Submissions

Author Guidelines

Guidelines for submission

Call for applications

Quality contributions that address the topics of the Journal from any perspective and source are welcome for evaluation and possible publication. These contributions may consist of research articles, book reviews or critiques, and research notes, doctoral thesis summaries, academic essays academic essays or relevant experiences duly substantiated. Each contribution will be published in the corresponding section after passing a double blind evaluation process by external expert evaluators and the Editorial Committee. Special Issues will also accept other types of documents such as stories or opinion articles that, due to their subject matter, may be of interest to the journal's audience.

The reception of originals is uninterruptedly open through the mail  revistapaz@unah.edu.hn. The Editorial Team will determine the specific Volume and Number in which the work is included once the evaluation process has been passed.

Type of papers accepted and number of papers per issue:

- Original and unpublished scientific research articles that are not under evaluation or committed to any other publication. Their content will refer to some field of research related to the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies.
- Research notes (such as reports of findings, contributions, etc.) and academic essays derived from research, summaries of research papers, doctoral theses on any of the fields of research related to the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies and relevant practical experiences duly substantiated.
- Book reviews, as well as news and scientific meetings, bibliographic news, interviews, etc. on the journal's subject matter.

In the "Special Issues" of the Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, are also accepted:

- Stories or opinion articles that, because of their subject matter, could be of interest to the journal's public.

Each issue corresponding to the annual volumes of the journal is composed of a minimum of six articles of scientific research - unpublished academic essays, and may incorporate, in addition, a greater or lesser number of research notes, experiences and reviews, book reviews or interviews.

The "Special Issues" of the Journal are not necessarily composed of a minimum of scientific research articles and may vary their composition according to the interest of the Editorial Team.

Submissions
Original articles should be submitted via email: revistapaz@unah.edu.hn

The original articles must be adapted to the following format. You can download the template here: https://iudpas.unah.edu.hn/assets/Uploads/Plantilla-para-articulos-Revista-Latinoamericana-Estudios-de-la-Paz-y-el-Conficto2.docx 

"plantilla para artículos"

GUIDELINES

1. Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies is open to the publication of empirical, methodological or theoretical research articles of Latin American and international scope, as well as to the publication of research notes, academic essays based on solid theoretical and empirical foundations, significant and adequately grounded experiences, as well as reviews, book reviews and interviews. 

2. Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies prioritizes papers that report the results of original academic research and follow the IMR&DC+B structure: introduction, methodology, results and discussion, conclusions, and updated bibliography. 

3. Papers are published in Spanish, English, or Portuguese.

4. The originals should be sent in digital format (.doc / .docx) through the e-mail revistapaz@unah.edu.hn (or the web platform)

5. The reception of articles is uninterruptedly open, although the months of edition are May and November. In each issue, articles are accepted that have been positively evaluated at least 3 months before the month of publication.

6. Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies is an Open Access publication and does not charge authors any processing fees (APC) or publication fees.

7. Submitted papers must be unpublished. This condition must be confirmed during the process by means of an affidavit.

8. Proposals submitted to the Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies cannot be simultaneously submitted to any other publication.

9. All originals are submitted to double-blind arbitration by academic peers. In order to guarantee impartiality in the selection of articles for publication, anonymity of both authors and reviewers is observed.  To this end, the text of the articles should be sent anonymously: the name of the authors and their affiliation should not be included, nor the ORCID, and all acknowledgements, references to funding projects or any other element that could directly or indirectly allow the identification of the author should be deleted (under the label of *anonymized*). The Technical Secretariat of the Editorial Committee of the Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies will ensure that the texts comply with this condition. If the article is accepted for publication, the journal will request the non-anonymized version along with any modifications required after the review process.

10. We strongly recommend that scientific articles submitted to the journal have a maximum length of 8,500 words (excluding abstracts, but including bibliographic references, tables, footnotes, graphics, etc.). Academic essays derived from research, or research notes (such as reports of findings, contributions, etc.) should ideally have a maximum length of 5,500 words (equally excluding abstracts, but including bibliographic references, tables, footnotes, graphs, etc.). Book reviews should not exceed 3,000 words, and should specify the author, title, publisher, place and date of publication of the work being reviewed, as well as the name, surname and contact address of the reviewer.

Only book reviews published within the last 5 years will be accepted (the template format for submitting book reviews can be downloaded here: https://iudpas.unah.edu.hn/assets/Uploads/Plantilla-de-critica-resena-de-libros-Relapac-Final.docx ). Manuscripts that comply with these extensions are more likely to be reviewed, edited, and published more quickly.

