Guidelines for Publishing
Guidelines for publishing papers in TERRA LATINOAMERICANA
Plagiarism or self-plagiarism
The use of someone else’s ideas or words in their original, or slightly changed, form without proper citation is plagiarism and will not be tolerated in Terra Latinoamericana. Even when a citation is given, if quotation marks are not placed around words taken directly from another author’s work, the author is still guilty of plagiarism. In accordance with COPE guidelines, we expect that “original wording taken directly from publications by other researchers should appear in quotation marks with the appropriate citations.” This condition also applies to an author’s own work. All manuscripts received in the platform of Terra Latinoamericana are sent to iThenticate®, a software or plagiarism control system, which compares the content of the manuscript and confirms the originality of the content presented. This software contrasts the manuscripts by comparing them with millions in the database of web pages and academic publications such as scientific papers and other notable sources. In this process, the iThenticate® software provides a report with a similarity index which specifies (1) a total similarity percentage of the sum of the percent similarity of individual articles, books, etc. published previously, and (2) the report also provides a PDF file with the phrases that were copied with its reference. Some of the criteria for reviewing the similarity index of Terra Latinoamericana are the following: a) References with an individual similarity index greater than 1% are the ideal case and are considered as having no overlap or plagiarism, even though the total similarity of all individuals summed up could possibly exceed 15%; b) The bibliography section is also checked and should not list verbatim all the references without a single new one from another article, this is not considered plagiarism per se, but it is considered that author has simply used the reference of another published article without doing any original research, the goal is to publish original research manuscripts with original research; c) In some cases, the same name is used for variables, varieties, among others, which are determined in computing the similarity index; however, these will not be considered plagiarism, nor to be self-plagiarized; d) As a general rule the total similarity index without the bibliography and references, should be equal to or less than 15%; however, larger total numbers will be considered on a case by case basis. In the event that overlap or similarity is detected, the Editor-in-Chief of Terra Latinoamericana will notify the corresponding author as part of the review procedure of the manuscript. The corresponding author who agrees to continue with the review process will be obligated to modify the manuscript and reduce the similarity index. If the authors insist on not modifying their manuscript and send it to the platform of Terra Latinoamericana without making the changes, this document will be judged as plagiarized or self-plagiarized, supported by the iThenticate® and will not be considered for publication. The decision to reject because of plagiarism of a submitted manuscript depends on the Editor-in-Chief of Terra Latinoamericana, supported by the review of the Associate Editor or the rest of the members of the Editorial Committee of Terra Latinoamericana. When similarity is not detected, no action will be required by the corresponding author, that is, he or she will not receive any notification in this regard and the manuscript will be sent to the Associate Editors for their evaluation.
Statistics
Terra Latinoamericana has an editorial team (Statistical Editors) dedicated exclusively to review the sections of the experimental design and statistical analysis of the manuscripts that are received on the OJS platform. In that context, the journal requires that all statements about quantitative differences be based on quantitative data and statistical tests. Statistical analyzes are required to be applied for independent experiments. The number of independent samples and the deviation parameters (e.g., standard error of the mean, standard deviation, confidence intervals) should be clearly indicated in the methods or figure legends. In general, technical replications within a single experiment are not considered independent samples. Descriptions of statistical analyzes or procedures must include the software and analyzes used and must be detailed enough to be reproduced. Likewise, in the section corresponding to the experimental design used, the authors must specifically indicate the experimental design used, indicate the number of times that the experiment was carried out, the number of replications of the experimental units (in general, at least n = 3), as well as the specific statistical analysis that was carried out.
Equity and no discrimination
All manuscripts received by the platform of Terra Latinoamericana are subject to evaluation based on their research originality and quality. The Editorial Committee of Terra Latinoamericana does not favor any potential authors nor do they discriminate against any potential authors regardless of nationality, race, sex, or any other reason or condition. Appropriate measures will be taken as indicated against any non-compliance with these principles declared by resolution of the competent authority.
The Editor-in-Chief of Terra Latinoamericana, together with the Editorial Committee, takes the principles of equity and non-discrimination seriously, taking particular care regarding gender equality.
