Assessment process of the manuscripts

Assessment process of the manuscripts

HIPATIA Press has the main objective of publishing excellent scientific works which have an impact on the international scientific community. Our interest comes from the intellectual and non-commercial vocation of promoting the contributions that, from the social sciences, are having a great scientific relevance for the debates and perspectives of those who seek to improve their intellectual and scientific formation.

It is a priority for the publisher to continue in the line, which is already started, of:

1. Having a presence in international databases.
2. Publishing book reviews in indexed specialized magazines (ISI, SCOPUS, ERIH…).
3. Enabling the translation of the own works in other languages, especially through prestigious international publishers. Publishing book reviews in specialized indexed magazines (ISI / Latindex).
4. 4. Having a presence in libraries around the world, especially in those with a bigger international prestige (for example in specialized bibliographic repertoires or catalogues of university libraries and research centres).

The inclusion of books in specialized forums and scientific documents at both state and international levels will continue to be promoted.

Before sending a manuscript, our recommendation for potential authors is to inquire about the publisher’s philosophy and criteria, and to review the works and topics published by Hipatia to assess the adequacy of the proposal to the editorial line.

Hipatia published in the fields of social sciences and education. Fiction books, poetry, religion books, collections of lectures, divulgation works, autobiographies and other works from other fields are not published.

All the sent manuscripts must be in Spanish.

For the publishing of manuscripts, it is established a rigorous process of peer review and selection, based on the following criteria:

All the publications are original and unpublished, and not translations of already published works. The authors expressly state in the publishing contract that the text delivered is unpublished.

It will be considered an added value if the focus of the manuscript presented, independently to the field where it is included, is the result of an interdisciplinary work or presents an interdisciplinary vision of the subject.

The works that offer an international vision of the subject matter studied, both in terms of information and in terms of responses to global problems, will also have an added value in their assessment. This vision will in turn facilitate the possible translation by publishers in other languages, offering both the publisher and the manuscript’s author the internationalization of his/her work.

It is established an assessment and manuscript selection process in order to guarantee the scientific thoroughness and excellence of the works. This process is based on the ‘peer review’ by the publishers.

The information about the presentation of manuscripts and the assessment and selection process is public in the webpage and will be sent to any author who apply for it. The instructions include:

• • General orientations about the selection and assessment process.
  • Form of presenting manuscripts.

Together with themanuscript and in order to preserve anonymity, the following information must be included apart (it is recommended to send it electronically):

• • Presentation letter with the title of the manuscript and a short description of its topic and content (one or two pages is enough).
  • A table explaining the different chapters and contents as a synopsis.
  • Total number of words.
  • Contribution and novelty of the manuscript for the international scientific community.
  • Short curriculum vitae of each author including your affiliation (university), department, previous research and publications.
  • Mailing address and e-mail to send the results of the assessment process.

NOTE: Do not send irreplaceable materials. The publishers do not accept or assume responsibilities of the copies for the manuscripts and any other material sent.

Once the original has been received and as it is detailed in the document ‘General Instructions for the Presentation of Manuscripts’), it will be sent to three evaluators to carry out the assessment of the received proposal, based on the peer review procedure.

All evaluators have publications in JCR journals. They are experts and active quality researchers and have a recognized prestige in their areas. On the other hand, the anonymity of the manuscripts’ authors will be preserved throughout the assessment process.

The evaluators will sign an ethical commitment to confidentiality and the absence of conflict of interest. The evaluation reports include in their analysis the originality of the work, the interdisciplinarity, the internationalization, the interest for social sciences regarding the repercussion and impact of the text or the possibilities of translation into other languages.

The evaluation process will normally be between three and six months.

The manuscripts that pass the assessment process will be submitted to the commercial viability study by the publisher. Once the process has finished, a report will be sent to the author with the acceptance or rejection of the proposal and the reasons for the decision.