Submissions

Author Guidelines

	Please review these guidelines to prepare your manuscript, as all manuscripts submitted to the ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías journal must comply with them. These guidelines will help you ensure that your manuscript is complete and that the editorial process will be conducted as smoothly as possible.

TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías journal publishes contributions in Spanish and English. All are subject to a peer review process and can be classified into one of the following categories:

Article:  Manuscripts submitted as Articles should offer significant conclusions to address a problem, being thorough in analysis and conclusions, and including all relevant empirical data. The maximum length for an Article is 12,000 words.

You can check the article template here.

Reviews:  A review article is an academic document that summarizes, analyzes, and critically evaluates previous research conducted on a specific topic. Unlike an original research article, a review article does not present new experimental data but synthesizes and contextualizes the information available in the scientific literature. These articles typically provide an overview of the current state of knowledge in a particular field, identifying trends, discrepancies, and areas of future research. 

You can check the article template here.

Communications:  Communications are brief academic documents that present preliminary results or notable research findings in a concise and direct format, focusing on specific aspects or particular discoveries without delving into exhaustive details. They are ideal for sharing relevant information quickly and efficiently with the scientific community. The recommended length for a Communication is 3,000–4,000 words.

You can check the communication template here.

PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT

ORGANIZING THE MANUSCRIPT

1. The first page of the manuscript should include the following parts, each on a separate line:

• Article title: Bold, with a maximum of 300 characters. It should be specific, descriptive, concise and understandable to readers outside of the field. Only the first word and proper names start with a capital letter. It can be divided into title and subtitle, separated by a colon (:). 
• Authors: All author information must be accurately completed in the metadata of the journal’s submission platform. It is mandatory to provide the full names, ORCID identifiers, and email addresses of all authors. Additionally, each author must include their institutional affiliation, which should include at minimum the name of the institution or university and its location. Authors must ensure that all required information is correctly provided in the system, thereby guaranteeing proper identification and the correct processing of their manuscript. The corresponding author must be clearly identified in the metadata.

All authors must comply with the established Authorship Requirements policy. Those who have contributed to the work but do not meet these requirements can be mentioned in the Acknowledgments. The names of the authors will be published exactly as they appear in the manuscript. Please review the information carefully to make sure it is correct.

• Title in alternative language: If your manuscript is in English, the alternative title is the Spanish translation, and vice versa.
• Abstract: It briefly details the main objectives of the study; explains how the study was conducted, including any model organism used, but without going into methodological details; and summarizes the most important results and their significance. It should not include bibliographic citations or abbreviations and should not be separated into paragraphs.
• Keywords: Maximum of 10 words or groups of words in English. They should be different from those that appear in the manuscript title.
• Resumen: The Spanish translation of the Abstract, with its same characteristics.
• Palabras clave: Maximum of 10 words or groups of words in Spanish. 

2. From the next page the text will be presented organized by headings. The organization will depend on the type of contribution:

Organization of a manuscript submitted as Article or Review:

The manuscript should be organized in the following order:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS
4. DISCUSSION
5. CONCLUSIONS
6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
7. AUTHORS’  CONTRIBUTIONS
8. DECLARATION OF GENERATIVE AND AI-ASSISTED
9. TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WRITING PROCESS

10. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

11. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
12. REFERENCES

Other sections may include: literature review, recommendations. The structure of the article will be reviewed and evaluated by the editor(s) and reviewers.

Organization of a manuscript submitted as Communication

1. TEXT (without divisions)
2. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
3. AUTHOR'S CONTRIBUTIONS
4. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
6. REFERENCES

3. Include in the Acknowledgments:

• Explicit statement of the sources of funding that allowed the development of the work.
• Details of permits or authorizations for the development of the research and the institutions that issued them.
• Those who have contributed to the work but do not meet authorship requirements can be mentioned in the acknowledgments with a description of their contributions.
• The authors are responsible for ensuring that everyone named in the Acknowledgments agrees to be so.

