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Author Guidelines

Submission of original manuscripts

RUSC is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, the purpose of which is to disseminate scholarly research and contributions to the field of e-learning in Universities and the Knowledge Society.

RUSC will only consider original, unpublished manuscripts that have not been submitted for publication elsewhere.

RUSC will consider manuscripts whose topics are related to those listed below:

  • University models in the knowledge society.
  • Educational models and technology use in higher education.
  • Open access systems for learning material use. Systems for development and use of open educational resources.
  • Technological and pedagogical models  and innovations.
  • Transformations in higher education learning or administrative processes resulting from ICT use.
  • Organisational and administrative perspectives of ICT use in higher education institutions.
  • University governance and leadership in the knowledge society.
  • Models of university presence and service using  the Internet.
  • Book reviews of recent publications related to e-learning in the knowledge society.


RUSC will consider two types of manuscript:

  • Articles (5,000 words maximum, including references).
  • Book reviews (1,000 words maximum).

If the work submitted has been funded by a public or private body, authors must acknowledge that fact in the manuscript.

Articles will be published in RUSC no longer than 6 months after acceptance for the Special section, or 18 months after acceptance for the Research Articles section.  

 

Submission and publication languages

RUSC’s primary language of publication is English.

Articles received in Spanish can undergo the peer review process in Spanish if the authors agree to provide the editorial team with a professional translation of the article into English, should it be accepted. In such a case, the article will be published in both languages.

Articles received in English will be published in this language, if accepted. The authors will be offered the possibility to provide the journal with a professional translation of the article into Spanish. In such a case, the article will be published in both languages.

The maximum time between acceptance of an article and delivery of the translation of the article into the other language (which is required in the case of originals in Spanish and optional in the case of originals in English) by the authors to the editors is one month.

All the articles published in RUSC go through a process to review and edit the style, format and language once accepted.


Submission procedure

Issues of RUSC are usually divided into two parts: a Research Articles section and a Special section. Research articles are published in both, though the Special section contains articles focusing on a specific topic. The topic for each Special section is announced in a call for submissions issued well in advance.

RUSC also publishes book reviews of recent publications related to e-learning in the knowledge society.

Articles


All articles must follow the APA Style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition). A video tutorial is available here.

Submitted articles must contain the following information:

  • Title page.
  • Abstract (200-300 words). This must include a summary of the state of the art in relation to the topic of the article, as well as new contributions that the article makes to the field and implications for practice or future lines of research.
  • Keywords (4-6 words).
  • Abstract and keywords in English if the article is written in Spanish or Catalan.
  • Body of the article, divided into sections and subsections in accordance with the following structure:
    • Introduction. This must include a review of the literature on the topic, as well as a presentation of the aim and basis of the research.
    • Method. This must include a description of the research method and of the materials and procedure.
    • Sample description. For case studies, best practices or experiences, this must include sample data and the reason for selecting the samples.
    • Results. These must include a description and an analysis of the main research results and their impact.
    • Discussion. The results must be discussed in relation to those from other studies. This includes highlighting any new findings and mentioning the main limitations and future lines of research.
    • References. These must only refer to those cited in the text, and be presented in alphabetical order in accordance with the APA Style (see References section below). 

In research articles, please state clearly the central idea of the research.

Theoretical articles can also be considered for publication.

Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic file format (.doc, .rtf, .odt).

All images, tables, charts and figures must be included in the article manuscript, in the correct place. They must be properly referenced and, if any are copyrighted, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain the necessary permissions and authorisations to use them.

Footnotes may be displayed in one of two ways:

  • Listed at the foot of the relevant page.
  • Listed all together on a new page, following the References page(s).

Appendices will not be accepted.

