ISSN 2070-0415 printed version
ISSN 2709-0817 online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

Focus and Scope

Revista Investigaciones y estudios - UNA (2709-0817 versión online) is an official publication of the General Directorate of Scientific and Technological Research of the National University of Asunción. It is multidisciplinary in nature and is published biannually (January-June and July-December). The journal was created to meet the need to record and disseminate the results generated in the research lines developed by the National University of Asunción, and it has since expanded to include the entire scientific community interested in sharing their contributions to science. It has evolved to play a significant role in the dissemination of scientific innovations within the following six areas of knowledge, as established in the Frascati Manual: Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Medical and Health Sciences, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts. 

The publication of the journal is funded by the Rectorate of the National University of Asunción. 

The editorial committee responsible for the editorial process is a collegiate body, led by the Editor-in-Chief and composed of associate editors and a scientific committee.

The mission of the journal is to promote and support the development of national and regional scientific research in these areas. Contributions must be original and unpublished, not under review by any other journal or simultaneously submitted elsewhere. 

Open Access Policy and Usage Rights  

The journal "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA" is committed to ensuring that all digital content generated or sponsored by it is freely available online to the general public.

Its content can be freely used under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0, allowing users to: 
-  Share  — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. 
-  Adapt  — remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose, including commercial purposes.

Authors of works published under this open access policy retain the copyright to their works. "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA" may request a non-exclusive license to publish and distribute the work, but the author retains ownership rights.

The journal is committed to following open access principles, promoting maximum dissemination and accessibility of knowledge generated within its facilities. Additionally, it aims to implement practices that facilitate the use, reuse, and sharing of academic and research content to foster a collaborative environment and advance knowledge on a global scale.

Copyright Policy

Authors retain their copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication under the Creative Commons 4.0 (CC-BY) License, which allows users to: 
-  Share  — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. 
-  Adapt  — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. 

Under the following terms: 
-  Attribution  — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in a way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. 
-  No additional restrictions  — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

The information and opinions contained in the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors and will not be attributed to the publishing house, the Editor, or the Editorial Board of the journal.

Article Processing Charges

The journal investigaciones y estudios - UNA does not charge authors for the submission, acceptance, or publication of manuscripts; they are not subject to any cost.

Plagiarism Policy   

The Editorial Board (Editor-in-Chief, Co-editor, and/or Associate Editors, Reviewers) has the authority to reject a manuscript during the review process if sufficient and verified evidence is provided by any of its members. Publications may also be canceled in response to complaints from the victims of plagiarism. The Editorial Board acknowledges the importance of recognizing the correct individuals for the submitted work.

Plagiarism is defined as copying a phrase from another person’s manuscript verbatim without specific mention or permission and includes the use of one's previously published phrase without proper citation. The journal recommends reviewers use free plagiarism detection tools to identify possible instances of plagiarism.

Publication Frequency   

The journal is published semi-annually (First period: January to June; Second period: July to December). Articles are accepted year-round, and each issue has a closing month.

Language:

Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

Uptodate: Setember 2024.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check that their submission meets all the elements shown below. Submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to the authors.

I-MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Authors interested in submitting their manuscripts must register as an author on the website of the journal "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA" https://revistascientificas.una.py/index.php/rdgic/login  or on the journal portal https://revistascientificas.una.py/index.php/rdgic/about/submissions and access the article submission system. 

The submitted article or manuscript, which must be original and unpublished, should not be under consideration in any other journal during the editorial process.

Along with the manuscript, the submission must include a Cover letter (Download, complete, sign, and attach to the manuscript for submission to the journal) written by the principal and/or corresponding author, explicitly stating its originality, type of manuscript (original, review article, short communication, etc.), and confirming it has not been simultaneously submitted to another journal.

Contributions can be submitted in Spanish, Portuguese, or English. Manuscripts presented in Spanish and Portuguese must include titles, abstracts, and legends for tables and figures in English. If the manuscript is in English, these items must be presented in Spanish.