11. Submitted manuscripts should be written with care to dispense with footnotes. It is advisable to incorporate a maximum of 5 footnotes.

12. Submitted papers will include a maximum of 40 relevant academic bibliographic references (and between 40 and 60 for papers that are theoretical reviews). It is strongly advised to include 25% of current bibliographic references (published in the last 5 years).

13. The papers must be sent in the following format:

- Times New Roman font, size 12. Single space, page size Letter.

- The different TITLES will be in BOLD and CAPITAL LETTERS with the same font type and size as the body of the text, and will be numbered consecutively in Roman numerals (1., 2., 3.)

- The different Subtitles or sections will be in bold and capital letters only the first letter and with the same font type and size as the body of the text. The third level of subheadings will be in bold and italics

- Words in a language other than the original must be in italics.

- The text quotations must be "quotes", indicating, in brackets, the last name of the author or authors of the text, the year of publication and the page as in this example: (Montañés, 2009, p. 21). If there are more than three authors, they will all be cited the first time and the following times the expression "et al: (Oswald et al., 2020, p.205)

- Footnotes will be in the same font and in font size 10, without indentation or space between notes.

- For the bibliography, at the end of the paper, the APA 7 style should be used, including, whenever possible, the complete doi or url of the publication (if available online).

Please consult the orientation guide of the Complutense University Library, which can be found at the following link: https://biblioguias.ucm.es/estilo-apa-septima/libro

- When several references from the same author are included, it is necessary to indicate the name of the author in each title and not to use dashes.

- Tables, images and diagrams should be included in the text, titled and numbered consecutively according to their category. The title of tables, images and diagrams should be in bold. General components of peace. 

- The works submitted may incorporate a maximum of 5 figures, tables or graphics in total (with some exceptions). Each of these must be submitted as a separate file in JPG or PNG format. Its size must be less than 1 Mb.

- Papers must include the following basic elements in the original language of the article (and translated into the second and third languages of the journal - Spanish, English and Portuguese): title, abstract of no more than 300 words, and between 4 and 6 key words separated by a semicolon. If the language of the paper is Spanish, these elements will be included in Spanish, English and Portuguese. 

- For those texts whose language is different from English, an extended abstract in English of between 750 and 1500 words should be sent, in addition to the abstract, describing, in greater depth, the methods, data, findings and conclusions of the work.

The Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies is a collaborative project, committed to the open access model, which does not receive any external funding for its development. Therefore, it is expected that the first author of each approved article will accept to participate as a reviewer of the journal, committing himself to carry out the evaluation of at least one article or academic essay submitted to the peer review process of the journal, within 3 years from the date of publication of his manuscript.

"Checklist" for preparing submissions
As part of the submission process, authors are required to verify that their submission meets all the elements shown below. Submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to the authors:
- The article communicates the results of original academic research and observes the IMRyDC+B structure: introduction, methodology, results and discussion, conclusions, and updated bibliography.
- The bibliography uses the APA 7 style.
- If the language of the paper is other than English, an extended abstract of between 750 and 1500 words is included in addition to the abstract.
- The article has not been previously published, does not appear in another published work or about to be published, nor has it been submitted for consideration by any other journal, and the rights to edit, publish, distribute and sell it are available.
- The authors agree not to submit the article for consideration by another publication while it is in the process of being reviewed by the Journal, or subsequently if it is accepted for publication.
- The submission file is in Microsoft Word format (.doc / .docx) .
- The paper includes a list of no more than 40 academic references (60 if it is a theoretical review), trying to include 25% of current references and provides the links -URL or complete DOI- of those references that have them.
- The text is single-spaced; 12 points Times New Roman; quotations are put in quotation marks; the surname(s) of the author(s) referred to in the text are shown in parentheses; words from another language than the one used are in italics; section titles, headings, tables, illustrations and figures are numbered consecutively and written in bold.
- The text is adapted to the corresponding template and to the stylistic and bibliographical requirements contained in the section "guidelines for authors".
- The text has been anonymized before being sent: it does not include the name of the authors or their affiliation, and all acknowledgements, references to funding projects or any other element that could directly or indirectly allow the identification of the author have been deleted (under the heading of *anonymized*).
- All the signatories of the work have contributed significantly to its elaboration and agree with its final result and with its publication, if accepted, in Revista Latinoamericana Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto.
- The work acknowledges all the authors who have participated in its elaboration. And all those persons and institutions that, having granted their permission for such mention, have contributed substantially to the development of the work, have been mentioned in the section of acknowledgements.
- None of the institutions in which the scientific and research work is carried out have presented any objections to the publication of the manuscript being evaluated.
- The work indicates if it has received economic support for its elaboration.
- The authors have not had, nor do they have, personal or financial relationships that could introduce prejudices and biases in the development or the results of this work.
- The work is free of plagiarism.
- The data used in the article are real and authentic.
- All data and references to materials already published are duly identified with their respective credit and included in the bibliographic notes and in the citations that are highlighted as such and, in the cases that require it, have the due authorizations of those who hold the economic rights.
- The materials are free of copyright and the author is responsible for any litigation or claim related to intellectual property rights, exonerating the Journal from any responsibility.
- The presentation includes the commitment to correct and/or retract any errors detected later.
- Authors will actively participate in the realization of all those style or orthographic modifications that are necessary for the publication of the work when notified by the editorial team of the Journal.
- The authors commit themselves to facilitate, when required by the journal, access to all data and sources on which the work presented is based.
- In case the work is approved for publication, the authors authorize the publishing house to include the text in the Journal and to reproduce, edit, distribute, exhibit, and communicate it in the country and abroad by printed, electronic, CD, Internet, or any other known or unknown means.
- In case the work is approved, the main author commits to participate in the peer review process of the Latin American Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, making, at least, the evaluation of 1 article or academic essay submitted to the journal, within 3 years from the date of publication of the manuscript itself.

