1.Introduction

The journal entitled. Revista Científica da UEM-Série Letras e Ciências Sociais is an academic journal published by the Eduardo Mondlane University. It is a multidisciplinary      Open Access journal      that follows      a continuous publication model, where articles are published online as soon as they are ready, rather than waiting to be released together in scheduled issues.  

The RC-UEM is published as a series and is open to works by national and international authors, as long as the editorial norms are observed. The RC-UEM publishes original articles, thematic reviews and short original articles resulting from research and allied activities. This journal publishes peer-reviewed research and follows a double-blind anonymized review process.

 

2.SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS

2.1.     General Requirements Format of text

Manuscripts that have been published, or are still in the process of being reviewed, peer-reviewed or in press in other scientific journals may not be accepted for publication in the RC-UEM.

To submit your manuscript, use our online submission system that will guide you through the submission process.

Decisions to accept or reject manuscripts will always be      based upon the evaluation by peer reviewers.

 

3.  NORMS GUIDING THE FORMAT OF MANUSCRIPTS

Articles should be written according to the norms laid out by the Editorial Unit.

3.1.     Language

The articles submitted to the RC-UEM must be written in Portuguese or English. The summary (abstract) must be submitted in both languages. In such a case, the summary must be an exact version of the translated text from the original text, and should contain in it the key words.

3.2.     Format

3.2.1.              Size of the Articles

The Editorial Unit has set a maximum of words for a scientific article. The fragmentation of research, survey reports and small texts is strictly discouraged.

Research article reports practical or theoretical research and typically contain up to 8000 words in length. Longer articles are also considered, provided the content justifies the extent.

Review seeks to promote discussion of a topical area rather than offer an exhaustive survey of the literature. Articles that propose new ideas, offer provocative new directions for a discipline, or challenge currently accepted views are encouraged. Article length should be up to 8000 words Articles should offer integrative perspectives on      previous research.

Mini-reviews should have an abstract of no more than 200 words, section headings must be short and informative and no more than four figures may be included.

Short original articles contain 2000–5000 words and focus on recent developments in their field, rather than providing an exhaustive review of the literature. Like original articles, contributions that propose new ideas or a provocative new direction for a discipline and intend to challenge currently accepted views are encouraged.

All articles should be structured with the following subheadings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, (Conclusions optional) References. Full guidelines and specifications for each section are available.

3.2.2.              Font

The body of the manuscript should be in a flowing text with 1.5 spacing, in Times New Roman typeface or font, size 12. The page should be in an A4 format with an upper and left margin of 3cm; the bottom right margin should be of 2cm and the text must contain the page number on the lower right-hand side.

The paragraphs should be identified by a space and be without indentation.

3.2.3.              Graphs and Tables

All pictures, drawings and tables should be inserted in the text.

3.2.4.              Symbols

·      Numerical units, abbreviations and scientific names used in the text must be clearly indicated and should follow the current and valid norms in the International Unit System (IUS). If any other type of unit is used the equivalent in the IUS should be indicated.

·      Scientific names of animal and plants species must be written in Latin and shown in Italics;

·      Commercial names or abbreviations of the names of chemical products must only be used when followed by the name of the chemical product or corresponding scientific designation. Abbreviations that are not part of the terminology used in the field should be avoided at all cost;

·      Mathematical equations should be indicated in bold or in indo-Arabic numeration.

3.2.5.              Footnotes

Notes (footnotes and endnotes, except those in tables) must be indicated using superscript Arabic numerals.

Any notes included in the text should be presented as endnotes.

3.2.6.              Annexes

Annexes are only allowed as complementary material to help with the peer reviewing process, and will not be part of the published text.

3.2.7.              General provisions

·      The Editorial Unit reserves the right to adjust the style and format of any manuscript to suit the agreed standards.

·      The authors should keep a copy of the original manuscript and all subsequent versions of the manuscripts for their record. The Editorial Unit will not be held liable for any damage or loss of any manuscripts submitted for publishing.        The original manuscripts, as well as all subsequent versions  will be archived in OJS and preserved, in case of disputes and fact-checking.

