Authors

Authors

SUBMISSIONS

Registration and login to the UNITEC journal portal are required to submit items online and to check the status of recent submissions. Go to the SUBMIT AN ARTICLE tab and log in using a new or existing account within the portal.

Checklist before submitting

Authors must check that their article complies with all of the following:

  • The submission (manuscript, article, report, or letter to the editor) has not been previously published or submitted for consideration to another journal, unless an explanation has been provided in the comments addressed to the editor.
  • File in Microsoft Word format following the journal's guidelines.
  • The spelling and language quality of the article have been checked.
  • Two separate documents are attached. The first contains the title of the manuscript, the names of the authors, their ORCID numbers, affiliations, and email addresses. The second corresponds to the article structured according to the journal's guidelines. In this document, author properties have been removed to ensure blind review.
  • A corresponding author has been designated, who must have contact details and an ORCID number (obtain it at https://orcid.org/).
  • All authors have an ORCID number, and their names are written exactly as they appear in their ORCID profiles.
  • A list of five keywords according to official descriptors and the journal's guidelines.
  • Figures and tables include titles, are cited in the text in order of appearance, and are inserted or attached in editable format.
  • Bibliographic references are cited in the text according to the most current version of APA standards, including URLs and DOIs when applicable.
  • Originality form signed by the corresponding author, downloadable here: LUMEN Originality Form
  • Conflict of interest form, downloadable here: https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

1. Article topics

Articles should focus on aspects of educational innovation within any of the following thematic areas:

  1. Active learning methodologies
  2. Alternative assessment strategies
  3. Academic innovation
  4. Educational technologies
  5. Artificial intelligence in education

2. Types of articles

Articles should be prepared according to category and following the structure below:

  1. ORIGINAL ARTICLES: present unpublished original research data. Their sections will be: Introduction, Methods, Results, Analysis and Discussion, Conclusion, and References. When relevant, Acknowledgments and/or Funding may be added. A section on Conflicts of Interest must be added at the end of the text.
    Length: 3,000–6,000 words; up to 5 graphic elements (figures or tables); minimum of 30 references; structured abstract.
  2. REVIEW ARTICLES: summarize and provide updates on a particular topic, putting knowledge in the respective area into perspective. Sections include: Introduction, Methods, Development, Conclusion, and Bibliographic References.
    Length: 5,000–8,000 words; up to 5 graphic elements if necessary (figures or tables); 40–70 references.
  3. CASE REPORTS AND EXPERIENCES: articles about experiences and lessons learned. Sections include: Introduction, Presentation of case or experience, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.
    Length: 2,500–3,000 words; up to 5 graphic elements (figures or tables); 15–20 references; structured abstract.
  4. OPINION ARTICLE: presents expert analysis and recommendations on specific topics covered by the journal from the author's point of view, in a free essay-type format.
    Length: 1,500–1,700 words; 1 figure or 1 table; 3–6 references.
  5. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: present clarifications, contributions, or discussion on a published article or another topic of special interest within the journal's focus.
    Length: 500–700 words; 2–5 references.

The word count described above does not include the bibliography, abstract, tables, or captions for tables and figures. Original articles and reviews may include up to five figures and tables. The suggested number for each is flexible, but in no case may it exceed five.

Other publishable documents

SPECIAL ISSUES: These will be convened by the Editorial Committee and may be proposed by external parties, with approval at the discretion of the Editorial Committee.

Text correction and language quality: Authors are responsible for reviewing the spelling and grammar of their articles. Failure to do so may result in the rejection of articles. Authors are advised to seek editorial assistance from experts to ensure the language quality of their articles. For accepted articles, LUMEN reserves the right to make stylistic edits as it deems appropriate, which will be communicated to the authors for approval prior to publication. Artificial and unnecessary gender-specific language should be avoided. Please consult the current recommendations of the Royal Spanish Academy.

