How to publish

Guidelines for Authors

Originals are received only in digital form and should be sent to: actio_nal@unal.edu.co
The following should be specified: the author’s full name, a brief description of the author’s academic career, the name of the author’s institution and department, the national and international networks to which the author belongs, and the author’s email address.
We accept articles written in English, Spanish and other Romance languages (Portuguese, French, Italian). If the article is submitted in Portuguese, French or Italian, include an extended summary of 600 to 800 words in Spanish or English.
We expect the articles not to exceed 6,000 words (excluding bibliographical references). However, longer articles may be accepted if the thematic contact warrants it.
Articles to be included in the journal must be registered within one of the following categories established by PUBLINDEX:
- Scientific and technological research article: gives a detailed presentation of the original results of completed research projects. The structure generally used contains four important sections: introduction, methodology, results and conclusions.
- Article of reflection: results of completed research from an analytical, interpretive or critical perspective of the author on a specific topic, using original sources.
- Review article: analyzes, systematizes and integrates the results of completed published or unpublished research in a science or technology field, in order to give an account of advances and development trends. It is characterized by the presentation of a careful bibliographical review of at least 50 references.
- Short article: original preliminary or partial research results.
- Case report: results of a study on a particular situation (technical and methodological experiences considered in a specific case).
The article’s structure should contain the following parts, depending on its category:
- Title: it should clearly and precisely describe the content, enabling readers to easily identify the subject.
- Author(s): those who have made a substantial intellectual contribution and assume responsibility for the article’s content should appear as authors.
- Institution(s): this section should include the name, exact address and corresponding postal code of the institution or institutions or centers where the research was conducted. When the article is the work of authors from different institutions, their names will be listed with the respective institutions, so that readers can easily establish the corresponding connections.
- Abstract: the objective of this part is to guide readers in quickly and accurately identifying, and determining the relevance of, the article’s basic content. It should range between 150 and 200 words.
- Key words: at the end of the abstract, the author should define six key words that help to cross-index the article.
- Introduction: this section should clearly identify the problem and place it in a current context; briefly discuss the most relevant work, highlighting other authors’ contributions to the subject of study; justify the reasons for conducting the research; and formulate the research hypotheses or questions and the relevant objectives.
- Methodology: this section discusses the methods, strategies and instruments used in the research. It also names the categories and variables and the aspects of the subject of study that are addressed.
- Results: this section should present only information that is relevant to the study’s objectives; it should present the findings in a logical sequence, mentioning the relevant ones, even those that are contrary to the hypotheses, and it should provide sufficient details to justify the conclusions.
- Discussion: this is a fundamental section of a scientific article, which examines and interprets the research results with the conceptual frame of reference, and discusses the consistency with, and approaches taken in relation to, the results of other research.
- Conclusions: here the author presents a synthesis of the results obtained in relation to the objectives and the research hypotheses or questions posed. If relevant, new perspectives that the research presented can follow are proposed.
- Bibliographical references: these references allow readers to identify the original sources of ideas, concepts, methods, techniques and results from previously published studies, and guide them with greater breadth and depth in the theoretical support on which the study is based. They must be presented in accordance with APA rules (6th edition) and in alphabetical order.
The text must be typed in Word, without conversion to PDF or other formats, on letter size pages with vertical orientation, margins of 3 cm on each side, and consecutive page numbers in the bottom right margin (folio).
The text must be in 12-point Arial font, with 1.5 line spacing, left-justified and without indentation.
Images such as illustrations, photographs, figures, diagrams and sketches should be provided in jpg, tiff or psd format with a minimum resolution of 300 ppi (pixels/inch), and tables should be provided in Excel. These resources should be provided in appropriately classified files and independent folders; in addition, each resource should be identified in a consecutive manner (for example: figure 1, figure 2, figure 3…; image 1, image 2, image 3…; table 1, table 2, table 3…; etc., as the case may be).
Also, they should be placed in the text of the original document (so that the designer has a specific reference and can place them correctly when assembling the publication), and they should be identified with their corresponding consecutive number, caption, and author or source credit.
For images or other resources that are not authored by the person who submits the work, the author must give the corresponding credit and cite the original source, in accordance with the intellectual property and copyright regulations established by the National University of Colombia.
It is recommended that the images and other graphic resources be original or from primary sources; failing this, those taken from the Internet should be from authorized sites, and the respective source and date of inquiry should be cited.
For photographic images taken by others, the article’s authors must have written authorization from those who took them, from those who modeled for them, and from the authors of the design work that is shown, if applicable.
Citation rules: books, journals and Internet pages must be cited in accordance with the APA System (6^thEdition).
The articles received will be sent for evaluation to national and/or international referees. It is requested that the author attach the names of two or more national or international referees form outside the university who the author believes can evaluate the article in an impartial manner.
The articles sent will not be returned, so the authors should make sure to keep a copy.
The Co-editors in Chief and Guest Editors are responsible for selecting the articles that merit publication, and they reserve the right not to accept for publication works that do not comply with the above instructions.
The authors of articles approved for publication must make the corrections suggested by the referee, within a period of 20 days.
Verification for the preparation of submissions. As part of the submission process, the authors are obligated to verify that their submissions comply with all elements indicated herein. Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned to the authors.
Privacy declaration. The names and email addresses included in this journal will be used exclusively for the declared purposes of this journal and will not be available for any other purpose or to any other person.

