About the Journal

 

Focus and Scope

To disseminate the results of national and international research being carried out in the field of language education, in particular bilingual education, as well as innovations in language teaching and learning.

Journal History

GiST Journal  is currently listed in the following international agencies: MLA - Modern Language Association, ERA - Educational Research Abstracts, Linguistics Abstracts Online, ERIC, CLASE - Citas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Proquest CSA, EBSCO Host, Dialnet, REDIB, DOAJ, Emerging Sources Citations, and Ulrich´s Periodicals Directory.

Archiving

GiST Journal has its  electronic backup and preservation of access to the content in Portico

Peer Review Process

As GIST is a bi-annual publication, the Editorial Committee of carries out two calls for papers, approximately in April and November of each year. GIST then receives submissions until the published deadline, and carries out the following process with each submission:

The Editor carries out a preliminary evaluation before assigning peer reviewers, with the purpose of verifying that the article complies with the established criteria and guidelines for presentation of articles. This revision is usually completed within a three-week period.

In the case of articles that do not comply with the standards for presentation, according to the specifications of the journal, the Editor requests that the authors adjust the article in order to prepare it to be reviewed by peer reviewers. Authors are given a two-week period to make the requested modifications, and re-send the manuscript again to the Editor for consideration. Once the Editor has verified that the article fits the standards of presentation and specifications of the journal, the process of peer review may begin.

The Editor informs authors of the decision to submit the article to peer review or not within one month.

Articles that fulfill the presentation requirements are submitted to anonymous, double-blind peer review by experts in the field. This means that authors do not know the identify of the reviewers, and vice versa.

The Editor, with the help of members of the Editorial Committee, assigns peer reviewers according to the specific topic of each article. The Editor then invites peers to conduct the review, and once these individuals accept, they are informed as to the procedure for accessing articles in the OJS. In this same message, reviewers are informed of the expected time period and proposed deadline for the review, approximately one month after a reviewer agrees to conduct the evaluation. Every care is made to conduct the peer reviews in a timely fashion; nevertheless, adjustments may be made to ensure reviewers’ participation.

In order to carry out the evaluation, peer reviewers complete the evaluation form, and in this way, recommend the article for publication or not as well as specifications for revision, if this is recommended. The results of this evaluation serve as input for the Editor and Editorial Committee to decide if the article is publishable, publishable with minor adjustments, publishable with major adjustments, or not publishable. Peer reviewers can check the good practices following the recommendations given by COPE in English Good Practices or in Spanish Good practices

Once the evaluation is completed, the Editor communicates with the author(s) and informs them of the decision that has been made, indicating whether or not the article will continue in the revision process. Authors have a one-month period to adjust the article and send the revision once again to the Editor. The Editor then reviews the the article and reaches the final decision as to whether the revised version will be accepted for publication, bearing in mind its revision according to the input received from the peer reviewers, and the Editor’s own independent criteria.

If the article is accepted for publication, the Editor proceeds in carrying out the editing and proofreading process. Once the final version of the article is completed, it is sent to the author for final approval, and is then forwarded to the design team for its preparation.

Download HERE the Peer Review Checklist

 

Relinquishing of rights and distribution of published material

The publication of articles in GIST implies that authors relinquish all rights to the article and its content. Authors also authorize GIST to promote and distribute the article via the means it deems appropriate, be it in print or electronic. For this purpose, authors should sign and send both the letter of relinquishment, and the declaration of conflict of interest upon submission of the article. These formats are available in the OJS platform of the Journal. These should be signed and sent to the Journal at the following e-mail address:gist@unica.edu.co.

 

Download HERE letter of copyright Assignment Agreement and Conflict of Interest Statement

Open Access Policy

GiST Education and Learning Research Journal is an open access publication. The articles can be downloaded in PDF format at no cost from the Open Journal System (OJS) platform. The journal has no APC (Article Processing Charge)

Code of Ethics and Good Practices

The Editorial Committee of GiST Education and Learning Research Journal, as part of in its commitment to the scientific community, strives to guarantee the ethics and quality of its articles. The publication takes the code of conduct and good practice of the Committee of Ethics in Publications (COPE) as its point of reference, which defines standards for editors of scientific journals, as well as the legal and ethical standards of the American Psychological Association (APA) in the seventh edition of its Style Manual.

All parties involved in the publication of the journal (Editor, Committees, Authors, and Peer Reviewers) must accept and adhere to the ethical guidelines and principles outlined here.

Editor Obligations and General Responsibilities

The Editor of the journal is responsible for ensuring strict compliance with the policies and principles of the journal. Specifically, the Editor is expected to act in an ethical manner in the following aspects:

Decision making: The Editor guides all decisions regarding articles submitted and published according to verifiable criteria of impartiality and fairness, taking into consideration the primary objectives of the journal.

The works submitted are evaluated objectively, based solely on the scientific merit of their content, without discrimination in regards to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic background, nationality or political persuasion.

Confidentiality: The Editor is committed to the principle of confidentiality and anonymity in communications between Editor and Authors, and Editor and Peer Evaluators. The Editor shall not disclose information related to the article or its process with third parties or colleagues not related to the journal, except in cases when an expert opinion is required, and in which the express permission for this purpose is granted by the author(s). The Editor shall not use the results of research of articles not accepted for publication for his or her own benefit or that of others, except with express permission from the author(s).

Communication: The Editor shall receive and respond to complaints, petitions and comments in a reasonable amount of time. This also applies to the publication of corrections or modifications stemming from the editing process of published articles.

