Information For Authors

If you are interested in publishing with Cálamo, we invite you to review the guidelines for authors provided below. Authors must register with the magazine to submit their articles, reviews, or interviews. If you are already registered, you can log in and begin the process.

Regarding Papers and Essays Eligible for Publication

The journal issues two calls for contributions per year proposing a central theme, and it welcomes contributions on various topics throughout the year: essays and research articles that contribute to the understanding and analysis of law. It also accepts interdisciplinary studies that demonstrate the connections of this discipline with the broader social context, including Philosophy, Sociology, Political Theory, and Constitutional Theory, among other social sciences.

Papers and essays may focus on a single country in the region or multiple countries, including comparative studies. Although Cálamo particularly welcomes texts about Latin America, it is not limited to this region.

Papers and essays must be original and unpublished, which implies that at the time of submission, the text has not been submitted to another journal or editorial body for evaluation and publication, nor has it been published in any format, physical or digital.

About Authorship and Rights

Authors retain their copyright and grant Cálamo magazine unlimited rights, indefinitely, to include their text in the corresponding issue of the magazine, to display it, and distribute it in its printed and virtual formats, nationally and internationally. The magazine allows self-archiving of both the pre-print and post-print versions, as well as the final version.

Academic Integrity

Submission of any article or essay for publication in Cálamo implies acceptance of the terms included in the editorial policy and adherence to Cálamo's code of ethics. We place special emphasis on the academic honesty expected from those submitting their articles and essays. Therefore, we request careful citation and use of materials, research, and publications from other authors, as well as accurate acknowledgment of authorship, co-authorship, and various contributions to the submitted texts (see authorship criteria in the editorial policy).

The editorial team of the journal will verify the content of all submitted texts for publication using a plagiarism prevention program.

Submission of Articles, Essays, Reviews and Interviews

Authors must register on the website and fill in the requested information; it is necessary to fill in all the required fields accurately. Once your user account has been created and your profile completed, you should use the article submission button. In this section, you must upload the file of the proposed text and follow the instructions, completing all the required fields.

In the case of articles and essays submitted for publication in the Dossier or Essay sections, the anonymity of the texts must be ensured. To this end, names and surnames should not be noted anywhere in the file. To remove all information from the file that could lead to identifying your identity, you should follow the following steps:

  • Microsoft Word for Windows:
  1. Go to “File”
  2. Select “Info”
  3. Click on “Check for Issues”
  4. Click on “Inspect Document”
  5. In the “Document Inspector” dialog box, select the checkboxes to choose the type of hidden content you wish to inspect.
  6. Click on “Remove All”
  7. Click on “Close”
  8. Save the document
  • Microsoft Word for MacOS:
  1. Go to “Tools”
  2. Click on “Protect Document”
  3. Select “Remove personal information from this file on save”
  4. Click on OK and save the file

Format, Style, and Citation

Before submitting their contribution, the author should verify that the format and content correspond to the Editorial Policy, citation guidelines, and style manual of the journal. Any article that does not comply with the guidelines will be returned for necessary adjustments.

Structure of Articles and Essays

Every essay or article submitted for publication must follow a clear structure in accordance with the rules applicable to these forms of academic texts. They should address an objective and/or hypothesis formulated precisely in the introduction, indicate the methodology used, and conclude with a section of conclusions that may or may not include recommendations. The development should consist of at least two sections and must visibly follow a thread in line with what is proposed in the introduction.

Review and Selection Process

The publication of articles and essays requires them to successfully pass through several evaluations and reviews. The details of these stages can be read in the editorial policy.

Dossier

The articles or essays in this section respond to the current call and are selected for their academic quality, extensive bibliographic review, solid argumentative level, and preferably for their regional and international analysis. Reflection or argumentative essays that fit the central theme of the issue and present the author's position based on a critical reading of academic literature or specific research experience are also collected. All texts in this section undergo a blind peer review process.

Requirements

  • The article must be accompanied by an abstract of at least 500 characters including spaces (cse) and not exceeding 800 cse, in Spanish and English.
  • Authors must provide five (5) to eight (8) keywords reflecting the content of the article and not repeating those in the title, in both Spanish and English. Keywords should be separated by a semicolons and begin with a capital letter.
  • The article title cannot exceed ten (10) words. The length may be extended using a subtitle. However, if the editor suggests changes, they will be applied by mutual agreement.
    The article must include an introduction, development (with relevant subdivisions), and conclusions.
  • The length of articles and essays should be between 30,000 to 50,000 cse (including footnotes and text boxes, excluding bibliography).
  • The entire article must adhere to the CHICAGO Deusto citation guidelines in author-year format, as specified in the Cálamo citation guidelines document.
  • During the editing stage, the editorial team may carry out necessary stylistic corrections.

Submit a new entry to the Dossier section.

Essay

The articles or essays in this section are also selected for their academic quality, extensive bibliographic review, solid argumentative level, and preferably for their regional and international analysis. However, they do not address the central theme of the current call but are part of the ongoing open-theme call. Reflection or argumentative essays are also collected, in which the author presents their position based on a critical reading of academic literature or specific research experience. All texts in this section undergo a blind peer review process.

Requirements

  • The article must be accompanied by an abstract of at least 500 characters including spaces (cse) and not exceeding than 800 cse, in Spanish and English.
  • Authors must provide five (5) to eight (8) keywords reflecting the content of the article and not repeating those in the title, in both Spanish and English. Keywords should be separated by semicolons and begin with a capital letter.
  • The article title cannot exceed ten (10) words. The length may be extended using a subtitle. However, if the editor suggests changes, they will be applied by mutual agreement.
    The article must include an introduction, development (with relevant subdivisions), and conclusions.
  • The length of the articles and essays should be 30,000 to 50,000 cse (including footnotes and text boxes, excluding bibliography).
  • The entire article must adhere to the CHICAGO Deusto citation guidelines in author-year format, as specified in the Cálamo citation guidelines document.
  • During the editing stage, the editorial team may carry out necessary stylistic corrections.
  • Authors must fill out and submit the author form, which includes a curriculum vitae of up to 700 cse, which will appear in the presentation of the published text.

Submit a new entry to the Essay section.

Review

Critical evaluations of books published in the last two years in Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese are published. Priority is given to reviews related to the current call.

Requirements

  • Reviews of books published in the last two (2) years are accepted.
  • They will have a length of between 5,000 and 20,000 characters including spaces (cse) (including footnotes and text boxes, and excluding bibliography).
  • They should not contain an abstract.
  • They should include: the author's last name and first name, year of publication, the title of the work, edition, publisher, and place of publication. The author's background, competence, experience, and purpose in writing the work may be indicated.
  • A high-resolution cover of the publication will be provided.
  • They must indicate how the text is organized (chapters, parts, etc.), its precise arrangement or composition; that is, how its various parts relate to and articulate with each other.
  • They must include conclusions or critical judgments, discuss the theoretical, social, political, and educational contributions and implications, and provide an overview of personal observations, summarized in general terms.
  • Authors must fill out and submit the author form, which includes a curriculum vitae of up to 700 characters including spaces (cse), which will appear in the presentation of the published text.
  •  

Submit a new entry to the Review section.

Interview

This section features interviews with legal professionals, public figures, members of citizen initiatives, and political or academic personalities linked to the legal scene. Priority is given to interviews related to the current call.

Requirements

  • Interviews conducted with academics, legal professionals, public figures, members of citizen initiatives, and political or academic personalities linked to the legal scene are accepted.
  • They will have a length of between 15,000 and 40,000 characters including spaces (cse).
  • They should not contain an abstract.
  • They should explore and discuss a topic that is the specialty of the interviewee, preferably related to the proposal of the current call, and should follow a clear thread that leads, if possible, to issuing conclusions and/or recommendations.
  • Authors must fill out and submit the author form, including a curriculum vitae of up to 700 characters including spaces (cse), as well as a brief curriculum vitae of the person interviewed. Both will be included in the publication.

Submit a new entry to the Interview section.

Privacy Statement 

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.