4. The Author Contributions section is always required. This section includes the contributions of the authors; we suggest you use CRediT Taxonomy.

GUIDELINES FOR CITATIONS AND REFERENCES

• In the text, use numbered citations placed at the end of the sentence in square brackets. Different citation numbers must be separated by commas, unless it is a continuous range of citations in which case a hyphen will be used. Examples: [10]  [10,15,22]  [12-20].
• Number the citations sequentially as they appear in the text (NOT in alphabetical order of references).
• Cite works that are unpublished, in preparation, or in revision process as "(unpublished data)", preceded by the author's initials and last name. For example: A. Suárez (unpublished data)
• Citations of information from emails, letters or documents sent between collaborators should be avoided, but if absolutely necessary, they should be referred to as "pers. comm." when they correspond to comments without correspondence, and as "in litt." when there was written correspondence. In both cases, citations should be preceded by the collaborator's initials and last name and followed by the year. For example: (J. Muñoz in litt. 2009) (J. Muñoz pers. comm. 2010)
• Subtitle the list of references as References (not Bibliography or Cited Literature).
• Order the list of references according to the sequential order that they appear in the text of the manuscript (NOT in alphabetical order).
• The format of the references is mixed, so the APA 7th edition style should be followed along with the use of brackets [] to list them in their respective order of appearance in the article. 
• If the article has an active DOI, the DOI must be included at the end of the reference. Do not place a period after the DOI.
• Separate each author by a comma and place "&" before the last author. The initials of the authors' names go after the last names. Indicate all authors and do not use et al.
• Include the journal issue in parentheses after the volume, if available.
• To include the Internet address or URL of a page that might change in the future, you must first back that URL to a digital file that will safeguard that reference for the future. For this you can use Wayback Machine from Internet Archive https://archive.org/web/ or the archive.is system http://archive.is. This should be done in particular for pages that come from online encyclopedias, newspapers, personal or institutional pages.
• When referring to online posts that have specific dates (such as blogs), the full date (year, month, day) and not just the year should be used.

GUIDELINES FOR TABLES

• Cite tables in the text with Arabic numerals in the order they appear. Examples: "Table 1" "Tables 1-3"
• Place the tables after the text, each one on its own page.
• The tables must fit on an A4 sheet with margins of 2.5 cm, able to be oriented vertically and horizontally as is best for the appearance of the table.
• Each table must have its own explanatory caption, which must be understandable without reference to the text and will be placed before the table. Each caption will start with the number of the table. Example:

TABLE 1. Comparison of the effects...

• Include units in the headings of columns and rows in parentheses.

GUIDELINES FOR FIGURES

• The term Figure refers to all types of images, including graphs, drawings, photographs and maps. Figures should be cited in the text with Arabic numerals in order of appearance using the abbreviation "Fig". Example: "Figs. 1-3"

• At the initial submission stage, figures may be included in low resolution, provided they are fully legible, and embedded within the manuscript. However, upon article acceptance, high-resolution source files (minimum 300 dpi, ideally 600 dpi) must be submitted in one of the following formats: .tiff, .eps, .emf, .bmp, .ai, .psd, or .svg, as separate files from the main document.

• Each figure will be succeeded by its caption. The caption will be self-explanatory, must be understandable without reference to the text and will be placed after the figure. Each caption will begin with the figure number.

Example: Figure 1... Map of the region...

• Line artwork should preferably be created using vector-based graphic software such as Corel Draw, Illustrator, Freehand, or Inkscape, and submitted in .eps format. Avoid using lines thinner than 0.3 pt width.

• For spatial data, vector outputs may be generated using GIS software such as ArcGIS or QGIS and then exported to graphic programs for final editing.

• Black and white photographs, color photographs and maps and graphics made in raster-based programs (e.g. Photoshop, Gimp) should be submitted in *.tiff format. For *.tiff files, note that resolution is irrelevant, size in pixels is important, so we recommend a minimum size of 1000 pixels.

