Instructions for the publication of papers
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS (UPDATED IN OCTOBER 2019)
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Presentation
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia (Issues of Physiotherapy) is a four monthly publication (three issues per year) which is the scientific publication of the Sociedad Andaluza de Fisioterapia "SOFIA" (Andalusian Society of Physiotherapy "SOFIA"), in collaboration with the Physiotherapy Research Group (CTS-305) at the University of Seville, and the University of Alcalá. It is presented as a means for the dissemination and exchange of scientific knowledge in the discipline of Physiotherapy in the fields: clinical care, academic, management, and education and health promotion. It is intended for researchers, academicians and physiotherapy professionals, as well as other groups in the medical field related to movement dysfunction, disability and dependence.
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia will accept unpublished works: research articles in their various forms developed in the general field of Physiotherapy, both in the theoretical aspect and especially in the applied aspect. The journal also welcomes articles of opinion / reflection and meaningful experiences of professional interventions which will be published in the Special Features section. All manuscripts submitted for publication will be judged by the editorial board and, if they pass the initial assessment, by at least two external reviewers (peer-review) who will perform the evaluation anonymously.
No charge for authors
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia does not charge for manuscript submission, processing or publication.
Adhesion to the recommendations of the ICMJE
The journal Cuestiones de Fisioterapia adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations), updated in 2018. It is available on
www.icmje.org. Therefore, manuscripts should be prepared following said recommendations and comply with these rules.
SECTIONS
Original Papers
In this section original studies of clinical and epidemiological research related to Physiotherapy are published. Scientific papers are also accepted on the educational, fundamental, management and organization aspects, performed in the field of Physiotherapy or whose results are of interest in this field. Manuscripts will be structured into the following sections: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. The text must not exceed 4,500 words; up to six figures and six tables will be accepted, and a maximum of 30 references. A structured abstract with a maximum of 250 words and 3 to 6 key words will be included. It is recommended that the number of authors should not exceed six.
Original short articles
In this section, original works that due to their objectives and results may have a short extension are published. They will have the same structure as the original: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. The text must not exceed 2,500 words; up to six figures or tables and a maximum of 20 references will be accepted. A structured abstract with a maximum of 200 words and 3 to 6 key words will be included. It is recommended that the number of authors should not exceed four.
Case Studies
Studies are published in this section, which describe one to three cases of exceptional observation that contribute significantly to the knowledge of Physiotherapy. Manuscripts should present the following structure: Introduction, Case description or detailed clinical observation (if more than one shall be shown as Case 1, Case 2, etc.), Results and Discussion. The text must not exceed 2,500 words; up to four figures or tables, and a maximum of 15 references will be accepted. A structured abstract with a maximum of 200 words and between 3 and 6 keywords will be included. It is recommended that the number of authors should not exceed three.
Reviews
In this section, works on literature reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of relevant issues in the field of Physiotherapy are published. The manuscript will present the following structure: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. The text should not exceed 3,500 words; up to six tables or figures and a maximum of 60 references will be accepted. A structured abstract with a maximum of 250 words and 3 to 6 key words will be included. It is recommended that the number of authors should not exceed four.
Editorial
In this section articles involving an update or an interesting point about a topic of interest in Physiotherapy or papers that offer information relative to the scientific discipline of Physiotherapy in any of its fields from a certain point of view are published. The text should not exceed 1,500 words. These articles are commissioned by the Editorial Board of the journal. The authors who are willing to collaborate in this section must first consult the Editorial Board.
Letters to the Editor
This section consists of manuscripts on current scientific information in which the discussion of recently published issues in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia are accepted, and the contribution of observations or experiences that due to their characteristics can be summarized in a brief text that does not exceed 700 words . Up to two figures or tables and six references will be accepted. It is recommended that the number of signatories should not exceed three.
Special Articles
Works of particular interest for Physiotherapy in any of its aspects are published in this section. They may appear under different names depending on their content: Reflections on Physiotherapy, Consensus Conferences, Continuing Education, Teaching, Technical Reports, etc. It is usually a commissioned section, however, the Editorial Committee may consider non-requested works of these characteristics for publication, and submit them to the peer review process. Up to six figures and tables and a maximum of 30 references will be accepted. An organized abstract similar to the text with a maximum of 250 words and three to six key words should be included.
