ISSN 0121-5469
printed version

ISSN 2344-8644
online version

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/rcp

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

The journal welcomes empirical research reports, theoretical contributions in the form of essays, meta-analyses, critical reviews of the literature, and, in general, papers that apply any of the varieties of scientific methodology in psychology.

To ensure no conflict of interest in the peer review process, the author will also provide the names of two academic peers qualified to evaluate the work, along with a justification for the suggestion. The editor reserves the right to accept the suggestion or choose two different referees. The authors will not know the identity of the reviewers.

Once compliance with the minimum presentation requirements according to APA standards and other formal requirements has been verified, the manuscript is evaluated anonymously by at least two academic peers, who have three months to prepare an academic opinion on the basis of their knowledge and experience in the subject matter of the article.

The editor of the journal will make the final decision on the basis of the reviewers' opinions, and formally notify the author whether the article has been accepted, rejected, or accepted subject to the modifications requested by the reviewers. In all cases, authors will receive a general report that combines the evaluations of each one of the referees, specifying the strengths of the article and the aspects that must be modified. In many cases, they will also receive the manuscript with the comments that the different evaluators made to the text.

Whenever an article is accepted, the rights to publish and reproduce it in printed or digital media that allow for public access belong to the Revista Colombiana de Psicología, under a Creative Commons license. However, should the author request that permission for reproduction be obtained, such a request shall be assessed.

Published articles will be sent to the authors in .pdf format. To withdraw an article before its publication, the author must send a written request to the editor, and the withdrawal shall be effective only upon response from the editor.

Articles should not exceed 25 pages, and must be submitted as MS Word files according to the international standards of presentation of scientific literature in psychology recommended by the APA, 6th edition (2010). Tables and figures should be included in the Word document and the original file (e.g., .xls, .jpg, .tiff) should be enclosed separately.

We recommend using the standard language for scientific publications and avoid idioms characteristic of a particular geographic region. Empirical research (reports involving data collection) should be properly divided into the sections recommended by APA and must include the following information:

Title: Corresponding to the information and purpose of the manuscript.
Abstract: A concise text (110 words maximum) that summarizes the most relevant aspects regarding the methodology, results, and conclusions of the paper. Five keywords referring to the content of the article and the area of psychology it belongs should be included, as well as a Spanish version of the abstract and keywords.
Introduction: A text including the background in the research area and the description of the research problem or question. The justification of the latter must be clear, coherent, and based on the reviewed literature.
Subjects or Participants: The article should explain the main characteristics of the participants and the process of selection and assignment to groups, when appropriate. APA recommends the use of the term “participants” for humans, and “subjects” for animals.
Instruments: It is essential to clearly identify and describe the instruments used to collect information; if they are psychological tests, the psychometric properties should be mentioned.
Procedure: It is essential to describe the relevant actions that were undertaken to collect information and analyze data.
Results: The results (shown as data) should be explicit, clear, and relevant to the objectives of the study. Whenever additional elements such as tables or figures are required, the data must be duly organized, as indicated by APA. Avoid repeating the same data in the body of the text and in the tables.
Discussion and Conclusions: All discussions should be carried out in the light of the relevant literature, relate to the results, and provide a response to the research questions. Likewise, it is essential to include the conclusions of the study.
Citations and References: Articles should contain only the list of references cited in the article (maximum 60 references). Conversely, all the cited documents in the text must have a reference. Both, the cited documents and the list of references, must be submitted strictly as indicated by the APA. When available, the doi number must be included in the list of references.
Appendices: The text may include appendices (attached pages), provided they are considered important and strictly necessary to further understanding of the text. Otherwise, we do not recommend their inclusion.

Articles that are not research reports as such and do not contain the information itemized above can be submitted as reviews of a topic, critiques of a theory or of an empirical research study, or developments of a theoretical proposal. The presentation of these articles should conform to the general APA criteria regarding titles and subtitles, abstracts, writing style, and citation of references.

Additionally, these texts should have the following characteristics:

1. The problem should be clearly stated and developed throughout the text.
2. The importance of the issue or problem analyzed should be presented clearly.
3. Arguments and conclusions should be clear and consistent with the development of the subject matter.
4. Cited references should correspond to the subject and type of study the topic and the type of study (At least 50 references are expected for a review article).

Articles submitted for review should be sent to the Revista Colombiana de Psicología at revpsico_fchbog@unal.edu.co. If you prefer to use the Open Journal System, you may access the http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psychology/user/register site, where you can register as an author and follow the instructions for sending articles. This allows you to monitor the process of your article. Submitted articles must be unpublished and should not be concurrently assessed by other journals, for which reason it is essential that authors sign a letter provided by the journal certifying the originality of the text.

The RCP accepts the Bioethical and deontological code for the practice of psychology in Colombia (http://www.tribunales.colpsic.org.co) and the APA ethics code as ethical standards (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/) for research and publication. As a policy of RCP, accepted authors must warrant compliance with the principles mentioned in the document “Ethical principles for publication” available at the webpage of the journal (http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia).
Additionally, accepted authors must read and sign a document certifying that they not have a conflict of interests in relation with the research being published. This document is available in the webpage of the journal. In this document, accepted authors must declare any potential conflict of interest, as well as the institutions of affiliation and the financial sources related to the research that is being published in the journal.

Copies and Documents Request
The RCP is published under the Creative Commons license and can be copied and reproduced according to the conditions of this license (http://creativecom­mons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5). RCP articles are available online at http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/issue/archive. If you would like to sub­scribe to the RCP as reader, please go to http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/information/readers and follow the instructions mentioned in the webpage. Additionally, a limited number of print journals are available upon re­quest. To request print copies, please email revpsico_fchbog@unal.edu.co.

¿How to Cite the RCP When Using the Abbreviated Form?

When citing a journal, most citation formats require using the complete journal title (e.g., APA format). However, given the length of the title, some journals (e.g., Journal of Science Education and Technology) use citation formats that include the abbreviated citation form. RCP asks authors referring to Revista Colombiana de Psicología as Rev. colomb. psicol, when the abbreviated form is required by other publications. Additionally, we ask authors to cite articles from our journal with the respective doi numbers. Doi numbers are indicated in the title page of each article.