TYPES OF SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS   

The journal accepts: 
a) Original Articles 
b) Review Articles 
c) Case Reports 
d) Letters to the Editor 
e) Any contribution considered of interest by the Editorial Committee for publication (conference abstracts, reflections, opinions, essays, standards, technical specifications, preprints).

SECTION POLICIES

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Original articles must be unpublished and have a length between 5,000 words (5 pages) and 8,000 words (20 pages). They should follow this structure: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion (these sections can be combined or separate), Sources of Funding, and References. The "Acknowledgments" section may be included if applicable, before the references.

STRUCTURE

Title: Clear, concise, and informative in the language of the text, and in both Spanish and English (maximum 20 words). The first letter should be capitalized, followed by lowercase in bold, except for Latin terms, which should be in italics and not bolded. Do not include abbreviations.

Authors' Names: There is no limit to the number of authors, but it is mandatory to declare each author's contributions (in the cover letter). After the names, include affiliations with superscript indications at the end: Institution, Department, City, Country, Email, and ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) of each author separately. Mark the corresponding author with an asterisk.

Abstract: A maximum of 250 words, written in a single paragraph, in the past tense. The same applies to the English abstract. Do not include sections, citations, references, footnotes, or abbreviations.

Keywords: 3 to 5 internationally accepted keywords or short phrases (descriptors) that help indexers classify the article. Preferably, do not include words used in the title. It is recommended to verify thesauri on the UNESCO Vocabularios UNESCO o MeSH.

Introduction: Should express the purpose of the article and summarize the study's logical basis. Mention only strictly relevant references without extensive topic review, with a maximum length of 1,000 words (3 pages).

Materials and Methods: Mention the location, locality, or institution where the study was conducted, describe the population, and the selection method for the subjects included in the study. Include variables and methods used with sufficient detail for other researchers to reproduce the results. Provide references for standard methods. Specify the software used for statistical analysis. Do not use participants' names or initials or patients' clinical record numbers, especially in illustrative material.

Results: Present results logically using text, tables, and/or figures. Do not repeat data from tables or figures in the text; only highlight relevant observations. A maximum of 5 tables or figures is allowed. Do not include bibliographic citations in this section.

 Tables and Figures   
Include tables, figures, diagrams, images, and photographs within the manuscript's text at their appropriate location, properly cited and with corresponding legends, consecutively numbered using Arabic numerals based on the type. After acceptance, submission of tables, figures, diagrams, images, and photographs in their editable formats will be required.

Use standardized nomenclature, abbreviations, and symbols for each discipline, and include explanatory notes for non-standard abbreviations. Decimals should be preceded by a comma, not a period.

Figures should be presented in the simplest format to allow correct interpretation of the underlying data, avoiding 3D effects, highlights, glows, and other elements that do not add specific value to their interpretation. Titles and figure legends should not be inside the image.

Discussion: Do not simply repeat the results; present the most relevant findings, explain their significance, and relate them to other pertinent studies. Link conclusions to the study's objectives. Propose new hypotheses if justified, identifying them clearly as such. When appropriate, include recommendations. The study's limitations, including implications for future research, can be mentioned. This section can be independent or integrated with the results.

References: should be formatted according to the APA 7th edition style, available Click aquí. Use 15 to 30 of the most recent and relevant references written in APA format. Avoid using abstracts from events, personal communications, and other "gray Literature" as references. Accepted but not yet published articles can be included; indicate the journal title and add "In press." Submitted manuscripts must conform to the 7th edition of the APA Style Manual: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Use the author-date citation system, where a brief citation in the text directs readers to a complete entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the manuscript. Each cited work must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text. Authors are encouraged to use reference management tools like Mendeley, which is a free tool.

