About the Journal

Focus and Scope

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the School of Architecture of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, since 1999. The journal specializes in the critical, historical and theoretical study of architecture, landscape architecture, industrial design, urbanism, and art as studied from multiple vantage points. It is published three times a year and its goal is to disseminate knowledge on these topics and, therefore, it is aimed towards a wide audience including students, architects, philosophers, town planners, designers, artists, historians, critics and theorists of art architecture, and social sciences, as well as any other person interested in the themes addressed in the Journal.

Peer Review Process

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA requests original unpublished research to be submitted to a double-blind peer review. The editorial board will review the essays and forward them to two experts in the specific field of the proposed topic.

For the election of the reviewers, experts external to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and of different academic circles from those of the author will be prioritized to ensure anonymity. The criteria for evaluation are based, solely, on the thematic relevance, originality, contribution, clarity and importance of the work. To determine this, the reviewers will be required to give a numerical rating (from 1 to 5) for each of the mentioned subjects.

Proposals may be accepted, accepted with revisions, or declined.

Accepted (to be published without modifications)
Accepted with revisions (subject to the resubmission of the text)
Rejected (with arguments supporting this decision)

The journal guarantees the confidentiality of the evaluation process and the anonymity of reviewers, authors and content at all times. In accepting and agreeing to the terms set by the journal, authors must ensure that essays and related material are original and that all permissions and copyrights have been secured.

If an article gets two positive evaluations, it may be published as long as its contents are compatible with the timing, editorial and topical guidelines of the journal at the time. The acceptance of an evaluated and approved submission does not imply its immediate publication. BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA reserves the final decision for publication, as well as the volume in which the accepted originals will be published.

If the decisions were accepted with revisions and, therefore, subject to resubmission, the author must attend the observations, additions, corrections, extensions or clarifications suggested by the reviewers in the requested time frame to ensure publication. Once the article is corrected following the recommendations, it can be approved by the Editor in Chief, but if deemed necessary, it may be remitted to the same reviewers to consider it finally publishable.

Two negative decisions will cancel the possibility of publication of proposed material and deem it rejected. When an article receives a negative review and a positive one, the article will be turned to a third reviewer. The editor in chief will take the decision of acceptance or rejection of an article basing it on the reviewers’ opinions. In order to make the decision the editor in chief may request a greater number of evaluations.

The resulting decision will be communicated to the author. Communication includes the commentaries, suggestions and observations of reviewers. The content of the communication is confidential, for internal use of the journal and author.

In the event of a conflict, complaint or disagreement on the part of the author regarding the final result of the evaluation process, it will be the function of the editorial board to attend and resolve each case.

Publication Frequency

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA is published three times a year, every four months

Open Access Policy

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA offers free access to its content on the principle that making available to the public freely encourages a greater exchange of global knowledge. Therefore, its complete and updated content is available online in the OJS system of UNAM: www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA does not charge fees for the submission of works, or the publication of its articles, it is free from the moment of publication of each issue. Users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link the full texts of the articles published in this magazine, always citing the author and the source, according to the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, which allows the user free and open access. These criteria comply with the Open Access definition of the Budapest Initiative for Open Access.

(https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read)

From 2006, The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México adhered to the Berlin Declaration, and promotes Open Access to all digital content published by academic entities and university dependencies, as well as any other resource for which the university is responsible and for which it owns the copyrights or authorization of their respective authors.

Editorial Process

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA requests original unpublished research to be submitted to a double-blind peer review. The Editorial Board will review the essays and forward them to two experts in the specific field of the proposed topic. Proposals may be accepted, accepted with revisions, or declined. The criteria for evaluation are based, solely, on the thematic relevance, originality, contribution, clarity and importance of the work. The journal guarantees the confidentiality of the evaluation process and the anonymity of reviewers, authors and content at all times.
Before the peer review process, originals will undergo a preliminary evaluation by the editors to ensure that the texts comply with the instructions for authors and that it is appropriate for the subject and scope of the journal; they will also be put through a plagiarism detection software (iThenticate).

After the review, the editors will communicate the results of the evaluation to the authors to let them know the arguments for rejection or to request changes to fit the requirements for publication.

Once the original is approved for publication and the requirements are met, the complementary material will be reviewed (images and reproduction permits). It is the duty of the author to substitute any material that doesn’t fit the print quality requirements.

The texts will be reviewed by a proofreader specialized in the corresponding language. Authors are required to give their approval on the copy edited text and the final design version. Major modifications to the text during the editorial design process will not be accepted in any case.

