Regulations

Costa Rican Journal of Social Work

Guidelines for the Publication of Articles

1. Nature and editorial purposes

The Costa Rican Journal of Social Work is the official publication of the Costa Rican Association of Social Workers. It is published twice a year and has an academic-professional character aimed at strengthening the development of Social Work in Costa Rica and the Central American region.

Its purpose is to foster a pluralistic dialogue in which diverse theoretical, epistemological, and practical perspectives interact. Although it is an open space for academic contributions, it is not defined exclusively as a scientific journal, since it also prioritizes the systematization of professional experiences.

The Journal’s Director and Editorial Board are not responsible for the content of the articles; responsibility lies exclusively with the authors.

The Editorial Board may request any adjustments it deems appropriate during the editing process.

Articles are received throughout the year; however, for each issue a deadline for closing the edition is established.

The Journal accepts submissions from authors who are not members of this professional association.

No changes are accepted to articles once they have been published. If an author requests a change, it must be made before the document is published.

2. Types of contributions

The Journal accepts the following types of works:

  • Original articles: results of completed or ongoing research.
  • Essays: theoretical reflections and debates on topics of professional interest.
  • Systematizations: documentation and analysis of social intervention experiences.
  • Methodologies and good practices: proposals related to professional practice.
  • Policy analyses: critical evaluations of social policy.
  • Others: interviews, historical analyses, reviews of books or theses, and chronicles of professional events.

3. Requirements and originality

  • Authenticity: every document must be original and unpublished. It may not be submitted simultaneously to other publications.
  • Exceptions: translations of works published in other languages may be accepted if their contribution to professional education is of high value.
  • Verification: the Journal uses Turnitin software to detect plagiarism or weaknesses in references. Any finding of plagiarism implies immediate rejection.
  • Currency: in research articles, the data presented must be no more than five years old at the time of submission.

4. Formal aspects and presentation

  • Length: minimum 15 pages and maximum 30 pages.
  • File format: the document must be submitted in editable digital formats such as .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word).
  • Font: Arial 12 pt or Times New Roman 12 pt.
  • Spacing and paragraphs: paragraphs must be written without indentation, using single spacing or 1.5 spacing depending on the version of the standard. Separation between paragraphs is marked with double spacing.
  • Language: non-sexist language is mandatory and the rules of the Royal Spanish Academy must be followed (RAE–ASALE 2010).

Additional guidelines:

  • Titles and subtitles must be in bold, left-aligned, and written in the same font as the rest of the text. Do not add punctuation at the end.
  • All words written in uppercase must include accent marks when required.
  • Titles of cited works and foreign words must be italicized.

5. Manuscript structure

Each article must contain the following elements:

  • Title: must not exceed eight words. It must be written in Arial 14, bold, and uppercase. An English translation is mandatory.
  • Author identification: full name (including second surnames), right-aligned, Arial 12.
  • Affiliation and contact details: institution, location, and a brief biographical note of up to four lines focused on academic and professional background. Include ORCID if available.
  • Abstract: maximum 250 words. It must summarize the general objective, central topic, procedures, results, and the most relevant conclusions. Must be provided in Spanish and English.
  • Descriptors (keywords): between three and eight in Spanish and English. Use of the UNESCO Thesaurus is recommended.
  • Body of the work: recommended structure: introduction, theoretical–conceptual framework, methodological procedure, results, discussion, and conclusions.
  • References: alphabetical list of cited works, following the most recent APA style.

6. Standards for tables, charts, and images

  • Separate files: must not be included inside the article text. They must be delivered as separate JPG files, never scanned.
  • Format and design: avoid three-dimensional (3D) graphics and unnecessary use of color. Histograms are preferred over pie charts.
  • Titles and sources: tables and charts are titled at the top; figures (graphs, photos) are titled at the bottom. Always indicate the original source and avoid the phrase “author’s own elaboration.”
  • Placement: in the main text, clearly indicate the suggested location for each illustration.

7. Citation and references (APA)

The Journal strictly applies APA style.