Editorial policy of the journal and evaluation system

1. Ethical principles of publication

The Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto is a publication committed to the ethical principles of scientific activity. ReLaPaC adheres to the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/resources/translated-resources/spanish-all-flowcharts):

1.1 Ethical behaviour in research and publication: unacceptable practices

- Fabrication, falsification or omission of data during research.
- Plagiarism: Verbatim copying without quotation marks and citing the source; substantial copying (research materials, processes, tables, etc.); paraphrasing or reproducing ideas without citing the source and/or changing the original meaning; reusing and submitting one's own previously published texts without indicating the source; and excessive paraphrasing, even when citing the source.
- Redundant publication: consists of the publication of an article or work that coincides in its essential aspects with another already published. This fact contravenes international copyright laws, professional ethics and the efficient use of resources.
- Improper authorship: the list of signing authors must include only those persons who have made an intellectual contribution to the development of the work. The inclusion of authors without substantial contribution (honorary authorship) or the exclusion of authors with relevant contribution is not permitted.
- Undeclared conflicts of interest: the journal expects authors to declare any commercial or personal association that may constitute a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted text.
- Violation of laws and human or animal rights: the publication of research that involves the violation of human rights or animal welfare at any stage of the research process is prohibited.

Consequently:
- All research must have been conducted in accordance with the applicable national and international regulations.
- Authors must include a statement in the Methodology section (in a footnote or equivalent section) indicating that the procedures were carried out after obtaining the informed consent of the participants. The journal reserves the right to request the relevant documentation (approval from the Ethics Committee and/or consent forms) if deemed necessary.
- Research involving animals must comply with animal welfare regulations.
- Manuscripts derived from practices that have involved coercion, discrimination, degrading treatment, unjustified harm or any form of violation of fundamental rights will not be accepted.

1.2 Authors’ responsibilities
• It is the author’s obligation to follow the ethical behaviours of scientific publication, avoiding dishonest practices in the presentation of their work for evaluation.
• The submission of works to the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto implies that the authors have read and accepted the journal’s editorial and publication policies, including participation in a double-blind peer-review process.
• All authors signing a work must have contributed significantly to its elaboration and must agree with the final result and with the submission of the work for evaluation.
• Works must acknowledge all authors who have participated in their elaboration. The journal declines any responsibility for possible conflicts arising from the authorship of the works to be published.
• The data used in the article must be real and authentic.
• Authors assume the obligation to correct and/or retract in the event of errors detected subsequently.
• Works must be unpublished and may not be submitted simultaneously to any other publication.
• Authors are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permissions to reproduce material (text, tables, or figures) from other publications and for citing their source correctly. These permissions must be requested from both the author and the publisher of the material.
• The use of generative AI must be explicitly declared in the methodology section; the final responsibility for the content always lies with the authors.
• Authors must have publication permission from the funding institution of the research, when applicable.

