Editorial Board Section
Editorial Council. Nature and Composition: The Editorial Council is a collegial body of an advisory, strategic, and evaluative nature within the journal Hemiciclo. It is composed of researchers, academics, and scholars of broad and recognized national and international standing in the journal’s thematic areas.
The journal’s Associate Editors may serve as members of the Editorial Council or, alternatively, participate as invited guests in its meetings when appropriate.
Main Functions: The exclusive functions of the Editorial Council are as follows:
Strategic Advisory Role: To provide strategic guidance and advice to the institution responsible for the journal (ISAL) regarding the main policies and overall direction of the publication.
Editorial Performance Evaluation: To periodically assess the journal’s overall performance by analyzing its impact indicators, citation metrics, content quality, and position in relation to other journals within the same disciplinary field.
Innovation and Policies: To formulate recommendations for updates to editorial policies, develop strategies to increase international visibility, and propose technological or methodological innovations aimed at the continuous improvement of the publication.
Operating Procedures: To ensure proper follow-up of its functions, the members of the Editorial Council shall meet twice a year, either in person or virtually/online.
Editorial Committee
Definition: The Editorial Committee is the collegial scientific body of an operational and executive nature responsible for supervising the review, selection, and editing process of manuscripts submitted to Hemiciclo, ensuring their academic quality and methodological rigor.
Minimum Composition: The Editorial Committee shall consist of at least five (5) members with appropriate academic qualifications and/or proven research experience in the fields of Social Sciences, Legal Sciences, Parliamentary Law, or related disciplines.
Admission and Continuing Membership Requirements: To become and remain an active member of the Hemiciclo Editorial Committee, the following requirements must be met:
Academic Profile: Hold an undergraduate or postgraduate university degree in Law, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or related fields, and/or have a proven track record in research.
Researcher Identifier: Maintain an active and up-to-date ORCID record with its corresponding public link. Every member of the Editorial Committee shall be publicly listed on the journal’s website with their full name, formal institutional affiliation written without acronyms or abbreviations, and ORCID identifier with an active link.
Main Functions and Responsibilities: The Editorial Committee shall have the following responsibilities:
Supervision of Scientific Rigor: To actively collaborate with the Editor in monitoring and supervising peer-review processes, ensuring that all published articles have undergone an effective and academically rigorous review process.
Reviewer Management and Assignment: To propose and select external peer reviewers, both national and international, who are specialists in the subject matter of each manuscript and who shall conduct the evaluation under the double-blind peer review method.
Resolution of Review Disputes: To act as a mediation and resolution body when external reviewers issue divergent or contradictory evaluations—for example, when one reviewer recommends acceptance and another recommends rejection—and, when warranted, to appoint a third reviewer to provide a deciding assessment.
Safeguarding Ethical Integrity and Preventing Plagiarism: To support the Editor in the analysis, evaluation, and resolution of suspected cases of scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, substantial copying, redundant publication, or data manipulation, in accordance with COPE guidelines and flowcharts, which form part of these regulations.
Ensuring Human Accountability in the Use of AI: To ensure that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are used solely as technical support tools and that, under no circumstances, they replace the scientific responsibility and accountability of editors, reviewers, and authors.
Alignment with Open Science: To promote open science practices by encouraging data availability statements and transparency throughout manuscript evaluation processes.
Meeting Procedures, Decision-Making, and Technological Recordkeeping
Meeting Frequency: The Editorial Committee shall meet in ordinary session at least three (3) times per year, either in person or online, and in extraordinary session whenever required by the needs of Hemiciclo’s continuous publication workflow.
Mandatory Technological Recordkeeping: All activities of the Editorial Committee—including manuscript assignments, communications, reviewers’ reports, and acceptance or rejection decisions—shall be duly recorded in the journal’s editorial management system (Open Journal Systems - OJS) in order to ensure the traceability, transparency, and proper documentation of each stage of the editorial process.