  • Short direct quotations: fewer than 40 words, placed in quotation marks within the text.
  • Long direct quotations: 40 words or more, presented as an indented block (5 spaces from the left margin), without quotation marks or italics, aligned with the rest of the text.
  • Do not include footnote citations; they must be placed at the end of the document, before the references.
  • Short quotations (under 40 words) must include, at the end, in parentheses: author’s surname, publication year, and page number.
  • When introducing a quotation, cite the author, publication year, and page number in parentheses.
  • Only citations from original sources are accepted. Secondary or tertiary citations (“cited in…”) are not accepted.
  • Indirect citations or paraphrases must credit the author by indicating surname and year in parentheses.
  • If the citation has two authors, cite both.
  • Use “&” between surnames when cited inside parentheses; if cited outside parentheses, join them with “and.”
  • If there are more than two authors, list all surnames the first time; in subsequent mentions, write only the first author’s surname followed by “and others” or “et al.”
  • If there are more than six authors, use “and others” from the first mention.
  • References: must be ordered alphabetically by authors’ surnames and names. For electronic documents, follow the corresponding reference format (text truncated in the source).
  • Interviews and personal communications are mentioned in the text but not included in the final bibliography.
  • Tables: the title must be italicized.
  • Tables are cited only by their number.
  • When the author is the source, it is not cited (i.e., do not write “made by the author”). It is understood that if the source is not cited, the author created it.
  • Tables, diagrams, and images are not included in the text; they must be provided as separate JPG files, not scanned. The original source must be indicated at the bottom; do not use “author’s own elaboration,” but rather the original source from which the data were taken.
  • Tables, diagrams, and charts must follow headline rules: no period at the end, no word breaks, and uppercase accent marks included.
  • Do not use 3D figures; 2D figures are clearer.
  • If categories in a chart do not follow a natural order, arrange them from highest to lowest.
  • Ensure figures are clear and legible; do not overload them.
  • If two examples share the same comparative axis, combine them into a single chart.
  • Label precisely and legibly.
  • Prefer histograms rather than pie charts.
  • Avoid indirect and confusing labels.
  • As a general rule, numbers from zero to nine should be written in words in the text; this rule does not apply if they are part of numbered sections, tables, charts, or diagrams.
  • Zero is always written in words in the text.
  • Write in words any quantities that begin a paragraph or sentence.
  • Quantity names do not have grammatical plurals (e.g., “the 1990s”).
  • Decimal fractions are separated by commas, not periods.
  • Do not mix numerals and words (e.g., “10 million”).
  • Times are separated by a colon between hours and minutes.
  • Roman numerals are always written in uppercase.
  • Annexes and appendices: should be included only exceptionally to complement, expand, or illustrate the content; they must not exceed three pages.

8. Submission and evaluation process

  • Online submission: through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. The author must register and follow the steps of the submission wizard.
  • Initial editorial review: the editor evaluates whether the article meets formatting rules and fits the editorial policy.
  • Peer review: selected works undergo review by at least two external expert reviewers, under a double-blind process.
  • Decision: reviewers have one month to issue a verdict. Possible decisions are: Accepted without changes; Accepted with changes (minor or major); or Not publishable.
  • Revisions: if changes are required, the author has a maximum of two weeks to return the corrected document.
  • Philological review: once the content is approved, the text undergoes copyediting/style correction by a specialist before final layout.

9. Intellectual property and ethics

  • Rights transfer: when an article is accepted for publication, the author(s) must sign a letter transferring economic rights to the Costa Rican Association of Social Workers.
  • The letter must authorize the Journal to:
    • Define the graphic edition and style of the work.
    • Publish or reproduce the work in full or in part through print or electronic means.
    • Translate the document or parts of it into any language.
    • Adapt the work to accessible formats for people with visual disabilities.
    • Publish and disseminate the work for access from any place and at any time.
    • Modify the article, jointly with the author, to align it with these guidelines.
  • Licensing: the Journal publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
  • Responsibility: article content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors.
  • Commitment: authors assume any responsibility for claims related to intellectual property rights and hold the Journal and the Association harmless.
  • The content of this site is protected by the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 (BY-NC-SA) license.

10. Guidelines for authors

Authors retain their moral rights and transfer economic rights in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Articles are licensed under “Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.” (As written in the source.)

Authors grant the Journal the right of first publication and its editing, reproduction, distribution, display, and public dissemination from its website.

Authors assume responsibility for any dispute or claim related to intellectual property rights and exempt the Costa Rican Journal of Social Work of the Costa Rican Association of Social Workers from liability.

Authors may enter into other independent and additional contractual agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the article in this Journal (e.g., include it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), provided they clearly indicate that the work was first published here.

Authors must provide the Journal with the following information:

  • Full name (including second surnames)
  • Institutional affiliation data and brief academic biography
  • Indicate whether they want their email address displayed
  • ORCID, if the author has one

Authors must ensure that the submission meets the following requirements:

  • The submission has not been previously published.
  • The file is in Word, RTF, or OpenOffice format.
  • URLs are provided for references when possible (truncated in source).
  • The text complies with the Journal’s editorial requirements.

11. Peer review process

All articles are evaluated through a double-blind system by national and international reviewers.