RESEARCHERS

Prepare scientific papers and doctoral theses

Scientific articles: recommendations for elaboration and publication

Before starting to write the results of your search, you must choose the magazine where you will present your article. Keep in mind: 

  • If you want to publish in a national or international magazine
  • The theme of the magazine
  • In what language do you want to publish?
  • The prestige of the magazine: who are the members of the editorial board and the authors who publish it
  • The magazine has peer review, impact factor or other quality indicators
  • The criteria for revising the articles: the acceptance rate
  • The interval of publication of articles between acceptance and publication
  • The visibility of the magazine
  • If the magazine is ofopen access or subscription
  • The economic cost for the authors and / or the institution
  • The rights to reuse the articles
  • The frequency of publication
  • The recommendations of other researchers

If you do not know where to publish the article, consult:

Once selected the magazine where you will present your article, follow the instructions by the authors. Instructions may vary in the titles of the same publisher.

 

Detect predatory magazines

 

Mirror Meurnas a

  • New magazines published by the same publisher in open access and which also have the paid version.
  • The open access version differs from the subscription version in its separate ISSN and an X at the end of the title. 
  • You can expand the information on the website of the University of Stirling

Remember that: 

  • You must certify that the article is original, that it is not in the process of being reviewed by any other journal, and that it has not been previously published.
  • If the text has been used previously for other purposes (technical reports, theses, communications, etc.), you will have to indicate 
  • It will also be necessary to declare possible conflicts of interests.
  • If the journal asks you to propose possible reviewers, they should be chosen according to the mastery of the topic of the article. It is not advisable to propose colleagues or authors from the same institution.

Identification elements of the article

 

Title

  • It must be attractive, clear and concise and describe the content of the article
  • It can be followed by a subtitle, separated by two points
  • Avoid abbreviations and acronyms

Authors

  • Identifies the authors in the most complete way and their affiliation. See the guidelines for the signature and institutional affiliation
  • All authors must have a code ORCID
  • Check the postal address, telephone number and email of the author who will receive correspondence from the reviews, the corresponding author 

Abstract

  • It must allow the reader to access the basic content of the article quickly and accurately.
  • It must be drafted in the language of the article and in English
  • The extension is determined by the magazine, usually some 250 words 
  • He has to set out the objectives, the methodology used and the most relevant results
  • At the end it includes the keywords. Some publishers indicate a maximum of 6 words and translated into English 

Data

  • The end date of the work, preceded by the place where the original was written
Keep in mind that databases index title, abstract, and keywords. They must therefore be well written and informative enough for themselves. 

Main text

The articles must follow a logical and clear order, with the following sections:

Introduction

  • Exhibition where the objective of the work is justified as well as its relation with previous works.

Materials and methods

  • It gives readers the description of the methods and techniques used.

Results

  • They should be clear, concise and relevant.

Talk

  • It presents an objective interpretation of the results data.

conclusions

  • It informs about the main achievements achieved.
  • They should not be an extension of the summary or the discussion.

Acknowledgments / Acknowledgments

  • It is the section where the work carried out by a person who has contributed in the work is clearly recognized and can not be recognized as an author.
  • It is recommended to always include the financing entity and the project number if the publication comes from a funded project. 
  • Example of writing: Acknowledgments: This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research projects AAAXXX-28033-C03-01, XXXXXXX, and by the Generalitat de Catalunya through the research project 20XX-XXXX.

Illustrations and tables

  • The tables must be listed and contain appropriate titles.
  • The photographs, graphs, diagrams, maps, etc. They should be listed and accompanied by an enlightening text.
  • The authors are responsible for obtaining permission to make third-party images public. See the section on right of reproduction of the Intellectual Property Service.

REFERENCES 

  • List all the sources of information you have used during the preparation of the article, following the guidelines
  • Consultation how to cite documents according to the UNE-ISO 690 standard 
  • If you use ZoteroMendeley, you can import all the references of the articles consulted
For more information on the style of the text, consult the writing resources of the UPC Language ​​and Terminology Service.

Review the contract you signed with the publisher carefully. If you give exclusive rights to exploitation you will not be able to make the article public in UPCommons or in thematic deposits (ArXiv, Repec , etc.) without the explicit authorization of the publisher.

To retain some copyright, Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine (SCAE). 

 

Doctoral theses: elaboration and publication recommendations

1. Structure and parts of the thesis: 

Doctoral theses have 4 sections with the following elements:

Preliminaries

Cover (optional)

  • It must contain: title, subtitle (if any); name and surnames of the doctoral student.
  • In the event that a paper copy is issued on the back of each volume, the title, the author's / author's name and the volume designation must appear. If the thesis is composed of more than one volume, the designation of the volume must be added, in each one of them. Example (Vol. 3 of 5 Flights.).