In the text of those articles that are not derived from research, a clear and organized presentation in different sections according to the narrative logic (introduction, topic development, conclusions) should be ensured, while taking special care of the syntax and wording.
ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The authors are required to declare in the manuscripts the following aspects:
Protection of persons and animals
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia adheres to the basic principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association. When the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should declare that the work described has been carried out in accordance with the basic principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, updated in 2013 ( https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/), and with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE Recommendations), updated in 2018, available on www.icmje.org. They will also demonstrate that the study has been previously evaluated and authorized by the corresponding Ethical Committee (institutional or regional).
When animal experiments are described, the authors will indicate their adherence to the ARRIVE guidelines ( https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines) and that they have been carried out in accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 of the United Kingdom, updated in October 2019, and with the Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes ( http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm).
Confidentiality and Informed Consent
Authors are responsible for carrying out the protocols established by their respective health centers to access the data of medical records for research purposes and scientific circulation. Therefore, they must declare compliance with this requirement. Likewise, the authors are required to ensure: that the requirement of having informed all patients included in the study has been fulfilled, that they have obtained their written informed consent to participate in the study and are in possession of such documents signed by patients. Authors must state in the "Methods" section that the procedures used in patients and controls were performed after obtaining informed consent and that the privacy rights of the subjects have been respected at all times.
Privacy
Patients have the right to privacy of their data, which should not be published. The authors are responsible for ensuring that right, stating that the manuscript referred to does not violate the rules of protection of personal data and protecting the identity of patients both in writing the article and images. No names or initials, nor medical record numbers of the hospital (or any other irrelevant data for research that could identify the patient) will be used, unless such information is essential for scientific purposes, in which case it can be used in an article provided that the patient or their legal representative give written informed consent thus authorizing the publication, reproduction and dissemination in a paper and access free internet. Authors are responsible for obtaining such authorization and shall state in the manuscript that it has been obtained.
Funding
The authors will declare whether the research has received any type of funding and the source of any financial and material aid that they have received, indicating the organism, agency, institution or company as well as the project, agreement or contract and, where appropriate, the role that each source has had in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results, writing of the report, and the decision to present the report for publication or that the funding has had no implications. In the case of not having received external funding, the authors shall state that have not received any funding.
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when professional evaluation of a primary interest, such as the well-being of patients or the validity of the investigation, may be influenced by a secondary interest, such as an economic benefit. The mere suspicion that there is a conflict of interest is as important as its real existence, so that the conflict of interest potentially exists regardless of whether the authors consider that these relationships influence or not their scientific criterion.
Economic aspects such as employment, consultations, ownership of shares or options, fees, patents and remuneration to experts, are the most easily identifiable conflicts and the most likely to undermine the credibility of a magazine, authors and science. However, there may be a conflict of interest for other reasons, such as personal relationships or rivalries, academic competitiveness and intellectual or moral beliefs. In all the articles submitted to Cuestiones de Fisioterapia, the authors will declare in writing if any of these conflicts exists, disclosing any financial or personal relationship that, at the time of writing or submitting the article, they have or have had with persons or institutions that could lead to a conflict of interest regarding the manuscript which is being submitted for publication. The editors, at their convenience, may require the authors to detail said declaration. If there is no conflict of interest this should also be explicitly stated. What the authors declare shall be recorded in the journal.
Authorship
All authors, when submitting the manuscript to Cuestiones de Fisioterapia for assessment, acknowledge that they have contributed intellectually to the development of the paper, participating sufficiently so as to take full public responsibility for its contents (and all material included within the same: illustrations, tables, photographs, etc.). For all articles, the corresponding author will specify the contributions each of the signatories has made. The recommendations of the ICMJE establish that to be an author, the following four requirements must be met simultaneously:
1 - Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2 - Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3 - Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4 - Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
In addition, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for other specific parts of the work. Authors should be confident of the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.
Participation exclusively in obtaining funds, data collection, statistical analysis, or general supervision of work or research group, for example, does not justify authorship. The people who contribute to the work but are not authors should be cited in the acknowledgments section.
The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process, and typically ensures that all the journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, are properly completed, although these duties may be delegated to others coauthors.
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia will be attentive to compliance with these requirements, and declines any responsibility for possible conflicts arising from the authorship of the works published in the magazine.
