Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía

Focus and Scope

Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía is an technical-scientific peer-reviewed international open access journal, published every six months, edited since 1979 by the Department of Geography at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Its purpose is the dissemination of academic and scientific production in the fields of geography, applied geomatics, and related disciplines. It publishes original results in English, Spanish and Portuguese derived from (i) research; (ii) articles on analytical, interpretative, and critical reflections; (iii) review articles; and (iv) bibliographic and thematic summaries and reports.

The aim of the journal is to offer a scientific and academic space to promote debates on geography and its interaction with other human sciences. The focus is to enrich, through the published articles, a forum for the exchange of original ideas, orientations, methods and experiences in the fields of geography, especially different trends in human geography (economic, political, urban, cultural, and historical), physical geography (climatology, geomorphology, and hydrology), environmental geography (risks, disasters, sustainable development, sustainability, and landscape analysis), and their applications through Geographic Information Technologies (remote sensors, Geographic Information Systems –GIS– and cartographical methods).

Considering that the journal is published twice a year and permanently receives documents and reports, the submitted manuscripts and reports are consolidated each quarter (March 31th; June 30th; September 30th; December 23th). As of this moment, the review and publication process began.

The journal promotes open access to its whole content through the Open Journal System (OJS), available at www.cuadernosdegeografia.edu.co. Articles published in the journal are prepared for both print and digital display in the Portal de Revistas UN. Potential authors must submit their work through the OJS platform together with a cover letter and the statement of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submission of manuscripts, it must include contact information for all authors. All submitted manuscripts must be original and unpublished documents, they should not be submitted simultaneously to other journals, and they must comply with the requirements established in the authors guidelines.

For the publication of research and reflection results, clear communication criteria and rules for the application of the code of ethics are established. In this sense, the code of conduct and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for editors of scientific journals is taken as a reference. It is recommended that one consults the statement of good practices and publication ethics of the journal.

Peer Review Process

Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía will not submit for peer review manuscripts that have previously been published in other digital or physical media. The journal will ask for clarifications when it comes from the publication of reports or proceedings of scientific events. However, if the publication has ISBN or is part of a serial publication, the article will not be considered for peer review.

First, all submitted manuscripts are reviewed by the Editorial Committee, which provides insight into their relevance, quality, originality and compliance with the general submission standards. The level of originality is assessed by using Turnitin, any manuscript that reaches a similarity index of 25% will be rejected. At the end of this stage, the documents are submitted to peer review (double-blind evaluation, in which both the name of the authors and the reviewers are reserved) by two or more experts specialized in the fields of geography, geomatics, and related disciplines. The peer-reviewers are selected from an expert panel composed of international and national referees. The evaluation reports have four options: (i) accepted; (ii) subject to review and revaluation; (iii) rejected; or (iv) the manuscript must be submitted to a different publication. Two options are available to peer-reviewers for evaluation: (i) an editable PDF form sent together with the request letter and the manuscript to be evaluated, or (ii) an online form available on the journal's management platform. Any option is valid, the forms seek to facilitate the evaluation of the manuscript and to optimize response times on the relevance and possible publication of the article.

For an article to be approved for publication in the journal, it requires two concepts of acceptance. The Editorial Committee will submit the text to a third evaluator (revaluation) when the manuscript has one concept for acceptance and one concept for review and revaluation. Once the results of the arbitration process are available, the Editorial Committee analyses the outcomes and, taking into account the comments of the peer-reviewers and the invited editors (if it is a monographic issue), makes the final decision on the evaluation of the manuscript. The Editorial Committee will inform the authors of the final decision and the process to be followed depending on the outcome. Copy of the evaluation reports are sent to the authors.

The average time for the peer review process is four (4) months. However, this period may be altered according to the availability of referees and other aspects that may extend or reduce the time for the evaluation of each manuscript.

Reports will be reviewed and evaluated by members of the Editorial Committee and the Scientific Board. The result of the evaluation will be sent to the authors to implement the requested adjustments, or to inform that the report will not be published.