• Any manuscript that includes a study site should include a map of the site. Such a figure should: (1) be surrounded by a border with thin lines, (2) be geographically referenced with latitude and longitude coordinates and a small inset map indicating the general location, (3) have a scale bar in km, (4) have an arrow indicating North (do not use a compass rose), and (5) have reference lines such as country boundaries, roads, rivers, or elevations, extending to the border.
• For all figures must use lines with a minimum thickness of 0.3 pt and text with a font size of at least 10 pt. Authors are encouraged to use a sans-serif font to enhance readability.
• If you want to add several images as a single composite figure or create a page-long, multi-image plate, do not worry about the layout of the plate. In the first submission of the manuscript, you should not assemble such a figure, but place the caption of the figure and then paste each image separately. Each image should have its own designation through capitals (e.g., A) placed in the lower right corner of each image. As the manuscript moves through the publication process, the journal's design team will assemble and design your composite images or plates.
• Eliminate unnecessary white space or gaps around figures. Include the respective credits of the figure in the caption. Remember that it is the author's responsibility to have the necessary permissions to reproduce the figure under the journal's Creative Commons License.
• If you use a map as a figure, you must cite the source of the map. If possible, use maps that are in public use or allow unrestricted use. If you use Google Earth or Google Maps, you must follow Google's attribution guidelines.

• It is essential that all graphic materials are ready before the design and layout process begins to ensure proper adaptation to the journal’s editorial style. All figures must be numbered according to the journal template and properly cited within the text. Authors are responsible for submitting original figure files and any other visual materials necessary for final production.

GUIDELINES ON BIOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIES

• ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías complies with the requirements established by the different nomenclature codes regarding the validity for the description of new species and the availability of articles online as published works, including the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
• The journal will be responsible for obtaining records and GUID (LSID) in Zoobank, IPNI and Mycobanl or Index Fungorum.
• Authors should adhere to the guidelines established by the international codes of nomenclature respective to the organism treated.
• Descriptions of new species of living organisms or taxonomic analyses should follow the provisions of the respective nomenclatural code.
• When a biological taxon is mentioned for the first time, its common name (as a proper name) should be written followed by its scientific name in italics, for example: Spectacled Bear Tremarctos ornatus. Do not place the scientific name or common name in parentheses. Later in the manuscript, only the scientific name or common name may be used.
• If the manuscript corresponds to a taxonomic analysis or if there is controversy regarding the nomenclature of the organism studied, present the name of the taxon followed by the taxonomic authorship data when mentioning it for the first time. The taxonomic authorship data for zoological names are the surnames of the descriptors and the year of description, separated by a comma, e.g., Grallaria ridgelyi Krabbe et al., 1999. The taxonomic authorship of botanical names should follow that specified in The International Plant Names Index. Place taxonomic authorship in parentheses only if there was a change at the genus level. When there are three or more descriptors use "et al." without italics.

GUIDELINES FOR SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

• Authors may publish supplementary material with their manuscript. This material corresponds to information that complements or provides support to the published manuscript and can be downloaded as independent files.
• Different types of information can be included as supplementary material: extensive texts on methodologies, databases, video, audio, photographic and other audiovisual support, among others. The Supplementary Materials replace the Appendices.
• These materials will be cited at the end of the manuscript with links to the journal's website where they will be freely available to the public.
• If the supplementary material is composed of text, it should be presented with the same general format required for the manuscript.
• If necessary, cite Supplementary Material files in the following format: Fig. S1, Table S1, Data S1, Videos S1, Article S1, Audio S1. Where the S indicates supplementary material, and the number indicates the numerical sequence of the supplementary material.
• To maximize compatibility, we suggest that you submit your Supplementary Material in the following formats: Images in *.tiff, *.eps, *.emf, *.bmp, *.png or *.jpg; tables in *.xls or *.xlsx; text in *.doc or *.docx; videos in *.avi, *.mov or *.mp4; and audio files in *.wav or *.mp3.
• Large supplementary data sets can be submitted in compressed format (*.zip, *.z, *.tar or *.rar).