INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Scope and Focus: The Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia
publishes, on a continuous basis, original research articles, review articles, and case reports covering all areas of veterinary medicine and animal science.

The journal’s thematic scope falls within OECD Field of Science classification Area 4 (Agricultural Sciences), specifically: 4B: Animal and Dairy Science, 4B01: Animal and Dairy Science (including animal biotechnology under 4.D), 4B02: Livestock and Companion Animals
and 4C01: Veterinary Sciences. All manuscripts are subject to a double blind peer-review process, except for editorial notes.
The journal accepts manuscripts in Spanish, English, and Portuguese; however, all accepted articles are published in English, and translation is provided by the journal at no cost to authors.
The journal publishes three issues per year and has adopted a continuous publication model since Volume 70, Issue 3 (September–December 2023), whereby articles are published online as soon as they are ready. The journal does not charge any fees for submission, processing, publication, or translation, and all content is freely available to readers.
The journal is indexed in major national and international databases and information systems, including AGRIS, CAB Abstracts, CrossRef, DIALNET, DOAJ, EBSCO Education Source, LILACS, Latindex Catalog 2.0, Redalyc, and SciELO.

Publication frequency: Three (3) issues per year under continuous publication.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, authors must comply with the following:

1. Articles must be original and must not have been published or submitted for consideration in other journals or technical-scientific publications (except when they have been published as a thesis or as a conference abstract). Simultaneous submission of the same article to two or more journals constitutes a serious breach of academic ethics.
2. Authors retain their copyright and publication rights and grant the journal the right of first publication of their work, which will simultaneously be subject to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, allowing third parties to share the work provided that the author and the first publication (this journal) are credited.
3. The publication of the article must have been approved by all co-authors (if applicable) and by the responsible authorities of the institution where the research was carried out. For this purpose, it is required to complete and submit together with the manuscript the “Author Personal Information Form” and the “Publication Authorization Form”. The corresponding author is responsible for all the information requested by the journal and must ensure that the article has all the necessary institutional approvals.
4. The document must fully comply with the instructions for authors explained in this document and established by the editorial committee, which may also be consulted on the journal’s website. Articles that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned to the authors without being considered for peer review.
5. Manuscripts must be submitted through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) Editorial Portal, which serves as the central platform for the comprehensive management of the editorial process. The corresponding author or process manager must enter the complete information of all authors required by the system form.
6. After the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors must respond in a timely manner to all comments from the editorial team during the peer-review process, copyediting, and layout stages within the deadlines established by the journal, as a condition for continuous publication. All inquiries regarding manuscript processing must be directed through the OJS system (the use of the email rev_fmvzbog@unal.edu.co 
7.  is allowed when there are access issues with the system).
8. Authors must carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and before submitting the “Publication Authorization Form”. The addition or removal of authors will not be accepted except in cases where a legal or ethical justification is demonstrated and only if approved by the journal editor.

1. TYPES OF CONTRIBUTION

1.1. Scientific Article: Original scientific article presenting results of research conducted under the scientific method. It typically consists of the following sections: abstract, introduction, methodology (materials and methods), results, discussion, conclusions, and editorial statements (research ethics, conflict of interest, funding, acknowledgments, and use of Artificial Intelligence).

1.2. Case Report: Report of a clinically relevant case, either because it is the first in its specific context or due to particular characteristics that make it of interest to the scientific community and therefore publishable. It must contain at least the following sections: abstract, introduction, case description (including discussion), conclusion or perspectives, and editorial statements (research ethics, conflict of interest, funding, acknowledgments, and use of Artificial Intelligence). The general format of the text, illustrations, and references must follow the same standards required for research articles.

1.3. Review Article: Critical review of a specific topic from an analytical, interpretative, and critical perspective of the author, always relying on original sources. For this type of manuscript, at least one author must demonstrate research experience in the topic or related area. Ideally, a review should present a critical summary of existing research and propose new research topics. It must contain at least the following sections: abstract, introduction, methodology, development of the topic, conclusions, and editorial statements (conflict of interest, funding, acknowledgments, and use of Artificial Intelligence). It is recommended that the development section include subsections for clarity. The text must be properly cited and include the authors’ opinions and contributions. Review articles will also undergo rigorous peer review and will be evaluated based on impact, relevance, currency, prior reviews, and recognition of at least one author. A maximum of two review articles per issue will be published.

2. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Contributions must be submitted through the journal platform at:

https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/remevez/index 

The corresponding author must register beforehand with a username and password in order to enter and upload the manuscript files and the information of all authors. All authors must have an ORCID identifier at the time of entering their data into the platform. This registration has no associated cost. To create an ORCID, the following link may be used: https://orcid.org/register 

Along with the manuscript, the “Author Personal Information Form” (one per author) and the “Publication Authorization Form”, which must be signed by all authors, must be attached. These forms may be downloaded from the journal’s website.

2.1. Format

The article text must be submitted in MS-Word®, including tables and figures in their corresponding place, and a second separate file including the tables and figures in their original format with high visual quality (minimum 600 dpi resolution).

Pages must be consecutively numbered on the lower right side, with margins of 2.5 cm on each side, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font, size 12 points, and each line of the document must be consecutively numbered (in MS-Word®: Page Layout/Line Numbers/Continuous).

Tables and figures (photographs, graphs, drawings, diagrams, flowcharts, frequency diagrams, etc.) must be consecutively numbered using Arabic numerals, and in addition to being included in the manuscript, must also be submitted in a separate MS-Word® file along with the original files used to create the graphical material (e.g., jpg, MS-Excel®, vectors), according to the software used.

All tables and figures must be cited in the text and must include sources when applicable (if the material is produced by the authors, indicate “Source: own elaboration”).

The text, depending on the type of contribution, must have a maximum of:

• 25 pages for scientific articles
• 20 pages for review articles
• 14 pages for case reports

(letter size, including references, figures, and tables).

For articles translated into English, the editor reserves the right to require authors to revise the translation or to cancel manuscript processing if it contains errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, terminology, jargon, or semantics that may compromise understanding or fail to meet the journal’s standards.

2.2. Title Page with Manuscript Title, Author Names, and Affiliations

The manuscript title must be concise and descriptive and must not exceed 17 words, using key terms relevant to the topic.

It must be submitted in a separate MS-Word® document from the rest of the manuscript, including the title in Spanish (or Portuguese) and in English (mandatory), in bold and centered. If scientific names are included, binomial nomenclature must be used. When applicable, the title must indicate the animal species addressed.

Below the title, the authors’ names and surnames must be written as they are recognized in their other publications. IraLis (International Registry of Authors-Links to Identify Scientists), recommendations are suggested, without academic titles or job positions, and separating each author with a comma. The corresponding author must be identified with an asterisk.

As a footnote, the institutional affiliation of each author must be indicated: (University, Faculty, Department, Research Group, or, if applicable, independent researcher), including address, city, country, and the email address of the corresponding author.

2.3. Manuscript

The manuscript must include the title in Spanish (or Portuguese) and in English (mandatory), in bold and centered, without author names or affiliations. Additionally, the manuscript must contain the following sections in order:

2.4. Abstract and Keywords

Articles must include an abstract in Spanish (or Portuguese) and one in English, with a maximum of 250 words. The abstract must briefly present all parts of the document: study objectives, materials and methods (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, observation and analysis methods), results and discussion (including specific data and statistical significance whenever possible), and main conclusions. The most novel and relevant aspects of the study must be highlighted.

Keywords (maximum four) are terms used for indexing the article in databases and search engines. It is recommended that these terms do not repeat words present in the manuscript title. They must be placed after the abstract in their corresponding language.

To select keywords, it is recommended to consult and use descriptors from:

• AGROVOC (FAO multilingual agricultural thesaurus)
• DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors)
• MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

These tools help improve the dissemination of the article on the Internet.

2.5. Introduction

It must present a brief review of previous works related to the topic under study and conclude with the justification and objectives of the research. The introduction must not include results or conclusions of the work being published.

2.6. Materials and Methods

This section must clearly, concisely, and sequentially describe the materials (animals, laboratory equipment) used, as well as the procedures or protocols followed and the experimental design chosen for the statistical treatment of the data.

The information provided must allow other researchers to reproduce the experiment in detail. This section may include subtitles and must not include results or discussion.

In this section, the bioethics approval must be declared regardless of the type of contribution (whether or not animals were used). The name of the ethics committee, date, and approval record number must be indicated.

