About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Virtu@lmente is a digital journal that is published twice a year by the EAN University. It publishes unparalleled articles in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese that show research findings, theoretical reviews and articles for reflection that contribute to the discussions in the field of social sciences, education science area, particularly on topics that are related to education in general -pedagogy and training- with an emphasis on virtual education.

Its target audience is professionals, academics, researchers, and students, who seek to update themselves in contents that are related to the thematic areas addressed by this publication.

Thematic lines

Educational models, pedagogy, and didactics in virtual education.
Policies and open education.
Theory and experimentation in virtual education.
Digital skills in higher education.
Experience in administration of platforms and virtual programs in higher education.
Adaptation and customization of virtual learning environments.
Equity and educational inclusion in virtuality.
M-learning, context and ubiquity.
Learning visualizations and analytics.
Emerging technologies and pedagogical interaction.
Innovation and entrepreneurship in virtual environments.

Guidelines for authors

Typology

The articles that are sent to the Virtu@lmente Journal, must be within one of the following categories, taken from the specifications presented by Colciencias -Publindex:

Type of article	Description
Article on scientific and technological investigation	Document that evidences original results of a completed research project. The structure that is generally used contains four important sections: introduction, methodology, results, and conclusions.
Review article	Document resulting from a finished research where the conclusions of published or unpublished investigations on a field in science or technology are analyzed, systematized, and integrated, in order to account for the advances and development trends. It is characterized by presenting a careful bibliographic review of at least 50 references.
Case report	Document that presents the results of a study on a specific situation, in order to reveal the technical and methodological experiences that were considered in a specific case. It should include a review of literature on similar cases.
Reflection article	Document that shows results of a completed research project, under an analytical, interpretative or critical perspective of the author on a specific topic.
Short article	Short document in which original results, either preliminary or partial, of a scientific or technological investigation are evidenced.
Subject review	Document that presents a critical review of the literature on a specific topic

General structure of articles

Indispensable data that every postulated article must include:

Full name(s) of the author(s).
Current institutional affiliation (Academic).
Email.
Brief academic biography, specifying only the academic background and the universities where the degrees were obtained.
ORCID code (Required).

In addition, we suggest for the article to be structured as follows:

Title. It should be concise and describe the content of the article clearly and precisely, in such a way that the reader can easily identify the subject.

Abstract. It must be written in Spanish and must have between 200 and 250 words. In the case the article is written in English, French, or Portuguese, the abstract should also be sent in its original language. The abstract is a synthesis of the object of study, the objectives, the methodology, and the most relevant conclusions or findings. It should not include bibliographical references or footnotes.

Keywords. Keywords should include between six and ten items. They must be sent in Spanish.

Body of the article. The body of the article should include the following fundamental elements: introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and references.

Article submitting format

Format: US Letter (21.5 cm x 27.9 cm).
Margins: top 2.5 cm., bottom 2.5 cm., left 2.5 cm., right 2.5 cm.
Font: Arial.
Font size: 12 pt.
Line spacing: 1.5.
Columns: 1.
Processor: Word.
Length of article: between 17 and 25 pages (not including the reference list)

Other aspects to be taken into account

Citation rules.

The journal uses an adaptation of the American Psychology Association (APA) as a standard regulation for citation, referencing, and presentation of figures and tables. We strongly suggest the use of the Manual of citation and referencing of the Universidad EAN as a specific guide, available in https://bit.ly/2Pieldx

Nomenclature of titles and subtitles

It refers to the numbering of the sections and should be hierarchized in levels that are differentiated by numbers and styles, like this:

Title of the article (capitalized, centered, bold)

Title of the section (Left-justified, bold)

1.1 Subtitle first level (Left-justified, indented, bold)

1.1.1 Subtitle second level. (Left-justified, indented, period)

1.1.1.1 Subtitle third level. (Left-justified, indented, italics, period)

Figures and tables

Figure is understood as all that graphic material used in the article -images, photographs, diagrams, etc.-.

Table is understood as all the information, statistics, numerical or conceptual comparison, arranged within a box, with rows and columns.

Both the figures and the tables must be numbered consecutively, according to their order of appearance within the text - tables and figures with independent consecutive -; they must have a title that briefly describes their content and the precise reference of the source where it was obtained. The format for this information should be the following:

Figure 1. Sistine Chapel

Source. Gombrich, 1950. (If taken from any source)

Source. Prepared by the author. (If it is created by the author / authors)

Figures and tables must be submitted in gray scale, therefore, it is a must to take into account that the information represented here is sufficiently clear and easy to distinguish.

Besides including them in the body of the text, they must be sent in an additional file in the format in which they were created and in gray scale, not in color. The resolution must be at least 300dpi.

Footnotes

The footnotes should only be of a clarifying nature. All data concerning bibliographic references must go in the text body and must be registered in the list of references.