Main

It is the first sheet where the main data of the work appear:

  • Title of the thesis and subtitle. It is recommended to use the minimum of words, avoiding including abbreviations, acronyms, codes, symbols and formulas that are not commonly used.
  • Name of the doctoral student. In order to favor the recovery of the authorship of the thesis, it is recommended to use the Single Bibliographic Name.
  • Name and place of the institution where it is presented: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
  • Name of the director of the thesis, of the co-director, if applicable.
  • Doctorate program
  • Department, School and / or Faculty.
  • Place and date (month and year)
  • Information about the degree to be obtained: "Thesis submitted to obtain the title of Doctor / Doctor by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya".
  • Information about the copyright of the doctoral thesis: indicate the option specified in the documentation given at the time of the thesis deposit. 
  • In the event that a paper copy is issued, the total number of volumes of the work and the number of the volume considered. Example: (3 Vol. 5 Flights.)

Templates:

Errata page

  • If during defense of the thesis, errors are detected, the specifications of the 15 section must be followed: Public defense of the thesis of the Academic Regulations of doctoral studies

Abstract

  • It must allow to know the basic contents of the thesis quickly and accurately.
  • It should always be done in the language of the thesis and in English (in this case, use the abstract term), not exceeding the 4.000 characters.
  • Before or after the summary, you must include the keywords or descriptors (a maximum of 10).

Preface or prologue

  • Introductory text (before the central body) which must include the reasons why the study was carried out, the subject, the purpose and the objective, as well as the acknowledgments.

Contents / table of contents

  • It contains the titles of the main subdivisions of the thesis, the annexes and the numbers of pages where they are.
  • In the case that a paper copy is issued and the thesis contains more than one volume, each of them must carry their own abstract and also the abstract of the complete work.

List of illustrations and tables

  • The reference of the graphics, drawings and photographs, maps, sheets, tables, etc. must be indicated in separate lists.

List of abbreviations and symbols

  • If the thesis contains signs, symbols of units, abbreviations or acronyms, they must be broken down.

Glossary 

  • If the thesis contains terms that require explanation, they must be defined in the glossary. Similarly, when the term appears for the first time in the text, the definition must be included. 

Body of work or main text

Introduction

  • He must relate the thesis with prior research into the topic of study (state of the art) and present the objectives, methodology and work hypothesis.

Chapters and subchapters

  • The text must be divided into parts, chapters and / or numbered sections.
  • Each section should start on a new page.
  • In the event that a paper copy is issued, the main text must begin on the front of a sheet (front).

REFERENCES

  • To write it, see the section: how to present a bibliography.
  • The Libraries, Publications and Archives Service recommends the use of a reference manager com ZoteroMendeley.

Textual and reference quotes

  • A textual citation is copied in the same way that it is found in another document and always between "".
  • These citations must have a correlative number annotated between ().
  • At the bottom of the page you must write down the full bibliographical citation from which the comment or a sheet has been extracted at the end of the document with the "References" heading.

Annex

  • The annexes provide more detailed information, more complete explanations of the methods and techniques summarized in the text, advised readings, maps, plans, schemes, data and any other complementary information for the understanding of the work.
  • The pagination must be correlative and must follow the one of the main text.
  • Each annex must be identified with a capital letter, beginning with the letter A and preceded by the term Annex.
  • Each annex must start on a new page

Final Parts: Index / s

  • It consists of a list of meaningful words indicating the page where it is.
  • The type of index must be indicated in the title, for example: general, place name, etc.
  • In the event that a paper copy is issued and the thesis has more than one volume, the number of the page must be preceded by the volume number.

2. Writing the text

  • In accordance with the academic regulations of doctoral studies, the thesis can be drafted and defended in Catalan, Spanish or English. For more information, see the separation 10. Doctoral Thesis of the Regulations.
  • To make a good wording it is recommended:
  • Avoid complex phrases: be brief and concise
  • Make paragraphs of 4-8 lines or 30-80 words
  • Use punctuation marks well
  • Use a linguistic corrector
  • For more information, check the Language and Terminology Services website, Language Criteria UPC

3. Graphic design

It is advisable to use two fundamental types of letter:

  • Titles with a certain entity (chapters, sections): use a family of dry stickers such as Arial or Helvetica.
  • Minor Titles (sub-sections): for these titles and the text in general, use a Roman letter, such as the Times.