Authors must ensure that all requirements of the journal have been completed: compliance with the authors guidelines, include full authorship and filiation details, sign and submit the statement of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submission of manuscripts, detail possible statements of conflict of interest, and attach any other documents that the authors consider necessary to explain the manuscript and its contents. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors must sign and submit the licensing of dissemination for unpublished and original articles.

Members of the Editorial Committee and the Scientific Board may submit manuscripts of their own authorship to the evaluation process. However, the number of articles published by members of the committees or authors of the publishing institution shall be limited to one article per issue. The journal rejects all forms of editorial and academical endogamic practices.

The following graph shows the standard workflow declared in Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía.

Publication Frequency

Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía is an academic peer-reviewed international open access journal published every six months. Issues are published online and in print in January and July. The journal welcomes original, unpublished articles derived from (i) research; (ii) articles on analytical, interpretative, and critical reflections; (iii) review articles; and (iv) bibliographic and thematic summaries and reports.

The first issue (January - June) compiles general articles submitted on a regular basis, while the second number (July - December) is a thematic compilation published as a monographic issue. The journal publishes a thematic call for papers every year.

Open Access Policy

Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía promotes open access to their whole contents. All articles published by the journal are made immediately available worldwide under open access and licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional License. This means that:

1. everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles published, and
2. everyone is free to use the published material if proper accreditation/citation of the original publication is given and by following the license terms.
3. There are no fees for submission of manuscripts and publication of articles.

Publication rights

All articles and documents published in Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía are governed under the terms of the Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional license. It is understood that the journal reserves the rights of reproduction, publication and distribution of articles in any printed or digital media that allows public access to its contents.

When an article is accepted for publication, authors must accept and sign the licensing of dissemination for unpublished and original articles. The publication of articles and reports has no remuneration or financial benefits, and therefore, the author waives any economic compensation for the publication, distribution and any other use made of them in accordance with the terms of the editorial policies.

Disclaimer

The Universidad Nacional de Colombia makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in its publications. However, the Department of Geography of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, the publisher and the Editor make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the content published for any purpose or application and disclaim all representations and warranties, express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Therefore, they cannot be held responsible for any errors or any consequences arising from the use of the information contained in this journal. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, the university or the publisher.

How to cite articles from Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía

To cite and reference the articles published in Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía, please follow the instructions below:

Surename, Firstname. Year. "Article title." Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía volumen (issue): Article pages. doi: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v##n#.######.

Examples:

1. Zubelzu Mínguez, Sergio; Allende Álvarez, Fernando. 2015. “El concepto de paisaje y sus elementos constituyentes: requisitos para la adecuada gestión del recurso y adaptación de los instrumentos legales en España.” Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía 24 (1): 29-42. doi: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v24n1.41369.
2. Siabato, Willington. 2018. “Sobre la evolución de la información geográfica: las bodas de oro de los SIG.” Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía 27 (1): 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v27n1.69500.

If you require the short title, please use Cuad. Geogr. Rev. Colomb. Geogr.:

1. Zubelzu Mínguez, Sergio; Allende Álvarez, Fernando. 2015. “El concepto de paisaje y sus elementos constituyentes: requisitos para la adecuada gestión del recurso y adaptación de los instrumentos legales en España.” Cuad. Geogr. Rev. Colomb. Geogr. 24 (1): 29-42. doi: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v24n1.41369.
2. Siabato, Willington. 2018. “Sobre la evolución de la información geográfica: las bodas de oro de los SIG.” Cuad. Geogr. Rev. Colomb. Geogr. 27 (1): 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v27n1.69500.

Statement of good practices and publication ethics

To submit manuscripts to Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía, the authors must consult and accept the ethical considerations established by the journal. The elements described herein, and all the rules defined in the editorial policies, must be considered. By submitting the manuscript, the authors declare that they have read and accepted the authors guidelines and the ethical considerations of the journal.