The following must be submitted in a separate file:

 

Book reviews

Submitted book reviews must contain the following information:

  • Title of the book reviewed.
  • Abstract (100-150 words).
  • Keywords (4-6 words).
  • Bibliographic data of the book (title, author, publisher, number of pages, ISBN).
  • Abstract and keywords in English if the book review is written in Spanish or Catalan.
  • Book review text.
  • References. These must only refer to those cited in the text, and be presented in alphabetical order in accordance with the APA Style (see References section below).

Manuscripts must be submitted in electronic file format (.doc, .rtf, .odt).

The following must be submitted in a separate file:

  • Image of the front cover.
  • Book author information (name and surname, position or academic affiliation, full professional postal address and e-mail address) and a short bio.
  • Book review author information (name and surname, position or academic affiliation, full professional postal address and e-mail address) and a short bio.

 

References

All manuscripts must list references in accordance with the APA Style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition).

The in-text citation format must be taken into account (e.g., author, year). The page number(s) must also be given for direct quotes. References must be listed in alphabetical order, by author surname. They must not be numbered. If several works by the same author are cited, they must appear in chronological order, from newest to oldest. References must include the names of all the authors. Manuscript authors must ensure that all the information contained in the References section is correct and that all the in-text citations are included in it.

When an electronic resource has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), it must be included as part of the reference. To obtain DOIs, authors can use the CrossRef database.

It is important not to overlook references to relevant international journal articles indexed in Scopus and Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

In articles published in scientific journals similar to RUSC that are indexed in citation databases such as Web of Knowledge (Journal Citation Reports, JCR) and Elsevier (Sciverse Scopus), the average number of references cited per article is 30. We recommended citing a similar number of articles and/or books in articles submitted to RUSC. This does not mean that any irrelevant references should be cited, as this would be considered bad practice by RUSC’s editorial team. The list of references also demonstrates that the author(s) of an article have performed an up-to-date review of literature that is relevant to the topic.

 

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

RUSC assigns, publishes and declares DOIs for all articles to the CrossRef agency. Consequently, the DOIs of cited articles must also be published.

Authors must ensure that DOIs are included in their references. To obtain DOIs, authors can use the CrossRef database.

 

What is a DOI?

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI®) System is for identifying content objects in the digital environment.

The DOI System provides a framework for persistent identification, managing intellectual content, managing metadata, linking customers with content suppliers, facilitating electronic commerce, and enabling automated management of media. DOI names can be used for any form of management of any data, whether commercial or non-commercial.

The DOI System is an ISO International Standard (via ISO TC46/SC9). Final Draft: International Standard (ISO/DIS 26324, Information and Documentation - Digital Object Identifier System) approved on 15 November 2010.

 

Examples:

 

Journal articles (No DOI)

Surname, N. (year). Article title. Journal title, volume(number), pages.

Bennet, P. (1994). The translation unit in human and machine. Babel, 40(1), 12-20.

 

Books

Surname, N. (year). Book title. Place of publication: Publisher.

Negroponte, N. (1996). Being digital (1st ed.). New York, NY: Vintage Books.
 

 

Journal articles (DOI)

Surname1, N1., Surname2, N2., & Surname3, N3. (year). Article title. Journal title, volume(number), pages. doi: doi

Cabero, J., Llorente, M. C., & Morales, J. A. (2013). Contributions to e-learning from a best practices study at Andalusian universities. RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, 10(1), 226-239. doi: 10.7238/rusc.v10i1.1159

 

Journal articles (URL)

Surname1, N1., Surname2, N2., & Surname3, N3. (year). Article title. Journal title, volume(number), pages. Retrieved from URL

Cabero, J., Llorente, M. C., & Morales, J. A. (2013). Contributions to e-learning from a best practices study at Andalusian universities. RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, 10(1), 226-239. Retrieved from http://rusc.uoc.edu/ojs/index.php/rusc/article/view/v10n1-cabero-llorente-morales/v10n1-cabero-llorente-morales-en

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The manuscript is unpublished and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere.

