About the Journal
ABOUT
Esferas journal (Qualis Capes A4) - Revista Interprogramas de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação do Centro Oeste is a collective space for inter and transdisciplinary academic exchanges and reflections under the aegis of the five Postgraduate Programs in Communication of the Centro Oeste (Brazil): UCB , UnB, UFG, UFMS and UFMT. It is a space for discussion and methodological theoretical analysis, centered on academic reflections on themes directly related to the area of Communication, media, social, interpersonal and organizational processes, reflecting the areas of concentration and the different lines of research of the five programs involved.
e-ISSN: 2446-6190 (Qualis Capes A4) / ISSN: 2316-7122
As it is an Interprograms journal, the focus could not fail to be broad, plural and dialogical. We will publish articles related to epistemological, theoretical and methodological issues in the area, research results and reflections around the objects of Communication, but also photographic essays and other artistic productions relevant to the area and the result of research in Communication. Here Communication is perceived as a broad field where media, social, interpersonal, organizational, artistic, cultural, political and theoretical processes unfold, as attested by the different research lines of the programs involved:
• Audiovisual production and digital media;
• Communication strategy and management;
• Power and communicational processes;
• Aesthetic image and contemporary culture;
• Media and Citizenship;
• Media and Culture;
• Language, Processes and Media Products;
• Media, Identity and Regionality;
• Politics and citizenship;
• Aesthetics and narratives.
Esferas journal's mission is to strengthen the space for reflection and academic-scientific production on Communication themes from the Centro-Oeste region. Target audience: professors, researchers, undergraduate and graduate students in the field of Communication and related areas.
The objectives are:
- Contribute to the consolidation of the field of Communication, based on its epistemological axes and specificities, respecting the transdisciplinary character of research in the area;
- Publish, every four months, in digital and printed media, the reflections developed within the scope of Communication research, both locally and nationally, as well as internationally, encouraging exchanges and dialogues between researchers and between institutions;
- Include original articles resulting from local scientific research (empirical, theoretical, comparative…) and other original and significant artistic contributions to the area.
PEER REVIEW
Esferas journal carries out the peer review process in double-blind mode, that is, the author's identity is not visible to the evaluator and vice versa. The process is carried out in two stages:
(i) Initial assessment by the journal team (desk-review): in this step, a verification of the suitability of the submission to the focus and scope of the journal is carried out, as well as an assessment of the overall quality of the submission in terms of suitability to the submission format and writing quality. After this initial screening, articles can either be rejected immediately, or they can move on to the next step.
(ii) Peer review: the article that passes the initial screening will be sent to two field reviewers who will proceed with the evaluation of the work in the double-blind system. Reviewers will have a period of 15 consecutive days to deliver the first opinion, which may be extended for another 15 days if necessary. After receiving both opinions, if the two reviewers present conflicting opinions (for example, one of the reviewers immediately approved the article and the other stated that there is a need for substantial revisions), the editor will forward the article to a third reviewer.
After receiving the third opinion, the editor will make the final decision, which boils down to the following options: (i) immediate approval, without revisions; (ii) required revisions; (iii) immediate rejection.
The author will receive by e-mail the result of the process with the opinions of both evaluators and the editorial decision. If the result falls under the “required revisions” option, the authors will have 7 days, which can be extended for another 7 if necessary, to send the revised version of the article and the answer or justification of the points addressed by the evaluators. Upon receipt of the revised article, the editor will forward the article back to reviewers for a second round of review. This process can be repeated more than once, if necessary. In cases where the revisions requested by the reviewers are not very extensive, the editor can make a final decision without an additional round of review.
FREQUENCY
The journal is published every four months and is published in accordance with the stipulated deadline.
OPEN ACCESS POLICY
Esferas journal is an open access scientific journal, which means that all content is available free of charge, at no cost to the user or his institution. Users are permitted to
read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without seeking prior permission from the publisher or author. This statement complies with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access.
This journal does not charge authors fees for submission and publication of accepted articles.
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
Esferas journal accepts unpublished articles in the area of Communication, in Portuguese, English, Spanish or French, from researchers with a doctor's degree, considering the different theoretical-methodological approaches in the area. Graduate students (master's or doctorate) may submit articles in co-authorship with PhD researchers.