During the evaluation of a manuscript and publication of an article, not only the authors have responsibilities, but also the editor-in-chief, the peer-reviewers, the publisher and the journal itself. All parties must comply with the expected ethical standards at all stages of the process, from submission of the manuscript to publication of the article. This section describes the obligations of each party and the expected ethical behaviour.

Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia are committed to complying with and maintaining standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. We follow closely the associations that are the leading reference, such as the Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and set standards and provide best practice guidelines to meet these requirements. The following is a summary of the main expectations regarding the ethical behaviour and good practices of the parties involved.

Responsibilities of the parties

Responsibilities of authors

1. All manuscripts submitted to Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía must correspond to unpublished and original work that has not been published in another scientific or academic medium and that has not been submitted simultaneously to another national or international scientific publication. Authors must ensure that the manuscript and associated materials are original and do not infringe copyright.
2. Manuscripts accepted for the anonymous, external peer-review stage must meet the criteria of form and style (Authors guidelines), accuracy (submitting data or conclusions derived from a research process), originality (not having been published in full or in part in another scientific journal) and single application (not being simultaneously under evaluation by other journals). For this reason, it is essential that the authors sign the declaration of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submitted manuscripts provided by the journal, this document must be submitted together with the manuscript.
3. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. All sources consulted and used in the manuscript should be properly cited, as described in the authors guidelines. In addition, the editor-in-chief should be provided with copies of any manuscripts or articles that may contain overlapping or closely related content.
4. A manuscript that has been presented totally or partially in a scientific event (congress, cycle, seminar, forum, etc.), can be published in Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía as long as it has not been included in the proceedings or similar documents of the event. If the manuscript was published and the publication has ISBN, or it is part of a serial publication, it will not be considered for evaluation.
5. Documents that have been presented in scientific events and are published in proceedings, reports, forums or similar, which do not have ISBN or ISSN, and are submitted to Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía, will be considered by the journal for the review and evaluation process. However, if accepted for publication in the journal, the base document must be immediately removed from websites, blogs, institutional repositories or similar media in which the work was previously disseminated. The same consideration applies to documents hosted on blogs or on websites managed or coordinated by the authors of the manuscript. To inform the Editor, specific reference should be made to the media in which the text has been previously disseminated through the document "Statement of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submitted manuscripts", section "Remarks by the author(s)". In addition, an explanatory note should be included describing the scientific event at which the text was presented.
6. Authors must obtain permission or authorization to reproduce any content from other sources.
7. Writings previously published in another language will not be considered as articles but as translations and will be included in the "Translations" section of the journal. In this case, these translations will be published provided that: a) the author presents an authorization from the journal in which the document was originally published, and b) the editor-in-chief of Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía considers the dissemination of the article in another language to be relevant. If an author wishes to apply for a translation, he or she should inform the Editor of the journal, making clear reference to the original publication (together with the URL and DOI name) through the document "Statement of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submitted manuscripts", section "Remarks by the author(s)".
8. The use of photographs that include faces of people will be allowed, under the condition that the authors present written authorization signed by the people who appear in the photographs, so that, their image can be disseminated through the different media used by Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía.
9. Authors must guarantee that their articles are not for economical profit, are not based on the affectation of the dignity or human rights of the subjects under research, and the subjects have authorized the use of their data for the study from which the article is derived. Authors must obtain specific permission and authorization from human subjects and respect their privacy.
10. Authors of a submitted manuscript must be part of the underground research and have participated in the elaboration of the document and, therefore, be able to contribute to the processes of improvement and correction of the manuscript. The contribution of each author to the manuscript must be determined.
11. Authors must keep accurate records of the data associated with the submitted manuscript, and grant access to them if a reasonable request is made. Where appropriate and where permitted by the filiation centre, the funding agency and other potentially related parties, authors must deposit the data in a suitable repository or storage location for others to access and use it subsequently.
12. Authors should acknowledge and give credit to the agencies that have funded their project and mention them in the footer of the cover letter of the manuscript.
13. Authors must declare any potential conflict of interest that may exert undue influence as authors or at any time during the publication process.
14. Notify the editor-in-chief or the publisher if a significant error is identified in the publication of the article. Collaborate with the editor-in-chief in the publication of an erratum or appendix, or even the withdrawal of the article, when deemed necessary.
15. Authors undertake to respond any requests that are part of the peer review process and edition of the final article, including the following:
    1. The review and incorporation of the corrections suggested by the evaluators.
    2. To respond to the observations and concerns resulting from the publication of the document (correction of style, copy-editing, proofreading and adaptation to the editorial guidelines) within a maximum period of four days.