Institutional contribution for editorial sustainability
Articles published in Terra Latinoamericana are open access and freely available online to any reader immediately upon publication, without charges for access, consultation, or subscription. The journal is not affiliated with a university and does not receive permanent public funding to support its editorial operations. Its continued operation relies on a combination of voluntary academic work, institutional support, and partial cost-recovery mechanisms aimed at ensuring the continuity and quality of editorial processes, as well as the preservation and accessibility of the scientific content it publishes.
To contribute to the sustainability of the journal's editorial, technological, and digital preservation infrastructure, an institutional contribution for editorial sustainability is requested. These contributions help partially cover the costs associated with manuscript management, coordination of the peer-review process, long-term digital preservation, DOI registration and maintenance, web hosting and platform maintenance, information security, and other activities necessary to ensure the operation of the journal under an open-access model.
A contribution of MXN $1,500.00 is suggested to support the editorial management and scientific evaluation of each manuscript submitted to the journal. For manuscripts accepted for publication, an additional contribution of MXN $8,500.00 is suggested to support and strengthen the editorial and technological infrastructure required for the publication, dissemination, preservation, and open accessibility of the journal's contents.
Contributions for editorial sustainability are preferably provided by the authors' affiliated institutions, funded research projects, research support programs, sponsoring organizations, or other institutional sources of academic funding. These contributions constitute a partial cost-recovery mechanism aimed exclusively at preserving the viability and long-term sustainability of Terra Latinoamericana as a non-profit, open-access scientific journal serving the academic community and society at large.
Current members of the Mexican Society of Soil Science (SMCS) are eligible for a 30% reduction in the institutional contributions for editorial sustainability applicable during the current year.
Authors are requested to use the Submission Letter template (available on the Terra Latinoamericana website) to acknowledge and accept the journal's policy on institutional contributions for editorial sustainability. Failure to include this acknowledgment will prevent the editorial process from continuing until the required documentation has been completed.
Refund Policy
Institutional contributions for editorial sustainability help partially cover the costs associated with editorial management, scientific evaluation, production, publication, digital preservation, and dissemination of the contents published in Terra Latinoamericana.
The contribution corresponding to the editorial management and scientific evaluation of a manuscript (MXN $1,500.00) is allocated to the initiation and administration of editorial and peer-review processes and is therefore non-refundable, regardless of the outcome of the evaluation.
For manuscripts accepted for publication, the contribution intended to support and strengthen the journal's editorial and technological infrastructure (MXN $8,500.00) must be formalized prior to the scheduling and final publication of the article.
Because these contributions are directly applied to editorial, technological, and digital preservation activities essential to the operation of the journal, Terra Latinoamericana does not issue refunds once the corresponding contribution has been formalized.
Submission of a manuscript implies acknowledgment and acceptance of these provisions by the authors and, where applicable, by the institutions, projects, or entities providing support for editorial sustainability.
Special issues
A special issue is a collection of peer-reviewed papers centered on a specific topic or focused research. It may also be a collection of papers from a scientific event such as Congresses associated with the linked journal or Association. Both can be used to promote the journal. Special issues can also be a retrospective collection of articles published over time. There are also special issues that are used to market the journal and related journal activities, such as international journal conferences.
In Terra Latinoamericana we recommend that special issues be proposed by at least two guest editors, who must have previous editing experience and will be responsible for soliciting contributions from their peers (although submissions are open to all), to select contributions based on submissions of abstracts or specific research topics, as well as to oversee the review process of submitted manuscripts by acting as commissioning editors. Manuscripts submitted as special issues go through Terra Latinoamericana's normal review process, but the special issue editor selected by the authors during the submission will be assigned instead of guest.
Associate Editors of Terra Latinoamericana may be asked to contribute to a particular special issue by acting as Consulting Editor (as deemed appropriate by the Editor-in-Chief) or by overseeing the review of the manuscript submission process for which Guest Editors of the special issue would have a conflict of interest.
All proposals for special issues submitted to Terra Latinoamericana are approved by the editor-in-chief of the journal.
ORCID unique identifier
Terra Latinoamericana encourages all authors and reviewers to register for an ORCiD. The ORCiD provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. Besides ensuring your research always remains identified with you for citations and usage statistics, an authenticated ORCiD account. For more information on ORCiD, please visit their website: https://orcid.org/