Guidelines for Reviewers

General guidelines

Make sure the article you have been asked to review truly matches your expertise.

The editor who has approached you may not know your work intimately, and may only be aware of your work in a broader context. Only accept an invitation if you are competent to review the article.

Avoid a potential conflict of interest

For example; if you work in the same department or institute as one of the authors; if you have worked on a paper previously with an author; or you have a professional or financial connection to the article. These should all be listed when responding to the editor's invitation for review.

Check that you have enough time

Reviewing an article can be quite time consuming. The time taken to review can vary greatly between disciplines and of course on article type. Please check if you will have sufficient time before the deadline stipulated in the invitation to conduct a thorough review.

Ethics

Plagiarism

If you suspect that an article is a substantial copy of another work, please let the editor know, citing the previous work in as much detail as possible.

Fraud

It is very difficult to detect the determined fraudster, but if you suspect the results in an article to be untrue, discuss it with the editor.

Other ethical concerns

For medical research, has confidentiality been maintained? Has there been a violation of the accepted norms in the ethical treatment of animal or human subjects? If so, then these should also be identified to the editor.

Confidentiality

Do not disclose to others

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others except as authorized by the editor. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer's own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Requesting the opinion of a single colleague may be appropriate in some circumstances but you should always let the editor know beforehand.

Peer review is confidential, and therefore information about the review (e.g. review reports, correspondence with the editor) cannot be shared with 3rd parties.

Reviewer identity is not shared with the author

ACTO Journal of Design and Communication does not share the identity of the reviewer with the author. To help us protect your identity, please do not reveal your name within the text of your review. It also implies you should not attempt to contact the author.

Originality

Is the article sufficiently novel and interesting to warrant publication? Does it add to the canon of knowledge? Does the article adhere to ACTO Journal of Design and Communication’s standards? Is the research question an important one? In order to determine its originality, you might wish to do a quick literature search using tools such as Scopus to see if there are any reviews of the area. If the research has been covered previously, pass on references of those works to the editor.

Structure

Layout and format

Authors are required to adhere to the journal's Guide for Authors, which includes manuscript presentation. If the difference is extreme and the editor has not mentioned this issue in the request to review, you may wish to contact your editor to discuss it. Otherwise, you should note this in your review. If the paper is otherwise good, the editor may choose to overlook the formatting issues. Other times, editors may ask the author to restructure the paper before publication.

Title

Does it clearly describe the article?

Abstract

Does it reflect the content of the article?

Introduction

Does it describe what the author hoped to achieve accurately, and clearly state the problem being investigated? Normally, the introduction should summarize relevant research to provide context, and explain what other authors' findings, if any, are being challenged or extended.

Method

Does the author accurately explain how the data was collected? Is the design suitable for answering the question posed? Is there sufficient information present for you to replicate the research? Does the article identify the procedures followed? If the methods are new, are they explained in detail? Have the equipment and materials been adequately described? Does the article make it clear what type of data was recorded; has the author been precise in describing measurements?

Statistical errors

Are the statistics correct? If you are not comfortable with statistics, please advise the editor when you submit your report.

Results

This is where the author(s) should explain in words what he/she/they discovered in the research. It should be clearly laid out and in a logical sequence. You will need to consider if the appropriate analysis has been conducted. Are the statistics correct? If you are not comfortable with statistics, please advise the editor when you submit your report. Interpretation of results should not be included in this section.

Conclusion / Discussion

Are the claims in this section supported by the results, do they seem reasonable? Have the authors indicated how the results relate to expectations and to earlier research? Does the article support or contradict previous theories? Does the conclusion explain how the research has moved the body of knowledge forward?

Language

If an article is poorly written due to grammatical errors, while it may make it more difficult to understand the science, you do not need to correct the English. You should bring this to the attention of the editor.

Previous research

If the article builds upon previous research does it reference that work appropriately? Are there any important works that have been omitted? Are the references accurate?