Compliance: The Editor strives to comply with the editorial policies of the Journal, and the publication of each online and print issue according to its established publication schedule.

In the same fashion:

  • Consult the opinion of the members of the Editorial Board and Committee.
  • Generate initiatives of support and constantly improve editorial practices.
  • Support initiatives to educate researchers on issues of publication ethics and other ethical aspects of the journal.
  • Take responsibility for the process of all articles submitted to the Journal, and develop mechanisms of confidentiality and peer evaluation up to the point of publication or rejection by the journal.

Other principles to follow include:

Peer review process and editorial decisions: The decision to publish or not shall be established via the process of peer evaluation, according to the “double blind” method in order to guarantee that the evaluation process that is free of conflict of interest between the parties. This rigorous procedure allows peer reviewers to value the technical quality, originality, and scientific contribution of the articles, among other aspects, and at the same time provides authors with the means to improve the article. For this revision process, a sufficient number of peer reviewers will be provided, selected from qualified area experts, with the intention of allowing for a more critical, expert, and objective editorial decision- making process.

Editing and Publication schedule: The Editor provides for the fulfillment of the editing and publication schedule of articles accepted for publication. Upon the publication of each issue, the Editor and the editorial team accept responsibility for the promotion and distribution of the journal to its readers, subscribers, authors, peer reviewers, and other organizations with whom the institution holds inter-institutional agreements, we well as the data bases and national and international indexing services.

General Editor obligations and responsibilities

Authors must present their articles in the link indicated on the OJS-web page, according to the guidelines for the presentation of articles established by the journal. Authors are responsible for the ideas expressed in the articles, and for the ethical appropriateness.

Originality, plagiarism and exclusivity: Authors must explicitly state that the article is original in its creation, and that every effort has been taken to respect the intellectual property of those third parties cited within. Articles must not be reprints, nor published in other journals. Further, authors must declare that the findings are original in nature, that no plagiarism exists, nor distortion or manipulation of the facts.

Exclusivity: Articles submitted to the journal must not be simultaneously submitted to other publications.

Citations and references: Authors must ensure that they have received express permission for the use of material they do not own, including the reproduction of charts, graphs, maps, diagrams, photographs, etc. All sources must be cited appropriately, with complete references provided.

Authorship: Articles with more than one author should order authors’ names in hierarchical fashion, indicating by this the degree of function, responsibility and contribution to the article. By the same token, mention must be made to any individuals who have made significant scientific or intellectual contributions to the research, composition and editing of the article.

Responsibility: All authors submitting articles must assume full responsibility for their work, and ensure that it presents an exhaustive review and discussion of the most recent and relevant literature.

Research ethics: Research studies must use methodology that ensures that subjects are treated with respect and dignity. In addition to those principles of the code of conduct of the American Psychological Association (APA 7th Ed.), GIST highlights the following: discussion of the limitations of confidentiality and the safekeeping of the same, minimization of the intrusion and invasiveness in individuals’ privacy, conservation of data and informed consent to research, record, or film. Further, the names of institutions or individuals should be avoided, even if the author has gained permission for their use. If their mention is considered necessary, the author must submit signed authorization for their inclusion. The names of the researchers and participants shall likewise be omitted from the article. It is suggested that pseudonyms be used in the case of case studies, for example.

Conflict of interest: The Editor shall not consider articles that possibly represent a real or potential conflict of interest, resulting from financial or other relationships of competition or collaboration between authors, companies or institutions mentioned in the article.

Complaints and Appeals: Should any party happen to have any complaint and/or appeal, please inform the Editor and Managing Editor at  gist@unica.edu.co

Errors in articles published: Any error or imprecision shall be communicated by the editorial team, and the necessary corrections in the online version of the article made.

Obligations and general responsibilities of peer reviewers:

In the revision process, peer reviewers shall adhere to the following principles:

Confidentiality: Peer reviewers shall not share any information with third parties related to the article or its publication process. In such case that an external opinion may be necessary, reviewers shall seek express written authorization from the Editor in Chief, explaining the reasons. By the same token, reviewers shall not use the content of non-published articles for their own benefit or that of others, except with the express authorization of the authors. The violation of the principle of confidentiality constitutes bad practice by the reviewers.

Contribution to quality: Individuals who commit to evaluating articles submitted to the Journal shall carry out a critical revision, without bias, using clear, non-offensive language, with the intention of guaranteeing scientific and literary quality, according to the area of expertise.

Time management: Although the Journal has a maximum time allotted for the revision process, articles should be evaluated as soon as possible in the hopes of optimizing the revision and editing process. At the same time, peer reviewers who feel that they are unable to fulfill their function as evaluators, either because of lack of expertise, time or possible conflict of interest, shall communicate this immediately to the Editor or editorial team through regular channels.

Detection of errors and bad editorial practices: Reviewers shall pay particular attention to gaps in references to literature or authors that they feel need to be included. At the same time, if in the process of revision it is possible to detect bad practices on the part of authors, peer reviewers are under the obligation to inform the Editor so that he or she may proceed in accordance with the ethical principles of the journal.

Download HERE the Code of Ethics and Good Practices

Periodicity

GiST is published in English bi-annually by ÚNICA, Bogotá Colombia. The January- June issue publishes articles which have been accepted during the period of the October to January of the year of the publication, and the July- December issue publishes articles which have been accepted during the period of the previous April – July of the year of publication.

Copyright Notice

GiST Education and Learning Research Journal uses the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0. As such, the journal’s articles may be downloaded in PDF format as long as the author is cited and no modifications are made. 

Sponsors

Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana ÚNICA