The texts will not be returned to the authors and must observe the following recommendations for their effective use in the publication:
Original articles and articles for dossiers
1. The articles must have an extension of 10 to 15 pages, formatted in A4 paper size, 1.5 spacing, Times New Roman font size 12 pt and 2.5 cm margins on all sides;
2. The title must be typed in Times New Roman font size 14 pt, in bold, and must not exceed 85 characters with spaces, in the original language and, in translations, it must not exceed 95 characters with spaces;
3. Each article proposal must include: a title in the original language that expresses the content and general idea of the text; abstracts in Portuguese, English and Spanish of up to 500 characters (with spaces); five (05) keywords;
4. The numbered notes must appear at the foot of the page and the bibliographical references at the end of the article;
5. References must use the American Psychological Association (APA) reference style for in-text citation and bibliographic references at the end: http://www.apastyle.org. See the submissions page for some examples and guidelines for normalizing articles according to APA standards;
6. The images used in the articles, in addition to being referenced in the material, must be sent numbered (Fig.01; Fig.02; etc.), in separate files, in TIFF or JPG format. Captions must contain a maximum of 150 characters with spaces;
7. Articles must be unpublished. However, in the case of previous presentations in events such as congresses, seminars, symposiums, etc., the indication in a footnote is necessary; if the article comes from theses and dissertations, it is also necessary to indicate in a footnote. Attention: the footnote, in both cases, must not contain the link to the complete article/thesis/dissertation nor present the complete reference, since this compromises the blind evaluation. Indicate only “This article (or part of this article) was previously presented at the XXX event” or “This article (or part of this article) comes from a thesis/dissertation defended at the XXX university”;
8. Each work will be blindly evaluated by 02 (two) reviewers; in case of a tie, the material will be submitted to a third evaluator. For more information about the peer review process, visit: https://portalrevistas.ucb.br/index.php/esf/about#review.
Visuals section (Visualidades)
1. Contributions sent to the Visuals section must have the visual element as the core of the work (graphics, photographs, drawings, paintings, graphic design, etc.) and an introductory text of a maximum of 500 characters with spaces. The formatting and normalization of the submission (page size, spacing, font, number of characters, references and citations) must follow the same guidelines previously presented for articles – items 1 to 5;
2. The images used in the Visuals section must be sent numbered (Fig. 01; Fig. 02; etc.), in separate files (in the submission system, add as a supplementary document) in TIFF or JPEG format. Captions, if any, must contain a maximum of 200 characters with spaces.
CODE OF ETHICS
Code of ethics
Esferas journal adheres to the ethical principles applicable to the editing of scientific journals and the publication of scientific articles, principles that are essential for the journal to play its role as guardian of scientific knowledge in the field of Communication. Editors, authors and reviewers must follow these principles, ensuring ethics and integrity in the publication process. Below we detail the ethical standards that must be followed by the actors involved in the editorial process.
Authorship
The authorship of the publication must contain only individuals who contributed significantly to the elaboration of the presented work. All authors must necessarily meet the following criteria: (i) they must have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work; (ii) they must have participated in the elaboration of the work or in the critical review of the intellectual content; (iii) must have approved the final version to be published; (iv) must take responsibility for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions regarding the accuracy or completeness of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved (As per guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors ICMJE: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html).
The author submitting the article must make sure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the article and agreed with its submission for publication in Esferas journal. Editors use the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guide – https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/how-to-identify-authorship-problems-cope-flowchart.pdf – to identify this type of problem and, if the editors identify problems in the authorship of the article, the authors will be contacted to provide clarification. If a problem is indeed identified, the article should be removed from the review process. Still in relation to authorship, the inclusion (or exclusion) of authors from the article during or after the editorial process will be subject to the editor's evaluation and must have the consent of all authors of the article.
Duplicate publication
Submitting for publication the same manuscript (or a manuscript with high similarity) previously published in another scientific journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior. If duplicity is identified during the editorial process, the authors will be notified and the article will be withdrawn from the process. If duplicity is identified after publication, the article will be subject to being withdrawn from the edition in which it was published and the journal's readers will be duly informed about the case through the publication of a note. Attention: results of studies previously published in annals of scientific events are not considered as duplicate publications, and the authorship of the group of researchers must be respected. In addition, the authors must inform in the submission the previous presentation in a scientific event. Articles from theses and dissertations are accepted and authors must add this information in the “notes to the editor” field in the submission system.
