Information For Authors

  1. 1. Objective and scope
  2. 2. Types of articles accepted by the journal
  3. 3. BEFORE YOU START
    1. 3.1. Rights and obligations to follow in studies with humans and animals
    2. 3.2. Informed consents and patient details
    3. 3.3. Declaration of conflict of interest
    4. 3.4. Declaration of AI-generated writing in scientific manuscripts
    5. 3.5. Authorship and changes in authorship
    6. 3.6. Copyright
  4. 4. Editorial process
    1. a) Receipt of the manuscript and blinding of manuscripts
    2. b) Anonymous internal review
    3. c) Double-blind peer review
    1. 4.1. Prepare your manuscript
      1. a) Manuscript structure and named sections
      2. b) Citation format, references, tables, and figures
      3. c) ORCID for authors
      4. d) Graphic Abstract (Optional)
    2. 4.2. Submit your manuscript
      1. a) Checklist of documents

1. Aim and scope

Revista Internacional de Investigación en Adicciones (RIIAD) is an initiative of the Centros de Integración Juvenil, A.C., aimed at providing a platform for the biannual bilingual (Spanish and English) publication of scientific findings from research on drug use, mental health, and treatments related to problems in both fields. It is also interested in findings related to individual, psychosocial, and cultural factors associated with mental health and substance use, as well as advances in their treatments or interventions.

The scope of RIIAD includes medical, psychological, social, and neuroscience research about substance use, mental health, and related topics, presented in the form of original and review articles, brief research reports, as well as reflections and experiences. All of them are evaluated under a double-blind peer-review.

With this initiative, Centros de Integración Juvenil, A.C., hopes to contribute to the dissemination and diffusion of addiction science and mental health in Latin America and the world, as well as stimulate the work of researchers in these fields.

RIIAD adheres to the code of ethics for the performance of actors involved in the publication process (editors, editorial committee, authors, and reviewers) established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and available at . It also complies with the guidelines indicated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) available at www.icmje.org.

Revista Internacional de Investigación en Adicciones (RIIAD) does not charge for submission, evaluation, or publication of articles and is an Open Access journal. All published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (International CC BY-NC 4.0) license.

2. Types of articles accepted by the journal

Revista Internacional de Investigación en Adicciones (RIIAD) accepts for review, manuscripts in both Spanish and English of the following types:

  • Editorials
  • Original Articles
  • Review Articles
  • Brief Research Reports
  • Experts Opinions

The call for manuscripts is open throughout the year, and on special occasions, Call for papers are made for special issues.

Editorials

They address comments on controversial or novel topics related to some relevant aspect of addictions or the included works. They are published only by invitation of the Editor-in-chief. However, it is possible to send proposals for consideration by the Editorial Committee.
Maximum length 1,500 words.

Original Articles

They can be of two types: Original quantitative research. Includes reports of crosssectional studies, clinical trials, quasi-experimental designs, cases and controls, cohorts, and basic research.
Maximum length: 3,500 words.
Consider the standards: STROBE, CONSORT, and TREND.

Original qualitative research articles. Reports from focus groups, discussion groups, in-depth interviews, content analysis, narrative analysis, semantic networks, and ethnographic studies.
Maximum length: 5,000 words.
Consider the standard: COREQ.

Review Articles

Consider systematic or narrative reviews that seek to integrate or update existing evidence on some topic of scientific interest. All submitted articles must include the systematic search method used.
Maximum length: 4,000 words.
Consider the standard: PRISMA.

Brief Research Reports

Reports of preliminary results and validation of clinical scales.
Maximum length 2,000 words.

Errata

The publication of errata is allowed. Any modification, correction, or retraction of the partial or total content of a manuscript is the responsibility of the authors of the manuscript.
Maximum length 1,000 words.

Experts Opinions

Includes essay-style texts with reflections and narratives of experiences from experts in research, public policy, or addiction treatment. Generally, these articles are published only by invitation from the Editor-in-Chief. However, it is possible to send proposals for consideration by the editorial committee.
Maximum length: 2,500 words.

Note: In all types of articles, the word count EXCLUDES: title, keywords, abstract, references in the body text, tables, figures, and reference list.