2.7. Results and Discussion

Results must be described in a logical, objective, and sequential order, supported by tables and figures previously cited in the text. This section may include subtitles. The discussion must be a synthesis comparing the obtained data with relevant scientific literature, interpreting similarities or differences found. It should focus on interpretation and must not repeat data presented in the introduction or results. Results and discussion must be presented in the same section, discussing each result after it is presented.

2.8. Conclusions

This section presents the most relevant findings of the research, particularly those that constitute a significant contribution to the advancement of the field, and may also include directions for future research.

2.9. Editorial Statements

In this section, the authors must make the following statements:

• Statement from the Ethics Committee for animal experimentation (regardless of whether animals are used in the study), to which the research project must have been submitted prior to its execution. Indicate the name of the ethics committee, date, and approval record number.
• Conflict of interest: These occur when issues external to the research can reasonably be perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its evaluation. Authors must declare in all cases, regardless of the type of contribution, the existence or absence of commercial or personal relationships within the framework of the research that led to the production of the submitted manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that co-authors review and declare that they have no conflict of interest.
• Funding sources: The types of support received must be described, such as funding, sponsorships, grants, or provision of equipment, among others. For example: “This work was supported by the Natural Sciences Research Council [Project number–Record].”Statement on the use of artificial intelligence: In all cases, regardless of the type of contribution, the use or non-use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for the development of the research or the manuscript must be declared. In the event that AI tools are used, the name of the tool, the purpose of its use in the development of the manuscript, and whether the authors edited the content as necessary and assume full responsibility for the content of the publication must be indicated.
• Acknowledgments: In this section, thanks are expressed for important contributions to the conception or execution of the research: specialists, commercial firms, official or private entities, professional associations, and field and laboratory assistants.
  

  2.10. References

  The citation of bibliographic references that support statements within the text must follow the APA (American Psychological Association) style standards, seventh edition, for which the use of reference management tools such as Mendeley is recommended. The complete bibliographic references must be listed at the end of the article in alphabetical order by authors. If several publications by the same author(s) are cited, they must be listed in chronological order from the oldest to the most recent. All references to scientific articles must indicate at the end the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), if assigned by a journal, or the ISBN or ISSN in the case of a book or monographic work. The use of other sources such as theses, dissertations, or conference proceedings is not recommended. Authors are encouraged to use as references documents that are indexed in databases and preferably have bibliographic identifiers (ISBN, ISSN, DOI, URI).

  For more examples of the APA (American Psychological Association) seventh edition citation system, it is recommended to consult the corresponding guide and to use a reference manager such as Mendeley.

  Books

  Smith, J. B. (2018). Fundamentals of veterinary medicine (2nd ed.). VetBooks Publishing. ISBN 978-123-456-789-0.

  Book chapters

  Rodríguez, L., & Martínez, P. (2020). Advances in small animal nutrition. In S. Herrera & M. Gómez (Eds.), New perspectives in animal health (3rd ed., pp. 203–220). Animal Health Publishing. ISBN 978-123-456-789-0.

  E-book

  Martínez, A. F. (2021). Infectious diseases in domestic animals [Electronic version]. VetEbooks Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1234/abcd

  Journal article

  Hernández, R., & Gutiérrez, P. (2022). Effects of diet on dental health in domestic felines. Veterinary Research Journal, 33(4), 567–575. https://doi.org/10.5678/dietafelinos2022

  2.11. Tables

  • Tables must be submitted within the manuscript body and in separate files in the original format in which they were created.
  • Excessively large tables should be avoided. If a table contains too much data, it is recommended to divide it into two or more tables or to submit it as supplementary material in a separate document.
  • Each table must have a short and explanatory title at the top, without abbreviations.
  • Vertical lines must not be used to separate columns; therefore, sufficient spacing between columns must be provided.
  • Any essential explanation for understanding the table must be presented as a note at the bottom of the table.
  • Column headings must be brief but sufficiently explanatory.
  • Each table must have been referenced in the text.
  • All tables must indicate the source of the information at the bottom (if the material is produced by the authors, indicate “Source: own elaboration”); if the source is not declared, it is assumed that they are the result of the work being published.
  
