About the Journal
Focus and Scope
The journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias only accept items that will be issues relevants to science and mathematics education and have not been previously published in other media.
There are various objectives that want to remak the influence which can be specified in the following:
- First, in relation to the area of science and mathematics education, deepen the theoretical basis of published studies and research, encourage reasoned reflections regarding the status and perspectives of different research priorities currently and encourage interpretive works that advance the understanding of significant issues relating to science and mathematics learning.
- Second, to promote studies that correspond to the needs of teachers of science and mathematics and to deepen the impact of different educational practices either in the classroom or in informal contexts, promoting the publication of studies related to the teaching and learning scientific and mathematical content, to analyze classroom management (work in small or large group, cooperation and individual work, etc..), the degree of student involvement in learning, autonomy or dependence, attention to diversity interests and levels of students of a class group, design and application of different types of activities, regulation of the errors in the learning process, etc..
- Finally, encourage critical analysis in the work being done today.
Peer Review Process
Manuscripts will pass a double-blind peer-review process. All manuscripts sent to Enseñanza de las Cienciaswill be refereed according to standards of strict scientific quality.
In a first stage, the Editorial Team will check the general quality of the manuscript; manuscripts whose quality is notoriously low or which do not fit the journal’s scientific fields of interest may be directly rejected without external refereeing. For this first review, the Editorial Team may require assessment by the members of the Editorial Board or the Advisory Board.
Manuscripts which pass the first checking will be sent to two external referees, and usually external to the publishing institutions of the journal, who will be experts in the pertinent field or research area. In case of discrepancy between the referees, or if considered necessary by any other reason, the Editorial Team may send the manuscript to a third referee.
In the light of the referees’ reports, the Editorial Team may adopt one of the following decisions about the manuscript, which will be communicated to its author/s:
• Accept (as it is or with very minor changes).
• Publishable with modifications.
• Rejected.
The rejection decision for articles may take around 90 days, and the acceptance decision, 330 days. Although Enseñanza de las Ciencias has a professional editorial management service, these timeframes can vary significantly depending on the availability of both the editorial team and external reviewers, who carry out their work on a voluntary basis. For this reason, the journal cannot commit to specific response times. Nevertheless, all manuscripts are handled with the greatest possible care and diligence.
Editorial production
Once the articles are accepted, a “final version” will be required, in which formal changes to the de-anonymized article will be requested regarding metadata, the presentation of tables and figures, adherence to citation and reference guidelines, among other aspects. This final version must include funding agencies and project codes within the article itself.
Accepted articles will be sent for proof correction to review layout errors or obvious typos, where no writing improvements or substantial changes may be made.
Communication with authors
Communication with authors (acknowledgment of receipt, notification of acceptance, inquiries, etc.) will be conducted through the journal's OJS system. For any other inquiries, please contact the following email address: r.ensenanza.ciencias@uab.cat
Repository
Authors are permitted to deposit the published version of the article. Check Open Policy Finder.
Plagiarism, fraud, and retraction
Authors must ensure that the data and results presented in the work are original and have not been copied, invented, distorted, or manipulated. Plagiarism in all its forms, self-plagiarism, multiple or redundant publication, as well as the invention or manipulation of data constitute serious breaches of ethics and are considered scientific fraud.
When an author discovers a serious error in their work, they are obliged to communicate it to the journal's editors as soon as possible to modify their work, withdraw it, retract it, or publish a correction or erratum. If a possible error is detected by any member of the Editorial Team, the authors are obliged to demonstrate that their work is correct.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
You can consult the policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in articles at this link.
Publication Frequency
Enseñanza de las Ciencias publish three numbers per year (march, june and november).
Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate free access to its contents under the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
From Vol. 33, No. 1 (2015) this journal is an open access journal licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License.
Credits
Design layout: Celso Hernandez de la Figuera y Gómez
Editorial coordination: Felipe Corredor
Ownership
The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, through the Vice-rectorate responsible for Publications and the Department of Didactics of Mathematics and Experimental Sciences; and the Universitat de València, through the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Scientific Policy and the Departments of Didactics of the Experimental and Social Sciences and Mathematics Didactics, are responsible for edition, publishing and diffusion of the the journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias.
Statement on publication ethics and misconduct
The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is fully committed to promoting ethical conduct in the publication of its science journals, based on the principles laid down by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (http://publicationethics.org).
To achieve this, the UAB considers it essential for all parties involved in the publishing process for its science journals – editors, reviewers, and authors – to know and accept the terms of the above code, as summarised below.
Publishers
Publishers should undertake to do the following:
• clearly establish the relationship between publishers, editors and other parties through a contract;
• promote editorial independence;
• respect privacy;
• protect intellectual property;
• maintain the integrity of published content;
• publish content punctually.
Editors
• Decisions on publishing papers. After consulting the editorial board, journal editors decide whether or not to publish the papers submitted to their department, basing their decision on the reports made by two external reviewers and, in the case of significant disagreement between these, a third reviewer. They should apply the same criteria for accepting or rejecting all papers in accordance with their originality, importance and clarity. Editors must have systems in place for editorial decisions to be appealed against before the editorial board. They must also give full, up-to-date guidelines on authors' responsibilities and on the characteristics of papers sent to the journal.
