Stages of the Publication Process

Submission and Presentation of Manuscripts

To initiate the publication process, authors or volume editors of the work must:

1. Download and complete our Publication Form

2. Download and complete Annex I. Declaration of Responsibility
(Image and Authorship Rights).

3. For collective works, download and complete Annex II:

• Annex II.a: Transfer of Copyright in a Collective Work (up to 5 authors).
• Annex II.b. Transfer of Copyright in a Collective Work (more than 5 authors / Conference Proceedings).

4. Once all required information have been completed, submit the electronically signed PDF files (Publication Form, Annex I, and, where applicable, Annex II), along with an anonymised PDF version of the manuscript for evaluation, through the OMP platform, following the instructions provided in the OMP Manual.

To clarify any questions that may arise, UCOPress provides its Style Guide, where users can find instructions on gender equality practices, submission procedures via the platform, stages of the manuscript submission and evaluation, sustainability criteria, and style standards.

Acknowledgment of Receipt and Editorial Board Review

Once receipt of the manuscript has been acknowledged, its compliance with the Press’s guidelines will be assessed. Manuscripts submitted to UCOPress may be rejected at an initial stage following a preliminary assessment by the Editorial Board on formal grounds, such as spelling errors, lexical imprecision and unnecessary Anglicisms, poor punctuation, incoherent syntax, lack of clarity, inconsistencies, and similar issues.
For this reason, prior to submission, authors are strongly advised to carefully review linguistic and orthographic aspects, and to ensure consistency in bibliographical references and typographical conventions throughout the manuscript, particularly in the case of collective works. The same level of care is required with regard to the formal aspects described in subsequent stages.

Evaluation by Reviewers

UCOPress subjects all its publications to a rigorous double-blind peer review process (ensuring the anonymity of both authors and reviewers) in order to guarantee scientific quality of the outputs. Accordingly, once the Editorial Board has given its approval, the manuscript is sent to two independent reviewers (referees) with recognised expertise in the subject area of the work.
Reviewers are external to the Press and act independently. They are selected by the Editorial Board and/or the Director of the relevant collection to assess the suitability of the manuscript for publication and, where appropriate, to recommend any necessary revisions. A member of UCOPress acts as an intermediary between the parties. If necessary, a third reviewer may be appointed.

Review Results

Based on the reviewers’ reports, the Editorial Board will decide whether to accept or reject the manuscript and determine the collection in which it will be published.

The outcome of the evaluation process may be one of the following:

a. Acceptance
b. Acceptance subject to minor revisions
c. Major revision required
d. Rejection

The Editorial Board’s decision, together with the final evaluation report, will be communicated to the author via the OMP platform and/or by email.

Monitoring the Process

Authors may monitor the evaluation progress of their publication proposal through UCOPress’s OMP platform.

Editing and Publication Process

Once the evaluation stage has concluded and the manuscript has been accepted for publication, the author undertakes to submit the revised manuscript in an editable text format, preferably in Microsoft Word, compatible with PC and Windows, to enable budgeting and layout.

At this stage, all illustrations and graphics included in the work must also be submitted. Charts, maps, graphs, tables, figures, and other visual material must be of good quality to ensure accurate reproduction. Illustrations should be provided in .jpg or .tif format, at print resolution of 300 ppi/dpi, and submitted in a single compressed file (.zip or .rar).

Proof Correction

During the proof correction stage —in which proofs are sent to the author without the original manuscript— significant changes or additions to the text will not be accepted. Authors must return the corrected proofs within a maximum period of fifteen days.

Corrections must be made directly on the PDF file using Adobe’s annotation tools:
Highlight text > (Double click) > Add comment.

Alternatively, scanned copies of pages with handwritten corrections may be accepted, provided they are submitted through UCOPress’s OMP platform.