Focus and Scope

The aims of the Journal are:

• Collaborate in the diffusion of educational research based on this topic.
• Promote the application of results obtained in research in order to achieve the improvement of educational systems, schools and classrooms in terms of Social Justice.
• Stimulate the development of further quality research in education related to this topic.
• Collaborate in the debate on contemporary educational research and social justice in education.

CHARACTERISTICS

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice publishes unpublished and original manuscript related to Social Justice and its implications in all educational levels written in Spanish, Portuguese or English. Articles that may be:

• Empirical research based on different methodological techniques and focused on diverse disciplinary fields (Education, Psychology, Sociology, Economy, History, etc.) all related to Social Justice in Education.
• High quality literature reviews (especially meta-analysis).
• Descriptions of different experiences related to Social Justice in Education.
• Theoretical articles on education for social change.

Peer Review Process

PEER REVIEW PROCESS AND PROOFREADING

1. Reception: The editorial process begins when the originals are received. Upon receipt of the article you will receive an acknowledgment of receipt.

2. Pre-review of formal aspects:The editors will develop a preliminary revision to ensure that the articles respond to the theme and interest of the Journal, and that they fulfill all the formal requirements in terms of publishing standards:

• Formal structure of the manuscript.
• Abstract / Resumen in  English and Spanish with IMRCD format.
• Keywords / Palabras Clave included in the UNESCO Thesaurus.
• Editing formats (tables, figures, ...) according to current APA regulations.
• Compliance with current APA regulations in citations and bibliographic references.

The lack of adjustment of the manuscript with the norms of publication of the Journal will mean direct rejection. The decision will be communicated by the editors to the authors allowing the possibility of adapting and modifying the manuscript, sending the original back to the Director of the journal. In this case, the evaluation process will be started from the beginning.

3. Preliminary evaluation by the Scientific Board: This process will serve to ensure that the articles fit the thematic scope and interest based on the editorial criteria of the Journal. The rejection rate for this first evaluation phase reaches 50%.

4. Blind peer review: The editors will send the anonymous manuscript to two expert reviewers. For the selection of expert reviewers, at least 80% will be considered external to the editorial committee and the publishing entity.

The reviewers will have a maximum of one month to elaborate a report justifying if the manuscript can be published or not. The reviewers should fulfill a reviewer protocol provided by the editors.

Expert reviewers will evaluate each manuscript based on the following criteria:

• Quality of the theoretical framework.
• Methodological adaptation of the work.
• Implications of the results both in academic terms and for the development of educational policies.
• Quality of the writing and the adequacy of the structure of the article.
• Contribution of new ideas, points of view or innovative themes.

The reviewers will finally recommend that the article be:

• Published as is.
• Accepted with changes, the author/s should review their manuscript to adjust it to the recommendations of the reviewers.
• Rejected for publication in the Journal.

In case of discrepancy between the two reviewers, the manuscript will be sent to a third reviewer.

International Journal of Education for Social Justice will inform through an annual memory, the percentage of accepted and rejected papers.

5. Notification of evaluation and correction: The editors will notify the editorial decision to the authors including the anonymous evaluation reports prepared by the reviewers within a maximum period of three months from the reception of the manuscript. In case the decision is to accept the manuscript with modifications, the authors will have a time of up to two months for correction. If necessary, the new version will be subjected to a new evaluation.

6. Final decision: After reviewing the modified version of the manuscript, and its possible evaluation, the Editors will inform the author of the acceptance decision, request for a new revision or rejection of the manuscript. The notification will be made by email indicating the reasoned reasons for the editorial decision and the results of the evaluation process.

7. Final review of the article:Once the review process has been completed and the final draft of the manuscript has been received, the Editors will carry out the final review of the style and the edition according to the format of the Journal.

8. Publication.

Publication Frequency

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice publishes with a periodicity of 2 issues per year, appearing punctually on June 1 and December 1 of each year.

The period of publication of the numbers is January-June and July-December.

Open Access Policy

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice provides immediate open access to its content, based on the principle that offers the public free access to research support to a greater global exchange of knowledge.

The submissions, editing or publication process of the manuscript involves no cost to the authors.