 

4.  LAYOUTS OF MANUSCRIPTS

Except where justified, as in the case of reviews, syntheses, etc, all manuscripts should in general have the following:

4.1.     Front page

You are required to include the following details in the title page information:

·       Article title. Article titles should be concise and informative. Please avoid abbreviations and formulae, where possible, unless they are established and widely understood. The title should be presented in two languages (Portuguese and English or vice-versa), the second language being an exact translation of the original text.

·       Author names. Provide the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author. The order of authors should match the order in the submission system. Carefully check that all names are accurately spelled. If needed, you can add your name between parentheses in your own script after the English transliteration.

·       Affiliations. Add affiliation addresses, referring to where the work was carried out, below the author names. Indicate affiliations using a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the corresponding address. Ensure that you provide the full postal address of each affiliation, (example: University, Faculty, Department, City and Country). including, if available, the email address of each author.

·       Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence for your article at all stages of the refereeing and publication process and also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about your results, data, methodology and materials. It is important that the email address and contact details of your corresponding author are kept up to date during the submission and publication process.

·       The UEM journals require submitting authors to include an ORCID ID when submitting their manuscript. These provide greater discoverability for your work as your publications are automatically collected and associated with your ORCID ID.

4.2.     Abstract

The abstract should have no more than 250 words. These should include a brief description of the methods used in the study and the conclusions must highlight any novel findings resulting from the research work, with their implications or potential applications.

Following the summary and the abstract the author(s) must indicate three or four keywords. Keywords should be separated by commas.

4.3.     Introduction

This section must include a brief literature review and the theoretical background and rationale behind the study and the main objectives.

4.4.     Materials and Methods

The article should have enough data to make it possible for others to replicate the same methodology. Only details concerning new methods and procedures should be described in depth.

4.5.     Results

Can include      text, tables, pictures, drawings and graphs. Text should be as brief as possible in cases where the same information is already presented in tables or graphs.  Figures and tables must be numbered   in the same order as these are referred to in the text.

4.6.     Discussion

The discussion should be concise and should contain an interpretation of the results in each respective chapter/section, and a description of how these agree (or not) the results of other published research works. At the end the main conclusions of the study should be presented in a succinct manner.

4.7.     Acknowledgements

This section should be used to acknowledge the contribution of individuals, institutions and financial support provided for the study. When submitting the manuscripts for publication, the authors must assure that all potentials conflicts of interest have been already considered.

4.8.     Author contributions statement

The submitting author is responsible for providing the contributions of all authors whether that is in the conception, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Each author must be mentioned by name.

Contributions will be published with the final article, and they should accurately reflect contributions to the work. 

More information: https://credit.niso.org/implementing-credit/

4.9.     Conflict of interest statement

The journal requires that all authors, disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise, that might be perceived as influencing objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication in this journal. However, authors must declare any conflict of interest on submission.

If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission.  It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and to collectively list in the manuscript.

4.10.Funding

Authors should acknowledge all sources of funding that supported their research.

 

5.  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NORMS (basic norms)

5.1.     Quotations

Quotations in a text can be direct or indirect according to the explanation below:

5.1.1.              Direct Quotation

This is a literal quotation of an author’s text. In this case, the citation should be shown between inverted commas (“”), followed by the information about the source (author’s name, date and page number) from which the quote has been taken     . The examples below show how to handle d     direct citations in the text:

·      Example 1: quotation can be direct or indirect where “direct quotation refers to the literal transcription of the author’s text” (Macamo, 2000, p. 20);

·      Example 2: According to Macamo (2000, p. 20), a “direct quote refers to the literal transcription of the author’s text”.

5.1.2.              Indirect Quotation

Indirect quotation is the same as paraphrasing, i.e. when the author’s text is not directly inserted. In this case, the mentioning of the author’s name should be followed by the date of publication of the article and page number from     which the quote has been taken.      

5.2.     Indicating the author

Authors must provide a complete and accurate list of references for all works cited in the manuscript. References should be formatted consistently according to the APA citation style, APA 7th edition, https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples. This style is widely used in scholarly publishing and ensures clarity, uniformity, and ease of verification.

