ISSN 1900-6586
printed version

ISSN 2500-7645
online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Editorial policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Submission of manuscripts

The RCGJMC seeks to maximize the dissemination and scientific impact of research projects related to military and strategic studies from an interdisciplinary approach in social sciences. To this end, it uses clear and objective procedures for the selection, evaluation, publication, and distribution of the contents.

Similarly, the RCGJMC seeks to increase national, regional, and international visibility continuously through the use of impact calculation metrics, its inclusion in various indexing bases, and the use of information and communication technologies.

The RCGJMC subscribes to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) code of ethics. Likewise, it follows Elsevier's research and publication ethics program.

The RCGJMC uses the criteria of the COPE international standard for authors, as well as its flow diagrams to resolve cases of suspected improper practices. Additionally, the RCGJMC is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and embraces its principles, recommendations, and best practices.

1. Style guide

a) Word count. Articles must have a minimum of 6,000 and a maximum of 8,000 words (including abstract and references).

b) Font size. Text, tables, and illustrations must be in 12-point Times New Roman.

c) Line spacing. The text must be spaced at 1.5 between lines.

d) References. The RCGJMC follows the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition.

e) Headings. There are three different heading levels:

1) First level: Header aligned to the left, in boldface, the first letter capitalized, in 14-point font.
2) Second level: Header aligned to the left, in boldface, the first letter capitalized, in 12-point font.
3) Third level: Paragraph heading, boldface, and italics, the first letter capitalized, in 12-point font.

f) Explanatory notes. Footnotes should be limited and reserved for explanatory notes by the author. Quotations and references must be included in the text body, following APA style guidelines (6th Edition).

g) Abbreviations. Use them sparsely. Use the nomenclature adopted by the international community of your particular field. Abbreviations should be defined the first time they appear in the text and used thereon to refer to the term. They should not appear at the beginning of a sentence or in the title; their use should be avoided in the abstract.

h) Equations. Must appear to the left and numbered consecutive (numbered in parenthesis, justified right). Use an equation editor. The meaning of each symbol should be explained in the text. Example:

y = mx + b (1)

i) Tables and figures. Must follow the APA guidelines (6th Edition) and be submitted in an editable file. It is imperative that they are mentioned and numbered within the text. Each table and figure must have a legend (Times New Roman, 11 pts., and 1.5 spacing). The legend should be explicit enough so that the reader does not have to revert to the text to understand its importance and result. Abbreviations and acronyms must be explained in the legends. Tables and figures from other sources must be copied exactly as they appear in the source, which must be cited according to APA. Tables and figures created by the author must read “Source: created by the author,” in the last line of the table or figure caption. 

j) Illustrations, maps, and drawings. Must be in color and a minimum resolution of 600 dpi. Maps should have a legend, compass, and scale, when relevant. Illustrations with specific copyright restrictions must be submitted with the corresponding legal authorizations, which must be attached to the declaration of originality and assignment of rights form.

2. Submission preparation

Authors must submit two separate MS Word files (PDF files will be returned) in the original language of the article (Spanish or English). The files are a) cover page and b) manuscript.

These files must be submitted using the RCGJMC’s Open Journal System (OJS) platform. Make sure the files comply with the style guidelines described above. Files not conforming to the guidelines may be rejected or sent back for corrections and resubmittal.

a) Cover page. In MS Word, A4-letter size (21.59 cm x 27.94 cm), symmetrical margins of 2.54 cm and with the following information (cover page):

1) Authors. The following must be provided for each author: full first and last names, institutional affiliation (name of the university or academic organization where they work and the country), institutional emails (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. accounts are not accepted), and ORCID unique identification codes (Each author must have an individual code. To create one, go to the following link: https://orcid.org/register). The corresponding author should be listed first.

2) Type of article and thematic axis. Specify the type of manuscript they are submitting, depending on the characteristics and methodology of their research project (scientific and technological, review or reflection article). They must also state to which of the Journal’s thematic the article pertains: Education and Doctrine; Policy and Strategy; Security and Defense; Justice and Human Rights; Armed Forces and Society; Intelligence and Logistics; or Industry and Technology.

3) Acknowledgments. This section is optional. It can include: sponsoring institution, other contributors, institutions that supported the research, reviewers, translators, research permits (with code), informed consents (when applicable). Personal acknowledgments will not be accepted (family, deities, spouses).

4) Disclosure. State any conflicts of interest (personal or institutional) concerning the results obtained and published in the article, whether any exist regarding the creation of the scientific work or during the review and publishing process either by a personal relationship with a reviewer, editor, funding source, or unfair academic competition. A conflict exists when it influences and biases the judgment on the conclusion and results or any part of the research, as well as the copyright, acceptance or publication of a manuscript.

5) Funding. Provide any funding sources during the production of the article, as well as any existing reference code (if applicable).

6) About the author(s). Provide a summary of the academic profiles and research interests of each author (50-word maximum per author).

b) Manuscript. In MS Word, A-4 letter size (21.59 cm X 27.94 cm) with symmetrical margins of 2.54 cm. The authors must make sure that they have deleted their names and personal details from the submitted manuscript, as well as any identifying references. The manuscript must include the following sections in the order established below.

1) Abstract. Should not exceed 130 words and succinctly summarize the most outstanding contents of the text to provide the reader with a comprehensive view of the subject and problem addressed in the document. The structure should contain (at minimum) objective, methods, results, and conclusions. Do not include acronyms (especially unusual abbreviations), tables, mathematical expressions, references, and speculative statements.

2) Keywords. Six keywords that convey the topics of the article (in lowercase and separated by semicolons); they must be listed in alphabetical order, concise, and specific to your field (never adjectives alone). They must describe and represent the content developed in the abstract and facilitate online searches thematically. As a minimum, three keywords must be included in the UNESCO thesaurus, available at the following link: http://vocabularies.unesco.org/browser/thesaurus/en/?clang=en

3) Introduction. Describes the topic addressed, discusses the writings of other authors on the matter, and states the objective of the study and the main question or hypothesis. It must provide the reader with sufficient context to understand the results. Here, the author must establish the main question and why it was formulated.

4) Theoretical framework. This section develops the theory that bases the project in coherence with the approach to the problem (main question). 

5) Methods. Explicitly describes how the study was carried out and how the variables and information were analyzed so that the research can be replicated. It describes what was done to answer the main question. Do not include results in this section, unless they are preliminary results used to design the study. The use of diagrams, tables or flow diagrams is suggested for complex protocols.

6) Results. Presents only those results that answer the main question/hypothesis and support the conclusion. Results are not discussed or speculated on, only reported. If appropriate, use figures and tables.

7) Discussion. It establishes the relevance of the results and answers the main question, showing its relationship with the results and how they support the hypothesis, as well as their coherence with previous research. Here, unexpected findings are reported (if any) and why they occurred. Other possibilities of interpretation of the results obtained and their contribution to the subject, in general, are presented. The limitations of the study and the possibilities for future research should also be discussed.

8) Conclusion. Must properly conclude what has been stated in the introduction and explain to the reader the most significant contribution, its relevance, and possible use. The conclusion cannot extrapolate, recommend, or reach conclusions of that which was not measured or present arguments that are outside the limits of the study.

9) References. The authors should follow the APA, 6th edition reference style. In this reference model, in-text citations must include the author’s last names (without initials) and the year of publication. Exact page numbers must be provided for direct quotations. For example: “Caldas (1815/1966) maintains that […]” or “(Caldas, 1815/1966, pp. 57-58).” Each one of and only the references cited in the text must be listed alphabetically at the end of the text, under the heading “References.”