Redundant or duplicate publication
The authors declare that the article content is original and has not been previously published or sent or is under consideration by any other publication, in whole or in any part. Cuestiones de Fisioterapia will not accept previously published papers for publication or those that have been submitted simultaneously to other journals nor redundant or duplicate published papers, that is, articles that substantially overlap one that is already published in print or electronically. Authors should be aware that not disclosing that material submitted for publication has already been published partially or in full, constitutes a serious breach of scientific ethics. Authors must disclose in the letter about previous remittances or publications that may be considered redundant or duplicate publications and attach a copy thereof. It is necessary to quote and include the bibliographic reference of these previous publications in the new manuscript. These restrictions do not apply to abstracts published in communication, conference papers or those presented at national or international scientific meetings, but the authors shall record this.
Obtaining permission
In any case the authors are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permission to reproduce material partially (text, tables or figures) from other publications in the manuscript submitted to Cuestiones de Fisioterapia. This permission must be sought from both the responsible author and the publisher who has published the material and copies thereof shall be forwarded with the manuscript. Publication permission is also required, where appropriate, by the institution that has funded the research. In any case, permissions must contain the authorization so that Cuestiones de Fisioterapia can publish and exploit such material.
Acknowledgements
At the end of the article before the bibliographical references, acknowledgments may include people or institutions who, without meeting the requirements for authorship, have collaborated in carrying out the work, provided technical or financial material assistance,. The type of contribution should be indicated. Persons mentioned in the acknowledgments must have expressed their consent to be mentioned; Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from those persons.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Formal Aspects
The manuscript can be sent in English or Spanish. When the paper is in English, it should be reviewed by an English-speaking person, prior to submission to the journal, and include the abstract in both English and Spanish. The text should be submitted on A4 size sheets with 3 cm margins, 1.5 spaces and Times New Roman 12 cpi script, avoiding headers and footnotes. All pages must be numbered consecutively at the bottom beginning with the title page. Only common abbreviations should be used in the specific field of Physiotherapy or in the field of health sciences in general. The use of abbreviations in the title and abstract of the paper should be avoided. The first time an abbreviation appears in the text it should be preceded by the full term that it refers to, except in the case of units of measurement, which should be expressed preferentially in the International System of Units. Decimal numbers are separated from units by a comma and thousands are indicated by a dot. Articles in English should follow the corresponding punctuation (units through a dot and thousands with a comma.) The files relating to text and tables are admissible in Word format.
Guidelines for the presentation of specific designs
For the presentation and publication of the designs shown below, Cuestiones de Fisioterapia require that the appropriate guidelines are followed:
• For clinical trials, CONSORT standards (www.consort -statement.org).
• For observational studies, STROBE guide ( http://strobe-statement.org/).
• For diagnostic tests, the STARD guide ( www.stard-statement.org/).
• For systematic review and meta-analysis studies, PRISMA guide ( http://prisma-statement.org).
• For qualitative studies, ENTREQ or the COREC or SRQ guide.
All these guides are available on the website of the EQUATOR initiative www.equator-network.org .
First page: title, authors, disclaimers, sources of funding and word count.
The first page contains the following information:
• Complete Title in Spanish and its accurate English translation. The title should adequately describe the content of the paper. It should be written in a brief, clear and informative manner as possible, avoiding vague or ambiguous expressions and the use of abbreviations, acronyms, codes and symbols that are not commonly used. Information about the study design as a part of the title is advised.
• Name and surname of the authors (in case of two surnames is recommended to join them with a hyphen), in the order they wish to appear in the article, and the name of the department and institution or entity to which they belong, city and country using the corresponding reference marks with letters in superscript. Nor the academic degree nor professional category will be listed. The academic degree and professional category can be indicated but these data will not be published.
• Full name, postal address, email address, phone number and fax number of the corresponding author. Full name and email address of the other authors.
• Disclaimers. Authors will declare that the views expressed in the submitted article are their sole responsibility and not an official position of the institution or funder.
• Sources of support. The authors will declare grants, equipment, drugs, and any other support that facilitated conduct of the work described in the article or the writing of the article itself.
• Word count indicating separately the number of words in the abstract in Spanish and English, and the number of words in the main text excluding the first page, tables and figures.
Second page: authorship, funding, acknowledgments and conflict of interest.
The second page will contain the title and authors at the top, and will include information regarding: contributions of authorship, funding, acknowledgments and conflict of interest.
Third page: Spanish abstract and keywords
The third page should again include the title at the top, but not the authors. Then the abstract in Spanish, whose maximum length is specified by the type of article, is presented. It will have the same structure as this, therefore it will provide the context or background for the study and will state the purpose of the study, basic procedures (selection of study participants, settings, measurements, analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical and clinical significance, if possible), and principal conclusions. The new and significant aspects of the study or observations have to be emphasized, note the important limitations, and not overinterpret findings. Clinical trial abstracts will include items that the CONSORT group has identified as essential ( http://www.consort-statement.org/downloads/extensions/). The abstract will not contain information that is not in the text of the manuscript, it should be understood without reading the article in full or partially, and the use of abbreviations should be avoided in its draft.
Following the Spanish abstract, a list of three to six keywords, which in the opinion of the authors are identifying the general content of the work, will be included. Equivalent terms to the list of descriptors in health sciences (Medical Subject Headings, MeSH) of Index Medicus (available at www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html) should be used. The equivalence between terms in Spanish (Descriptores en Ciencias de la Salud, DeCS) and the corresponding English translation from MeSH at http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm (updatedin 2019) can be consulted.
Fourth page: abstract and keywords
On the fourth page the title in Spanish and the English translation must also appear at the top. Next the complete and accurate translation of the abstract and keywords will be presented. Remember that this information in English appears in the literature databases, and the authors are responsible for its correct spelling and grammatical expression. Manuscripts that are submitted in English must submit abstract and key words in Spanish on this page.
Data availability
After the abstract, the authors will include a data availability statement of the analyzed or generate data in the study, along with their access conditions. When it is not possible to share research data publicly, because individual privacy could be compromised or due to other causes, the data availability will also be indicated in the manuscript besides the access conditions.
Data Availability Statements can take one of the following forms (or a combination of more than one if necessary):
1 The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the [name] repository, [web link to datasets].
2 The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due [reason why data are not public] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
3 Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
4 All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Whatever the case, data must be available to reviewers from the moment the manuscript is submitted for evaluation.
Fifth and subsequent pages: Text
Beginning with the fifth page the text of the article will be developed, which, in research papers will be divided into sections under the following headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Introduction
The study should be explained by summarizing the current state of knowledge on the subject and the context in which it is framed, finishing with a clear statement of the aim of the work. The introduction should be brief and rely solely on strictly necessary literature references according to current criteria and relevance related to the purposes of the study.
Methods
They should be written with sufficient detail so that the study can be replicated. This section will detail whether any organization was paid or otherwise contracted to help conduct the research (for example such as data collection and management). Epigraphs are recommended to organize the information as needed. This section includes: study design; the center where and when the research was carried out; the selection mechanism for the subjects or phenomena studied, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, number of participants and a description of the source population.The correct use of the terms sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial or cultural factors) must be ensured and, unless inappropriate, report the sex and/or gender of study participants. If the study was performed involving an exclusive population, for example in only one sex, authors should justify why, except in obvious cases (e.g., prostate cancer). It also includes: interventions performed (if applicable); definitions of variables and techniques and measurement instruments used therein; follow up of subjects (if applicable); strategies for data analysis and statistical tests used; the statistical software and version used.
Where applicable, ethical standards followed by researchers (informed consent, permissions, etc.) in both observational and experimental or quasi-experimental studies will be described. Studies in humans must have the express approval of the corresponding ethics committee and therefore should be included in the manuscript.
Results
The results should be presented in a concise and clear manner in a logical sequence in the text, tables and figures giving the main or most important findings first, showing the fewest number of tables and figures possible, and without unnecessarily repeating or duplicating the data given in the text. The main results will be presented with the appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals), and clearly indicate the type of measurement and the statistical tests used, wherever appropriate.
Discussion.
This section will include: novel and relevant findings of the work related to the objective of the study, avoiding unqualified statements and conclusions that are not adequately supported by the data; the reasons why the results may be valid, distinguishing between clinical and statistical significance; the comparison with the scientific literature while trying to explain the discrepancies and similarities that are observed; the practical applicability of the results, making an assessment of their relevance in the area studied (clinical, academic, management, etc.); the strengths and limitations of the study; and finally, some guidelines for future research on the topic. The authors will be very careful to not repeat in detail data or information presented in previous sections.