• Non-discrimination. When examining submitted papers, editors should not take into account the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, country of origin, citizenship or political views.
• Confidentiality. Editors and other journal employees should not reveal information about the papers received to anyone other than the authors themselves and the reviewers. They should ensure that throughout the process the anonymity of reviewers and authors is maintained at all times.
• Conflicts of interest and disclosure. Editors should not use results from papers submitted to them for their own research work without express permission from the author.
• Recognition of error. Editors should publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.
• Quality. Editors should elicit the opinions of authors, reviewers and the editorial board in order to improve the editorial process.
Authors
• Authorship of the text. Papers submitted should be signed by the author and by anyone else who has played a significant role in planning, organising, conducting or processing the research that the paper is reporting on. In cases of co-authorship, the author submitting the text should state explicitly that it contains the names of all the authors, and that these have given their approval to the final version of the paper, for publication in a UAB journal.
• Responsibility. Authors take full responsibility for the content of their manuscript.
• Plagiarism and originality. Authors should be prepared to declare that the paper submitted to the journal is original in each and all of its parts and that all sources used are correctly cited in it.
• Access and conservation of data. At the editors' request, authors should clarify the sources or the data on which the research is based. These data should be kept for a reasonable time after publication, and may be disclosed if necessary.
• Multiple or repeated publication and conflicts of interest. Authors should not publish papers that present the same content in more than one journal at the same time.
• Conflicts of interest and disclosure. Authors should be prepared to declare that there is no conflict of interest that could affect the results of the research or the interpretations offered. They should also state sources of funding for the research, where applicable, and the name of the project their paper reports on.
• Errors in published papers. Authors who discover an important error or inaccuracy in a published paper should inform the journal editors and provide any information needed to make the necessary corrections.
Reviewers
• Peer review. A system of double-blind review is to be adopted, which helps editors and the editorial board to make decisions on manuscripts submitted and at the same time gives authors an opportunity to improve their work.
• Meeting lead times. Having agreed to review a paper, reviewers should respect the lead times established. If unable to do so, they should give sufficient notice of this to the editors.
• Confidentiality. Papers under review are considered to be confidential documents, so the reviewers should not discuss them with third parties without the permission of the editors.
• Objectivity. Reviews should be carried out objectively. Reviewers should express their opinions on manuscripts appropriately and justify their conclusions.
• Bibliographic references. Reviewers should provide exact bibliographic data on works of importance in the paper's subject area that the author may have omitted. Reviewers should also inform editors about any similarities detected between the text under review and other works.
• Conflicts of interest and disclosure. Any restricted information obtained in the review process is considered confidential and may not be used for personal ends. If carrying out a review entails a conflict of interest for reviewers because they have collaborated or competed with the authors or the authors' institutions, these reviewers should decline the review proposal.
Publication Fees
Since the publication costs for Enseñanza de las Ciencias are covered by the editing university internal budgets (UAB and UV), authors do not need to pay an article-processing charge (APC) and no waivers are offered.
Ownership registration
The scientific journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias is jointly owned by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (hereinafter, UAB) and the Universitat de València (hereinafter, UV), by virtue of the provisions of Spanish legislation on intellectual and industrial property. Any use of the header (name, graphic design, logo, and associated identifying elements) without the express authorization of the UAB and the UV is prohibited.
Governance
Every three years, the UAB and the UV sign a collaboration agreement that establishes the basis for the governance, operation, and funding of Enseñanza de las Ciencias.
The journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias has a governance structure composed of a Management Team and an Editorial Board.
The Management and Editorial Boards are selected according to a set of criteria established in the collaboration agreement between the two universities.
The journal’s Management Team is made up of two individuals, appointed by the rectors of the UAB and the UV, based on a proposal from the Management Board.
The Editorial Board includes, in addition to the Management Team, representatives from the departments involved from both universities, one member designated by SEIEM (Spanish Society for Research in Mathematics Education), another by APICE (Spanish Association of Teachers and Researchers in Science Education), two PhD-holding secondary school teachers (one proposed by each university), and other collaborators.
Articles received by the journal, after an initial screening by the Management Team, are assigned to members of the Editorial Board based on their area of expertise and availability. These members may decide to reject, request modifications, or accept the articles, ensuring compliance with the journal's standards.
Accessibility statement
The structure and aesthetics of the journal (hereinafter "theme") is a variation of the default OJS theme for version 3.3. This variation was carried out by the UAB Publications Service and introduces changes that are respectful of the WCAG accessibility standards, so that the same results of the audit carried out on the default theme of OJS 3.3 are applicable.
Interoperability and digital preservation protocols
Interoperability protocols
The content published in this journal is also available through the OAI-PHM 2.0 protocol (Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting). You can consult the available formats at the following link.
The route for harvesters is: https://ensciencias.uab.cat/oai
The metadata of the contents of this journal are offered under a CC0 license.
Digital preservation
In case of loss of material on the main server, Enseñanza de las Ciencias makes recurrent copies on local disks. It is also archived in LOCKSS and in the UAB institutional repository and RACO (Revistas catalanas con Acceso Abierto).
