Author Guidelines

Submission of Manuscripts

Rhombus Journal is a biannual academic publication, releasing two issues per year in January and July.

Manuscript submissions are accepted year-round.

General aspects

Articles submitted for publication must be written in Spanish or English, must be original and unpublished, and must not have been submitted to other media for the same purpose. Exceptionally, at the discretion of the Editorial Board and the management of the journal, articles, papers, or conferences from other publications may be accepted on the basis of their relevance. In the latter case, the details of the previous publication must be explicitly mentioned, on the condition that the author releases ULACIT from any responsibility towards third parties.

The author cedes the rights to publish or reproduce his/her articles with the effects and scope specified in the section of the journal dedicated to the cession of economic and other rights. For this purpose, the author must sign the corresponding document of transfer of rights, which can be found on the website of the journal.

The content and opinions expressed in each article are the sole responsibility of the author and not of the journal, its management, editor, editorial board, or the Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología.

The Editorial Board of the journal is responsible for selecting the articles to be published, and the document submitted for their consideration must meet the following requirements:

• 2.54 cm margins at top, bottom, right, and left.
• Justified text.
• Font Arial or Times New Roman, size 12.
• Paragraphs without indentation.
• Single spacing, with one space between paragraphs.
• APA format, latest edition, for referencing, is mandatory.

Papers should begin with the title of the article in Spanish and English, the first and last names of the author(s), and a footnote with the personal details of the author(s), including institutional affiliation, qualifications, ORCID number, and email address.

The text should then include a summary and abstract of no more than 250 words in a single paragraph. Five to six keywords and key phrases should be used to identify the work. Then the text of the work begins according to the general rules of a scientific/academic article.

References should be listed at the end of the paper according to the parameters of the latest edition of the APA. References should be numbered at the bottom of the page. If these notes include bibliographical references, these should also be cited according to the format established by the APA for such cases.

Unless otherwise specified in the journal's specific formatting criteria, tables and figures must follow the APA latest edition criteria, be numbered consecutively, and include the source of the data. These appendices must be in XML format for tables and JPG format for figures.

The articles will be sent for philological revision, so the authors will have to accept the changes recommended by the professional hired by ULACIT.

Rejection of papers or any disagreement about them will be decided by the Editorial Board, with no right of appeal against the Editorial Board's decision.

Submission of articles or research implies acceptance of the above rules and the provisions of the Rights Assignment Document once the work has been accepted for publication in the journal.

Structure of the article

1. Title and authors

Include the title of the article, in Spanish and English in a font size no smaller than 24 points (not in all capital letters). The full names of the authors should be written, with their full first names (not reduced to initials) joined by a hyphen (or the first full first name followed by the initial of the middle name, if used), followed by the two surnames (if applicable) also joined by a hyphen. No titles, positions or affiliations, all separated by semicolons (;), including the last one.

Each author may include a superscript referencing his/her corresponding footnote detailing his/her institutional affiliation, mailing address, academic degrees, position, ORCID number and e-mail address.

2. Resume and abstract

It must be written in Spanish and English, with a maximum length of 250 words. It must be structured in a single paragraph and divided into the following sections: aim, method, results, and conclusions.

3. Keywords

The article will include five or six key words that identify the manuscript. These words should be in Spanish and English (keywords) and correspond to terms in the World Education Thesaurus (UNESCO), ERIC database, DeCS (Spanish/Portuguese), or MeSH (English), as appropriate.

4. Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined the first time they are used and used consistently thereafter.

5. Body of the article according to the type of work.

Scientific articles.

Scientific essay. 

Educational innovation.

SPECIFIC TO RHOMBUS

Rhombus Magazine contains articles in the following sections:

1. Scientific articles: In this section, 5 scientific articles will be published according to the thematic call of Rhombus available for each issue. The articles published will be related to original and applied research. They should use the IRMD methodology, include an abstract, 5 keywords and 3 JEF codes (if applicable); and be between 8000 and 9000 words in length (excluding abstract and references).

2. Academic essays: up to 2 essays will be published in this section. The essay will present a series of arguments and reflections on a specific topic of interest, according to the Rhombus theme call available for each issue. The purpose of the essay is to express the author's opinion based on research. Essays should include an abstract and summary, 5 keywords and 3 JEF codes (if applicable), and be between 3500 and 5000 words in length (excluding the summary, abstract and references).