3. BEFORE YOU START

3.1. Rights and obligations to follow in studies with humans and animals

If the work or research involved the participation of humans or animals, the author must ensure and declare that the work described was carried out according to the Helsinki Declaration, for experimentation with human beings. www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/.

In the specific case of work with human participants, authors should include a statement about obtaining informed consents for experimentation with human beings, specifying care for the privacy and anonymity of the participants.

If, on the other hand, the study involved the use of animal subjects, the author must ensure and declare that the work described was carried out according to the ARRIVE Guidelines (Animal research: Reporting of in Vivo Experiments) www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines.

3.2. Informed consents and patient details

Studies with humans (particularly with clinical populations and volunteers) require the approval of ethics committees, as well as the signing of an informed consent. All consents, permissions, or notices that the author wishes to include must provide details of the study, the rights and obligations of individuals within the research (participants and researchers), as well as a declaration on the handling of personal data, anonymity, and confidentiality of the same. Written or digital informed consents are the responsibility of the principal investigator and do not need to be provided to the journal, except for special or legal requirements.

3.3. Declaration of conflict of interest

None of the authors should have any personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations that could directly influence the publication of results or findings of their work (biases). Examples of potential conflicts of interest include; working for a company affiliated with or benefited by the results of the research, author consultancies to companies, fees for manuscript publication, applications with patients, or guarantees of future funding for manuscript publication. Authors should include in their article a conflict of interest statement, according to the following template:

“The authors declare that they have no financial interests, nor personal relationships that could have influenced the work presented in this article.”

3.4. Declaration of AI-generated writing in scientific manuscripts

The authors are required to declare the use of Artificial Intelligences (AI) in the writing process of their manuscript, if applicable. Likewise, the use of these technologies should be restricted only to improving the manuscript and never to generating its entire content.

If this technology has been used, the authors must declare it according to the following template:

“Declaration: During the preparation of this document, the authors used the services of the following tool [Name of Tool / or service] with the purpose of [Reason]. After using this tool or service, the authors edited and reviewed the generated content. If necessary, the authors take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.”

3.5. Authorship and changes in authorship

All authors of the manuscript must have made a significant or substantial contribution to the content in the following order: 1st author: Conception and design of the study, data collection or main analyses and interpretations, 2nd: Partial writing of the article or major review of the content including comments or suggestions that have significantly contributed to its improvement, 3rd and others: final review and minor corrections, non-substantial contributions to the content of the article.

We encourage authors to follow the CRediT author statement for assigning roles in the manuscript and author contributions, please check https://www.elsevier.com/researcher/author/policies-and-guidelines/credit-author-statement.

Changes in the order of authors after the manuscript has been submitted will only be possible before its final acceptance by the editorial committee of the RIIAD. Any change must be requested through the corresponding author including: a) the reasons for the change and confirmation/acceptance of the change (Attached to the email in a document with handwritten or digital signature) by all authors of the manuscript.

3.6. Copyright

In accordance with current Copyright Law, the RIIAD recognizes and respects the moral rights of authors, as well as the ownership of the patrimonial right, which will be transferred - in a non-exclusive manner - to the journal to allow its legal dissemination in Open Access. The authors may make other independent and additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in the RIIAD (for example, include it in an institutional repository or make it known on digital social networks and other paper or electronic media), provided that it is clearly and explicitly indicated that the work was first published in the RIIAD. For all of the above, the authors must submit a Letter of Assignment of Rights of the first publication, duly filled out and signed by the authors. This format must be submitted in PDF through the OJS platform.

Assignment of Copyright

4. Editorial process

  1. Receipt of the manuscript and blinding of manuscripts
  2. Anonymous internal review
  3. Double-blind peer review

a) Manuscript reception and blinding of manuscripts

The submission and receipt of the manuscript for evaluation will be through the “manuscript submission” option, on this platform, at the link: riiad.org/index.php/riiad/login?source=%2Findex.php%2Friiad%2Fsubmission%2Fwizard.