Note: Include Sources of Funding and Acknowledgments if applicable

Review Articles:

Priority will be given to review articles that focus on current topics established by the Editorial Committee. Two types of reviews will be accepted: narrative and systematic. In both cases, a literature review of at least 50 references must be presented. The maximum length of the text is 9,000 words, and up to 7 figures or tables are allowed. Narrative reviews should include: Title, Abstract (maximum of 250 words), Keywords (3 to 5), Topic Development, Conclusion, and References.

For systematic reviews, the presentation of a checklist and a figure of the relevant reporting guidelines is required, including the PRISMA checklist and flow diagram or the most appropriate PRISMA extension for variations in standard methodology. The flow diagram must be included in the main text, and the checklist must be provided as an additional file; both the flow diagram and checklist must be referenced in the text. Submissions received without these elements will be returned to the authors as incomplete. A Word file with the checklist and flow diagram can be downloaded Here.

It is understood that, in the case of some systematic reviews, certain aspects of the report may not fully comply with the PRISMA checklist. The checklist will not be used as a tool to judge the suitability of the manuscripts for publication. Instead, it is meant to help authors clearly, completely, and transparently communicate what they did and found to reviewers and readers.

The sections required for systematic reviews are: Title, Abstract (PRISMA extensión), Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, List of Abbreviations, and Declarations.

Case reports:

The text should have a maximum of 2,500 words, and up to 4 figures or tables are allowed. It should include: Title, Abstract (maximum of 150 words), Keywords (3 to 5), Introduction, Case Presentation, Case Discussion based on the literature, and References (no more than 25).

Letters to the editor

These are short manuscripts requesting clarifications or providing comments on material recently published in the journal or on current topics. In this case, a maximum of 2 pages, one table or figure, and five references are allowed. The decision to publish the letters received is at the discretion of the Editorial Committee of the journal. Considerations for writing can be found Aquí.

Other contributions:

Any contribution deemed of interest for publication by the Editorial Committee (conference abstracts, reflections, opinions, essays, standards, technical specifications).

Summaries of Scientific Events – EC (congresses, symposiums, workshops, scientific meetings)   

Instructions for Organizers of Scientific Events – EC   

  Scientific events must meet the following criteria: 
- Conferences should focus on reporting academic research. 
- The event must be of national and/or international renown and organized by prestigious research or academic-scientific institutions. 
- Conferences must have a scientific committee composed of specialists in their research area. 
- Conferences must feature a series of academic topics for debate and presentation. 
- Simple or extended format abstracts must undergo an arbitration and review process managed by the scientific event's organizing committee. 
- A review report must be generated for each conference's abstracts (oral or poster). 
- Before the event, the project for the Scientific Event must be submitted to the journal. In some cases, post-event submission is allowed, provided all the mentioned requirements are met.

Publication Procedure   

- Organizers of the Scientific Events must submit a proposal to the journal "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA," including: Name (responsible party), Institution, Thematic Area, Location and Date, Duration, Modality (In-person, Virtual, Hybrid), Category (Local, National, Regional, International), Type (Symposium, Congress, Workshop), Scientific Committee, and Organizer (with their ORCID IDs).
- The proposal will be evaluated by the Editorial Board of "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA."
- The journal will provide the summary templates and logos to the event organizer for publication on the journal's website.
- EC organizers are responsible for receiving the abstracts and conducting the peer review.
- The accepted abstracts and peer reviews must be sent to the journal "Investigaciones y Estudios - UNA." They will be verified by Associate Editors according to the research area to validate the editorial process.
- The journal handles production, correction, and publication.
- The journal notifies all authors once the volume has been finalized.
-  Pre-published or Preprints: Follow the methodology of the author guidelines on the Scielo-preprint server (https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/about/submissions).

Submissions the online manuscripts:

https://revistascientificas.una.py/index.php/rdgic/index e ingresar al sistema de envío de artículos. Área de Gestión Editorial Técnica y Científica de la Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción; email: revista_una@rec.una.py o a la casilla de correos 1618 Campus. San Lorenzo, Paraguay.