3. Educational Innovation: Up to 2 papers will be published in this section, according to the criteria of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach. Products of the systematisation of experiences in educational innovation and their results, through the systematic analysis of teaching and its impact on student learning, will be published. These articles can be written in the following format:

a. Empirical Research (IMRD): must include an abstract or summary and 5 keywords; and must be between 8000 and 9000 words in length (excluding abstracts, summaries, and references).

b. Conceptual articles: they must include an abstract and 5 keywords and be between 5000 and 6,000 words in length (excluding abstracts and references).

c. Reflective essays: they must include an abstract or summary and 5 keywords and be between 5000 and 6,000 words in length (excluding the abstract, summary, and references).

d. Opinion articles: they must include an abstract or summary and 5 keywords and be between 3000 and 4000 words in length (excluding summary/abstract and references).

e. Literature review: should include a summary or abstract and 5 keywords; and should be between 3000 and 4000 words in length (excluding a summary /abstract and references).

f. Systematic Reflection: should include a summary or abstract and 5 keywords and be between 3000 and 4000 words in length (excluding summary/abstract and references).

Submissions 

Manuscripts should be sent for review to the journal's e-mail address, in addition to the following separate files in electronic format:. 

1. Cover sheet: includes the title of the article in Spanish and English; the journal section to which the article is submitted; the authors' names with two surnames in the order in which they wish to appear in the publication; the authors' academic degrees, affiliations, and ORCID numbers.

Additionally, the lead author's complete address, phone number, and email address, to which all correspondence regarding the submission and publication process should be directed.

Finally, the total number of words in the article.

2. Article: in Word processor. 

3. Transfer of rights document: (Aceptación de condiciones y cesión de derechos de autor). 

4. Files: pictures, diagrams, or photographs in digital format, JPEG or similar (minimum 300 dpi); XML files for tables.

The Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología, in conjunction with the Editorial Board and the Editorial Staff of the Journal, may modify all or part of these rules when they deem it appropriate.

Citations and references

Articles are cited according to the standards of the current edition of the American Psychological Association (APA).

In the case of verbatim or direct quotations, where the exact words have been taken from another publication, the author's surname, the year of publication, and the page from which the quotation is taken should be given.

A list of references used in the research and cited in the text should be included at the end of each article. This list should be arranged alphabetically by author's last name, following the standards of the current edition of the American Psychological Association (APA). The title of this list should be References and each reference should be double-spaced. The bibliographic reference should include the authors' last names and initials, the title of the article, and the volume and page numbers.

Examples

Arce, E. (2022). ¿Cómo mejorar la oferta educativa vigente en el país, desde la etapa preescolar hasta la universitaria, para favorecer la calidad de vida y el nivel económico de la población costarricense? Revista Rhombus 3, (1), 1-17.

Rodríguez, Y. (2016). Metáforas cognitivas usadas en la lengua de señas colombiana en cinco relatos autobiográficos y los esquemas de imagen con los cuales se relacionan. Folios, (44), 39–58.

Melo, L., Moreno, H., & Gutiérrez, L. (2015). Experiencia y iniciación competitiva de los escolares participantes en los IV juegos deportivos centroamericanos y del caribe, Colombia. Revista Lúdica Pedagógica, (22), 69–74.

Damasio, A. (2000). Sentir lo que sucede: cuerpo y emoción en la fábrica de la consciencia. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello.

In-Text Citations for Journal Articles

Las citas de los artículos que aparezcan en la revista se realizarán según las normas establecidas por la American Psychological Association (APA), última edición.

Castillo, E. (2015). La interculturalidad: ¿principio o fin de la utopía? Revista Colombiana de Educación, (69), 17–44.

Plá, S. (2016). Curriculum, history, and social justice. Estudio comparativo en América Latina. Revista Colombiana de Educación, (71), 53–77.

Rubio, D. (2013). Biopolítica y gubernamentalidad. Intereses, aprendizaje, y cooperación contemporánea. Revista Colombiana de Educación, 65,, 61–75.

Informed consent

For research involving human subjects, especially minors, it is essential to include the informed consent form used in the study as an appendix to the article.

Plagiarism Detection

Rhombus Journal conducts plagiarism checks using the Turnitin system.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

When using generative AI, it is essential to accurately identify the tool used, the content created, and the appropriate purpose. The results may be incorrect, incomplete, or biased, so they should only be used to enhance language and writing.

As a computing technology, AI should not be cited as an author because it lacks the human ability to assume responsibility or give consent.

Human authors are responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and originality of their documents.