Responsibilities of the journal

1. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía does not publish research based on economical profit, on the affectation of the dignity or human rights of the subjects under research.
2. Texts identified as plagiarism or whose content is fraudulent shall not be published. The main tool to evaluate the originality of manuscripts is TurnItIn, if the similarity index reaches 25% of coincidences in the content of the text (references and samples of base text are excluded), the manuscript will be rejected. Citation problems will be reviewed, and authors will be asked to avoid frequent use of verbatim quotations and to make corrections. If ethical standards are met, authors will be invited to resubmit the manuscript.
3. Published articles that breach the statement of originality and acceptance of ethical considerations for submitted manuscripts will be retracting and removed from the journal. An editorial note will be presented in the next issue of the publication explaining the reasons for the withdrawal of the article.
4. The Scientific Board of Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía selects the theme and the guest editors of each thematic issue (see section Publication frequency). Calls for papers for monographic issues are always open and transparent and do not give priority to any potential author in terms of deadlines and evaluation filters.
5. The articles published on the general issue are received on a regular basis and compiled for review in accordance with the focus and scope of the journal: the submitted manuscripts are consolidated each quarter (March 31th; June 30th; September 30th; December 23th). As of this moment, the review and publication process began.
6. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía undertakes to comply with the evaluation schedule proposed to the authors and the stages described in the peer review process.
7. Considering that published studies do not need to be duplicated unless further validation or confirmation is required, the journal will not receive manuscripts that do not adequately justify this situation.
8. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía recognizes and respects the order of authorship assigned by the people who participated in the conception, design and writing of the scientific articles. The journal asks authors to report on previous researches from which the article is derived and the possible funding of related project(s) in order that this information can be recorded in the print and digital media in which the articles are distributed.
9. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía implements internal and external evaluation systems, the latter based on anonymous, high-quality academic peers, to guarantee the scientific relevance, originality, clarity and appropriateness of the published article. We work to ensure the confidentiality of the evaluation process and the anonymity of the evaluators and authors. The Editorial Committee reports on the results of each evaluation stage in a timely manner.
10. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía is committed to publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, errata and apologies when necessary. Confidentiality will be maintained with respect to any clarifications, claims or complaints that an author may wish to submit to the committees or to the reviewers.
11. Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía is committed to preventing conflicts of interest through anonymous peer review processes and the request to authors and evaluators to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Responsibilities of the editor-in-chief

1. Manage submissions for special and thematic issues in the same way as regular submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merits and without personal, institutional or commercial influences. If sponsored supplements exist, the same metrics will apply.
2. Act in a balanced, objective and fair manner in the performance of their duties, without discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.
3. The editor-in-chief's decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication should be based exclusively on the importance, originality and clarity of the work submitted, as well as the relevance of the study considering the scope of the journal.
4. Give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints or claims. All complaints must be investigated regardless of when the original publication was approved or when the initial manuscript was submitted for review. Documentation associated with all complaints and claims received by the journal should be retained and archived.
5. Adopt and follow reasonable procedures in case of complaints of an ethical or conflicting nature, in accordance with the editorial policies and procedures of the journal and the publisher where appropriate. Consider the best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for editors of scientific journals as a reference.
6. The editor-in-chief must treat all submitted manuscripts with strict confidentiality and not use them for personal gain.
7. When a published article is found to contain significant flaws, the publisher must accept responsibility for correcting the record quickly and assertively.
8. Studies reporting negative results should not be excluded.