References

All the texts and authors that are mentioned in the body of the text must be registered in the reference list, and all the elements that are registered in the reference list must be included in the body of the text. The sources of figures and tables must also be registered there, in the case they are not prepared by the author.

The reference list is located at the end of the document and should be organized in alphabetical order, by last name. If several publications by the same author have been referenced, they must be organized in chronological order, according to the year of publication. When there are several publications by the same author whose publication date is the same year, they must be differentiated as follows:

López, J. (2018a)

López, J. (2018b)

In the case of articles from scientific and academic journals, it is a requirement to include the DOI, whenever it is available.

In the case of digital sources, URL needs to be provided and verified to make sure it is still in operation.

Here are some examples of the referencing format that should be used:

Articles in periodical publications

Digital

Martínez, J. (2017). El conocimiento como sistema adaptativo complejo en las organizaciones de gestión de proyectos - PMO. Revista Ontare, 4(2), 27-54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21158/23823399.v4.n2.2016.1626

Castro-Silva, H.; Diez-Silva, H.; Quijano-Brand, L. (2013). Plan de gestión de costos en dirección de proyectos: aplicación en una empresa del sector minero-industrial de Colombia. Revista Escuela De Administración de Negocios, (74), 22-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21158/01208160.n74.2013.734

Printed

Solans, A. (1998). ¿Es el management una ciencia? un programa de diez preguntas para reflexiona. Revista Escuela de Administración de Negocios, (35), 4-20.

Velasco-Duarte, N.; Leguízamo-Vanegas, D. (2017). Arte y educación, un nuevo camino para la formación de públicos en las ferias de arte de América. Comunicación, Cultura Y Política, 7(2), 129-158.

Books

Printed

Moreno-Monsalve, N. A.; Diez-Silva, H.M. (Eds.) (2018). La gerencia de proyectos como impulsor de la estrategia organizacional. Bogotá: Universidad EAN.

Nagles-García, N.; Gil-Toledo, J. J.; García-Durán, H.; Melo-Melo, C. M.; Vélez-García, R. D.; Reyes-López, O.; Romero-Rincón, J. C. (2018). Innovación y emprendimiento en la educación superior. Bogotá: Universidad EAN.

Digital

Martínez-Sepúlveda, J. A.; Casallas, M. R. (2018). Contaminación y remediación de suelos en Colombia. Aplicación a la minería de oro. Bogotá: Universidad EAN. Retrieved from http://editorial.universidadean.edu.co/acceso-abierto/contaminacion-y-remediacion-de-suelos-en-colombia.pdf

Book chapter within a compilation

Menchero-Sánchez, M. (2017). Ciudades históricas, turismo cultural y cooperación internacional desde un enfoque teórico-conceptual. In C. A. Zambrano-Barrera (Comp.) Cinco miradas al turismo cultural. (15-60). Bogotá: Universidad EAN.

Legislation:

Law 1450 of 2011. (June 16, 2011). Whereby the National Development Plan, 2010-2014, is issued. Official Gazette, no. 48102. Congress of Colombia.

Decree 1075 of 2012. (May 22, 2012). By which the organization and operation of the Collegiate Administration and Decision Bodies and the technical secretariats are regulated, in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of Law number 1530 of 2012. Official Gazette, no. 48438. National Planning Department.

Dissertations:

Membrado-Corma, C. (2016). Proyecto TIC-TAC, aprendiendo a hacer ciencia (Masters dissertation). Universitat Jaume I. Castelló de la Plana, Spain. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2DMgVRv

Technical documents:

Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. (December 18, 2015). Modelo de medición de grupos de investigación, desarrollo tecnológico o de innovación y de reconocimiento de investigadores del sistema nacional de ciencia, tecnología e innovación, año 2015. Bogotá, Colombia. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2WYTaxx

Presentations in events:

Vélez-Álvarez, C.; Giraldo-Zuluaga, L. F. (2018). Evaluación de publicaciones científicas con calidad: una experiencia de una Universidad Pública Colombiana. Presented at the 3er Congreso Internacional de Editores Redalyc. Universidad César Vallejo, Trujillo, Perú, May 16-18.

Press:

Printed with author

Schuartz, J. (September 30, 1993). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, A1, A4.

Printed without author

Obesity affects economic, social status. (September 30, 1993). The Washington Post, A1, A4.