  2. The submitted file is in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice or RTF format.

  3. If an article, the submitted manuscript is no more than 5,000 words in total. This total includes all constituent parts (abstract, keywords, references, etc.).

  4. The manuscript layout and presentation complies with all the style requirements and instructions contained in the Author guidelines.

  5. The references have been listed and formatted in accordance with the instructions contained in the Author guidelines.

  6. The text has single line spacing and a 12-point font, and uses italics instead of underlining (except for URL addresses). All images, tables, charts and figures are in the correct place within the submitted manuscript, and not at the end.

  7. The submitted manuscript has been prepared for blind peer review. All references to and names of the authors have been removed from every part of the manuscript and replaced with the word “Author” (this also applies to document properties).

  8. Author information has been attached as a separate file. It must include name and surname, a short bio, postal and e-mail addresses, and professional or academic affiliation.

  9. Assignment of intellectual property rights

    The author exclusively transfers the rights to use (reproduce, distribute, publicly broadcast or transform) and market the work, in full or part, to the journal’s editors in all present and future formats and modalities, in all languages, for the lifetime of the work and worldwide.

    If the article is not finally published in the journal, the transfer of these rights shall not take effect, with the rights returning to the author of the work.

    I hereby declare that I am the original author of the work. The editors shall thus not be held responsible for any obligation or legal action that may derive from the work submitted in terms of violation of third parties’ rights, whether intellectual property, trade secret or any other right.

 

Copyright Notice

All contents published by RUSC are subject to license Attribution 3.0 Spain from Creative Commons, whose complete text can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/deed.en. Thus, copying, distribution, public communication, derivative works and commercial use of content are permitted as of the aforementioned issue provided that the source (RUSC) and the author of the text are cited.

It is the responsibility of the authors to obtain the necessary permits for images that are subject to copyright.

For uses of the contents not foreseen in these rules of publication it is necessary to directly contact the director of the journal through the address rusc@uoc.edu.

Unless otherwise indicated, we'll consider our privacy statement and legal notice accepted upon completion of a submission and of the register form.

Assignment of intellectual property rights

The author exclusively transfers the rights to use (reproduce, distribute, publicly broadcast or transform) and market the work, in full or part, to the journal’s editors in all present and future formats and modalities, in all languages, for the lifetime of the work and worldwide.

If the article is not finally published in the journal, the transfer of these rights shall not take effect, with the rights returning to the author of the work.

I hereby declare that I am the original author of the work. The editors shall thus not be held responsible for any obligation or legal action that may derive from the work submitted in terms of violation of third parties’ rights, whether intellectual property, trade secret or any other right.

 

Privacy Statement

Use of the FUOC's website and any of the services it offers implies full acceptance of the terms stipulated by the following data protection policy.

1. Data Collection and Consent

In compliance with Law 15/1999, of 13 December, on Personal Data Protection, we herein inform users that the personal data requested in our forms or that might be provided via our email addresses is included in our personal data files for which the FUOC is the owner and responsible. Thus, when filling in any of the forms with the personal data requested and accepting its being sent or sending us an email with personal data, the user expressly authorizes and consents to the FUOC processing and incorporating this personal data provided and all the data generated from the user's participation or use of the different products or services offered on this website, though this may be revoked but not with retroactive effects, and accepts the data processing terms set out below.

Likewise, we inform users that all data shall be processed confidentially and in accordance with the data protection legislation in force, and that our files are legally registered in the Catalan Data Protection Agency's General Register.

The FUOC accepts no responsibility for personal data processing on web pages that users access via the different links to be found on our website.

This website is regulated by the legislation exclusively applicable to Spain, to which users of this website, whether in Spain or abroad, shall be subject.

2. Uses

The data requested are adequate, pertinent and strictly necessary for the ends for which they are collected. They shall never be used for an end other than that for which they have been ceded and, under no circumstances, shall the user be obliged to provide us with them. Nonetheless, they are absolutely necessary for the development of the services offered.