  

  2.12. Figures and Images

  • Figures must be submitted within the manuscript body and in separate files in the original format in which they were created.
  • Graphs must be in a single color (black), using different shades or percentages of black for variations in columns; curve lines must be black, either dashed or continuous, using standard conventions.
  • In the case of photographs or maps (original or scanned), these must be submitted in independent files, in TIFF or JPG format, with a minimum resolution of 600 dpi, and additionally included in the manuscript in their corresponding place with a description.
  • As with tables, figures must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals, and each figure must be referenced in the text.
  • Each figure within the manuscript must have a short and explanatory title at the top, without abbreviations.
  • All figures must indicate the source of the information at the bottom (if the material is produced by the authors, indicate “Source: own elaboration”); if the source is not declared, it is assumed that they are the result of the work being published.

2.13. Nomenclature

• Units must be expressed according to the International System of Units (SI).
• Authors must adhere to Colombian regulations, as well as those established by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

• All biota (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, fish, etc.) must be identified using binomial nomenclature (scientific name), except for common domestic animals.
• All medicines, biocides, and other substances for commercial use must be identified by the name of their main active ingredient or generic name.
• For chemical nomenclature, the conventions established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature must be followed.

2.14. Supplementary Material

If authors have additional material relevant to the presentation of the manuscript, it may be published as supplementary material. The material must be submitted in an organized manner, properly referenced and described in a Word file, as well as in its original format with the quality required by the journal.

3. STYLE GUIDELINES

• The text must be written in the active voice (e.g., two methodologies were evaluated, and not: two methodologies were evaluated) and in an impersonal form, that is, third person singular (e.g., it was found, and not: I found or we found).

• Regarding verb tenses, the common usage is the past tense for the introduction, procedures, and results, and the present tense for the discussion.

• In general, the use of the gerund is discouraged. This verb form should only be used to indicate two simultaneous actions; in other cases, the sentence should be rewritten (replace: a protocol was established, minimizing the negative effect…, with: a protocol was established by which the negative effect was minimized…).

• Italics are used for scientific names (binomial system) and for words or expressions in a foreign language.

• The meaning of acronyms and abbreviations must be explained when they are first mentioned in the text. Subsequently, only the acronym or abbreviation should be used.

• Acronyms do not have a plural form; this is indicated in the accompanying words: the NGOs, two ELISA tests.

• Abbreviations of the Metric System must not include a period, plural form, or capitalization: 1 kg, 25 g, 10 cm, 30 m, etc.

• A space must be placed between the numerical value and the symbol: 35 g (not 35g), p > 12 (not p>12); except for the symbols: ºC, %, +, − (the latter two when indicating positive and negative). Examples: 99%, +45, −37.
• In a series of measurements, the symbol is placed at the end: rows at 3, 6, and 9 m, or 14, 16, and 18%.
• The slash (/) is a linguistic sign that in some uses means “per”: three dogs/kennel, 4 tablets/day, 2 L/plot, 10 fruits/branch. One of its non-linguistic uses is to express ratios of magnitudes and units of measurement: 80 km/h, 10 mL/min, 10 °C/h.
• One of the non-linguistic uses of the dot (·) is to indicate multiplication of two quantities, in which case it is placed separated from them and at mid-height: 6 · 3 = 18; 2 · (x + y) = 30.
• The period (.) is used to separate thousands and the comma (,) is used to separate decimals.
• Units based on names are written in lowercase: a siemens (with some exceptions such as when the symbol derives from a proper name: °C, degrees Celsius).

4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.1. Authorship

An author is considered to be anyone who has made a direct and substantial contribution to the content of the manuscript. This contribution must include participation in aspects such as the conception of the study and experimental design, acquisition of raw data, data analysis and interpretation of results, application of the appropriate statistical model, writing of the manuscript and associated literature review, data validation, writing, review, and editing.

Each author must be able to explain their direct participation in the publication and support its content before the Editorial Committee if required. The inclusion of honorary authors (improper authorship contribution) is considered unethical behavior.

The declaration of each author’s contribution must be included in the document entitled “Author Personal Information Form”. The addition or removal of authors will not be accepted except in cases where a legal or ethical justification is demonstrated and only if approved by the journal editor.