Digital with author

Cala, P. (May 01, 2019). Si has sido testigo, ¿qué has hecho para transformar tu realidad? El Espectador. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2H9Fr0W

Digital without author

Si has sido testigo, ¿qué has hecho para transformar tu realidad? (May 01, 2019). El Espectador. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2H9Fr0W

Websites:

With date

Universidad EAN. (May 07, 2019). Sector de las TIC en Colombia, un mundo de oportunidades laborales. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2Vekfuu

Without date

Universidad EAN. (n.d.). Sector de las TIC en Colombia, un mundo de oportunidades laborales. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2Vekfuu

Evaluation process

The articles that are submitted to Virtu@lmente Journal are subject to a complete evaluation process, whose general criteria of selection are the thematic relevance, the scientific quality, the originality, the clarity in the argumentation, and the fulfillment of the parameters of presentation of articles that is established by the journal, in order to guarantee the quality and scientific rigor of the publication. The process in detail is as follows:

Once the thematic axes of the editions of the year and the projection of the editorial calendar have been defined by the Editorial Committee of the journal, we proceed to launch the respective calls, at national and international level, for the reception of articles.

After the closing of the call, the Editorial Committee gets together in order to perform the process of verification of the initial requirements of the articles in DOUBLE BLIND MODALITY; this, in relation to their typology, the compliance with the guidelines for the presentation of articles of the journal, and its thematic focus.

After this first evaluation filter, all the authors receive a notification; and those texts that have passed this first stage continue with the review and evaluation phase in DOUBLE BLIND MODALITY, by external peers.

The selection of external pees is done based on their knowledge and expertise with respect to the subject of the text to be evaluated. This search is done through the database of external collaborators of the publication, which is constantly updated, and the database of arbitrators of Colciencias.

The evaluation is carried out by using the format that has been established by the journal, which is sent to the peers together with the text, the general indications of completion of the format, and the notification of the deadlines that are established for carrying out the review and evaluation.

The two axes around which the evaluation is articulated are the formal structure and the quality of the content, which in turn divide into a series of elements that are rated numerically -from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest value and 5 the highest-, and that in their final sum they give a score that determines the assessment and the concept in front of the publication of the article in the following way:

RATING	VALUATION	CONCEPT
100 - 90	EXCELLENT	Publishable, does not require any adjustments.
89 - 80	VERY GOOD	Publishable, it requires minimum adjustments
79 - 70	GOOD	Publishable, it requires medium level adjustments.
69 - 60	ACCEPTABLE	Publishable, it requires significant adjustments.
59 - 0	NON ACCEPTABLE	Non-publishable.

According to the concept that is issued by the peer, the author or authors are notified of the observations and suggestions issued during the evaluation, and they also receive the information about the adjustments that are required, if any. In the latter case, a specific deadline for delivery is determined and then the evaluating peers carry out a verification process of these adjustments.

In case of controversy of any kind, it is the editor together with the Editorial Committee, the body that makes decisions on the situation and delivers final verdict in this regard.

Estimated time for evaluation

In order to guarantee a correct and rigorous evaluation process in each of its phases, the verdicts are estimated to be delivered in the following average times:

First phase - Editorial Committee: given that this phase is carried out at the end of the call period, once the total of articles participating in the editorial process have been compiled and that the meetings are scheduled by coordinating the agendas of its members according to the their time availability, the average response time is approximately 3 months.
Second phase - External peers: taking into account the time that external peers take to accept the invitations and their availability to carry out the readings, it is estimated that the average time for the verdict in this phase is 3 months, approximately.

See the Articles Review Form Format of evaluation of articles

About copyright

The articles that are postulated for publication must be original and unpublished and may not have any editorial commitment for publication, nor should they be in the process of simultaneous evaluation by another publication or entity.

In the case of using photographs or images, publication permits must be sent along with the article.

The author or authors must authorize the publication of their text by means of the completion and signature of the "Authorization for publication in favor of the EAN University" format. The publisher provides this format once the article has satisfactorily passed the two stages of evaluation and has been approved for publication.

In any case, the Scientific and Editorial Committee of the journal understands and declares that the opinions that are expressed by the authors are their sole responsibility.

Frequency

Virtu@lmente Journal is a semi-annual publication, which publishes its editions as follows:

January to June.
July to December.

Google Scholar

https://bit.ly/31owzM9

Open access policy

Virtu@lmente Journal provides free and permanent access to its contents, based on the principle of global exchange of knowledge. In this same sense, the publication does not require any type of payment or compensation, neither for the application, nor the evaluation, or the publication of articles.

The content of the journal is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivative 4.0 International license.

Virtu@lmente Journal allows self-archiving published articles by their own authors, in thematic repositories or personal web pages, once the final PDF version is published on our platform. The self-archiving or publication of the manuscripts, or the versions prior to the layout of the texts, are not authorized.

Policy for the preservation of digital archives

The preservation of digital archives of the journal is carried out through LOCKSS and CLOKSS.

Open access policy Code of ethics and good editorial practices

The Universidad EAN promotes good editorial practices from the perspective of the Institution, the authors, and the readers. Likewise, it ensures respect for copyright, own and that of others. In this sense, the authors must guarantee that the data and results that they are presenting are original, have the power for their disclosure, and have not been copied, manipulated, or distorted.

In accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Ethics in Publication (COPE), and taking as references their Código de conducta y mejores prácticas para editores (2011), their Código de directrices éticas para pares revisores (2013), and their Guía de estándares internacionales para autores (2010), the Virtu@lmente Journal formulates the following guidelines of good practice:

For the Editorial

Protect intellectual property and copyright.
Maintain editorial independence
Maintain the commitment to the continuous improvement of the journal.
Take care of the integrity of the scientific production that is published in the journal.
Publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary and with due opportunity.
Ensure that the editorial process is rigorous and transparent.
Fulfill the decision of acceptance or rejection of an article for publication.
Explain the conditions to access the journal and the possibilities of using the different articles within the framework of copyright.
Establish cordial relationships, based on the axis of respect, with all the actors who are involved in the editorial process.
Solve in a timely and sufficient manner the concerns that are presented by the actors who are involved in the editorial process, regarding the editorial process.

For the authors

Guarantee the originality of the content that is presented in the article.
Ensure that the document that was submitted to be considered for publication is unpublished.
Respect copyright. Do not carry out practices of plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
Provide complete and correct information about bibliographic references and sources of information - of information, figures, and tables - that are used in the article.
Obtain and supply the authorizations that are required from the persons or entities that are involved in the investigation, in their data, photographs, etc.
Respect the order of authorship accepted by the group of authors.
Within the article, specify the ethical considerations that were taken into account in the investigation, when required.
Take the responsibility for own approaches and information that is presented.
Carry out the adjustments that the text requires within the editorial process, in the time that has been established.
Respect the confidentiality of people and organizations when it has been agreed that way.
Provide the data that is required by the journal, through the "Authorization for Publication Form", in order to effectively carry out the registration of authors in Publindex and other databases in which it is required.
Establish cordial relationships, based on the axis of respect, with all the actors involved in the editorial process.

For peer reviewers

Communicate to the editor when there is a conflict of interest.
Fulfill the deadlines that are established for the evaluation process.
Carry out a serious evaluation based on the scientific rigor, originality, and relevance of the information.
Follow the evaluation protocol that is delivered by the journal.
Present the comments that arise as a result of the evaluation of the article in a respectful and constructive manner.
Carry out the process of verification of adjustments, requested in the initial evaluation.
Maintain the confidentiality of the evaluation process that is performed.
Provide the data that is required by the journal, through the «article evaluation format», in order to carry out an effective registration of evaluators in Publindex and other databases in which it is required.
Establish cordial relationships, based on the axis of respect, with all the actors involved in the editorial process.

For readers

Make use of the information in accordance with what is established in the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivative0 International license.

About plagiarism and self-plagiarism

Plagiarism is the textual or partial copy of ideas from others that are presented as own. Therefore, it is understood as undue intellectual appropriation.

Therefore, authors must respect the right that arises on ideas, criteria, figures, tables, and in general, all kinds of works that are taken from other authors in their writings; that is, it is a must to give respective credit to writings carried out by other authors.

As for self-plagiarism, it has to do with the publications that have been previously prepared by authors, who in turn, consider that they can use information from these materials without indicating that they have already been published and that the document is their authorship. This practice, from any ethical point of view, is inappropriate and rejected in the framework of scientific writing.

The articles that incur in any of these two situations - plagiarism and self-plagiarism - will not be considered, under any circumstance, to fill the process of publication in the journal. Given the case, the rejection notice will be made, explaining specifically the reason for that rejection.

The Virtu@lmente Journal uses the software Safe Assign for the verification of plagiarism and self-plagiarism in its articles.

History of the journal

Virtu@lmente was born in 2013, with the intention of being an open space for debate on issues that are related to the training of new professionals by means of virtual media and tools. This journal was born in the interest of recognizing the strength of the teaching-learning process in programs under the virtual modality at the EAN University. The topics that are addressed in the magazine are related to the analysis of methodologies, the use of virtual learning environments, the formation of entrepreneurship through virtual education, the evolution of distance education, new digital technologies, the accessibility, the artificial intelligence, the innovation in pedagogies, the learning objects, the sustainability of technologies in virtual environments, among many other topics related to virtual training. The managers of the Magazine were dean Marco Elías Contreras Buitrago and professor María del Pilar Ramírez Salazar, supported by the EAN Edition team and the academic networks attached to the Faculty of Studies in Virtual Environments. Currently, the magazine is managed by professor Carolina Mejía Corredor, Research Manager of the EAN University and an expert researcher in Technology-Enhanced Learning.

Sponsor

Universidad EAN

Calle 79 # 11-45

Bogotá D.C, Colombia - Suramérica