responsible institutions, standardized identifiers (ISSN, ISBN, DOI), places of publication, pages and electronic addresses. On the other hand, the names of the authors are placed incorrectly and grammatical errors occur in the writing of the titles.

To homogenize and facilitate the preparation of citations in the text and the bibliography, it is recommended to use the bibliographic manager Zotero and the citation style processor of the CSL journal (for its acronym in English) American Psychological Association that can be downloaded from the address https://www.zotero .org/styles/apa-single-spaced.

It is mandatory to incorporate the permanent or persistent identifier in each reference (Cu-ID, DOI, Handle, among others) as long as one has been assigned. To find these permanent identifiers, it is recommended to use the following services:

To prepare the different types of documents, edited and published works must be used such as: articles from scientific journals, books, book chapters, articles in conferences (conferences, symposiums, seminars, workshops and events, of which at least the proceedings have been published), patents and standards, reports from recognized institutions with international prestige (FAO, UNESCO, among others) that present the corresponding standardized identifier (ISBN, ISSN or DOI), maps and satellite images, legal resources and computer programs. Regardless of this range of possibilities, to prepare any type of document, articles in scientific journals should be used to a greater extent since these constitute the central unit of science to issue its results.

On the other hand, the use of the following sources should be limited: theses (when published in the form of scientific articles or books), newspaper articles, interviews, audiovisual documents, electronic documents not indexed in databases of scientific journals, web pages (less certain statistical sites). Self-citations, both from the author himself and from the journal, should not exceed 20% of the literature consulted.

Within the text, citations are made in the form author-year (e.g. Cervantes , 2016) by placing a comma “,” between the author's last name and the year of publication. If the citation is made up of two authors, the signature surnames of each one are placed separated by the symbol “&” and then the year (e.g. Cervantes & Alfonso, 2016). In cases where the citation is made up of more than two authors, “et al.” should be placed in italics after the last name of the main author followed by the year (e.g. Cervantes et al ., 2016). If the same author(s) with more than one publication in the same year is cited separately in the body of the work, the works must be differentiated by placing the letters “a”, “b” as appropriate (e.g. Cervantes < i>et al., 2016a, b). In cases where a corporate author is cited, the abbreviated form of the name must be included (e.g. FAO, 2016).

If the citation is made up of multiple sources, that is, For more than one job, a semicolon “;” must be used. to separate each one (e.g. Cervantes, 2014; Alfonso, 2015; Alonso, 2016). Citations to multiple sources that present the same authors, but different years of publication, will be placed using the last name of the main author, according to the different forms mentioned above, followed by the years separated by a comma “,” (e.g. Cervantes, 2015; 2016).

Below are some examples of bibliographic references generated according to the style of the journal:

Articles in scientific journals

Li, Y. L., McAllister, T. A., Beauchemin, K. A., He, M. L., McKinnon, J. J., & Yang, W.Z. (2011). Substitution of wheat dried distillers grains with solubles for barley grain or barley silage in feedlot cattle diets: Intake, digestibility, and ruminal fermentation1. Journal of Animal Science, 89(8), 2491–2501. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2010-3418

Books

Azcón-Bieto, J. (2013). Fundamentals of plant physiology (M. Talón, Ed.; Second). McGraw-Hill Spain.

Standards and Patents

Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources. (2002). Specifications of fertility, salinity and soil classification. Studies, sampling and analysis(Official Gazette of the Federation Patent NOM-021-SEMARNAT-2000). http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/node/18

Computer Programs

SAS Institute. (2010). Statistical Analysis Software SAS/STAT® (9.0.2) [Computer software]. SAS Institute Inc. http://www.sas.com/en_us/software/analytics /stat.html

Reports

Uribe, F., Zuluaga, A. F., Valencia , L., Murgueitio, E., Zapata, A., Solarte, L., & Soto, R.B. (2011). Establishment and management of silvopastoral systems (Sustainable Colombian livestock project; p. 78). GEF-World Bank-FEDEGAN-CIPAV-Action Fund-TN. http://www.cipav.org.co /pdf/1.Establishment.and.management.of.SSP.pdf

Thesis

Allen, M. E. (1976). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for discrete distributions [Master Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School]. http://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/17830

Maps

López, L. J. A., Vicente, B. J. M., Blasco, F., Mallén, D., & Saz, D. (2012). GR 11 Pyrenean Path from sea to sea (7th ed.) [Long Distance Trails, 1:40 000]. Prames S.A. https://www.amazon.es/Gr-11-Senda-Pirenaica-Senderos-Recorrido/dp/8483218399?ie=UTF8& ;camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=8483218399&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tf_tl&tag=travesiapiren-21

Pages Web

ONEI (National Office of Statistics and Information). (2014). Territory; Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing. Statistical Yearbook of Cuba. http://www.one.cu/aec2013/20080618index.htm

Section of a Book

Rivera, R., Fernández, F., Fernández, K., Ruiz, L. , Sánchez, C., & Riera, M. (2006). Advances in the management of effective arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in tropical ecosystems. In C. Hamel & C. Plenchette (Eds.), Mycorrhizae in Crop Production (pp. 151–196). Haworth Food & Agricultural Products Press. http://www.amazon.com/Mycorrhizae-Crop-Production-Science /dp/1560223073

Conference Articles (Conferences, Symposium, Seminars, Workshops and Events)

Fita, A., Postma, J., Picó, B., Nuez, F., & Lynch, J. (2008). Root architecture variation in Cucurbita (M. Pitrat, Ed.; pp. 487–491). INRA-Centre de Recherche d’Avignon-Unité Génétique et Amélioration des Fruits et Légumes. https://w3.avignon.inra.fr/dspace/handle/2174/254

⇑  Audiovisual materials

The journal accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance its scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files they wish to submit with their article are encouraged to include links to them in the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table, by referencing the content of the video or animation and noting in the body of the text where it should be placed. All submitted files must be appropriately tagged so that they relate directly to the content of the video file. The preferred maximum size is 150 MB per file, 1 GB total. The supplied video and animation files will be published online in the electronic version of your article. Provide "still photos" with your files - you can choose any frame from the video or animation or create a separate image. These will be used in place of the standard icons and will customize the link to your video data.

⇑  Supplementary material

Supplementary material, such as applications, datasets, images, audiovisual materials, among others, can be published with your article to improve it. Submitted supplemental materials are posted exactly as received (Excel or PowerPoint files will appear as such online). Submit your material along with the article and provide a concise, descriptive title for each supplemental file. If you wish to make changes to the supplemental material during any stage of the process, please be sure to provide an updated file.

⇑  Additional considerations

  • The manuscript must be checked for spelling and grammar.
  • It must be submitted together with the document, permissions to use copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet).