ISSN 0122-7483
printed version

ISSN 2027-1352
online version versión impresa

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

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

Mission

Universitas Scientiarum (Univ. Sci.) is registered at the ISSN National Centre (ISSN 0122-7483 printed version, ISSN 2027-1352 online version) and indexed in Scopus, Chemical Abstracts (CA), Latindex, Periódica, Redalyc, Indice Bibliográfico Nacional (Publindex), and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The URL address of the journal is: http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultades/Ciencias/universitas/universitas_docs/index.htm

Introduction: Universitas Scientiarum is a scientific journal edited at the Faculty of Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia) and has been published continuously since 1987, on a quaterly basis.

Target public: The journal is addressed to graduates and students of natural, physical and exact sciences, researchers and lecturers, and in general to all those who contribute to scientific knowledge.

Mission: Dissemination of original research work contributing to widen our knowledge in natural, physical and exact sciences, and accounting for current scientific undertaking.

Themes covered: The journal will accept unpublished papers on any subject of natural, physical or exact sciences.

Categories of manuscripts: Universitas Scientiarum publishes original papers, reviews, brief communications, editorials, letters to the Editor, and reviews of books, handbooks and meetings. The journal receives manuscripts in Spanish, Portuguese or English.

• Original paper: presents detailed results of completed research. The structure that must be followed in the manuscript is: Title (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Authors (full names and their institutional affiliations), Abstract (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Key words (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments (optional), Conflict of Interests, Financial Support, and References.
  Original papers should have no more than 30 references that must be no more than 5 years old at the moment of submittal. The main title of the manuscript must be written in the same language of the manuscript, and the abstracts written in the other two languages will begin with their title translated and in bold type.
• Invited review: A review manuscript analyzes, systematizes and integrates results of published and unpublished research about a field of knowledge, to account prevailing tendencies and progresses in that field. Reviews are published upon request by the Editorial Board and present a careful review based on no more than 80 references. Manuscripts usually contain the following structure: Title (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Authors (full names and their institutional affiliations), Abstract (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Key Words (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Introduction, headings for the contents of the review (without underlining), and References. The main title of the manuscript must be written in the same language of the manuscript submitted and the abstracts written in the other two languages will begin with their title translated and in bold type. This category applies to established researchers publishing in certain areas to which the Editorial Committee extends an invitation to publish a review.
• Review: A review manuscript analyzes, systematizes and integrates results of published and unpublished research about a field of knowledge, to account prevailing tendencies and progresses in that field. Reviews are published upon request by Guidelines for contributors the Editorial Board and present a careful review based on no more than 80 references. Manuscripts usually contain the following structure: Title (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Authors (full names and their institutional affiliations), Abstract (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Key Words (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Introduction, headings for the contents of the review (without underlining), and References. The main title of the manuscript must be written in the same language of the manuscript submitted and the abstracts written in the other two languages will begin with their title translated and in bold type. This category of publication applies to researchers, doctoral and masters degree students who wish to submit their review manuscript.
• Brief Communication: shows preliminary or partial results of a research, validation and standardization of techniques, whose rapid disclosure is of great importance. Manuscripts should have no more than 20 references that must be no more than 5 years old at the moment of submittal. The structure of the manuscript will contain the following sections: Title (Spanish, English and Portuguese), Authors (full names and their institutional affiliations), Abstract (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Key words (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion (with partial or preliminary conclusions), Acknowledgments (optional), Conflict of Interests, Financial Support, and References. The main title of the manuscript must be written in the same language of the manuscript submitted and the abstracts written in the other two languages will begin with their title translated and in bold type.
• Analytical methods: shows in detail the results of implementation, standardization, validation or significant adjustments to analytical methods, procedures and techniques. The structure that must be followed in the manuscript is: Title (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Authors (full names and their institutional affiliations), Abstract (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Key words (in Spanish, Portuguese and English), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments (optional), Conflict of Interests, Financial Support, and References. Original papers should have no more than 20 references that must be no more than 5 years old at the moment of submittal. The main title of the manuscript must be written in the same language of the manuscript, and the abstracts written in the other two languages will begin with their title translated and in bold type.
• Reviews of books, manuals or congresses: the journal will accept reviews of books, manuals or congresses on subjects related to those covered by the journal. A review presents details of a book, manual or congress and makes a respectful and objective assessment showing positive and negative aspects, and may provide suggestions or proposals for future consideration. The journal will not publish more than one review of a book or manual per issue, except for reviews of congresses. Any review will not exceed three pages of letter size, double spaced, and font Times New Roman 12. Reviews will have a single author and a free format or structure, and must be signed at the end by the author.

Characteristics of the publications Academic publications are characterized both by their rigor, which is given by a methodical, objective, analytical and interpretative nature, a logical and progressive structure, a clear argumentation, and a sound bibliographic support, and by their contribution to a particular scientific discipline or field of study.