1.3 Peer-review process
All scientific research articles submitted to the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto undergo a peer-review process with the following characteristics:
• The selection of reviewers is carried out according to prior standards and principles based on both their qualifications and the quality of their scientific output.
• The review process is anonymous for both authors and reviewers. Articles and their reviews are treated confidentially.
• Reviewers consider, among their evaluation criteria, respect for the essential ethical principles in scientific research and compliance with the journal’s editorial policies. They also carry out an initial screening for possible cases of plagiarism, which in some cases is subsequently supplemented by the Technical Secretariat through the use of plagiarism detection software (iThenticate or Turnitin).
• The judgements expressed in the reviews must be objective.
• Both authors and reviewers must disclose any relationships and sources of funding that may generate potential conflicts of interest.

1.4 Editors’ responsibilities
• The Editorial Team has the responsibility and authority to accept or reject an article based on the reviews submitted by the peers; the final authority for acceptance or rejection lies with the Journal’s Director together with its General Secretariat.
• The Editorial Team will disclose, where applicable, any relationships or sources of funding that may be considered potential conflicts of interest regarding the articles it rejects or accepts.
• Only articles for which there is clear evidence of compliance with the editorial policies will be accepted.
• The Editorial Committee of the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto reserves the right to withdraw any work received, accepted or already published if plagiarism, falsification or duplicate publication is confirmed, as well as the various cases of scientific misconduct previously listed. Likewise, it will promote the publication of corrections, errata or retractions in the face of detected errors.

The Editorial Team undertakes to:
• Preserve the anonymity of reviewers so that they can never be associated with the articles reviewed.
• Act with transparency, impartiality and respect for scientific integrity.
• Monitor and preserve the principles of publication ethics.
• Prevent the publication of plagiarised or fraudulently produced material.
• Be open to the publication of corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies whenever necessary.
• Provide support in the article retraction process.
• Take all necessary actions to meet the standards of intellectual and ethical commitment.

1.5 Conflicts of interest
Authors must expressly state any personal or economic link that may be likely to influence the conclusions of an original work, or otherwise declare the absence of any conflict of interest. The Editorial Team will evaluate the information provided and decide on the acceptance of the manuscript.
Persons in charge of conducting the evaluation must reject article review proposals if there is a conflict of interest due to any type of affinity, contractual or direct collaboration relationship. During the evaluation procedure they must expressly declare the absence of conflicts of interest.

1.5.1 Handling of manuscripts submitted by Editorial Team members
Articles written by any member of the Editorial Team, Editorial Board, Technical Secretariat or journal staff will be subject to the same double-blind peer-review process as the rest of the manuscripts. To guarantee maximum impartiality: the manuscript will be assigned to an independent editor who is not the author and has no conflict of interest. The involved author will be completely excluded from any participation in the editorial process of their own article (review, decision or correspondence). The final decision on acceptance or rejection will correspond to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal or, where appropriate, to a member of the General Secretariat or the Board Members, and will be based solely on the external evaluations and on the scientific and ethical criteria of the journal.

1.6 Management of controversies, reports of misconduct, retractions and corrections
Any person may contact the journal to report possible cases of misconduct, plagiarism, data falsification, etc., regarding published articles. The Editorial Team will investigate, grant the authors a period of 10 days to present their allegations and will decide on the matter. If misconduct is confirmed, the files corresponding to the article will be removed from the issue in which they were published, expressly stating this circumstance. At all times the Editorial Team will facilitate the publication of retractions for any of the reasons indicated above or for involuntary errors.
In the event that serious errors are discovered in already published articles by their responsible parties, they will inform the Editorial Team, which may consider the publication of an erratum to accompany the article. Errors that are not considered serious (orthographic or grammatical errors) will not be published as errata.
The final decision of the Editorial Team is final and non-appealable.
The journal reserves the right not to process anonymous complaints or those made inappropriately.

1.7 Complaints and suggestions
Any person may submit a complaint or suggestion by e-mail addressed to the journal’s main contact person, who will forward it to the Editorial Team for study and resolution, informing the interested party.

1.8 Policy on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
The journal recognizes that generative artificial intelligence tools may be used in academic writing and research processes under responsible and transparent conditions. The following principles govern the acceptable use of generative AI in manuscripts submitted to the journal.

1.8.1 Authorship
Generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok or similar systems) cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of a manuscript. Authorship implies responsibilities regarding the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical conduct of the research, which can only be assumed by human authors.

