Author Guidelines

The Revista Especializada en Investigación Jurídica (REIJ) is an electronic, biannual, continuous-publication, indexed, peer-reviewed, open-access scientific and academic journal published by the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Manuscripts are evaluated through a double-blind peer review process conducted by national and international academic experts.

Types of Publications Accepted by REIJ

REIJ accepts the following types of contributions: research articles, review articles, case law commentaries, book reviews, and legislative studies.

Research Article

A research article aims to make an original contribution to a specific field of expertise or to address a particular issue related to Legal Sciences. The manuscript must include a statement of the research problem, methodology, theoretical framework, results, discussion, and conclusions. The length should range from a minimum of 10 pages to a maximum of 20 pages (up to 8,500 words). Only in exceptional cases, due to the nature of the research, may the Editorial Board authorize a longer manuscript.

Review Article

A review article provides a detailed, selective, and critical examination of the published literature on a topic related to Legal Sciences. It analyzes and discusses the most relevant studies concerning the selected subject. The article should address: (i) what is currently known about the topic; (ii) what has been investigated; (iii) the most significant advances; and (iv) which aspects remain unknown. The length should range from a minimum of 10 pages to a maximum of 20 pages (up to 8,500 words).

Case Law Commentary

A case law commentary presents a critical and analytical opinion on judicial decisions and legal doctrines developed by the highest national or international courts. The maximum length is 5 pages (up to 2,500 words).

Book Review

A book review aims to present the main ideas of a recently published work related to Legal Sciences while providing a critical analysis of its content. The reviewed book must have been published no more than two years before the publication of the review in REIJ. The maximum length is 5 pages (up to 2,500 words).

Legislative Study

A legislative study consists of a critical analysis of recently enacted national or foreign legislation. The legislation under examination must have been published no more than two years before the publication of the study in REIJ. The manuscript length should range from 2,000 to 5,000 words.

Special Dossier

REIJ may publish one special dossier per year addressing a priority social issue. The dossier may include research articles, review articles, case law commentaries, book reviews, and legislative studies related to Legal Sciences.

For each dossier, REIJ seeks guest editors with recognized expertise in the selected topic. Researchers interested in serving as guest editors are invited to submit a proposal for consideration by the Editorial Board at: reij@uacj.mx

REIJ Editorial Guidelines

-Manuscripts submitted to REIJ must be original. They may not be simultaneously submitted, under review, or accepted for publication in another journal or editorial outlet.

-When a manuscript is prepared in co-authorship, all authors must explicitly declare their individual contributions in accordance with the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). A maximum of three authors is permitted per manuscript.

The author responsible for the submission must enter all co-author metadata into the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform and clearly identify the corresponding author for the editorial process.

Manuscripts may be submitted in either Spanish or English.

The title must be provided in both Spanish and English and may not exceed fifteen words in each language.

All manuscripts must include an abstract in both Spanish and English, with a maximum length of 200 words. For research and review articles, the abstract must briefly describe the objective of the study, the methodology employed, the main findings, and the most relevant conclusions.

Authors must provide between three and five keywords in both Spanish and English. Keywords should preferably be selected from the UNESCO Thesaurus or other recognized controlled vocabularies relevant to the discipline.

Research articles and review articles must be prepared using the official REIJ Author Template available on the journal website (download here).

Tables, charts, graphs, and other statistical materials must be prepared in Microsoft Excel for Windows and submitted as a single separate file with clearly identified worksheets. These materials must also be incorporated into the manuscript at the appropriate location.

Beginning with Issue 12, all citations and references must conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Seventh Edition. Research articles must include a minimum of fifteen sources effectively cited within the text.

All manuscripts will be screened using Turnitin similarity-detection software. If the similarity report exceeds 20%, the Editorial Board will evaluate the case to determine whether the manuscript should be returned for revision, clarification requested from the authors, or the submission rejected.

Manuscripts that have used artificial intelligence tools during their preparation must comply with the REIJ Artificial Intelligence Use Policy. Where applicable, authors must include a disclosure statement regarding the use of artificial intelligence in accordance with the requirements established in that policy.

Once the editorial process has commenced, changes in authorship—including the addition, removal, or replacement of authors—will not be permitted except in duly justified cases approved by the Editorial Board.

Failure to comply with any of these Editorial Guidelines may result in rejection of the manuscript or suspension of the review process until the issues identified by the journal have been satisfactorily addressed.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to verify that their manuscript complies with all the requirements listed below. Submissions that do not meet these requirements may be returned to the authors.

☐ The manuscript is original and has not been simultaneously submitted for evaluation, consideration, or publication in another journal or editorial outlet.

☐ The manuscript is submitted in either Spanish or English.

☐ The manuscript has been prepared in accordance with the official REIJ Author Template.

☐ All authors of the manuscript have been included, together with their institutional affiliation, email address, and ORCID iD.

☐ The number of authors does not exceed the maximum permitted by the journal.

☐ All authors have made an intellectual contribution to the work, and their contributions have been identified in accordance with the CRediT taxonomy.

☐ All authors are aware of and approve the submission of the manuscript to REIJ and its potential publication if accepted.

☐ The manuscript complies with the REIJ Artificial Intelligence Use Policy and, where applicable, includes the required disclosure statement regarding the use of artificial intelligence tools.

☐ The authors agree to comply with REIJ's editorial, ethical, and publication best-practice policies throughout all stages of the editorial process.

For any questions or further information, please contact the Editor-in-Chief at:

Dra. Wendolyne Nava González
Editor-in-Chief
reij@uacj.mx/wendolyne.nava@uacj.mx