ISSN 0120-0976
printed version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

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

The Journal Publishes: 1) Original research based articles with complete results; 2) research based reflections; 3) reviews of issues derived from research; 4) short research based articles with preliminary or partial results; 5) case reports; 6) reflective essays; 7) adaptations or translations; 8) letters to the editor on the editorial policy or previously published works; 9) book reviews on recent publications; 10) news and events.

During the evaluation process, articles should be unpublished and under the exclusive consideration of the Inter American Journal of Librarianship. To this end, authors must register with the Open Journal System- OJS platform and then submit their articles by following the appropriate links. Submissions can also be sent to the Journal via email. Authors must attach the Publication Consent Form in order to have their submissions evaluated.

Receipt of manuscripts does not carry an obligation to publish them. The editorial and scientific boards are responsible for selecting those articles that merit publication. This decision is based on the traditional peer review process where at least two experts, of which one is preferably a PhD, approve it based on the established criteria. Afterward, the editorial board will make a decision on the article. It will either, reject the article, in which case the author will be informed as to the reasons why it cannot be published in its present form, accept the article without changes, accept the article with minor changes, accept the article with substantial changes. If changes are required the author will receive the peer evaluations so that the changes can be included. If it requires substantial changes the article will again be sent back for review by the same reviewers. Once the editorial board receives the final version of the article it will make a final decision about its publication.

Publication of the article does not mean that the Directorate, the Journal’s Editorial Board, or the Escuela Interamericana de Bibliotecología of the Universidad de Antioquia agrees with its content. The authors are solely responsible for the ideas, opinions, and perspectives that appear in their articles.

The journal is published in paper and electronic formats, so that by submitting his article, the author implicitly agrees to both formats. Every author is entitled to three copies of the issue in which his article appears.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject papers that do not adhere to the following guidelines:
· Articles should not exceed 25 pages in length, the font used should be 12 point Times New Roman, be double spaced with 1 inch margins, and pages should be consecutively numbered. The manuscript should contain the following, in this order: Title, Abstract and Keywords, Acknowledgements (optional), References, and Appendices. The Editorial Board reserves the right to make grammatical and stylistic changes.
· A file containing the article should be sent, typed, in Word, doc, or .rtf format through the Open Journal System or via email.
· The form titled Information Authors - Article should be filled out.
· Provide a clear and concise title of the work in the language of the text and its English version; an abstract in English and Spanish up to 200 words, that includes the essential parts of the research and its results as recommended by APA (sixth edition) norms; and up to six keywords in the text’s language and in English.
· The organization of the texts should follow the general research guidelines provided by IMRaD: a) and introduction that presents the essential aspects of the research and its objectives; b) a description of the sources, methods, materials, and equipment used to carry out the research; c) presentation of results and d) discussion and conclusions. Appendices can be included if necessary.
· Avoid footnotes. If they are necessary, they should clarify or compliment the work. They should provide additional information that the author deems necessary to include and should not affect the continuity of the text.
· When using acronyms or abbreviations, the complete words or phrases should be written first, to be followed by the corresponding abbreviation or acronym in parenthesis. Afterward only the acronym or abbreviation should be written.
· Acknowledgements. Mention the institutions or persons who financed or supported your work. You should specify the project codes (grants) if funding was received.
· References. These should appear in alphabetical order by last name after the Acknowledgements (if any). References should be limited to those works cited in the text, preferably those that appear in indexed journals and books. They should appear in accordance with the guidelines APA (sixth edition). In the text itself references should appear with the last name of the source and the year of publication. If the last name of a source is mentioned in the text then the publication year should appear in parenthesis, if it does not appear, both the last name and the year should appear in parenthesis. Each citation should refer to one source, and the information for said source should appear in alphabetical order (and in chronological order if multiple works by the same author are cited) throughout the References list. If two or more sources have the same last name and year of publication they should be distinguished from one another with small case letters (a, b, c, etc.) that would appear after the year of publication.
· Tables and charts. There should be no more than ten tables and charts (including photographs). They are to be numbered using Arabic numerals followed by a period and should be cited in the text. The title must be at the bottom of each table or chart.

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The submission has not been previously published in a journal, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor)
2. The submission file is in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer document file formatThe text adheres to the formal, stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the templates downloadable from the Author Guidelines section;
3. The instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.