To guarantee the maximum diffusion of the contents, the Journal publishes on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Red.RINACE/) and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/red_rinace) the publication of the issues of the Journal.

Ethical issues

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice only publishes original and unpublished manuscripts.

In case any article was already published or in case the editorial committee detect plagiarism in whole or in part of the manuscript, the paper will be remove. In its commitment to originality, the Journal uses the TURNITIN anti-plagiarism tool.

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice adheres to the international code of ethics of the Committee on Publication Ethics-COPE Code of Conduct and the Best Practices Guidelines for Journals Editors. The authors are expected to comply with ethical research standards, including:

• While describing experiments that were developed with human beings, authors must indicate if the procedures were carried out according to the Committee of Human Expermentation Ethical Standards´ (in their institutional or regional version), and to the Helsinki Declaration dated 1975 and reviewed in 2000. Real names, initials or hospital numbers must never be used.
• Have permission to publish by the institution that funded the research.
• The authors are responsible for obtaining the corresponding permits to reproduce partial material (such as tables, texts or figures) from other publications and cite their source.
• The International Journal of Education for Social Justice expects the authors to declare any commercial association that may induce a possible conflict in relation to the article.

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice is committed to promoting equality between men and women, giving visibility to the scientific work of women, and promoting the use of inclusive language in scientific publications.

The list of signing authors should only include people who have contributed intellectually to the paper. Those who have helped with data recollection or participated in any special process are not supposed to sign as authors. In general, in order to be included as such certain requirements should be taken into account:

• Participation in the conception and development of the work that resulted in the final manuscript.
• Participation in writing and revision processes of the manuscript.
• Approval of the final version that will be published.

Authors must attach to the manuscript the Letter of originality, conflict of interests and assignment of copyright provided by the Journal fully completed with their data and signed.

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice will not take any responsibility for published material. Neither the Journal, nor the UNESCO Chair on Education for Social Justice of the Autonomous University of Madrid, nor the Autonomous University of Madrid Publications Service, nor the Iberoamerican School Effectiveness and Improvement Research Network (RINACE) guarantee or support any product announced in the Journal or the statements implied by the producer of the service or product. All judgments and opinions expressed in the articles and communications published by the Journal belong to the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editorial Committee.

Organization

The International Journal of Education for Social Justice has one Director, two Editors, a Executive Committee and Scientific Board.

The Director will be assumed by an academic of the Autonomous University of Madrid, and will have as functions:

• The general coordination of the Journal, the Executive Committee and Scientific Board.
• Hiring, supervising and evaluating the editors. 
• Ensuring the quality of the Journal and its sustainability. 

The Editors will have an important background of knowledge and experience in editing, as well as solid expertise in the scientific, social and educational fields. The Editors will be reporting directly to the Director of the Journal and their main responsibilities will be:

• Editing and producing the Journal.
• Organizing its archives and correspondence.
• Updating the Journal desing.
• Sending the materials to the examining committee and communicating their final resolution to the authors.
• Keeping in touch with the authors.
• Prepare the annual report of the Journal.
• Prepare the annual list of expert reviewers who have collaborated in the review of the articles.

The Executive Board will be made up by prestigious researchers. Their main responsibilities are:

• Making recommendations for the editing politics of the Journal.
• Planning the annual issues of the Journal.
• Reviewing and defining the editorial criteria periodically.

The Scientific Committee will be made up by prestigious researchers in the educational field and Social Justice. Their main responsibilities will be: 

• Collaborating with the articles´ evaluation.
• Inviting high quality researchers to participate as referees to ensure the quality and appropriate evaluation of the works subject to publication.
• Collaborating in the planning of the Journal.

Monographs numbers of the Journal may have a Guest Coordinator, and his/her main responsibilities are: 

• Writing down the call for papers.
• Invite prestigious researchers to provide articles on the topic.
• Suggesting specific researchers for the review of the articles.
• Writing down the presentation of the thematic section and indicating the order in which the articles are to be published.

Sponsors

• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
• Red Iberoamericana de Investigación sobre Cambio y Eficacia Escolar (RINACE)