The editors may request changes to the authors, in the title, the text or the images in order to respect the editorial design and to present a unified, congruent and easy to read issue.

Authors must grant copyrights permissions so their articles can be edited and published in the journal, be it on paper or in electronic media or any other technology with exclusively scientific and cultural nonprofit purposes. By submitting an article, it will be understood that the author is thereby agreeing. However, the author maintains her or his copyrights and is free to publish it in another media on the condition that she or he mentions that it was originally published in this journal.

Note: BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA makes use of all the tools and means at its disposal to find the copyright holders for the images published in our issues. In some cases this was not possible, therefore we kindly ask them to contact the journal.

Ethics and Malpractice Statement

BITACORA ARQUITECTURA subscribes to the code of conduct (http://goo.gl/aWy7WX) for the performance of actors involved in the publication process of this journal (editors, editorial board, authors and reviewers) established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and available at publicationethics.org

Responsibilities or conduct of the Editorial Board

Description of the peer review process is defined and made public by the Editorial Board of the journal, so that authors know what evaluation criteria will be used.
The Editorial Board will readily solve any controversies that may arise during the peer-review process.

Responsibilities or conduct of the Editor

The editor takes full responsibility to duly inform the author(s) the editorial phase in which his/her/their piece is, as well as to communicate all decisions regarding their (submitted) work.
The editor is responsible for all materials published in the journal. She will endeavor to satisfy the needs of the readership and of authors, to constantly enhance the quality and impact of the journal, as well as to boost academic and scientific standards.
The editor will be ready to publish amendments, clarifications, retractions and apologies whenever necessary.
The editor’s decision to accept or reject a paper for publication will be solely based on the article’s relevance, originality, clarity and pertinence vis-à-vis the journal’s profile.
The editor will be committed to guaranteeing confidentiality during the process of evaluation.
The editor will make a copy of the article received in a new document without the author's name, nor any reference that could compromise the author's anonymity during the review. Likewise, she will give the author the results of the peer-review and the comments of the reviewers in an independent text without any references or indications that may reveal the identity of the reviewer.
After the peer-review when an article is accepted for publication by the reviewers, the editor will be in charge of deciding which articles will be included in the journal.
The editor will review all materials and their contents disregarding the author(s)’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origins, nationality, or political philosophy.
The editor and the editorial staff will not disclose any information regarding any text submitted to the journal, to anyone except the author of the text, the peer-reviewers, the potential reviewers or other editorial advisors.
Unpublished materials submitted to the journal will not be used in the personal academic work of the editor or of members of the editorial staff except when there is explicit written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained via peer-reviewing will be confidential and not used for personal advantage. The editor will make fair and impartial decisions and will assure an appropriate and just peer-review process.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must guarantee that their texts are product of their original effort and the information was obtained in an ethical manner. Further, they must assure their texts have not been previously published or are not being presently considered by another publication. An article will be deemed previously published in any of the following circumstances:

When the full text has been published elsewhere.
When extensive parts of previously published work are part of the text sent to the journal.
When the text submitted to the journal is an extended version of the contents of records of Conferences or other such instances (40% or more of the submitted text contents).

These criteria apply to previous publications both in electronic or written form, and in any language.

In order for their articles to be published, authors must strictly comply with the instructions for authors.
Each document must include sufficient information and references to allow other persons’ use of the material. Fraudulent or deliberately imprecise statements are considered unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Authors must guarantee that they have written the original papers in whole and, if and when the work or words of others have been used, these must be duly referenced. Plagiarism, in all its forms, constitutes an unethical editorial conduct, and is unacceptable. In consequence, any article incurring in plagiarism will be eliminated and not considered for publication.
In general terms, an author should not publish texts that basically describe the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submission of the same text to more than one journal is an unethical behavior and publishing becomes inadmissible.
Sources used must be adequately registered. Authors must cite all publications that have influenced the nature of the submitted work. Private information obtained through conversations, personal written exchange, or discussions with third parties, should not be used except with explicit written authorization by the source.
Authorship should be limited to those who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, implementation or interpretation of the subject matter. All who fall in this category should sign as co-authors. The main author(s) must assure all co-authors are included in the article, and that all have read and approved the paper’s final version, and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Authors must note, in their article, any conflict of funding or of interest that may have an influence upon results or interpretation of the research presented in the text. All sources of financial support (and/or of institutional backing) for the project’s implementation should be revealed.
When an author discovers an error or meaningful inaccuracy in his/her published article, it is his/her duty to immediately notify the editor and to collaborate with her to correct or rectify it.