Once the manuscript is received, the editorial coordinator is responsible for blinding it, so that all subsequent processes are carried out in double anonymity for authors and reviewers.

b) Anonymous internal review

After blinding, the manuscript is assigned to one of the members of the RIIAD’s internal review committee who carries out the first review process, ensuring that the manuscript fits the objective and vision of the journal and meets the criteria to be considered for publication.

c) Double-blind peer review process

When the manuscript is accepted by the internal committee it is considered as “favorably accredited” and continues the review process through a review by expert peers on the subject. This review is carried out in double-blind, where the identity of both authors and reviewers will remain anonymous.

Notes on the double-blind process: Authors are urged to submit materials of their authorship, avoiding plagiarism at all costs. In case of suspicions of plagiarism, specialized software will be used to evaluate the originality of the document. If this practice is detected, the evaluation process will immediately stop and the author will be notified.

The possible ratings that can be established for evaluated manuscripts are: a) rejected; b) accepted with major modifications; c) accepted with minor modifications; d) accepted.

If the manuscript were to be accepted by one peer reviewer and rejected by another, a third external reviewer’s evaluation will be requested. Likewise, the editor can make a decision after a careful review of both peers’ evaluations.

In order to ensure an adequate and fair review of received manuscripts, RIIAD requires an internal evaluation period of seven to nine weeks to inform authors about internal ruling, and in case of passing such filter, three to four months for external peer review.

Technical opinion format

4.1. Prepare your manuscript

  1. Manuscript structure and named sections
  2. Citation format, references, tables, and figures
  3. ORCID for authors

a) Manuscript structure and named sections

  • Title in Spanish and English.
  • Summary and abstract in Spanish and English (including the sections: a. introduction, b. objective, c. method, d. results, e. discussion and conclusions). Maximum extension to 250 words.
  • Keywords: between three and five words, it is recommended to use terms from the Medical Subject Headings, MeSH.
  • Introduction: where the problem addressed in the research is briefly described, background and previous research on the topic, knowledge needs that justify the proposed work and the objectives of the research.
  • Method: described with enough detail for the reproduction of the study. It includes the following sections named in the style of a second title (APA 7th edition format): research design, participants and/or sample, instruments/measurements/data collection technique, procedure, data analysis and ethical considerations. Note: The reasoning for the application of statistical analyses must be included, not just the analyses performed.
  • Results: in correspondence with the proposed objectives and analyses, it is possible to rely on tables and figures. Regarding mathematical and statistical formulas it is requested:
    • Use numbers when dealing with dates, samples, etc.
    • Report with letters the numbers between 0 and 9, with numbers figures greater than or equal to ten.
    • Use two or three decimals (example, p = .04; p = .002) without zero in front; if it is less than .001 indicate it with a < .001.
    • Statistical symbols are written in italics (M, SD, s, a, b).
    • Include effect size measures for the analyses performed, as well as crude and adjusted estimates, indicating confounders.
  • Discussion / Conclusions: In this section the most important aspects of the study and the conclusions derived from it are emphasized.
  • References: The citation style of the American Psychiatric Association should be followed, presenting the materials in alphabetical order. RIIAD suggests a maximum of 50 references and gives priority to publications in indexed journals; citation of specialized books and government reports is also recommended, avoiding as much as possible the use of internet pages, unpublished results or personal communications. Here are some examples:
    1. Article: Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, XX, pp-pp. doi: xx.xxxx
    2. Book: Author, A. A. (year). Title of book. Location: Publisher
    3. Book chapter: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor, (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. xx-xx). Location: Publisher.
  • Tables, figures and images: A maximum of five figures, tables or images in total are accepted. They must comply with the APA publication manual. They will be located at the end of the text, one per page, after the references; numbered successively in order of appearance. Indicate within the text where they should be located. Sources must be cited if the materials have been previously published.

Images and/or photographs: If it is necessary to include images and/or photographs in the manuscript, they must be presented in grayscale and delivered in separate documents in JPG, TIFF or EPS formats with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.

