Review process

The manuscript review process consists of two phases. The first phase is conducted by the editorial team within a maximum of three months, with articles evaluated in the order they are received. This phase includes reviewing formal aspects (format, bibliographic references, plagiarism detection) and ensuring the article aligns with the stated scope and focus criteria. In this phase, the article may be rejected, returned for modifications, or sent directly for external review. The outcome of this evaluation will be communicated to the corresponding author via the journal’s digital platform.

In the second evaluation phase, manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed sections undergo double-blind peer review, maintaining the anonymity of both authors and reviewers. The reviewers are experts in the relevant field, either national or international, and mostly external to Facultad de Derecho at Universidad Católica del Uruguay. This phase typically takes an average of six months.

During this time, each article is sent to two subject matter experts, who have one month to submit their report. Reviewers follow the evaluation form guidelines and may provide contributions, suggestions, and recommendations directly on the manuscript in review format. Reviewers can: a) recommend the article for publication; b) recommend publication after certain changes are made; or c) not recommend the article for publication, providing reasons for their decision.

Articles receiving two negative reviews will be rejected. The Editorial Team can appoint a third reviewer if two reports are conflicting, without prior notice to the author.

For articles with suggested revisions, the scientific editor will organize and send these to the authors for incorporation within a maximum of 20 days. Depending on the nature of the suggestions, reviewers may indicate that the revised version requires another review for final acceptance. If the authors disagree with a reviewer’s comments, they must explain their reasons to the Editorial Team, which will assess the justification and may appoint a third reviewer to resolve the matter if deemed necessary. The scientific editor is responsible for the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of articles. This decision is final.

Once the final version of the article is accepted for publication, the journal’s technical team handles the editing and layout of the article and, if necessary, communicates with the authors to make adjustments before publication.

The rejection rate for 2023 was 63 %.