Procedure for publication

• Paper submission:: an electronic version of the manuscript should be sent to: Dr. Raúl A. Poutou, PhD, Universitas Scientiarum, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, carrera 7 # 43-82, oficina 627, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia o a la siguiente dirección electrónica: scientiarum@javeriana.edu.co. Receiving the paper does not imply any obligation to publish it. Manuscripts should be written with Word 2003 for Windows XP, and sent by email (valid for national and international publications).
• Paper acceptance: any submitted paper will be sent to at least two anonymous reviewers and to a member of the Thematic Editorial Board or the Scientific Board. Reviewers will assess the contents and presentation of the manuscript and shall produce a concept that will be informed to the authors, who will have no more than 15 business days to make all the corrections. The new manuscript with the corrections will be sent to the referees for feedback. Authors are responsible for returning the manuscript with the final corrections to the office of the Editor-in-Chief within 5 business days. The member of the Editorial or Scientific Board appointed to review the manuscript will justify the acceptance or rejection of the paper in an ordinary meeting of the boards.
• Reproduction rights: once the paper has been accepted for publication, authors will send to the Office for Publications their consent to reproduce the manuscript in the journal Universitas Scientiarum, following the form provided for this purpose, which does not suppose exclusivity. However, their consent will imply the authors’ authorization to disseminate the paper not only in the printed version of the journal but also in the electronic version, that is, in the electronic web page, as well as in national and international bibliographic bases.
• Final editing and issue's preparation: during the editorial production of the journal, manuscripts will be subjected to style corrections, diagramming, and proof reading. Comments and suggestions about style must have the authors’ approval. Once corrections have been made on the galleys, authors will not be able to introduce any new changes to the manuscript.

Example of the overall presentation:

The manuscript will have a heading showing with clarity the full title of the paper in Spanish, Portuguese and English, the names of the authors (in the way of: Jorge Pérez-Martínez, Ramón Saldivar-Ruiz), their affiliations (name of section, university, institute or foundation, and full address including city and country), and the electronic mail address of the author for correspondence that shall be indicated by an asterisk (*E-mail:).

The whole manuscript will be prepared with Word 2003 for Windows XP, using pages of letter size, double spacing and with margins of at least 2 cm on both sides. The printed copy must be neat and font will be Arial, 12 pts.

• Abstracts: no more than 250 words, in three languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese), and divided into four sections: objective, materials and methods, results and conclusions. Abstracts written in the other two languages differing from the manuscript’s language shall begin with their titles (not included in the 250 words counting) translated and highlighted with bold font, as in the following example:
  Preliminary in vitro identification of probiotic properties in strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Objective. To carry out a preliminary in vitro assessment of some probiotic properties of two native strains of S. cerevisiae. Materials and methods. Strains were used in assays for tolerance to: biliar salts, pH, temperature, adherence to Salmonella spp., E. coli and Shigella spp., and antagonism. A 3³ x 3factorial design to determine the culture conditions for each strain was used with three levels for each factor (strain, pH and initial substrate concentration) and three replicates. A commercial strain (B) was used as a control. The selected strain was used for production in 2L bioreactors. Biomass was dried with heat. The resulting product was analyzed to determine its N concentration and cell viability. Results. Strain A (obtained from sugar cane) was tolerant to pH 3.0 ± 0.2, 0.3 % (p/v) biliar salts and 42 °C. The Anova for the factorial design showed significant differences among the 27 assays (p=0.05). The surface analysis revealed that the interaction between strain and substrate (S₀) is significant, suggesting strain A for optimization and higher concentrations of (S₀). Results were reproduced in a bioreactor with mx 0.31h^-1, dt 2.18h and Y_(x/s) 0.126g/g. Resulting dry biomass was viable and contained between 6.3 and 6.9% N/g. Conclusions. Native yeasts with probiotic properties such as tolerance to pH, biliar salts, and temperature, and adherence to Salmonella spp., E. coli and Shigella spp.
• Abbreviations: notation used to abbreviate measure units should follow the International System (SI). Abbreviated words must be written in full for the first time and only then used in the abbreviated way.
• Greek letters: authors are requested to underline Greek letters with red pen on the printed copy and to highlight them with red colour in the electronic copy.
• Equations: equations should be numbered on a consecutive basis. Use the equation editor of Word 2003. Numbering should be justified on the right side and the meaning of each symbol must be explained, as in the following example:
  
