Evaluation process

Peer review process (double-blind)

Manuscripts must meet all selection criteria specified in the terms of reference to pass the first phase of editorial review. Once they pass this, they are subjected to peer review (double-blind).

The editorial team will contact potential reviewers—depending on the manuscript's topic—who will form the Scientific Committee for the volume to be published. A minimum of two reviewers will be assigned to each manuscript.

The process called double-blind means that the authors will not know which reviewer has been assigned their article (anonymity is essential), and similarly, the reviewers will not know who they are evaluating, in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

Once the reviewers have accepted, the manuscript will be sent in a Word format, with all information linking the manuscript to its authors excluded. Additionally, the evaluation form and the Editorial Policies will be sent to them, along with instructions for conducting the evaluation within a maximum of 20 days. It is possible that the reviewer may submit the completed form after the stipulated time or, in the middle of the process, withdraw from the task, which would require restarting part of the phase. It is important to note that the average time for the entire evaluation process—starting from the search for reviewers until the review is sent back to the editorial team—takes about 30 days.

The completed forms will be reviewed in a session by the editorial team, where, through minutes, it will be decided whether the manuscript continues in the editing process, is rejected, or if mechanisms should be applied in cases of controversy (see "Possible outcomes" below). These decisions cannot be appealed (see "Cases of controversy" below).

The results of the evaluations and the decision regarding the manuscript’s progress will be communicated to the corresponding author (see "Authorship" in Editorial Policies) within two months after the dissemination of the terms of reference.

The selection of reviewers is based on their expertise and field of knowledge; that is, articles are evaluated by recognized researchers with up-to-date academic production (articles published recently, within at least the last five years) and expertise in the topic. Similarly, the Revista Ciencias y Humanidades, through its editorial team and committee, will ensure that the evaluators are external to the institution (see "Reviewers" below).

The evaluation of manuscripts is done quantitatively, with a score from 0.0 to 5.0 on four axes, each with a different weight. The minimum threshold for manuscript approval is 3.5 weighted points. The evaluation form includes the following criteria:

• Quality of the article: clarity, relevance of the methodology used (conceptual and methodological rigor), optimal use of the various parts of the article (abstract, introduction, problem statement, development, conclusions, references), solid research process, coherence.
• Contribution to knowledge: relevance in the field, feedback in the epistemic area, pertinence.
• Author contributions: clear, critical, and distinct contributions from other texts, relevance in the field.
• Bibliographic management: guarantee against plagiarism, up-to-date bibliography, relevance of research sources.

The possible outcomes of the evaluation are specified below in "Possible outcomes". Both the reviewer’s and the editorial team's comments must be considered by the corresponding author, who will be responsible for ensuring the requested adjustments are made. These changes and corrections must be completed within the indicated timeframe, generally one week (7 days). After receiving the revised article, the editorial team will verify that the evaluative instructions were properly applied within a week (7 days), and if the changes are approved, the process will continue with the final editorial review phase, which typically lasts between two to three weeks (15-20 days).

The articles will be subject to both stylistic and editorial corrections. They will also undergo layout and design processes. The corresponding author must confirm receipt of the reviewed version—sent as a PDF file with the designed article—and, if necessary, inform the editorial team of any errors within 3 working days after receiving the document.

In an editorial team session, it will be decided which manuscripts will be published and in which issue. It is important to note that there is a possibility they may be published in the two subsequent issues after the terms of reference are published. The assignment of articles to each issue will follow the order of submission within each active call. The journal is in a permanent call.

The publication date for an article will be met as long as the corresponding author submits all the required documentation within the specified timeframe; otherwise, the article’s publication could be delayed until the next issue or, in case of absenteeism (failure to communicate with the editorial team for one month), the publication may be canceled.

Possible Outcomes

• Accepted without changes: The manuscript under review has been accepted without changes by the Scientific Committee and moves to the final review phase.
• Accepted with changes: The manuscript will continue the editorial process once the corresponding author has made the changes specified by the Scientific Committee. For minor content changes, the manuscript will be re-examined by the Scientific Committee.
• Rejected: The article cannot be published in the call for which it was submitted.

Cases of Controversy

Revista Ciencias y Humanidades holds regular sessions with the editorial team, where manuscript evaluations by the Scientific Committee are reviewed. In cases where two evaluations provide different recommendations regarding the manuscript’s publication, the scores from the evaluation forms will be averaged, and a careful qualitative assessment of the evaluations will be conducted. If controversy persists, the manuscript will be sent to an academic peer who has not been involved in the process. The new evaluation will be discussed in an editorial team session, where the decision will be made—via minutes—whether to accept with changes or reject the submission. The rejection means that all ethical procedures have been exhausted, and the decision cannot be appealed.

Transfer of Rights and Unpublished Works

To ensure an ethical and transparent research process, Revista Ciencias y Humanidades requires authors to confirm that the reproduction and reprint rights of the published article belong to the publishing entity.

Reviewers

Reviewers are selected by the editorial team and the editorial committee, and must be external to the publishing entity. They must adhere to rigorous standards when evaluating the articles submitted for review. Reviewers must inform the editorial team in case of a conflict of interest so a timely reviewer replacement can be made to continue the process. They must explain clearly their assessments of the articles, completing the evaluation form correctly. Reviewers must also report any suspected or clear evidence of plagiarism (or self-plagiarism), duplicate publications, and/or data falsification or manipulation.