In-text citations should follow APA rules.

Reference list should include all sources cited in the text and only those sources.

 

5.3.     Recommended Tools

To ensure accuracy and consistency, authors are encouraged to use a reference management tool such as Zotero. Reference managers help to:

·      Organize sources efficiently;

·      Generate in-text citations and reference lists automatically;

·      Ensure consistent formatting throughout the manuscript; and

·      Reduce citation errors and improve workflow.

 

6.  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

6.1.     Tables and Figures

Figures and Tables should be embedded within the text were referenced to facilitate reviewing. Cite all tables and figures in the manuscript text. Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text. Please provide captions along with the tables. Place any table notes below the table body.

The heading should be descriptive, concise and annotated. Explanatory details, if any, should be presented immediately after the table. Symbols and abbreviations should be defined in table legends.

Pictures and drawings should be submitted in an appropriate format for an electronic publication, being if needed, reduced without any distortion. Pictures, graphs, drawings or diagrams are all referred to as figures. Use an annotation (a), (b), (c), etc to identify sub-figures. File type recommended     is TIFF, EPS, PDF. All images should be legible, with a recommended resolution of 600 dpi for graphs and 300 dpi for photographs or other images. Image size should be sufficient for clarity: for small line art or images occupying about one-quarter of a page, the minimum width should be 80 mm or 1800 pixels; for larger line art or images that occupy half or a full page, the minimum width should be 180 mm or 1800 pixels. Carefully consider the minimum space necessary for each figure.

Maps and photographs should always be presented using the a scale. Colour illustrations must be submitted only where the colour is necessary to better comprehend the information. The legends for the figures must be written with simple spacing below the figures and not within images.

Tables and figures must be carefully reviewed. No changes to figures will      be accepted, especially after the manuscript has been accepted for publication.

6.2.     Acronyms

If a phrase with an established acronym or abbreviation is used, and appears more than six times in your article, please include the acronym/abbreviation in brackets after first mention of the phrase, then use the acronym/abbreviation only. Please note that you should not define acronyms or abbreviations in any of your headings. If either has been used in your abstract/summary, you need to define them again on their first use within the main text. Abbreviations/acronyms used in figures and tables must be explained in the heading/legend or footnote.

6.3.     Ethics when using Animals

All manuscripts that report having involved animals or human beings in their studies must be accompanied with a consent certificate issued by an accredited institution in the country where the study has been carried out.

6.4.     Proofs

Evidence of manuscripts will be sent to the authors indicated as mail exchange receptors. The manuscripts shall be carefully reviewed and sent      back to the Editorial Unit within 72 hours upon reception.

6.5.     Change of Authors

Requests to remove or add authors and/ or the re-arrangement of the names of the authors should be sent to the Chief Editor by the main author, prior to publication of the manuscript. A      request must include (a) the reason why the author’s name must be removed from, added or rearranged in the list of authors; (b) a written confirmation (email, facsimile or letter) from all authors of the article certifying the change. In case of an addition or removal of authors’ names, this should also include a written confirmation (email, facsimile or letter) from the authors whose names are being proposed to be removed from or added to the edition.

6.6.     Copyright clearance

The authors are responsible for obtaining a written consent to reproduce published material from other sources and an author’s copyright transfer agreement, as demanded by the Editorial Unit of the RC-UEM, will have to be signed by the authors. All accepted manuscripts, respective illustrations and pictures will become the property of the Editorial Unit.

 

6.7.     Copyright policy

Copyright is retained by the authors, who grant the journal a non-exclusive licence to publish and disseminate the article.

Permission to reproduce copyrighted third-party material included in published articles, as indicated in articles, should be sought from the copyright holder.

6.8.     Licensing policy

UEM Journal articles are published under a Creative Commons Licence Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This license enables users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, as long as the original work is properly cited.

6.9.     Reviewers

The Editor urges the authors of the manuscripts to indicate up to four names and addresses of experts who may act as reviewers, as long as these do not belong to the same institution as that of authors and have not co-authored papers with the authors recently. The Editor naturally reserves to himself/herself the right to select and contact these experts or any other reviewers.