Author Guidelines

Information for Authors

1. Introduction

Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia (Works of the Catalan Society of Geography) is an academic journal publishing on all aspects of geographical interest in print and electronic formats. It aims to disseminate science-based geographical knowledge, raise public awareness of diverse territorial, social and environmental problems and enrich Catalan scientific expertise in the different geographical disciplines.

It is issued by the Catalan Society of Geography (SCG), a subsidiary of the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), since 1984, with editions currently released every six months. In addition to reviews of recently published geographical books, it includes unpublished texts stemming from research carried out by people interested in Geography.

All articles submitted to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia must be original and written in Catalan, English or any of the other Romance languages. Bilingual articles and reviews may also be published, primarily in Catalan/English.

The journal uses an anonymous and external article evaluation system.

As an online journal, the general public may reproduce, distribute and freely publicise work provided its authorship and the publishing entity (SCG/IEC) are acknowledged, and it is not used for commercial gain or any subsequent derivative works.

2. Draft Submissions

The draft article must be submitted at https://revistes.iec.cat/index.php/TSCGI/login. As an exception, authors may also send their work in digital format to treballs.scg@correu.iec.cat.

Articles must be accompanied by a document in a separate file stating the following: authorship, job or profession and e-mail address, as well as a declaration stating, as a minimum: a) knowledge and acceptance of the rules of the journal (particularly those concerning the assignment of publishing rights and the acceptance of style amendments by the Editorial Board); b) assurance that the article has not been simultaneously sent to other journals; c) affirmation that the work is original; d) optionally, any acknowledgements or a statement in regard to the contribution being part of a specific research project (for publication purposes, this will be expressed in the first footnote, which need not, however, appear in the text to be evaluated); e) a declaration of permission to reproduce any images inserted in the text where appropriate; j) knowledge and full acceptance of the Declaration of Ethical Editorial Conduct and Rejection of Malpractice, which can be found on the journal’s website (Editorial Policies section); and g) a commitment not to use sexist language, in accordance with the Manual d’estil. La redacció i l’edició de textos style guide (Mestres et al., 1995, chapter X).

3. Structure of the Original

3.1. The document should be paginated but not contain any headers or footers.

3.2. The title must clearly and directly reflect the content of the work.

3.3. We recommend that those wishing to sign with both surnames join them with a hyphen to facilitate their identification in scientific databases.

3.4. Authors must also provide three article abstracts of no more than 350 words in font size 10.5 in Catalan, Spanish and English, as well as the language of the original if none of the above; abstracts in other languages may also be accepted, depending on the area to which the article refers. Each abstract should be preceded by the corresponding translation of the title and close with three to five key words or concepts in those languages. The abstract should state, in short, clear sentences, the objectives, methodology and main results of the work.

3.5. The article should begin with a brief introduction explaining the aim of the work, its relevance for Geography, the problem or gap in geographical knowledge it aims to address and the formal structure of the text. The appropriate theoretical, conceptual and/or contextual content should then follow. Next, the sources and methods used should be indicated so the reader can verify and understand how the research was carried out. The article’s central section(s) should offer a logical outline of the results mobilised and/or obtained. Lastly, these results should be contrasted with the initial knowledge (theoretical, conceptual and/or contextual section), and the relevance of the contribution should be assessed, pointing towards future research where appropriate.

3.6. Articles should have no more than 100,000 characters with spaces (inclusive of all text, references, abstracts, etc.) and be no longer than 30 pages (inclusive of all pictures, tables, etc.). Times New Roman typeface and 1.15 line spacing must be used throughout. The general text should be in font size 12. Please imitate, as far as possible, the style and layout used in the last published issue of the journal. For your convenience, a template that attempts to reflect all these specifications is available.

3.7. The sections should be differentiated by Arabic numerals and, where appropriate, in a clear hierarchical order (1, 1.1, 1.1.1). Section headings should be in bold type and under no circumstances in capital letters. In title cases in English, major words (nous, verbs, adjectives, etc.) are capitalised and most minor words are lowercase.

3.8. Bibliographical references must be limited to the sources consulted by the authors. Citations should be inserted within the general text in parentheses with the surname and year of publication and, in the case of a textual citation in inverted commas, page, according to the following models referring to one, two or more authors: (Casassas, 2000, p. 222), (Lluch and Nel·lo, 1987) and (Vilà-Valentí et al., 1995). Occasionally, it may be preferable to cite web pages using a footnote.

3.9. Footnotes should be in font size 8. They should only be used when strictly necessary.

3.10. Articles may contain two types of illustrations: figures (a generic denomination referring to maps, graphs, sketches, photos, etc.) and tables, both with their own Arabic and correlative numbering. The respective title (brief and clear) must be inserted in the text, not within the figure or table itself. The source and/or authorship should be indicated at the foot of the illustration. The illustration should be preceded by its title and followed by its source. These two elements will also serve to indicate the location of the illustration within the text, even if it is presented in a separate file. Other rules for illustrations are as follows: a) The text must make explicit reference to all the figures and tables included, even if only in brackets: (fig. 1). b) Tables and diagrams must be editable (not images) and not use background colour. Maps and graphics should be attached in a separate file format that allows for adjustments to the font and the position and size of elements, such as the legend. c) Photographs and other images should be high quality, with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI (dots/pixels per inch). The Editorial Board may recommend the removal of any images that do not meet these requirements and are considered dispensable. d) Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia is published in both black and white (on paper) and colour (pdf). Authors should attempt to harness the expressive potential of colour, particularly for photographs and maps, even if it may not be the ideal format for the traditional printed version. e) The legend accompanying the figures must be legible, taking into account the dimensions of the printed journal. f) If the area depicted by original maps may not be well known to the regular reader, they should have a graphical scale (never numerical) and include the symbol for north (or an indication of the geographical network or coordinates). g) The author is responsible for ensuring that any images or other illustrations requiring them have the appropriate reproduction rights. h) Tables should have invisible vertical lines.

3.11. Any annexes should be placed at the end of the article in font size 11.

3.12. The bibliography (in alphabetical and chronological order) should be in font size 10. Surnames should be in small caps (never in upper-case). The guidelines for the bibliography are as follows: a) For books

Font Size 10 Surname(s), First Name; First Name Surname(s) (year). Title of the Book. Place of Publication [in English]: Publisher. [Other Info].

Daveau, Suzanne; Orlando Ribeiro (1973). La zone intertropicale humide. Paris: Armand Colin.

b) For book chapters

Surname(s), First Name; First Name Surname(s) (year). “Title of the Book Chapter”, in: First Name Surname(s). Title of the Book. Place of Publication [in English]: Publisher, Vol. x, pp. xx-xx.

Timothy, Dallen J.; Rami F. Daher (2009). “Heritage Tourism in Southwest Asia and North Africa: Contested Pasts and Veiled Realities”, in: Dallen J. Timothy; Gyan P. Nyaupane [eds.]. Cultural Heritage and Tourism in the Developing World. A Regional Perspective. Lon­don/New York: Routledge, pp. 146-164.

c) For articles

Surname(s), First Name; First Name Surname(s) (year). “Title of the Article”. Journal Title, Vol. x, No. x, pp. x-x. DOI: https://doi.org/xxx

Membrado-Tena, Joan Carles (2018). “El papel de la geografía en el análisis del contenido semántico de los topónimos. El caso de Alicante”. Anales de Geografía de la Universidad Complutense, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 35-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/AGUC.60468

d) At the end of a bibliographic citation, you may also include, in italics, the electronic location of the document, indicating, in all cases, the date of consultation, as follows: “(accessed 01/01/2011)”. e) When citing documents that can only be found on the Internet, please follow the bibliographic citation format as far as possible. At the very least, they should include the name of the author (person or institution) corresponding to the abbreviated citation in the body of the article, even if the year of publication cannot be provided. The title should also be included, or a summary description of the content provided.