Plagiarism
All articles submitted to the Esferas journal are checked for plagiarism using the Plagium tool. If excerpts with similarity are identified (except direct citation) and for which the reproduction has been total and/or without citation, the authors will be contacted to provide clarification. In the absence of clarification from the authors, the editors will archive the submission. During the peer review process, reviewers may also find evidence of plagiarism. If this happens, the reviewers will communicate the fact to the editors (presenting the appropriate evidence) and the editors will investigate the suspected plagiarism using the following COPE flowchart: https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/plagiarism-submitted-manuscript -cope-flowchart.pdf. If the suspicion of plagiarism is confirmed, the editors will archive the submission.
Citations and references
Articles must cite appropriate and relevant literature to support the assertions made. Excessive self-citation, unnecessary citations not consistent with the content of the
submitted article and any other form of manipulation of citations are considered unethical procedures. If citation manipulation is identified, the submission will be archived.
Conflict of interests
Authors must declare any potential conflict of interest - whether professional or financial - that they may have in relation to the article. Authors must also disclose all funding sources on which the research reported in the article relied. If evidence of an undisclosed conflict of interest is found, editors will use the following COPE flowchart to proceed with the necessary actions: https://publicationethics.org/files/conflict-of-interest-submitted-manuscript-article-cope-flowchart.pdf. Editors and reviewers invited to review articles are also required to disclose conflicts of interest that could bias the editorial process, such as personal, academic, or financial relationships. Reviewers should not evaluate manuscripts if they believe they are involved in any conflict of interest. If there is a potential for bias, editors should hand over leadership of the article process to another editor.
Data manufacturing
Data fabrication is the unethical practice of inventing data or research results and recording or reporting them in the article. Esferas is strictly against data fabrication, as this practice undermines the integrity of the scientific literature and its credibility, and may lead to erroneous conclusions. In this sense, if a suspicion of data fabrication is found in submitted articles, the editors undertake to use the COPE flowchart (https://publicationethics.org/files/fabricated-data-submitted-manuscript-cope-flowchart.pdf) to proceed with the necessary actions. If fabrication of data is confirmed, the editors will archive the submission.
Confidentiality
Esferas journal keeps all details of a submitted manuscript confidential and does not comment or publish about manuscripts while they are under consideration or when they are rejected. The editors and reviewers of Esferas journal are committed not to reveal manuscript data (or supplementary materials) before publication, as well as not to use the knowledge they acquired from an unpublished article to promote their own interests. If reviewers are accused of misappropriating ideas from a work under review, the editors of Esferas journal undertake to use the following COPE flowchart to help deal with this situation: https://publicationethics.org/files/reviewer-misconduct-suspected-cope-flowchart.pdf.
Errors in published works
When a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in a published work, it is the author's obligation to immediately notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article.
Term of Free and Informed Consent
The authors of the article must have obtained informed consent from the study participants. A statement to confirm this must be included in the manuscript. Authors should be prepared to provide copies dated and signed by participants to the journal's editorial staff, if requested.
HISTORIC
Esferas journal was founded in 2012 based on the desire of coordinators and researchers to bring together and integrate Postgraduate Programs in Communication in the Centro-Oeste. The objective was to open a space for qualified production around the themes linked to the research lines of each of the Programs and to promote regional, national and international approaches and dialogues. The Graduate Programs in Communication at the Catholic University of Brasília - UCB, the University of Brasília - UnB, the Federal University of Goiás - UFG and the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS initially participated.
Until 2016, Esferas journal had an online version on the UCB journal portal and a printed version that circulated throughout Brazil, with two copies of each new edition being systematically sent to each PPG in the country's Communication area. Given the material and financial reality and the tendency of most journals to limit themselves to electronic versions of their publications, the consortium of Graduate Programs in Communication of the Midwest took the decision to suspend the printed version and, from year 2017, all the efforts have been focused on improving the electronic version.
Initially biannual, the journal became a quarterly publication as of 2019. In 2020, the Graduate Program in Communication at the Federal University of Mato Grosso - UFMT became part of the Centro-Oeste Programs consortium and participated in editor of Esferas journal.