As regards the size below, a scale distributed according to the level of information is proposed

 

Division Letter Cart Treatment
Title of the work     Arial 18 Bold
Chapter     Arial 14 Bold
Move over         Arial 12 Bold
Subparted 1     Times 11 Bold
Subparted 2     Times 11 Italics
Main text       Times 11 Round
Dedication, motto, index    Times 10 Round
Table or figure title     Arial 9 Bold
Table or figure text     Times 9 Round
Credits page     Times 9 Round
Footnote     Times 8 Round

 

4. Margins and paragraphs 

  • Line spacing: it is recommended to use 1'5 lines to facilitate an agile reading.
  • Margins for DIN A4: upper 20 mm; lower 25 mm; left 25 mm; right 20 mm.

5. Incorporation into the work dissertation previously published

  • If the thesis includes a work (s) previously published (journal article, communication in congress, book chapter, etc.), the rights of the publisher must be respected.
  • If the publications have been subject to an expert review process ("peer review") And the holder of the exploitation rights allows public communication in an institutional repository, the copy provided will be that of the specific version that the owner allows to communicate publicly:"Postprint (author's final draft)"Or"Postprint (published version)".
  • For theses published by compendium of publications, consult the section: Thesis as a compendium of publications
  • For any questions, contact info.biblioteques@upc. Edu

6. Presentation and deposit

When submitting the thesis deposit to the managing unit of the Doctoral Program, you must submit a copy in digital format (pdf) according to the established guidelines . Keep in mind the following criteria:

Security

  • The delivered file that can be hosted in the TDX and UPCommons should not have any technological protection.

Number and length

  • In case the thesis exceeds 50 Mb, it is recommended to fragment it in different files and to respect the homogeneity of the chapters. In this case, each file must contain the cover of the thesis. 

The thesis for compendium of publications is a modality of a specific doctoral thesis, as it compiles the 10.2 section of the Academic regulations for doctoral studies. For this modality, each doctoral program has one own specific regulations with specific indications on co-authorship and permits, valid period for the publication of articles, indicators that guarantee the quality of the publication, etc. 

At the time of publishing the thesis by compendium to the institutional repositories TDX i UPCommons , the Library, Publications and Archives Service ensures that the rights of exploitation of publishers who have made public the articles or communications that are part of the thesis per compendium are respected.
 
For any questions, contact info.bibliotequesArrova upc.edu.

The incorporation of an article published in a journal in the doctoral thesis (normal format or by compendium of articles), must always respect the publication contract between the publisher and the authors of the article. Only if the contract establishes it, will it be possible to incorporate the version of the article published by the publisher and / or follow some specific conditions: recognition, citation, incorporation of the DOI, etc. Information regarding the rights is also present in the version of the article published by the magazine and on the websites of the publishers.

To resolve any questions about the rights of a publication, you can contact the Library, Publications and Archives Service via e-mail (info.biblioteques@upc. Edu).

With the objective of disseminating the research results of the University, the theses read at the UPC, they are introduced to the deposits Doctoral Theses in Network (TDX) of the UPCommons as set by RD 99 / 2011. The information on the read thesis is also incorporated into Teseo.  

  • TDX is the cooperative deposit that collects the full text of the doctoral theses read at the Catalan universities and other autonomous communities. The objective is to disseminate the results of university research around the world and on the Internet by offering the authors a tool that increases the access and visibility of their work.
  • UPCommons is the institutional repository of the UPC that compiles, manages, disseminates and preserves, in open access, the teaching and research production of the UPC. 
  • Teseo is the database of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, which includes the doctoral theses read at the Spanish universities.

TDX, Upcommons and Teseo favor the international visibility of the doctoral theses defended to the UPC. TDX and UPCommons offer statistics on the use of each doctoral thesis, department, etc.

When the Academic Committee has authorized the deposit of the doctoral thesis, the doctoral student must submit a copy of the thesis in pdf format to the managing unit of the doctoral program. After the defense of the thesis, the electronic copy is introduced into the deposits TDX and UPCommons.  

The theses read from the XNUMX of February of XNUMX are published in open access to TDX and UPCommons.

In cases where:

  • The thesis has confidential aspects: the deposit and publication is done according to the terms of confidentiality indicated by the academic Commission. 
  • the doctoral student has prepared the thesis by compendium of publications or has signed a contract with an editorial ceding the exploitation rights of an article: he must inform the academic Commission of the doctoral program at the time of doing the deposit of the thesis. The articles that form part of the thesis are published respecting the rights assigned to the publishers. 

For the theses read before XNUMX of February of XNUMX the publication a TDX and UPCommons It is voluntary but highly recommended. The dissertation contract of the doctoral thesis must be completed and signed.

When the Library, Publications and Archives Service does not have the electronic version of the thesis, it digitizes the copy deposited in the University Archive.

Theses hosted at TDX and UPCommons correspond to the original versions deposited in the Doctorate School at the time prior to reading, without subsequent modifications.


Last update: 14 / 12 / 2022