ISSN (printed version until 2022): 1390-6402 ISSNe (electronic version): 2528-7834
Permanent Link: http://iurisdictio.usfq.edu.ec
Indexed in: MIAR, ERIHPLUS, LATINDEX, MLA, CZ3, LATINREV, BASE, DOAJ, REDIB, Latinoamericana, LATAM, Google Scholar, OAJI
1. Focus and Scope
Iuris Dictio is a peer-reviewed, open-access, semiannual journal focused on the study of law. The issues are published in June and December. Its objective is to share original and recent research in Spanish and English that contributes to the analysis and discussion of complex legal phenomena.
With the aim of ensuring that the debate is shared extensively, regularly, and within the framework of a socially responsible international academic community, Iuris Dictio operates under an online first publication model. All published texts are freely accessible and available for circulation.
The journal was founded in 1998 and is affiliated with the School of Law at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ. It operates on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform and is published by USFQ Press, the publishing house of Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ. It is grounded in the philosophy of the liberal arts and, as such, welcomes specialists from diverse institutions and academic backgrounds as part of its editorial team.
In its quest to understand the contemporary world, the journal strives to ensure that each issue combines a broad analysis of the law with the specialized focus required by specific legal topics, through the publication of innovative, high-quality contributions by scholars engaged in academic research.
The journal is indexed and listed in various databases such as MIAR, ERIHPLUS, LATINDEX, MLA, CZ3, LATINREV, BASE, DOAJ, Latinoamericana Revistas, LATAM, Google Scholar, and OAJI to ensure the visibility and accessibility of its content. See the complete list of indexings and databases in the following section: indexing.
Iuris Dictio is aimed at a specialized legal audience and features five sections: dossier, miscellany, reviews, interviews, and translations.
2. Section Policy
Iuris Dictio has five sections: dossier, miscellaneous, reviews, interviews, and translations.
Articles for the dossier and miscellaneous sections may be submitted by researchers affiliated with academic institutions or by independent researchers. We accept innovative, pertinent, and relevant topics that contribute to the complex contemporary legal landscape. For interviews, reviews, and translations, we accept texts that are relevant, respectful, and consistent with the journal’s academic tone.
Dossier
This section aims to bring together a collection of academic articles focused on a specific area of law, with contributions that offer an original perspective. The dossier section is coordinated by a specialist in the field.
Articles for the dossier are submitted to the journal in response to a call for papers that has been previously announced and remains open for six months, during which time interested authors may submit their work. Following double-blind peer review, if accepted, the article will be published within a maximum of 6 months.
Submitted articles may fall into one of four categories: a) theoretical or doctrinal analyses; b) analyses of national or international regulations; c) case law commentaries; d) comparative analyses.
All articles must comply with the criteria listed in the Author Guidelines tab and adhere to the Publication Guidelines. Furthermore, all submitted articles must be unpublished and may not be under review by any other publication. We accept submissions from researchers holding a master’s or doctoral degree or with more than five years of legal practice. Each article must be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters in length (excluding spaces).
Articles for special issues will only be published if they pass the double-blind peer review process and the required corrections are made. There may be a maximum of two special issues per issue, which will be numbered with Roman numerals.
Miscellaneous
This section aims to publish a variety of academic articles from any area of law. It includes doctrinal articles, legislative reviews, case law commentaries on any topic, and comparative legal analyses, provided they fall within the scope of the journal. The bibliography for each article must include academic references relevant to the proposed article.
Any articles that do not comply with the journal’s Publication Guidelines and Author Guidelines will be excluded from the review process. Articles submitted to this section must be original and may not be under review by any other publication. We accept submissions from researchers holding a master’s or doctoral degree or with more than five years of legal practice. Each article must be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters in length (excluding spaces).
Articles for the miscellaneous section will only be published if they pass the double-blind peer review process and the required corrections are made.
Reviews
This section is dedicated to reviewing new publications in the field of law. The books reviewed must have been published no more than two years prior to the year of publication of the journal issue. Reviews must not exceed 18,000 characters and must be original and unpublished.
Texts submitted to this section do not require double-blind peer review, and the editorial team will decide on their publication.
Interviews
This section aims to feature unpublished interviews with legal scholars or specialists from other disciplines who, although not from the field of law, contribute to the complex legal landscape of the contemporary world.
The Interviews section aims to make the technical complexity of law accessible to a broader and more diverse audience. The length of submissions should not exceed 25,000 characters.
Texts submitted to this section do not require double-blind peer review, and the editorial team will decide on their publication.
Translations
This section aims to make articles originally published in other languages available in Spanish or English.
For an article to be republished, it must be relevant to the study of law and adhere to the journal’s Author Guidelines, even if the original article was written using a different citation system. Submissions to this section do not require double-blind peer review, and the editorial team will decide on their publication.
The translator must have permission from the author as well as from the institution where the article was first published. The text must not exceed 40,000 characters.
3. Publication frequency
The journal is published twice a year, with the first issue released between January and June and the second between July and December. Starting in 2023, the first article of each issue will be published in January and July. To meet these deadlines, a strict schedule governs the journal’s operational timeline; therefore, authors will be notified in advance regarding the receipt, evaluation, and possible revision of their articles.
4. Publication format
Iuris Dictio has been publishing under an “online first” format since 2023. Under this system, accepted articles are published online prior to their formal inclusion in an issue of the journal. Manuscripts are accepted on an ongoing basis for the miscellaneous, translations, reviews, and interviews sections, while for the dossier section, there will be between two and four calls for submissions per year (for more information, see the Announcements section).
5. Open access policy
Publication and access are free of charge in Iuris Dictio. All content in the journal is published under the open access policy of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which promotes academic debate and the equitable dissemination of critical ideas and positions.
The journal is published on the OJS (Open Journal Systems) platform, which ensures the transparency of its editorial processes and the free availability of its content.
6. Publication Timeline
Iuris Dictio publishes articles, reviews, interviews, and translations that have been uploaded to our website in accordance with established guidelines within an average of six months. This timeframe (which includes blind peer review, the publication decision, revisions by the author, editing, layout, and the author’s final review of the laid-out text) requires authors to commit to submitting their texts on time and in accordance with specifications.
7. Publication and editing of the journal
USFQ Press is the publisher responsible for the journal’s publication, while the School of Law at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) serves as the academic unit from which this publication originates and is developed. The costs of editing and publishing the journal are covered internally by USFQ Press and the USFQ School of Law. Authors are not required to pay any Article Processing Charges (APCs). Consequently, Iuris Dictio does not offer subsidy programs or fee waivers.
8. Advertising policy
As this is a free journal, there are no advertisements or other forms of commercial content in our publication.
9. Interoperability, dissemination, and archiving policy
Iuris Dictio is digitally backed up on Archive.org, where articles are individually stored and preserved in PDF format. Additionally, the journal uses the PKP Preservation Network (PN), a digital preservation service for journals operating under Open Journal Systems (OJS). This ensures the secure archiving and long-term preservation of published articles.
Authors are encouraged to deposit their published articles in institutional repositories or on personal websites to maximize their visibility and reach. It is recommended to always use the final version edited and published by the journal.
Publication metadata is available via the OAI-PMH 2.0 protocol.
10. Sponsors
School of Law, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ.