Author Guidelines

Submission Process

Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the journal’s official platforms:

• UNAH Journals Portal (National Autonomous University of Honduras): https://revistas.unah.edu.hn/index.php/PC
• CAMJOL (Central American Journals Online): https://www.camjol.info/index.php/PC

Manuscripts submitted by email or through any means other than the official editorial management platforms will not be accepted.

The corresponding author must register on one of the platforms, complete the required information, and upload all necessary files to initiate the editorial process.

During submission, authors must provide:

• Manuscript title in Spanish and English.
• Abstract and keywords in both languages.
• Full name, institutional affiliation, email address, and ORCID iD of all authors.
• The main manuscript file prepared according to the journal’s official template.
• Figures, tables, and supplementary material, when applicable.
• A cover letter addressed to the Editorial Board.

The journal provides two official templates for manuscript preparation:

• Microsoft Word Template: Available here.
• LaTeX Template: Available here.

All authors must be registered from the time of the initial submission. Any modification to the authorship list during the editorial process must be properly justified and will be evaluated by the Editorial Board.

Once the submission is completed, the corresponding author will receive an acknowledgment of receipt that will allow tracking of the editorial process.

 

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts must be written clearly, accurately, and coherently, using appropriate scientific language and following the journal’s editorial guidelines.

Authors may prepare their manuscripts using either of the official templates Microsoft Word and LaTeX.

Authors are encouraged to maintain the structure and formatting established in the selected template and to avoid substantial modifications to the journal’s editorial design.

The excessive use of abbreviations should be avoided. When an abbreviation, acronym, or initialism appears for the first time in the text, it must be defined.

Scientific names must be written in accordance with the international nomenclature standards applicable to each discipline.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the grammatical, spelling, and scientific accuracy of the manuscript before submission.

 

Manuscript Structure

The structure of the manuscript may vary slightly depending on the type of contribution; however, original research articles should include, at a minimum, the following sections:

Title

The title should clearly and accurately describe the content of the work. It should be informative, concise, and reflect the main aspects of the research. The use of abbreviations, uncommon acronyms, and ambiguous expressions should be avoided. All manuscripts must include the title in both Spanish and English.

Authors and Affiliations

The full names of all authors, institutional affiliations, city, country, email address, and ORCID iD must be provided. The affiliation should correspond to the institution where the research was conducted. One author must be designated as the corresponding author.

Abstract

The abstract must be presented as a single paragraph and should not exceed 350 words. It should concisely describe the research context, objectives, methodology, principal results, and most relevant conclusions. The abstract should not contain bibliographic citations, tables, figures, or uncommon abbreviations. All manuscripts must include an abstract in both Spanish and English.

Keywords

Authors must provide between three and eight keywords in both Spanish and English. These should represent the main topics, concepts, methodologies, or research areas addressed in the manuscript and facilitate indexing in scientific databases.

Introduction

The Introduction should provide the scientific background necessary to understand the research problem. It should include relevant literature, the current state of knowledge, the rationale for the study, and the objectives or hypotheses being investigated.

Materials and Methods

This section must clearly and thoroughly describe the materials, equipment, organisms, software, databases, and procedures used in the research. The methodological description should be sufficiently detailed to allow reproducibility of the study. Authors should specify the experimental design, sample selection criteria, analytical procedures, statistical methods, and any applicable ethical considerations.

Results

The Results section should present the principal findings of the study clearly and objectively. Results may be presented using text, tables, figures, or a combination of these elements, avoiding unnecessary duplication of information.

Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the results in relation to the study objectives and hypotheses, highlighting their scientific significance and comparing them with previous studies when appropriate. Authors should also discuss the strengths and limitations of the study, the implications of the findings, and potential directions for future research.

Conclusions

The Conclusions should summarize the principal findings and contributions of the study in a clear and concise manner.

They should not include new results, bibliographic citations, or information not previously presented in the manuscript.

The manuscript structure may be adapted for review articles, scientific notes, technical articles, and book or conference reviews, provided that clarity and coherence are maintained.

 

Figures, Tables, Equations, and Supplementary Material

Figures and Tables

All figures and tables must be numbered consecutively according to their order of appearance and explicitly cited within the text.

Each figure or table must include a descriptive title or caption that allows readers to understand its content independently. Titles and explanatory information should be included in the captions rather than embedded within the images.

Figures should be submitted with sufficient quality to ensure proper reproduction in the final published version. High-resolution images and formats suitable for both print and electronic publication are recommended.

Tables should be clear, concise, and should not duplicate information already presented in the text or other illustrations.

Units of measurement must conform to the International System of Units (SI).

When photographs of individuals are included, they must not permit personal identification unless explicit authorization for publication has been obtained.

Equations and Mathematical Expressions

Equations, mathematical expressions, definitions, theorems, propositions, lemmas, corollaries, and proofs must be presented using clear and consistent notation.

Equations that are referenced later in the text should be numbered consecutively. Variables, symbols, and parameters must be defined the first time they appear.

Authors using the LaTeX template should employ appropriate mathematical environments to ensure correct formatting and automatic numbering of equations and mathematical expressions.

Authors using the Microsoft Word template should use the equation editor and manually verify the numbering and cross-referencing of mathematical expressions throughout the manuscript.

When appropriate, mathematical results should be accompanied by clear and rigorous proofs.

Supplementary Material

Authors may submit supplementary files that contribute to the understanding, validation, or reproducibility of the reported results.

Supplementary material may include datasets, source code, additional images, videos, questionnaires, experimental protocols, or other resources relevant to the research.

 

References (CSE Citation–Sequence)

Portal de la Ciencia uses the CSE Citation–Sequence system (Council of Science Editors) for citations and references. This style is widely used in the natural sciences, biomedical sciences, and related disciplines because of its clarity, precision, and readability.

In the Citation–Sequence system, references are identified by Arabic numerals enclosed in square brackets and assigned according to the order in which they first appear in the manuscript. Once a number has been assigned to a source, it must be used consistently throughout the manuscript whenever that source is cited again.

In-Text Citations

References must be cited using consecutive numbers enclosed in square brackets.

Example: Various studies have demonstrated this behavior [1].

When the same source is cited again later in the manuscript, it must retain its original reference number.

Example: Similar results have been reported previously [1].

Multiple Citations

When citing several sources simultaneously, the numbers should be grouped within a single set of square brackets and separated by commas.

Example: This phenomenon has been widely documented [2,3,5].

When cited references are consecutive, a hyphen may be used to indicate the range.

Example: Similar findings have been reported previously [4-7].

Both formats may also be combined.

Example: Several studies have examined this problem [2-4,7,9].

Citations with Authors Mentioned in the Text

When an author’s name is part of the narrative, the reference number should be placed immediately after the author's name or at the end of the cited statement.

Example: García et al. [8] described an alternative analytical method.

Reference List

The reference list must appear at the end of the manuscript under the heading References.

References must:

• Be numbered using square brackets.
• Be organized according to the order of appearance in the text.
• Include only sources cited in the manuscript.
• Contain complete and verifiable bibliographic information.
• Include DOI or URL when available.

References should not be arranged alphabetically.

Reference Formats

Journal Article

General format

[n] Author(s). Article title. Journal title. Year;volume(issue):pages. DOI or URL.

Example: [1] Pérez JA, López M, Rodríguez P. Analysis of microbial diversity in tropical ecosystems. J Microbiol Res. 2023;15(2):45-58. https://doi.org/10.1234/jmr.2023.015

When an article has more than five authors, the first author may be followed by et al.

Book

General format

[n] Author(s). Book title. Edition. Publisher; year.

Example: [3] Griffiths DJ. Introduction to Electrodynamics. 4th ed. Pearson; 2013.

Book Chapter

General format

[n] Chapter author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s), editor(s). Book title. Publisher; year. p. pages.

Example: [4] Smith AB. Statistical methods in biology. In: Johnson R, editor. Modern Biological Research. Springer; 2020. p. 125-148.

Thesis or Dissertation

General format

[n] Author. Thesis title [type of document]. Institution; year. URL.

Example: [5] Hernández LM. Biodiversidad de microorganismos en ecosistemas tropicales [doctoral dissertation]. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; 2021.

Website or Online Resource

General format

[n] Author or organization. Title of resource. Responsible institution; year. URL.

Example: [6] World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance. World Health Organization; 2024. https://www.who.int

Preprint

General format

[n] Author(s). Article title [preprint]. Repository; year. DOI or URL.

Example: [7] Torres F, Castillo J. Machine learning applications in ecology [preprint]. bioRxiv; 2024. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.15.123456

Conference Presentation

General format

[n] Author(s). Presentation title. Type of presentation presented at: Event name; date; location.

Example: [8] Flores MA, Gabarrete CE. Applications of computational physics in education. Paper presented at: Central American Congress of Physics; 2023; Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Reference Management Software

The use of reference management software such as Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, JabRef, or equivalent programs is strongly recommended to ensure consistency and accuracy in citations and references.

Authors are responsible for verifying the correctness of all bibliographic information before manuscript submission.

Final Recommendations

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should verify that:

• All in-text citations are numbered and enclosed in square brackets.
• References are listed according to their first appearance in the manuscript.
• The same source always retains the same reference number.
• Every citation in the text appears in the reference list.
• No uncited references are included.
• DOI information is presented as a complete URL whenever possible (e.g., https://doi.org/...).
• Journal titles use internationally recognized abbreviations when appropriate.
• References include complete bibliographic information, including authors, title, source, year, volume, issue, pages, and DOI or URL as applicable.

For additional information about the CSE Citation–Sequence system, authors may consult the official guide:

https://www.csemanual.org/Tools/CSE-Citation-Quick-Guide.html

 

Mandatory Statements

All manuscripts accepted for publication must include the following statements, where applicable:

Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research, including funding agencies, research projects, grants, scholarships, contracts, or institutional support.

If no external funding was received, authors are encouraged to include the following statement:

"This research received no external funding."

Author Contributions

The contributions of each author must be described according to the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).

Authors are encouraged to specify contributions related to conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, original draft preparation, review and editing, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

Data Availability Statement

Authors must indicate the availability of data, materials, code, sequences, models, images, questionnaires, or supplementary files used or generated during the study.

The statement should specify whether these resources:

• Are publicly available in a repository.
• Are included as supplementary material.
• Are available upon reasonable request.
• Are subject to ethical, legal, or institutional restrictions.

Ethics Statement

Studies involving human participants, animals, biological specimens, or sensitive information must indicate the ethics committee that approved the research, including the approval number and date.

If not applicable, authors should explicitly state: "Not applicable."

Informed Consent

For studies involving human participants, authors must declare that informed consent was obtained from participants or their legal representatives.

If not applicable, authors should state: "Not applicable."

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation of the results.

If no conflicts of interest exist, the following statement should be included: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."