Responsibilities of peer reviewers

1. The Editorial Committee of Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografía relies on the experience and trajectory of researchers and academics to choose the peer reviewers of the submitted manuscripts. Thus, it is expected that, in their capacity as evaluators, the peers will confirm their suitability to deliver a valid and objective concept for the work entrusted to them.
2. Evaluators must ensure that they do not face any type of conflict of interest that would prevent them from being objective in the evaluation of manuscripts: financial, institutional, project collaborations, academic, personal, labour relationships, or of any kind and nature between the reviewer and the author.
3. Evaluators must carry out their exercise in an impartial and confidential manner and are free to inform the editor-in-chief of possible conflicts in order to perform the evaluation.
4. Evaluators should refrain from requesting information on the identity of authors or other reviewers.
5. The evaluation concept must be submitted to the journal on the agreed date and in the format defined for the evaluation. Academic peers should use respectful language, and offer authors the reasons why they accept or reject the publication of the manuscript. It is also expected that they will incorporate comments that will improve the quality of the manuscript and enhance the discussed ideas.
6. Maintain the confidentiality of any information provided by the publisher or authors. Do not keep or copy the manuscript, do not use it for your own benefit.
7. Alert the editor-in-chief regarding any content posted or submitted that is substantially similar to the content being reviewed.

Responsibilities of the publisher

1. The Universidad Nacional de Colombia and other societies involved in the publication of the journal must ensure that good practices are maintained in accordance with the standards described above.
2. The related companies shall ensure that they subscribe to the above principles or substantially similar principles, either by formally adopting them or by producing their own for the attention of their publishers and editorial boards.

1. Misconduct and unethical behaviour can be identified and reported to the editor-in-chief and the publisher at any time and by anyone.
2. Misconduct and unethical behaviour may include, but is not necessarily limited to, the examples described above.
3. Whoever informs the editor-in-chief and the publisher of such conduct must provide sufficient information and evidence for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same manner, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.
4. The initial decision should be made by the editor-in-chief, who should consult with or seek advice from the Editorial Committee and the Scientific Board.
5. Evidence must be collected, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.
6. Minor misconduct can be addressed without further consultation and management by the editor-in-chief. In any event, the author must be given the opportunity to respond to any complaint.
7. Serious misconduct may require a notification to the defendant's college, university, or affiliation centre. The editor-in-chief, in consultation with the Scientific Board and the publisher, should decide whether or not to involve the above-mentioned centres, either by reviewing the available evidence themselves or by consulting a limited number of experts.

Possible resolutions of unethical behaviour

1. Inform and guide the author or reviewer when there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of the established rules.
2. Send a stricter letter to the author or reviewer describing the misconduct and serving as a warning and guidance for future behaviour.
3. Publication of a formal note detailing the misconduct.
4. Publication of an editorial detailing the misconduct.
5. Send a formal letter to the head of the centre where the authors or reviewer is working or to the project funding agency.
6. Withdraw the publication from the journal, informing the head of the authors' or reviewer's affiliation centre, the indexing services, and the readers of the publication.
7. Imposition of a formal embargo on the authors' academic contributions for a defined period.
8. Report the case and its results to a professional organisation or higher authority (e.g. COPE) for further investigation and action.

Sources of Support

• Centro Editorial

Journal History

“Geografía UN” was founded in 1979, ten years later it was renamed as “Cuadernos de Geografía” and finally, in 2008, the journal changed its name to its current form as “Cuadernos de Geografía: Revista Colombiana de Geografia”. Despite the name change, the title has retained the same ISSN (0121-215X), in 2012 we got the electronic ISSN (2256-5442). We got our DOI Name (10.15446/rcdg) in 2014.