Author Guidelines

  1. Submission Policy The journal Cuestiones Políticas will only consider original, unpublished works that have not been simultaneously submitted to other journals. Manuscript submissions are accepted year-round.
  2. Format and Scope Submissions must align with the journal’s thematic scope and guidelines. Manuscripts should not exceed twenty-five (25) pages, written in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced. Margins must be set as follows: left, 3 cm; right, top, and bottom, 2 cm. Pages must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. The text must be written in an impersonal style.
  3. Title The title should be explanatory and capture the essence of the work. If possible, it should not exceed twenty (20) words.
  4. Abstract and Keywords The abstract must include objectives, methodology, results, and conclusions, with a maximum length of two hundred (200) words (single-spaced). It must include five (5) keywords that reflect the article's content and are present within the abstract; these are essential for inclusion in international indexes. If the work is part of a larger research project or has been used for other purposes (e.g., conference papers or project advances), this must be indicated with an asterisk (*) in the title and detailed in a footnote on the abstract page. The title, abstract, and keywords must be provided in both Spanish and English.
  5. Author Identification and Contributions Provide the full names of all authors without professional titles. Institutional affiliation (organization, institution, center, or department), addresses, ORCID IDs, and email addresses should be included as a footnote on the abstract page. Cuestiones Políticas requires authors to detail individual contributions using the CRediT Taxonomy. This information must be placed at the end of the manuscript, before the references, under the heading "Author Contributions."

Example statement: Author Contributions: Contreras Portillo, O.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft. Chirinos Medina, A.: Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing. López, R.: Data curation, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

Generative AI Disclosure Statement Authors must declare the use of generative AI by specifying its purpose. AI cannot be listed as an author; researchers assume full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and ethical integrity of the content.

  1. Manuscript Structure The body of the work should follow this order: Introduction, Development, and Conclusions. The development section should be divided into subsections identified by subheadings. Footnotes should only be used when strictly necessary for additional explanations, numbered consecutively, and single-spaced.
  1. In-Text Citation Guidelines (APA Style)

In-text citations must adhere to APA Standards, utilizing the author-date system (author's last name and year of publication).

Parenthetical Citations (Author-Date)

  • Example: (Contreras-Portillo, 2005).

Short Direct Quotations (Under 40 words)

Short quotations should be integrated directly into the flow of the text and enclosed in double quotation marks. They must include the author's surname, year, and page number(s) preceded by the abbreviation "p." (for a single page) or "pp." (for multiple pages). Per APA 7th edition guidelines, use a comma after the year rather than a colon.

  • Single page: (Contreras-Portillo, 2005, p. 56).
  • Continuous pages: (Contreras-Portillo, 2005, pp. 54–55).
  • Discontinuous pages: (Contreras-Portillo, 2005, pp. 56, 58, 60).

Block Quotations (40 words or more)

Longer quotations must be formatted as a freestanding block of text without quotation marks. Start the block on a new line and indent the entire block 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) from the left margin, maintaining double-spacing (though the journal may opt for single-spacing for layout purposes). In a block quote, the period appears before the parenthetical citation.

Multiple Authors

For works with three or more authors, use the abbreviation "et al." starting from the very first mention in the text.

  • Example: (Contreras-Portillo et al., 2005, p. 24).

Same Author and Same Year

To distinguish between multiple works by the same author published in the same year, append lowercase letters to the year.

  • Example: (Contreras-Portillo, 2005a) and (Contreras-Portillo, 2005b).

Secondary Sources (Citing a Citation)

Secondary sources should be used only when the original work is unavailable. Identify the original author and include the phrase "as cited in."

  • Example: (Contreras-Portillo, as cited in Chirinos-Medina, 2009, p. 54).

Legal Sources

  • Case Law/Jurisprudence: Include the name of the court, the full date (year, month, day), and the case name if applicable. Secondary sources should not be cited unless they are the only means of access.
    • Example: (Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Constitutional Chamber, 2001).
  • Statutes and Legislative Texts: Use the official name of the law and the year. To reference specific articles, use the abbreviation "art."
    • Example: (Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 1999, art. 49).

Electronic and Internet Sources

In-text citations for websites follow the standard Author-Date format. Do not include the URL within the parenthetical citation; the web address should only appear in the final reference list.

  • Example: (Contreras-Portillo, 2008).
  1. References

The reference list should include only the sources cited in the text. It must appear at the end of the paper under the heading References, organized alphabetically by the author’s last name and following these guidelines:

General Format

  • Order:Alphabetical by the author’s last name.
  • Indentation:Apply a hanging indent (the first line aligned to the margin and subsequent lines indented by 1.27 cm).
  • Spacing:Single spacing within each reference and double spacing (or an additional line) between references.
  • Authors:Write last names followed by initials (e.g., Contreras Portillo, O. J.). Do not use all capital letters for surnames.

Books and Articles

  • Books:Last name, Initial. (Year). Title of the book in italics. Publisher.
  • Journal articles:Last name, Initial. (Year). Title of the article. Name of the Journal in italics, volume(issue), pages.

Note: The word “In” is no longer used for journal articles—only for book chapters.

  • Book chapters:Last name of the chapter author, Initial. (Year). Title of the chapter. In Initial Last name (Ed.), Title of the book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

 

Multiple Works by the Same Author

  • Chronological order:If an author has multiple works, list them from oldest to newest.

Note: APA prefers a chronological (old-to-new) order to facilitate research traceability.

  • Same year:Add a lowercase letter to the year (e.g., 2021a, 2021b). The sequence is determined alphabetically by title.

Multiple Authors in a Single Work

Include the last names and initials of up to 20 authors in the reference list, separated by commas. Precede the last author’s name with the conjunction “and” (or “&” if the publication is in English).

Legal References

Case law: Name of the court. (Date). Name of the case. Name of the publication, pages.

Example: Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. (November 6, 2001). [Judgment 2341]. Pierre Tapia.

Legal texts: Official name of the law [Acronym]. (Year of publication). Publishing body and issue number (Official Gazette). Date of publication.

Online References

Do not include the word “In” before the URL. Include the retrieval date only for highly unstable sources (such as wikis or social media profiles that change frequently). For standard web articles, provide only the direct link.

Format: Last name, Initial. (Year). Title of the work. Website name. URL

Example: Contreras Portillo, O. (2008). El sistema político venezolano. Universidad del Zulia. http://www.luz.edu.ve/archivo123

  1. Submission Letter Manuscripts must be accompanied by a formal letter addressed to the Journal Director, requesting publication and stating that the work has not been published or submitted elsewhere. This letter must be signed by all authors and include their contact information.
  2. Peer Review Process Submissions are evaluated by the Editorial Committee and undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review. Criteria include: manuscript identification, title-content alignment, social/academic relevance, originality, impact, methodology, organizational clarity, abstract quality, and the relevance/currency of references. Once evaluated, authors will be notified. If modifications are required, a reasonable deadline will be set. Failure to submit corrections within the deadline implies the withdrawal of the submission. The Journal is not obligated to explain rejection reasons or provide copies of confidential referee reports.

Statement of Authorship, Best Practices, and Copyright Transfer Cuestiones Políticas requires all content to be original and unpublished. Signing authors must be those who contributed to the conception, execution, data collection, and final writing of the study.

The corresponding author must complete the provided form, including the signature sheet for all co-authors. This journal is a member of Similarity Check (Crossref) and uses iThenticate software to detect plagiarism. All articles will be screened for similarities with previously published sources.