Author Guidelines

Attention:

As part of the submission process, we ask that each article sent to our journal generates at least two reviews by the authors. This means that, in addition to submitting their work, authors must review two articles by other researchers. Preferably, reviewers should have a doctorate. However, if this is not feasible, it is essential that the two reviews are carried out, regardless of the academic level of the reviewers.

We appreciate everyone's collaboration in guaranteeing the quality and integrity of our evaluation process.

It is strongly recommended that before submitting your article to Sigmae, you review your topic among our already published articles, because if your topic belongs to our scope, there are likely to be useful articles for your theoretical framework and discussion of the results.

Author Guidelines

• The contribution must be original and unpublished, and is not being evaluated for publication by another journal; if this is not the case, a justification should be given in "Comments for the editor". Originality is a fundamental criterion for acceptance into Sigmae Journal.
• In “Comments to the editor”, state which issue of the journal your manuscript is being submitted to. Revista Sigmae's submission platform does not provide a field to mark the issue that authors want submitted to.
  The editions of Revista Sigmae are divided into the following: regular editions (biannual, covering all areas within the scope of the journal) and themed editions (at the discretion of the journal, usually linked to a specific event or theme).
  If the submission is for a themed issue, please inform the editor clearly which event or theme the submission is for.

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism:

• Make sure that the manuscript is not considered plagiarized or self-plagiarized. A maximum of 5% similarity of text will be allowed without it being considered plagiarism.
  Plagiarism refers to the misappropriation of ideas, texts, data or results from other authors without proper citation. It is an unacceptable practice and will be strictly monitored. Authors must:
  - Always credit the sources used, including previous publications, data and works that influenced their research.
  - Use plagiarism detection tools before submission to ensure that the manuscript is free of any plagiarized content. Examples of free plagiarism detection tools: CopySpider; NoPlag; Grammarly; Copyleaks. There are others, so you can choose the one you prefer.

Self-plagiarism occurs when an author reuses significant parts of their own previous work without proper citation. To avoid this, authors should:

- Inform the journal of any previous work that may have similarities with the submitted manuscript.
- Ensure that any previously published content is properly referenced or adapted if similar information needs to be included.

• 
  Authors are responsible for the integrity and originality of their work. Sigmae Journal does not recommend the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate content, as the rewriting or generation of texts by AI can result in untrue information, plagiarism or self-plagiarism if there is no proper citation and verification. If AI was used to prepare any part of the manuscript (even a translation), this should be reported in a specific section of the manuscript (before the references). It is therefore essential to critically review the text to ensure that it does not infringe the journal's plagiarism and self-plagiarism guidelines. Some tools can be used for this, such as: Hive AI; Giant Language Model Test Room; ZeroGPT; Detector Content at Scale. There are others, so you can use the one you prefer.
• A finding of plagiarism or self-plagiarism or AI generation will result in the article not being accepted. In addition, authors may face sanctions, including being banned from submitting future work to the journal.

Formatting guidelines:

• Manuscript language:          English (recommended), Portuguese (allowed), Spanish (allowed).

Note: For submissions from 01/01/2025 onwards, all articles that will be published in Sigmae must contain the Portuguese/Spanish version of the article (if the authors choose these languages) and the English version of the article.
The entire process (submission, peer review, correction and evaluation of corrections) can be done with the Portuguese or Spanish version and the authors will be responsible for sending the final version in English as well.
If the authors choose to submit the article in English, it is not necessary to have the version in another language and the entire editorial flow will continue with the English version.

Sigmae is not responsible for the translation of the article.

• Page format: A4. Margins: left, right, top, and bottom 2.5 cm.
• Allowed formats:Tex (recommended); Microsoft Word or OpenOffice (allowed) (documents need to be editable, so .pdf alone is not allowed). The maximum file size supported by the platform is 2 MB.

Note: When in tex format, make sure you send all the source files (text, images, tables) zipped up in a .zip or .rar file.

• Extension: No page limit. (Note: File size/weight may be restricted for extreme cases.).
• Title and subtitle: Times New Roman font, size 14, bold and centered. They must be separated from each other by two points. (Eg: Title:subtitle)

• Authors: Your manuscript must come without the authors' names or any other identifying marks to guarantee blind peer review. The names of the authors, identification of the corresponding author, e-mail address of the corresponding author and their affiliations must be added in a separate file, click here to download the template.
• Authors and affiliation (when finalized the review): For authors name:Times New Roman font, size 12, centralized. First Name, abbreviation of other name(s), Last Name (Eg: José, A.B. Fulano). Authors' names should be separated by commas. The corresponding author should be marked with a superscript dagger (Eg: José, A.B. Fulanoꜛ). Affiliation of the authors is called by centralized notes (superscript numbers) and just below the names, with Times New Roman font, size 10, italic, justified. The affiliation of the authors should be described with 3 levels, in descending order, followed by the name of the city, state and country. Example: [University or Institution; Center or Faculty or Institute; Department or Graduate Program; City - State, Country]. E-mail from the corresponding author called by footnote, with Times New Roman font, size 10, in red.

