Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are kindly requested to format their manuscripts using the official template provided by the journal. 

Download the official manuscript template (Word format) here:  Click here to download the template

Please make sure to follow all formatting instructions included in the template before submitting your article.

Author Responsibilities and Declarations

a. Proposed articles and reviews must be submitted through the online system. From the section dropdown menu, select only from ARTICLES, REVIEWS, or WORKING PAPERS.

b. The articles proposed for publication will be reviewed, first and foremost, by the Editorial Board to determine whether they align with the focus of the journal and meet minimum standards of research quality. In this initial phase, failure to strictly comply with the editorial guidelines outlined in the "Guidelines for Authors" section (see below) will result in rejection.

c. Critical Journal of Social Sciences (hereinafter CJSS) only publishes completely unpublished works. Therefore, by submitting an article or review proposal to CJSS, the author commits that it is not under evaluation and/or selection for publication elsewhere. Additionally, if the proposal is accepted for publication in CJSS, the author commits that it has not been previously published by any means, either in full, in part, or in translation to other languages. Once published in CJSS, the work remains the property of the author, under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. The author is free to republish the article elsewhere thereafter, provided it is explicitly stated that it was first published in the CJSS journal, citing volume, year, and page numbers.

d. Academic articles submitted for online publication must have a minimum length of 3,000 characters (excluding bibliography, title, author information, and other paratextual elements). There is no strict maximum limit; however, a length of around 10,000 characters is recommended as a general reference. Submissions that do not meet the minimum character requirement may be subject to editorial rejection during the preliminary review stage.

e. Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents and datasets. All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country.

f. The articles that receive approval will proceed to a second round of anonymous evaluation*. This process will follow the system known as double-blind or peer review, where both the author and external reviewers remain anonymous. The Editorial Team will request at least two reports from subject-matter experts for each article, using a form that outlines the various evaluable sections, as well as a final assessment recommending or not recommending publication. In the case of one positive and one negative report, the Editorial Board may request a third report. In all cases, the final decision will depend on the Editorial Board based on the reports received and in accordance with its own criteria.

*[Manuscript review may be conducted by the editor-in-chief due to the journal's developmental stage. We are in the process of building a robust network of expert reviewers and editorial team to ensure the highest level of rigor in future editions]

g. Whenever the text needs to be modified, as suggested by the Scientific Reviewers and/or the Executive Committee, the authors commit to accepting these suggestions and incorporating them as requested. Along with the corrected version, the author must provide a correction report indicating the changes made to the manuscript and where they have been applied.

Whenever there are changes the authors disagree with, they must provide appropriate justifications, on a case-by-case basis.

h. CJSS is not responsible for the content, judgments, and opinions expressed by authors and reviewers. The signer of an article is responsible for the usage licenses of any images included, if applicable.

i. Manuscripts submitted to CJSS cannot be considered for publication in the journal without appropriate attribution of authorship. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged copying of work and can clearly be identified when significant amounts of text are "cut and pasted" without proper and explicit attribution of authorship. Similarly, when reusing text, whether from the authors' own previous publications or those of others, proper attribution and citation are required to avoid misleading readers.

j. Artificial intelligence systems may be used as complementary research tools, but their use and extent of intervention in the methodology must be clearly explained. The Editorial Board, with advice from external reviewers, will only accept articles and reviews that they deem to have made appropriate use of artificial intelligence for research. In any case, articles and reviews generated exclusively by artificial intelligence, or when AI is used extensively to the extent of authorship or co-authorship, will not be accepted.

k. In order to be considered for publication, articles and reviews must be submitted in accordance with the Editorial Guidelines outlined in the following sections. Articles and reviews that do not strictly adhere to these guidelines will be rejected.

l. An author may not publish more than one article in the same issue of the journal, regardless of the type of contribution (original research article, review, or working paper).

1. REVIEWS

1.1. Reviews should have a maximum length of 1,500 words. In addition, they must focus on a single work.

1.2. Submissions must be made in Word format or equivalent, using Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1.15-line spacing. The default Word margins should be used: 2.5 cm for the top and bottom margins, and 3 cm for the left and right margins. Include page numbers on all pages.

1.3. After five blank lines from the top margin of the first page, TITLE OF THE BOOK REVIEWED (uppercase, bold, and centered).

1.4. After one blank line, put Name LAST NAME LAST NAME of the author of the reviewed book (bold and centered).

1.5. After one blank line, put Place: Publisher, YEAR, XXX pages.

1.6. Immediately below, with no blank line, put ISBN: XXXXXXXXXXXXX (it must be the 13-digit number without hyphens).

1.7. After three blank lines, begin the review text. In this text, each paragraph must have a first-line indentation of 0.63 cm. Quotes from the reviewed book must include the page or pages in parentheses, with the abbreviation p. or pp. For example: "this is a quote from the reviewed book" (pp. 12-14).

1.8. At the end of the review text, leave a blank space and write the name of the reviewer, justified to the right, without bold: Name Last Name Last Name.

1.9. Immediately below, without leaving a blank space, write the reviewer’s institution, justified to the right, without bold: University of City.

1.10. For the use of quotation marks, italics, dash, etc., apply the guidelines in point 3.

2. WORKING PAPERS

2.1. CJSS welcomes submissions that present preliminary results from ongoing research projects. These contributions allow researchers to share valuable early findings, receive feedback from the academic community, and foster collaborative dialogue. Submissions in this category are expected to offer original insights while clearly indicating the provisional nature of the results.

2.2. Manuscripts should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words, including references, tables, and figures.

2.3. Submissions must be made in Word format or equivalent, using Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1.15-line spacing. The default Word margins should be used: 2.5 cm for the top and bottom margins, and 3 cm for the left and right margins. Include page numbers on all pages.

2.4. After five blank lines from the top margin of the first page, TITLE OF THE PROYECT (uppercase, bold, and centered).

2.5. After one blank line, put Name LAST NAME LAST NAME of the author(s)  (bold and centered).

2.6. After one blank line, put the project reference code.

2.7. Submissions must include the following clearly labeled sections:

1. Introduction – Present the research topic, its relevance, and the research objectives.
2. Methodology – Describe the methods, tools, and procedures used in the research up to the current stage.
3. Preliminary Results – Report the key findings obtained so far, with appropriate supporting data.
4. Discussion – Interpret the results in relation to the research question, noting limitations and next steps in the ongoing research.

Note: These submissions will undergo peer review and must clearly specify that the findings are part of a research project still in progress.