4.2. Bioethics Committee Approval

All research involving animals in experimentation must declare in the manuscript, within the materials and methods section, the approval of a Bioethics Committee for animal experimentation (name of the committee, record, and date of approval) for the study conducted. If animals are not used in the study, this must be declared and a separate file containing the statement issued by the bioethics committee must be submitted.

4.3. Manuscript Submission

Documents submitted for evaluation and possible publication under continuous publication must not be submitted simultaneously to another journal (or journals). This invalidates their originality and compromises publication rights.

4.4. Research Integrity

The fabrication or falsification of results through the manipulation of equipment, materials, or research processes, the alteration or omission of data and results, plagiarism (presenting one’s own or others’ results without proper citation in accordance with bibliographic standards), or fragmented publication (submitting fragments of a study as independent articles) are unethical and unacceptable behaviors.

4.5. Article Evaluation

Reviewers will only accept the evaluation of manuscripts whose topic is within their full area of expertise. An objective opinion is expected from an academic and scientific perspective, free from personal bias. Throughout the process, the reviewer must maintain complete confidentiality of the manuscript content and must not transfer the assigned responsibility to a third party (co-researcher, graduate student, or others). If during the review period the reviewer considers that there is any ethical impediment or conflict of interest, they must suspend the evaluation and inform the Editorial Committee.

4.6. Ethics in the Publication Process

Editors reserve the right to withdraw any manuscript that does not comply with the standards established by the journal, regardless of its stage in the editorial process. They also commit to identifying and preventing the publication of articles in which research misconduct has occurred. It would be considered a serious ethical breach if the journal allowed the publication of articles in which misconduct has been identified. Therefore, editors will use available tools to detect such situations, including the application of software designed to identify plagiarism or similarity with other studies in each submitted manuscript. The Editorial Committee will immediately reject any manuscript identified as being involved in scientific misconduct, providing the corresponding evidence to the authors. In all cases, the author must be given the opportunity to respond to any allegation.

The editors of the journal will ensure compliance with the good editorial practices described in this statement. This constitutes an institutional commitment involving not only the journal itself but also the name and prestige of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia as publisher. When necessary, editors will publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies.

5. PEER REVIEW

All manuscripts submitted to the journal must comply with the journal’s presentation, style, and citation standards described in this document (“Instructions for Authors”). Otherwise, the documents will be returned and the process of searching for and assigning reviewers will be postponed until the authors have made the corresponding adjustments.

In the first instance, submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the journal editor to determine whether they fall within the thematic scope of the publication. If so, the assignment and submission to peer reviewers will be approved under the double-blind modality with at least two reviewers per manuscript; otherwise, an email will be sent to the authors indicating that the article is not accepted to continue in the peer-review process.

Peer review will seek to identify the contributions to scientific, technological, or pedagogical innovation of the proposals in relation to the current state of knowledge in a discipline. Reviewers must issue a recommendation of approval, modification, or rejection. In the event of a divided opinion among reviewers, the manuscript will be sent to a third expert reviewer in the area to determine whether the manuscript is accepted or rejected.

The Editorial Committee or the Editor-in-Chief may recommend or deny the publication of the manuscript or request corrections in form or content.

The criteria considered during the evaluation will be:

• Compliance with the journal’s style guidelines.
• Relevance of content: the texts must address issues that are directly or indirectly relevant to the understanding of one of the disciplines of animal health and production.
• Originality, novelty, and relevance of the topic.
• Scientific quality: appropriate methodologies must be used, and they must be understandable and reproducible.
• Argumentative rigor: the work must present coherent and logical formal reasoning.
• Methodological coherence: consistency between the problem statement, objectives, results, and interpretations.
• Conceptual clarity: correspondence between scientific or technical terms used and the thematic purpose.

If the articles are accepted for publication, the authors must revise them according to the reviewers’ and/or editorial committee’s comments within the time granted for this purpose. Comments that are not accepted by the authors must be properly justified and submitted in a document attached to the revised manuscript, indicating the page and line number to which they refer. These changes and clarifications will be evaluated by the corresponding editor.

The editor and the editorial committee reserve the right to accept or reject the materials submitted for publication.

The formats for conducting the academic review of articles can be downloaded from the following links:

Reviewer personal information form

Research article evaluation form

Review article evaluation form

Case report evaluation form