Unless specifically stipulated otherwise, all the fields on all the forms need to be filled in. Users must fill in the forms with true, accurate, complete and up-to-date information. The user is solely responsible for any damage or prejudice, whether direct or indirect, that may affect the FUOC or any third party due to filling in forms with false, inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or third-party information.

Our website obtains users' personal data by receiving different forms or emails to manage subscriptions to our journal or, where applicable, due to participation as an author, editor or reviewer.

The FUOC reserves the right to decide to incorporate, or not, these people's data into its files.

3. Users' Right to Access, Rectify and Cancel Personal Data

The user has the right to request cancellation of the subscription, access the information held in the FUOC's files, rectify erroneous information, cancel it or oppose its processing, in the terms established by the Law. To do so, they must email fuoc_pd@uoc.edu.

Authors' requests for cancellation of data shall not affect their articles published on the website, in line with authors' unlimited cession of copyright to the FUOC.

If you do not expressly cancel your personal data from our files, we shall assume you are still interested in remaining on file while this remains appropriate for the ends for which they were obtained and while the FUOC deems appropriate.

4. Security

The FUOC, in response to the trust placed in us and taking into account the importance of protection and confidentiality of users' personal data, hereby informs you that we have adopted all the technical and organizational measures to safeguard security as required by the regulations in force on security of files containing personal data.

5. Cession of Data

We inform you that your data are processed confidentially and used for the ends indicated, and only communicated in the cases covered by the legislation and to bodies who, alongside the FUOC, produce the journal, as shown on the website, and manage and collaborate in the journal's publication.

The FUOC provides users different recommendation options, which are the sole responsibility of the person sending the message. The FUOC accepts no responsibility for the sending of unsolicited commercial mailings. Under no circumstances do we keep the recipient's email address. Likewise, batch sending of messages by users via these options is strictly prohibited, as is any commercial use.

6. Cookies

The FUOC communicates to users, through this notice, that it uses cookies when the user accesses the different screens and pages that make up the site. The cookies used by the FUOC are stored on the user's hard drive, but cannot read data contained thereon nor read the cookies created by other providers. The FUOC uses cookies in order to recognize users who have registered and so as to offer them a better, more personalized service (the user's preferred language, etc.). They are also used to obtain completely anonymous information about access data (date, hour, minute, frequency, etc.), so as to be able to measure certain traffic parameters for the website itself and calculate the number of visits made, so that the FUOC can focus and adjust the services offered most effectively. Despite this, the user may stop the generation of cookies by using the corresponding option offered by their browser. In this case, the website shall remain operative, but without the advantages offered for personalization.

7. Mailings

In compliance with article 21 of the Law on Information Society and E-commerce Services, which prohibits commercial mailings unless they have been expressly authorized by the recipients in advance, we hereby inform you that by accepting the terms of use and data protection policy, you expressly authorize informative, commercial, advertising and promotional mailings to the address provided. Nonetheless, if you do not wish to receive our commercial mailings, you can request cancellation following the instructions given in each mailing.

8. Modifications of this Data Protection Policy

This data protection policy was established on 4 November 2012. The FUOC reserves the right to modify its data protection policy in future in accordance with its own criteria or due to a change in the legislation, jurisprudence or business practices. If the FUOC introduces any changes, the new text shall be published on this same page, where the user is provided with information on the data protection policy. In any case, the relationship with users shall be governed by the regulations in force at the precise moment when they access the website and, as a result, they must be read every time users provide their data via our website.

 


RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal is an e-journal coedited by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona) and its eLearn Center, and the University of New England (Australia) and its DeHub.

Creative Commons
The texts published in this journal are – unless indicated otherwise – covered by the Creative Commons Spain Attribution 3.0 licence. You may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, provided you attribute it (authorship, journal name, publisher) in the manner specified by the author(s) or licensor(s). The full text of the licence can be consulted here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/deed.en.
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