3. Preparation of articles

General requirements

  • Title: Should contain between 15 and 18 words that clearly and engagingly reflect the content of the article. It must also include an exact translation into English.
  • Authors and affiliations: Authors are advised to be consistent in the use of their names, writing them in the same way in all their publications. New authors are encouraged to consult journal databases or the ORCID platform (https://orcid.org/) to ensure their name is distinguishable from others with similar names. When more than one author and more than one affiliation are included, superscript letters should be used to indicate affiliations. Each affiliation must include department, faculty, institution, city, and country. Affiliations must be included on a separate page from the main text to ensure anonymous peer review.
  • Text: Articles must be submitted on letter-size paper, in Word format, using the official LUMEN journal template. The length limits established for each type of article must be observed. Paragraphs should ideally be between 5 and 10 lines long. Footnotes should not be used.
  • Length of each section: Must comply with the ranges established in the section on article types.
  • Abstract: Must summarize the most relevant aspects of the work in no more than 225 words. It must be written in both Spanish and English and should be structured and subtitled according to the components specified for each article type. References must not be included.
  • Keywords: Must include five words, written in lowercase and arranged in alphabetical order. Keywords are used for indexing and retrieval of the article. Some disciplines recommend that keywords not repeat words used in the title. The use of controlled vocabularies is suggested, such as the UNESCO Thesaurus (https://vocabularies.unesco.org/browser/thesaurus/es/) and ERIC (https://eric.ed.gov/). In some cases, DECS/MESH (https://decs.bvsalud.org/es/) may also be used.
  • Tables: Tables must be placed within the text at the appropriate location, formatted as text (not as images), using minimal horizontal lines and no vertical lines. They should be numbered consecutively according to their order of appearance and include a brief, clear title at the top. Abbreviations and explanatory notes may be included at the bottom. If a table is reproduced from another source, written permission must be obtained and indicated. Modified tables must cite the original source.
  • Graphs: Must be numbered and cited in the order in which they appear in the text. They should not be boxed, and the use of gridlines should be minimized. Axes must be clearly labeled, and subdued colors are recommended. Graphs must be submitted in editable format.
  • Figures: Figures (illustrations, graphs, diagrams, photographs, etc.), in color or black and white, must be inserted at the appropriate location in the text and also submitted separately in TIFF or JPEG format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Each figure must include a brief title and corresponding number below the image. Figures must not contain information that reveals the identity of individuals. For photographs including people, written consent must be obtained; for minors, consent must be provided by parents or legal guardians. Faces should be obscured when required. Images must be authentic and not digitally manipulated when used as empirical or documentary material. If figures are generated using artificial intelligence, the source and method of generation must be explicitly stated. Editors may request a signed statement certifying originality and responsibility for figure use. Consideration should be given to color blindness (daltonism or dyschromatopsia) to the greatest extent possible. For inquiries, please contact the editors.
  • Abbreviations and symbols: Their use should be minimized and defined the first time they appear in the text.
  • Units of measurement: The latest version of the International System of Units (SI) must be used (https://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure).
  • Authors’ contributions: At the end of the article, briefly describe each author’s specific contribution using standardized abbreviations. The CRediT taxonomy must be used (https://credit.niso.org/).
  • Acknowledgments: May be included at the end of the article to recognize collaborators and financial support received.
  • Conflict of interest: At the end of the article, any conflicts of interest must be declared or explicitly denied. A conflict of interest exists when personal, institutional, or financial relationships may influence or appear to influence the research.
  • Ethical statement: Authors must state “exempt” or describe the ethical approval obtained for the study.
  • Declaration of use of artificial intelligence: If artificial intelligence tools were used ethically during the research process, authors must declare this and specify their application (e.g., bibliographic search, data analysis, or other stages of the work).

Bibliographic references

The most recent edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) style must be used. References should be cited in the text using the author’s last name and year of publication (see https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition/). Authors are encouraged to use reference management software to ensure compliance with APA standards. Final articles containing automatic reference fields generated in Word (e.g., EndNote or similar) will not be accepted.

Examples of APA references (latest edition)

Books

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher. DOI or URL.

Journal articles

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Organizational reports

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the report. Title of the Journal or Publisher, issue.

Official websites

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the work. Name of the website. URL

Theses and dissertations

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of thesis [Degree thesis, Institution]. Repository or database. URL

Legal documents

Statutes: Name of the decree, Source § Article (Year). URL

Constitutions: Name of the Constitution. Art. number, § section (Year). URL

Article process

  1. Submission. The article must be submitted exclusively through the journal's website (https://revistas.unitec.edu/), using the official template provided for authors. The corresponding author must upload the following files separately:
    1. Complete manuscript in the template, without names or affiliations.
    2. File with authors, affiliations, ORCID, and word count.
    3. Originality form.
    4. Conflict of interest form.
    Separating the files ensures anonymous review. For inquiries, authors may contact the editorial board via email: lumen@unitec.edu.
  2. Initial review. The Editor will verify compliance with the rules before assigning the manuscript to peer review. This stage should not exceed a period of three to four weeks and will include the corresponding acknowledgment of receipt.
  3. Anonymous peer review. The journal uses a double-blind review process to ensure impartiality. The Editor and Editorial Team will assign reviewers based on their area of expertise. The Editor will communicate observations on form and content and notify authors whether their manuscript has been accepted or rejected.
  4. Acceptance and style edits. Once the acceptance decision has been communicated, authors must submit the final version incorporating the requested revisions. Upon receipt, LUMEN may make additional editorial or style edits, when necessary.
  5. Pre-publication proof (print proof). The corresponding author will receive a proof for final review and must acknowledge receipt and indicate their approval or minor corrections within one week. Publication will not be delayed in the event of a delay in the authors' response in this regard.
  6. Publication report. The journal's automated system or the Editor-in-Chief will notify authors once the article has been published. The journal may request links or social media profiles from authors to promote the publication.