1.8.2 Permitted uses
Authors may use generative AI tools to improve language quality, including grammar, readability, or stylistic clarity of the manuscript. When such tools are used, authors must carefully review, edit, and verify the generated output and assume full responsibility for the final content.

1.8.3 Transparency and disclosure
If generative AI tools were used during the preparation of the manuscript, authors must disclose this use clearly. The disclosure should include: the name of the tool, the version or model (if applicable), the purpose of its use, and the extent of human verification and editing performed. This information should be included in the Methodology section or in an Author Disclosure statement.

1.8.4 Prohibited uses
The use of generative AI tools to fabricate, manipulate, or falsify research data, images, figures, or results is strictly prohibited unless the use of such tools is part of the research design and is fully described, validated, and verified by the authors.

1.8.5 Responsibility
All authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical compliance of their manuscripts, regardless of whether generative AI tools were used during the writing or research process.

1.9 Revenue Sources and Financial Transparency
ReLaPaC is co-funded by the Latin American Council for Peace Research (CLAIP) and the National Autonomous University of Honduras, which cover the editorial and open access publication costs. The journal may receive revenue from grants or project-based funding.
Editorial decisions —including peer review outcomes, acceptance, revision, or rejection of manuscripts— are based exclusively on academic merit, methodological rigor, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Financial considerations do not influence editorial decisions. The editorial process operates independently from any funding bodies, including sponsors, grant providers, or project funders.

1.10 Advertising Policy
Advertising is not accepted.

1.11 Direct Marketing Policy
All direct marketing activities conducted on behalf of the journal —including the solicitation of manuscript submissions, calls for papers, or promotional communications— adhere to principles of transparency, professionalism, and accuracy.
Direct marketing communications are appropriate and well targeted to relevant academic communities, are respectful and non-intrusive, and. do not involve aggressive or misleading solicitation practices. All information provided about the journal, its publisher, indexing status, editorial board, and peer-review process must be truthful, verifiable, and not misleading.
The journal does not engage in deceptive marketing practices, false claims regarding indexing or impact metrics.

2. Evaluation system for scientific articles and academic essays

The evaluation system for original papers is developed as follows:

Phase 1. Receipt of the original via e-mail revistapaz@unah.edu.hn, signing of the assignment of rights document in order to be published in the journal under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0), and generation of acknowledgement of receipt.

Phase 2. Anonymization of the article. The Technical Secretariat verifies the anonymization of the submitted work and, if necessary, proceeds to its adaptation. Subsequently, it processes the inclusion in the evaluation system and the work proceeds to the next phase (phase 3).

Phase 3. Thematic classification of the article (UNESCO). The Technical Secretariat verifies that the work complies with the required editorial standards and fits the thematic scope of the journal. If this is not the case, the work is not accepted. If it complies with the required standards and is considered pertinent, the work proceeds to the next phase (phase 4).

Phase 4. Review of formal and stylistic aspects. The Technical Secretariat and at least one member of the Editorial Committee carry out a general evaluation of the formal and stylistic aspects of the text. Subsequently, the author is notified and returned in case of errors. If the evaluation is positive, the paper proceeds to the next phase (phase 5).

Phase 5. Double-blind review by two external peer reviewers, according to scientific quality criteria. In case of need, due to disparate judgment, the Editorial Board requests the contribution of a third evaluator.

The evaluation rubric (rúbrica de evaluación) includes:

Assessment of the originality and scientific contribution of the work.
Assessment of the clarity and coherence between objectives, hypotheses, methodologies and conclusions of the work.
Assessment of the relevance and updating of the bibliography.
Assessment of formal aspects (writing, citations, organization of the text, tables, graphs, etc.).
Final recommendation on the work and, where appropriate, suggestions for modification or reasons for non-publication.

Phase 6. Sending the review report to the author with the corresponding decision:

a) acceptance without changes.
b) acceptance pending rectifications.
c) rejection.

The peer reviewers send the rubric to the Editorial Committee of the journal through the Web platform or e-mail within a maximum period of 6 months from receipt of the article. The evaluation process is carried out over a period of four to six months. As the journal is a biannual publication, once an article is accepted, the final publication may take up to 6 more months.

If the article is accepted for publication, the journal requests the non-anonymized version, including the author's full name, institutional affiliation, contact e-mail address and ORCID, together with any modifications required after the review process. Subsequently, the DOI is registered before final publication in the corresponding issue.

At least 3 different external reviewers participate as peer reviewers in each issue of the journal.