Surname(s), First Name; First Name Surname(s) (year). Webpage. http://xxx (accessed 01/01/2011).

GrammarCheck (2017).Capitalization in Titles.  https://www.grammarcheck.net/capitalization-in-titles-101/ (accessed 30/06/2022).

Optionally, citations from electronic documents can be footnoted.

Square brackets may be used to indicate insecure data or data not included in the document.

When listing consecutive works by the same author in the bibliography, the author’s name should be replaced by a dash ( — ). Works by the same author published in the same year should be distinguished by letters after the date (1982a, 1982b) to facilitate citation.

4. Reviews

4.1. The Reviews section is open to critiques of recently published geographical books in any language, although preferably in Catalan. When reviews of books in Catalan are submitted in Catalan, the Editorial Board will try, as far as it is financially viable, to translate them into English and thereby facilitate the international dissemination of Catalan geographical works.

4.2. Reviews must be no longer than 20,000 characters with spaces.

4.3. Reviews must begin with an intentional title and include a bibliographic entry for the book under analysis (following point 3.12.a, stating the total number of pages, the ISBN and, if available, the DOI). Optionally, they may be structured in sections numbered with Arabic numerals and contain a bibliography if citations differing from those made in the book under review are used.

4.4. Reviews should be illustrated with the cover of the book being reviewed.

5. Editorial Process

5.1. Receipt of drafts. The Editorial Board will confirm receipt of the submitted articles to their authors and subsequently inform them as to whether they have been accepted or rejected for publication following the anonymous external evaluations. Receipt of an article does not necessarily imply its acceptance.

5.2. Internal review of articles. The Editorial Board will assess whether the work can be published, taking into account its quality and apparent compliance with the journal’s editorial criteria and requirements in terms of format. The Editorial Board may return an original article for changes to its format.

5.3. External evaluation of articles. Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia is governed by a system of external and anonymous article evaluation. The Editorial Board will forward the works it considers suitable for the articles section for evaluation. The list of reviewers is published in the last issue of each year.

5.4. The journal’s Editorial Board reserves the right to: a) Accept or reject articles on the basis of external referees. b) Slightly amend the submitted works to bring them into line with the journal’s criteria and standards. c) Ask the author to shorten a text or make specific modifications.

5.5.  In addition to the elements indicated in section 3, in particular point 3.5, the journal’s editors will decide whether to accept or reject works based on the following aspects: a) Originality. b) Topicality, timeliness and novelty. c) Relevance: feasibility of the results contributing to the resolution of specific geographical problems. d) Significance for the advancement of scientific, geographical knowledge. e) Reliability and scientific validity: proven methodological quality. f) Presentation: accomplished writing, organisation (logical coherence) and graphical quality.

5.6. Once the evaluation process has been completed, the main author (the submitter or the first of the signatories) will be notified as to whether the work has been accepted or rejected for publication. Once the article has been accepted, the author may request certification that it is in the process of being published.

5.7. During the composition or layout process, the author will receive a pdf of their article for a single revision.

5.8. Once published, the author will receive a copy of the journal. If the authors of a work include a member of the SCG, up to 5 copies can be ordered.

Personal data protection

The Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) complies with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (Regulation 2016/679 of 27 April 2016). In accordance with this regulation, we inform you that by accepting the publication rules, authors consent to the publication of their data (name and surname, contact details and affiliation data) in the corresponding volume of the Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia journal.

The IEC will process this data for the purpose of managing this publication. The authors’ data will only be used to manage the publication of the Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia journal and will not be passed on to third parties or transferred to third countries or international organisations. Once the Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia journal has been published, the data will be kept as part of the historical record. Authors may exercise their rights of access, rectification, deletion, opposition, limitation of processing and portability by writing to the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (carrer del Carme, 47, 08001 Barcelona) or by sending an e-mail to dades.personals@iec.cat, specifying the publication in question.