Submissions

Author Guidelines

The RELIEVE journal complies with the norms laid out in the APA Publication Manual (7^th edition, 2019) and the publishing guidelines of the AERA (American Educational Research Association). Specifically, texts submitted for review and eventual publication in the journal must comply with the following criteria:

I. FORMATO DEL MANUSCRITO FORMAT OF THE MANUSCRIPT

1. Article title: it is recommended that the title synthesizes the main topic of study, is clear and concise and is a maximum of three lines long. The title must be presented in both Spanish and English.

2. Abstract: brief (up to 250 words) narrative text that describes the aims, method and main outcomes and conclusions. Must be presented in both Spanish and English.

3. Keywords: between three and five acronyms or descriptive terms, conforming as far as possible to the ERIC International thesaurus or UNESCO thesaurus, presented in lower case and separated by a comma. Must be presented in Spanish and English.

4. Main text: the structure of the report will conform, as far as possible, to standard sections: Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion. In all other cases, a logical structure will be given to the text, which will be distributed according to sections which make it possible to locate cited references. Can be presented in Spanish or English.

5. References: must comply to APA guidelines (Publication Manual, 7^th ed.). References must be placed at the end of the text. They must be presented underneath the title references (in bold and centred) and ordered alphabetically according to the author’s last name using simple spacing (both within and between references) and a hanging indentation of 0.5.

6. Page footnotes: it is recommended to avoid the use of page footnotes. A better option is to integrate information within the body of the text.

7. Tables: tables will be included within the body of the text following their mention and will be identified using Arabic numbers.

• Table num. (left alignment)
• Table title
• Note: underneath the table

8. Figures (images, illustrations): figures will be included within the body of the text following their mentions and will be identified with Arabic numbers. Format:

• Figure num. (left allignment).
• Figure title
• Note: Above the figure

           Images, figures and graphs should be presented in an editable format or as an image (jpg or similar) with a minimum quality of 300 pixels per inch.

9. Annexes or appendices: text from complementary materials (measurement instruments, original data) or graphic material (images, sound, video, etc.) can be included whenever the format used is one typically employed online (wav, jpg, gif, mpg…). Each new appendix should start on a new page.

10. Text format

           . Text: must start on a new page following the abstract. Formally, must be left alligned, using double spacing between paragraphs.

           . Abstract: must be written as a single paragraph, without indentation of the first line and must describe the main aspects of the content (Aims, Method, Results and Conclusions).

           . Header: All articles must appear numbered in the header (right).

           . Text style: Times New Roman 12. In the case of tables and figures, size 10 is suggested.

           . Spacing: Simple throughout the article (title, abstract, main text, section titles, references, table and figure headings, and appendices) with 6 pt spacing following the end of paragraphs.  

            . Allignment: Left

            . Indentation: first line for each new paragraph (right 0.5). Hanging indentation of 0.5 for bibliographical references.

            . Title format as a function of title level (Times New Roman 12):

• Article title (bold and centred)
• Abstract (bold and centred)
• Keywords (italics)
• Level 1 (bold, lower case and centred)
• Level 2 (bold, lower case and left-alligned)
• Level 3 (italics and bold, lower case and left-alligned).

In all cases, text will begin in a new paragraph. Beyond level 4, text will begin on the same line and continue as a normal paragraph.

         . Margins: 2.54 cm for all margins (side, upper and lower).

11. Article length

. Empirical articles: articles are recommended to be between 5000 and 6000 words in length, not counting the abstract or references.

. Synthesis (integrative) or review articles on state of the art pertaining to one of the topics of interest of the journal: recommended to be between 8000 and 9000 words in length, not counting the abstract or references.

. Articles presenting theoretical proposals and/or methodological advances that may be useful for professionals and researchers in the educational field: recommended to be between 5000 and 6000 words in length, not counting the abstract or references.

II. COMPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTATION / METADATA

The following metadata must be sent with the submission:

a) Main contact for editorial correspondence:

• Name (the author’s name should begin with the first name/s, followed by their surname)
• ORCID Id (http://orcid.org/)
• email
• Affiliation (institution at which the author works – Department and University – indicate the main institution where there is more than one)
• Country
• Author contributions to the article

b) Other authors, affiliation and address:

• Name (the author’s name should begin with the first name/s, followed by their surname)
• ORCID Id (http://orcid.org/)
• email
• Affiliation (institution at which the author works – Department and University – indicate the main institution where there is more than one)
• Country
• Author contributions to the article

c) Acknowledgement or funding source: provide information regarding the institution(s) who have provided financial support to conduct the research and/or prepare the manuscript (funding call and reference number pertaining to project funding).

d) Declaration of conflicts of interest: if there are no conflicts of interest, state “the authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the writing of this manuscript”.

e) Acknowledgements: acknowledge the individuals or institutions who have helped or collaborated in some meaningful way with development of the research presented in the manuscript.

f) Highlights: Outstanding content in the form of main ideas for highlighting the importance and relevance of the work (in Spanish and English).

III. GENERAL NORMS FOR THE PUBLICATION OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES

All manuscripts submitted to RELIEVE must comply with the following requisites:

1. Originality. Contributions must be entirely novel and not published either partly or completely, or under consideration by any other journal whilst be considered for publication here. In exceptional circumstances, requests can be made to the Editorial Committee to consider the publication of an update to a previously published study, referring to this prior article in the proposal and providing reasons to justify the new publication.
2. Methodological consistency, shown through the use of valid research methods and techniques.
3. Conceptual relevance of the issue in such a way that important questions in the educational field are proposed or addressed.
4. Likely to have impact on a broad audience in both practice and in academic settings. Studies will not be considered, unless presented findings are of exceptional interest, that consider only a single class, subject, degree study or university.
5. Advance in the field, contributing practice and/or ideas capable of bettering education.
6. Ethically sound and respectful of all implicated agents and participants. Ad hominem arguments will be avoided at all times.
7. Clear, concise and ordered writing style that is in keeping with the field of knowledge.
8. Use of inclusive language that recognizes diversity and is respectful with all individuals, considers differences, is free of bias and stereotypes, and promotes equal opportunities. Articles will not contain assumptions about the beliefs or affiliations of readers, will avoid any statements pertaining to the superiority of any race, sex, culture or any other characteristic, and will use inclusive language at all times.
9. Submitted research reports taking a Gender Mainstreaming perspective will be evaluated positively.
10. Research reports that demonstrate transparency and provide access to obtained results will be evaluated positively. The submission of Open Access files will be considered as valid data, where available for consultation, or other content published in open access repositories such as the Mendeley Data Repository.

IV EDITORIAL PROCESS

1. All manuscripts that comply with the aforementioned prerequisites will be sent for peer review using a doble blinded review process. The editor will conduct a preliminary evaluation of manuscripts to check that they align with the editorial scope and the aims of the journal. Should this be the case, manuscripts will generally be sent to a minimum of two external and independent reviewers who will evaluate the scientific quality of the manuscript. In the case of disagreement between reviewers, articles will be sent to a third reviewer.
2. Text will be submitted to a process of plagiarism detection and prevention. Texts that have already been partially or completely published will not be accepted. Manuscripts will not be accepted if plagiarism is detected and steps will be taken in line with that established by Spanish legislation on this issue.
3. Reviewers will send a confidential and anonymous report detailing the appropriateness of the manuscript and, in cases in which the outcome of this report is not positive, changes will be suggested to the manuscript.
4. Following receipt of the new version, the manuscript will be submitted to a new review to check the incorporation of proposed changes.
5. A completed version of accepted manuscripts should be provided in both Spanish and English
6. Authors are not required to make any type of payment, neither administration nor article or complimentary material publication fees, to RELIEVE.
7. Authorship cannot change throughout the review process