Author’s Statements. This is a separate document in which the sources of funding for the study and the existence or non-existence of possible conflicts of interest are expressly stated. All conflicts of interest are important, especially funding from industries such as pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol. It is important to emphasize that the existence of conflicts of interest does not affect the possibilities of publication of the manuscript, as long as they are declared transparently during the publication process. Include in this document:

  • Sources of funding (mandatory)
  • Conflicts of interest (mandatory)
  • Acknowledgments (optional)

b) Format for citations, references, tables and figures

RIIAD requests adherence to the format for citations, references, tables and figures of the current American Psychological Association (APA); which is found in the APA’s 7th edition publication manual. The recommendations and guidelines for citations, references, tables and figures can be found in their basic form at the following link: apastyle.apa.org.

c) ORCID for authors

For all submissions, RIIAD requests that all authors of a manuscript place their ORCID identification number. Authors of the manuscript who do not have this identifier number must create it and place it so that the manuscript can be considered for publication.

d) Graphic Abstract (Optional)

We strongly encourage the creation and submission of a graphic abstract to accompany your manuscript. This visual representation will significantly enhance the visibility and citation potential of your work within the broader scientific community.

The graphic abstract should adhere to the following specifications:

  • Minimum dimensions of 531 pixels in height by 1328 pixels in width, ensuring that all elements are clearly discernible without the need for magnification.
  • Please submit your graphic abstract as a separate file in one of the following accepted formats: TIFF, EPS, JPG, or PDF.

4.2. Submit your manuscript

To verify that the authors have all the necessary documents to submit their manuscript, we provide the following checklist. We kindly invite all those interested in publishing their manuscript in RIIAD to use this list to verify that their submission includes all the requested documents:

a) Document Description Check with "X" if document is already available
Copyright Assignment Form

Sure, here is the most precise translation of the instructions you provided:

It is a document signed by the corresponding author or first author on behalf of all authors, including the names and emails of all. With this document, the authors affirm that the manuscript has not been published before anywhere else, regardless of the language (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a lecture or degree thesis), nor is it currently in the process of publication or review in another journal. It is implied that all authors approve the presented version of the manuscript and that it has the approval of the authorities of the institutions where the research was carried out. By transferring rights to RIIAD, they acknowledge that the article may not be translated or reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief. It is sent in PDF format. You can find the required format here: Copyright Transfer Format.

 
Cover Letter Document addressed to the Editor of the Journal, signed by the corresponding author or first author. Mention the following aspects: a) originality of the work, b) what is its contribution to the study of addictions and c) reason why it is considered that the journal is the most suitable for the dissemination of the findings found. Although it is not mandatory, it is recommended to include at least two possible external reviewers who are experts in the subject and can give an adequate assessment of the work submitted. It is delivered in PDF format.  
Cover Page
  • Title (in Spanish and English), concise and informative, avoiding abbreviations and formulas.
  • Short title in the language of the manuscript, with a maximum of 50 characters.
  • Authors and affiliations, indicating full name(s) and surname(s) of all authors (mandatory) and their ORCID identification number (mandatory), along with their affiliations, indicating them differentiated with superscript number immediately after the author’s name, register the complete affiliation, including the country of origin. Job positions or occupations, current or past, should not be included. Only those who have contributed substantially to: the conception and design of the research, analysis and interpretation of data and in the writing and critical review of the manuscript should be considered as authors.
  • Contact details of the corresponding author, author to whom correspondence will be addressed during the review, correction and publication of the manuscript, as well as clarifications after publication, considering full telephone number (including country and region codes), in addition to email address.
  • Word count of the summary, abstract, number of keywords and keywords, body of the text and number of tables and figures.
 
Manuscript

Authors should follow RIIAD’s guidelines for manuscript writing, named sections and ethical specifications. Also, they must respect the publication standards of the American Psychological Association (APA):

  1. Use Times New Roman font at 12 points, double space, 2.5 cm margins, letter size sheet; saved in “.docx” extension.
  2. Avoid the use of bold in the text and in the references.
  3. Written in third person.
  4. Reserve the use of italics only for words, terms or short phrases in a foreign language or of uncommon use, as well as statistical symbols.
  5. Avoid the use of footnotes.
 
Document with images and/or photographs In case it is necessary to include images and/or photographs in the manuscript, they must be presented in grayscale and delivered in separate documents in JPG, TIFF or EPS formats with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.  
Author Statements It is a document in which the sources of funding for the study, the existence or non-existence of possible conflicts of interest are expressly stated, the Declaration of AI-generated writing in scientific manuscripts and the author statement of CRediT You can find the required format here: Author Statements.