ISSN 1692-8261
printed version

ISSN 2216-1368
online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Publication ethics and publication malpractice statement
• Sending of manuscripts

The Magazine Prospective is a scientific and technical publication of the Faculty of Engineering of the Caribbean Autonomous University (Universidad Autónoma del Caribe), which aims to encourage the publication of research articles and technological development in the various branches of engineering and education.

The magazine is aimed at teachers, researchers and students of engineering and related careers that promote the advancement of knowledge applied to the development of technology towards the consolidation of a scientific community nationwide. The Magazine Prospective is a biannual basis, with national and international circulation.

The Magazine Prospective receives unpublished contributions in Spanish, English or Portuguese. Accepts three types of work according to the classification of Colciencias.

Type of Articles

1. Articles of scientific research and technological development: Documents that present results derived from scientific research projects or technological development. The processes from which are derived are explicitly mentioned in the published document, as well as the name of the authors and their institutional affiliation.
2. Articles from original reflections about a problem or particular topic: documents that correspond to results of studies conducted by the author or authors of a theoretical or practical problem, which, like the previous ones, met certification standards on the originality and quality by anonymous classified panelists.
3. Review articles: studies carried out by the author or authors in order to give an overview of the state of an specific domain of science and technology, of their evolution over a period of time, and where prospects for development are identified and its future developments. These articles are made by those who have achieved an overall view of the domain and are characterized by an extensive literature review, which is reflected in the large number of bibliographic references reported.

Arbitration process

The Magazine accepts original works, i.e., that is, -which have not been previously published in any other printed, electronic or digital media, and are not being simultaneously considered in some other way.

The papers are accepted for publication based on a review of its quality. The Editorial Board makes a first assessment, after which one of the three alternatives is made: it is accepted for the evaluation of the referees or it is rejected without additional evaluation. The papers are rejected because they are not original enough, or because they have serious deficiencies in its formal structure and research, or have poor writing, or do not meet reporting requirements or are not relevant for the purpose of the Magazine. The papers that are previously accepted are sent to referees who are experts in the subject matter of the article and their identity is unknown to the authors, their identity is also unknown for the referees (double-blind mode). Referees have 30 days maximum to make a judgment on originality, methodological quality, presentation and the consistency between results and conclusions. The recommendation of the referees can be: accept, reject or correct the article. The decision to reject the article is final and without appeal; if modifications are required, the recommendations are sent to the authors to prepare a revised and corrected version for which they have a month. The authors again sent the article to the Editor of the magazine along with a letter detailing the changes implemented in accordance with the recommendations of the referees. The Editorial Board makes the final decision to accept the corrected version considering the concept of the arbitrators.

Presentation Format

The text of the article can be in Spanish, English or Portuguese; The presentation should be in letter size, typed in word, in font Times New Roman of 11 points, with margins: top 3 cm, bottom 2.5 cm, left 3 cm and right 2 cm. The text must be single-spaced, no indentation and a column. Titles and subtitles must be bold, in the left margin. The length of the article is 15 pages maximum, and a minimum of 6 pages.

Content of the article

On the first page the title should be bold, font Times New Roman of 14 points, 1.5 spaces. (Spanish and English). Below the title at two spaces of it, there must be author's name followed by a subscript (1), to indicate their affiliation later. If there is more than one author, a subscript must be added to each one of them according to their row. After two spaces from the authors, it should be placed the highest academic training, institutional affiliation, name of the university research group to which it belongs, city and country. At the end, it should be written the email of the author, responsible for the correspondence only.

Summary: It must be in Spanish and English with a maximum of 200 words. There, it should clearly reflect the scope and purpose of the work, including the methodology, results and conclusions.

Key Words - Key words. Must include from 5 to 7 key words in Spanish and English.

Principal Text: In the case of scientific and technological investigations, they must include the following numbered items: Introduction, Theory/Methodology, Results, Conclusions and References.

Figures and Tables: the title must be on the top left, with the key-word or table in lower letter and bold, both in Spanish and English. The figures and tables must come in black and white, with high sharpness.

References

Text Citation: Please make sure that every reference cited in the text, is present in the references and vice versa.

References are placed in the text sequentially by a number in brackets [ ] and separated from the preceding word by a space (IEEE Standards). At the end they are related and listed in the order they appear in the body of work. References should be referenced as follows:

Articles in Magazines

[1] Initials of the name(s) of author(s) and last name(s), "title of the article", Title of the Magazine, volume number, issue of the journal, page number where it begins and ends the article. The year of publication, Example: F. Pederson, G.I. Petersen, "Variability of Species Sensitivity to Complex Mixtures", Water Science. Technology., 33 (6), 109-119, 1996.

Books.

[2] Initials of the name(s) of the author(s), and last name(s), and title of the book. Place of publication, publisher's name, year, pp(consulted pages. Example: J.P. Uyemura, Introduction to the design of digital systems: an integrated approach. Mexico: Thomson Publishing, 2000, pp. 30 - 50.

Chapter of the Book.