Responsibilities of the Reviewers

Reviewers agree to report any unethical conduct incurred by authors, and to note all information that justifies rejection of publication. Further, they must agree to maintain confidentiality regarding all information surrounding the materials they evaluate.
In order to proceed with the reviewing process, reviewers must follow guidelines provided by the editor or the editorial staff.
All selected reviewers must notify the editor, as soon as possible, if they consider themselves unqualified to review the text provided, or if he/she will not be available to perform said task.
Any documents received for review must be treated confidentially. It must not be shown to other experts, nor discussed with them, except if under explicit authorization by the editors.
Reviewers must be objective. All personal criticism towards the author(s) is inadequate. Reviewers must express their points of view with clarity and by means of valid arguments.
All privileged information or ideas obtained through the reviewing process must be confidential and will not be used towards personal advancement.
Reviewers must not engage in the revision of texts in which they have a conflict of interests.

Included in the following indexes, catalogues and data bases

Índice de Revistas Mexicanas de Divulgación Científica y Tecnológica del Conacyt
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Latindex
Ulrichsweb
Periodica
EBSCO

Sections

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA currently contains three main sections: research articles, essays and reviews. Additionally, it includes an editorial and a section dedicated to book reviews.

The research articles must present information that contributes to the conversation on the topics of studied disciplines from a critical perspective. They must provide scholarly sources.

The texts that are identified as essays can have a more personal or reflective character, without losing its academic quality and degree of contribution to the field.

Reviews must be critical in nature, in addition to being descriptive, and can be written about architectural or artistic works, exhibitions, books (when the extension and the depth of the analysis wouldn’t allow its inclusion in the book review section), or about any other event, cultural happening or media, related to the studied disciplines.

The book reviews are short texts that analyze the complete content, the relevance, the degree of contribution, and the editorial design of relevant publications for the studied disciplines with the objective of keeping the readers updated with the recent investigations.

Publication Formats

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA online journal is available under the Open Access policy in the Open Journal System of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México on the website: www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/bitacora

ISSN-e: 2594-0856.

It is also published in printed form with a print run of 1000 copies for direct sales and subscriptions, ISSN: 14058901.

It has an annual subscription to the print version, with national and international shipments. Subscription information is provided in the journal’s emails: bitacoraunam@gmail.com or bitacora.arquitectura@unam.mx

Functions and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The editorial board of the journal BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA is the highest decision-making body and constantly supports the editorial team. It is made up of a group of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, communicators, national and international academics and researchers with recognized trajectories in the fields covered by the journal, in their professional practice or as researchers, and with a recognizable experience in scientific dissemination.

The members of the committee ensure compliance with the journal's objectives and maintain its orientation towards a wide audience. They define their editorial policy and structure, specify the publication rules, analyze and select the articles received to ensure that they correspond to the focus of the journal.

They guide the editorial process in order to guarantee maximum scientific and technical quality according to the criteria established by indexes, databases and evaluation systems for national and international academic journals.

They propose general strategies for the improvement of the journal, with creativity, by suggesting authors and topics for the following issues and new ideas for the sections and reviews. They also recommend mechanisms to increase the scope of the publication, ensuring at all times that the scientific language is presented clearly to the target audience.

They are considered the ambassadors of the journal, so they promote it among authors, readers and subscribers, and summon the members of the national and international academic community to send their work.

They present strategies for the promotion of the journal and its calls for papers in national and international academic media (academic directories, indexes, research networks, collegial groups, social networks, etc.).

They ensure the compliance and the quality of the peer review. They ensure that the selected works are reviewed by two specialists in the subject and that the anonymity of both the authors and the reviewers is maintained. As a collegiate body, it is responsible for responding to any controversy in the evaluation process.

The description of the double-blind peer review process is defined and made known by the editorial board so that the authors know what the evaluation criteria are. The editorial board will always be willing to settle any controversy in the evaluation process.

Sources of Support

We appreciate the support of Índice de Revistas Mexicanos de Divulgación Científica y Tecnológica del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (México).

Conacyt

Journal History

BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the School of Architecture of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, since 1999. Its founding editor is Juan Ignacio del Cueto Ruiz-Funes.

Since its first issue, BITÁCORA ARQUITECTURA aspired to be a publication of quality, plural and dynamic, of broad criteria, but always rigorous. Its vocation was to become the vehicle of expression of the different disciplines taught in the School of Architecture at the UNAM: architecture, industrial design, landscape architecture and urbanism, as well as a forum for discussion and analysis to encourage constructive criticism, so necessary - and so scarce - nowadays.