• Note: Remember to link your ORCiD at submission.
  The ORCiD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a free, non-proprietary alphanumeric code (16 digits separated into groups of four by hyphens: 0000-0000-0000-000X) non-proprietary free of charge to identify researchers and contributors of academic research and avoid misunderstandings with people with identical or similar names, cultural inconsistencies due to spelling and inconsistencies due to changes in names (as occurs after marriage, for example), as well as allowing them to observe their academic production and follow their evolution and history as a researcher, with information that they themselves decide whether or not to share. Register for free on ORCiD.

• Abstract: Times New Roman font size 10, italic,  justified. Articles should be accompanied by abstracts consisting of a single paragraph in Portuguese or Spanish or English (depending on the language of the text), with about 150 to 250 words; up to five keywords separated by semicolons and ending by a dot. Abstract in English (if the text is in Portuguese or Spanish, containing 150 to 250 words; five keywords separated by semicolons and ending by a dot, in Times New Roman font, size 10, italic. 

Note: if the text is in Portuguese or Spanish, the abstract must be in the respective language, followed by the title and abstract in English.  If the text is in English, the abstract must be in English only. 

• Body of work: Times New Roman font size 12, justified, with single line spacing. Paragraph: should be indented 1.25 cm to the left. Text formatted in only 1 column.

The titles and subtitles of the sections, subsections and sub-subsections can have any name the author(s) wishes. Section headings should be highlighted as follows:
Primary section (or section): Times New Roman font, size 14, bold, only the first letter capitalized, aligned to the left.
Secondary section (or subsection): Times New Roman font, size 12, bold, italics, first capital letter only, flush left.
Tertiary section (or sub-subsection): Times New Roman font, size 12, bold, first capital letter only, flush left.

• Illustrations: They must have titles in Times New Roman font, size 12, centralized, in the same language as the whole text. The identification appears in the uper part preceded by the designation word (Diagrams, Graphs, Photographs, Pictures, Figures, etc.), followed by their occurrence number in the text (Arabic numerals), colon, and its title. The source indication appears at the bottom even if it is from the author's own production, in Times New Roman font, size 12, centralized, following Author (date) citation. 

Note:Make sure that the figures are inserted in the text, not at the end of the document as annexes.

Note: Make sure that all figures are cited in the text. If it is not cited in the text, it will be placed as an appendix.

Example: 

Figure 1: Title of figure 1. (in the same language as the whole text)

<Image here>

Source: Google images (20xx). OR from the authors (20xx). (in the same language as the whole text)

Legend: xxxx (if any) (in the same language as the whole)

Note: Remember to send a graphical abstract of your article (see how to make a graphic summary here), to be the cover when it is published OR to indicate in the “Comments to the Editor” which picture you would like to be your cover. The graphical abstract or cover image must be in .png or .jpeg format.

• Tables: Times New Roman font size 12, centralized, in the same language as the whole text. The identification appears at the top, preceded by the designation word (Table), followed by its occurrence number in the text (Arabic numerals), colon and its title. The source indication appears at the bottom even if it is from the author's own production, in Times New Roman font, size 12, left-aligned, following Author (date) citation. 

Note:Make sure that the tables are inserted in the text, not at the end of the document as annexes.

Note: Make sure that all tables are cited in the text. If it is not cited in the text, it will be placed as an appendix.

Example: 

Table 1: Title of table 1. (in the same language as the whole text)

<table here>

Source: from authors (20xx). (in the same language as the whole text)

Legend:xxxx (if any). (in the same language as the whole text)

• Equations: equations must be inserted into the text in such a way that they are editable (equations as images are not allowed); they must be centered, detached from the text and in italics.
• References and citations: References must be typed in Times New Roman font, size 12, left-aligned, single-spaced, and separated by a blank space. They must be presented in alphabetical order and contain all the necessary data for their identification, including URLs when possible, according to the norms NBR 6023: 2018. Citations should follow NBR 10520: 2023 using the Author (date) system. [Example: For beginning or middle of text use Author (20xx) OR for end of text use (Author, 20xx)].

Notes: should be reduced to the minimum necessary and presented at the end of the text numbered sequentially.

• Recommendations: The following ABNT standards are recommended:

NRB 5892: 2019 - Standard for Dating;
NBR 6022: 2018 - Article in periodical print publication;
NBR 6023: 2018 - References;
NBR 6024: 2012 - Progressive numbering of sections of a written document;
NBR 6028: 2021 - Abstract;
NBR 10520: 2023 - Citations in documents.

• Manuscript template:
  Click here to download the Tex Template (recommended).
  Click here to download the Word Template (allowed).
• Authorship Letter Template            Click here to download the Authorship Letter Template. Remember to indicate only 1 author as the correspondence author.

Graphical abstract:

This is a figure that will present the main conclusions of your article, presenting the content of the article to readers in a visual way, so that they grasp the essence of the work and understand it, quickly, clearly and objectively.

See guidelines for preparation here.

The visual summary is recommended, but we will also accept the indication of a figure from the article itself to make up the space next to the article (article cover) in the published edition.

The graphical abstract should be inserted in a separate file from the manuscript, in .png ou .jpeg or the figure should be indicated in the “comment to the editor” field.