[3] Initials of the name(s) of the author(s) and last name(2), title of the Chapter in quotes, followed by the word "on" and the title of the book in italics, is continued with the name of the editor or compiler. Number of pages of the chapter. Example: M. Paulino, O, "Computer simulations and molecular graphics modeling: the 3-D structure of transport proteins". In: Biologu of paratisim, ed.: New York Oxford. Montevideo, Trilce, p. 249-263.

Thesis.

[4] Author. (Year, month) Títle ( itálic ). Degree thesis, Institution, Year. Example: M.E. Poey (2006) Microcinas using catechol strategy and its relationships with salmoquelinas siderophores. Master Thesis, University of the Republic.

Congressess and Conferences.

[5] Author. (Year, month) Title or name of the Conference, [type of electronic media]. Available:

In other cases it is feasible to include: Author. (Year, month) Title or name of the Conference, [type of electronic media]. Year. Place of the conference, year of publication in parenthesis.

Example: J.B. Dalton, L.J. Palmer Moloney, & C. Pehl. (2005, Oct.). Hyper spectral studies of hyper saline ecosystems. Presented en Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice and Larger Water Regions 2005. [Online] Available: http://spiedl.aip.org/dbt/dbt.jsp=5977#MAJOR2.

Pages and Web pages.

[6] Author(s). (Year) Títle, the word internet between square brackets, edition or version (if applicable), place of publication, publisher. Words availanle from : access date between square brackets. Example: L. Rutter, & M. Holland (2002) Citing references: the Harvard system [Internet], Poole, Bournemouth University Academic Services. Available from: <http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/using_system.html> [Acceso 5 de septiembre 2006].

Articles on Electronic Magazines.

[7] Author(s). (Year,month) Title of the Article.[type of electronic medium] Title of the publication, the words on line between square brackets, volume (number), pages. Words available from: access date between square brackets. Example: P.S.Coburn; M.S. Gilmore, (2003) The Enterococcus faecalis cytolysin: a novel toxin active against eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Celullar Microbiology [on line], 5 (10), p.661-670. Available from <http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/cmi/5/10> [Accesss september 8th, 2006].

Privacy statement

The names and email addresses presented in this Magazine will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be available for any other purpose.

Conflict of Interests

All authors are asked to indicate any real or potential conflict of interest including any financial relationship, personal or other persons or organizations that could inappropriately influence in their work.

Copyright

The Prospective Journal accepts and endorses the policies to protect intellectual property rights at the Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, contained in the Agreement 777-04 November 10, 2006 and the rules that modify it.

Ethical Standards

The importance of scientific publications and their impact on the academic and industrial environment as well as in the academic growth of teachers and researchers, has led in many cases lack of ethics in these publications. Scientific publications must guarantee a process of acceptance, editing and publishing with the ethical guidelines of the different actors involved in these publishing processes.

The Caribbean Autonomous University UAC undertakes to comply with ethical standards in its publications, promoting a culture that permits action respect for the work of others and good practice in this work.

Policies provided herein are based on ethics in international organizations such as COPE (Committee on Publications ethics) available on the website, the rules for authors, referees and editors are set out in summary.

Responsibility of the authors:

- The article must be original and should not be considered by other publication in the same way and time, or similarly, including publication in different languages.

- Each one of the authors must sign the presentation letter and transfer of rights, as well as optionally declare any kind of conflict of interest.

- Any information obtained privately must have written permission from the source.

- The required data about the suggested referees must contain correct information with appropriate expertise to review the article data.

- The authors must make sure that references are cited clearly and recognize when their work has been influenced by others' work, including own articles and research material.

Responsibility of the referees

- Carry out an objective review of the article, making friendly suggestions and constructive criticism, besides being fair in their assessments.

- To inform the editor if the work subject to arbitrate has been published previously or is under evaluation in another journal.

- Maintain the confidentiality of the documents sent, without using the given information there, until they have been published, making the adequate citation.

- To inform the editor if some type of interest conflict arises.

Responsibility of the publishers

- Guarantee that the selection processes of articles are based on academic merits and not for financial benefit or personal.

- To guarantee the confidentiality of the review process and fairness in the selection.

- To identify the plagiarism (either by substantial copying, paraphrasing without adequate citation, multiple presentation (translation) of documents in different Magazines amongst others) and apply due process in accordance with the manual of good practices. Proper procedures must be handle ethically.

- Check that the articles that include research material, tables or images of substantial character or private information, bring the corresponding permits for publication.

The articles must be loaded by the OJS platform, according to the link http://ojs.uac.edu.co/. Additionally, they must be send as a back up copy to the email: rprospectiva@uac.edu.co, and rprospectiva@gmail.com, in Word format, along with a cover letter addressed to the Editor which must include: full title of the work, the most alike engineering area to the topic covered, full names of the author's study, academic degrees and affiliation. The letter must give proof of the originality of the work and uniqueness of referal to the Prospective Magazine; also, it must authorize the Magazine to place the work under consideration of arbitrators appointed by the Editorial Board, and author(s) should sign the letter. It is recommended to include, along with the article, two potential referees -specialists on its subject, outside the area where the research was developed, including: name, maximum academic training, affiliation and email.