  y = mx + b (1)
  Where: y represents Abs_{540 nm}, x is the cell concentration (g/ml), b is the intercept on y, and m is the slope of the line.
• Foot notes: avoid the use of foot notes. Most part of this information should be included in the main text of the paper for the benefit of readers, editors and the printing office.
• Tables and figures: tables and figures should be included within the text of the paper and on separate sheets, one figure or table per sheet. Figures must be accompanied by their corresponding legends, axes and big and clear pointers. Tables must be double spaced, without vertical divisions or internal subdivisions. Measure units should follow the International System (SI). Abbreviations and acronyms should be explained or written in full in footnotes below the tables or in the legends of figures.
  Both tables and figures must be referred to in the text prior to their appearance on a consecutive basis and numbered with Arabic numbers. Tables will have their title on the higher part and figures on the lower part. Charts must be prepared preferably with professional software designed for this purpose (i.e. SigmaPlot, Simfit), rather than with Excel.
  Charts and drawings should be prepared as line drawings with black ink and whether prepared with the aid of a software, they should be of laser quality, without division lines, neither in the abscissas nor the ordinates, and without 3D or shadowing (bars or 3D points), unless having more than two axes. Photographs can be B&W or colour pictures and should be included within the text as a .jpg file of more than 300 dpi. Expenses of polychrome pictures shall be covered by the authors of the paper. Whether using colour photographs or figures, they should be placed in a single page within the article..
• Citing within the text: citations in the text should be numbered on a consecutive basis and separated by commas, as in this example: (1, 2); when having more than two consecutive references, they should be separated by a hyphen, as in this example: (2-5).
• Format for writing the bibliographic references: references shall be listed with the corresponding numbering in the same order as they are cited in the text and not on alphabetical order.
• Books
  1. Andrade G, Ruiz JP, Gómez R. Biodiversidad, conservación y uso de recursos naturales. Primera edición. CEREC - Fundación Fiedrich Ebert de Colombia. Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. 1992, 126 p.
• Scientific papers
  14. Moya LM. Obtención de la matriz de varianzas y co-varianzas a través de los productos Kronecker para modelos balanceados. Universitas Scientiarum 2003; 8 (2): 39-44.
  15. Mowgray DJ, Hogg RA, Skoinick, MS, Delomg MC, Kurtz JM, Olson JM. Valence-band splitting in ordered Ga0.5In0.5P measured by polarized photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. Physical Review 1992; 46, 7232-7235.
  
  All of the authors must be included in order to facilitate bibliometry and the consolidation of visible collegiate societies. The name of the journal must be written in full and with italics.
• Edited books
  Rivas LI, Chicharro C, Díaz P. Sistemas de unión parásito-célula hospedero en Trypanosomatidae. En: Rivas LI, López MC. (eds.). Nuevas tendencias de parasitología molecular. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Madrid, España. 1992; 185-216.
• Doctoral theses and Master's final projects
  Tamayo M. Efecto de la perturbación de los bosques fragmentados sobre el comportamiento y tamaño de una comunidad de primates en el piedemonte llanero. Doctoral thesis. Facultad de Ciencias. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, 1997, 320 p.
  Gutiérrez H. Utilización del canto como característica filogenética en los cucaracheros (Troglodytidae: Aves). Master's final project. Facultad de Biología. Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica, 1990, 120 p.
• Internet references
  The URL must be included, as well as the date of retrieval. This type of references will be listed at the end of all the other references and should follow a format as in this example:
  Gómez H. Análisis estequiométrico. http://www.estequiometría.com/1732_13pdf. Retrieved on: 27^th November 2008.
  
  The following shall not be accepted as sources for citation: Congress presentations, abstracts, prizes, distinctions, interviews, non scientific papers, undergraduate final projects, or personal communications.
• Acknowledgments: individuals or institutions that contributed to the research but are not authors of the work will be included here (this section is not mandatory).
• Financial support: full names of institutions or organizations that provided financial resources for undertaking the research that originated the paper will be included, as well as the ID of the research projects.
• Conflicts of Interests: this aspect is compulsory for every publication and authors will declare here any potential interests (either private or institutional) on the results and findings obtained in the research.
• Supplementary material: there may be supplementary tables or figures that can enrich the publication but due to their length or limiting technical characteristics for an appropriate printing, they will not be included within the main text.
  Colour figures will have no additional costs. These figures and tables will be referred to in the main text of the paper and numbered on a consecutive basis with Arabic numbers (Suppl. Fig. 1), but published as supplementary material in the on line version of the journal. This material has to be submitted along with all the files comprising the paper. The Editorial Board will make a final decision on their publication.

Clarifying notes:

Authors will be responsible for returning the corrections to the final proofs (galleys) of their paper as soon as they can to the office of the journal (no more than 3 business days per correction).

The Editorial Board of Universitas Scientiarum is free to decide on the publication of any supplementary issue containing the abstracts of presentations at national or international meetings.

From Volume 14, issue 1 onwards, papers on science teaching will not be received any more. The reason for this decision is that the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana is editing Magis - Revista Internacional de Investigación en Educación of the Facultad de Educación (http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultades/Educacion/08/magis-dos/index.html)