The conclusions of the study, which are related to the objectives outlined, will be briefly presented.
Tables
Tables should be numbered in Arabic characters in order of appearance in the text and also included in their position, and submitted on separate sheets. They will have a title at the top that accurately describes their contents. At the foot of the table the necessary explanations will be included so that the table is understandable without having to read the text of the article. Likewise, if abbreviations are used they must be explained at the foot of the table. The authors should avoid presenting the same data in text, tables and figures.
Figures
All figures: whether they are graphs, drawings or photographs, should be numbered consecutively in Arabic characters and figures as a whole, in order of appearance in the text. Figures in image format, although they can be placed in their location in the text will also be supplied in electronic photo files with a resolution no less than 200 points per inch. When the figures are not placed in the text their position should be clearly indicated by a reference mark in parentheses. Figures should not repeat information already presented in the text or tables. The figure legends will be included at the bottom and must contain sufficient information so as to be able to interpret the data presented without resorting to the text. If figures or tables are not the authors’ own, but taken from a source of external information, authors should adhere to the specifications in the subsection Obtaining permission.
References
References should be the most recent and relevant as possible, and should be numbered consecutively in the order that they first appear in the text, tables and figures, identifying them by Arabic characters in superscript. When in the text, for the same idea, several citations coincide, the numbers must be separated by commas, but if they are correlated, the first and last numbers should be separated by a hyphen. When an author is mentioned in the text, the reference number is placed after the author’s name. If it were a paper by more than two authors, the first one is cited followed by the abbreviation "et al" and its reference number. In articles in Spanish, the footnote will be placed immediately before the full stop and other major delimiting signs (comma, semicolon, and colon), but after the ellipsis (i.e. "... some authors 4-8, the analysis can mean ... "). When the article is in English, the citation will follow the sign (e.g. "... beneficial effects on the healing process.7 However ..."). Only relevant literature pertinent to the article should be quoted. The abbreviated titles of journals should conform to the MEDLINE style, ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). When the abbreviated title is not registered the complete title of the journal will be included. Footnotes for comments or references are not allowed, this will always appear at the end of the document. The articles "in press" will be cited as such, if they are available the DOI of the manuscript will be included and whenever possible the authors will update the reference. Unpublished data should not appear in the references, they can be cited in parentheses in the text. Citations should be verified with the original documents. When indicating the first and last pages of a citation only the digits that differ from those of the first page (examples: 43-8, not 43-48, 128-35 and not 128-135) should be used for the final page. The authors guarantee the accuracy and veracity of the references.
References should follow the standards summarized in the NLM’s International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Sample References ( www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html) webpage and detailed in the NLM’s Citing Medicine, 2nd edition ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/).
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Electronic mail
Authors should submit the manuscripts electronically to the following e-mail address: cuestionesdefisioterapia@us.es. the complete manuscript (including figures and tables) will be sent in a single file. However, the images will also be sent in electronic photograph files with a resolution no less than 200 points per inch in all cases, as already specified, with the identification of files being expressed in the text of the mail.
Cover letter
The authors will attach a cover letter, signed by all of them, and addressed to the Editor, in which:
a) They set forth the title of the paper and request evaluation of the manuscript, pointing out the section to which it is being sent and where they want it to be published.
b) Explain in a few lines, what the original contribution of the work presented is.
c) The responsible author ensures that all the persons included in the paper actually meet the criteria for authorship, specifying clearly what each author’s contribution has been according to the criteria of the ICMJE. All authors must explicitly accept the contents of the version sent by declaring their authorship.
d) Specify the content of the paper has not been published previously, and that the same article, or part thereof, has not been simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
e) Point out the lack of conflicts of interest or the existence of any labor, research, commercial or moral association, that they have or have had and that could lead to a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
f) Express that the people cited in the acknowledgments have given their written approval to do so.
g) To report, if any, if the work has been presented (in part or in full) at any scientific meeting (congress, conference, etc.).
h) Declare that they grant the rights of use and distribution, with express permission for the publication of the article.
i) Suggest, if they considered it appropriate, proposals to select external reviewers. In such cases they should include at least the name and surname of the proposed reviewers.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
Upon receiving a paper, the editorial committee will acknowledge receipt to the corresponding author, informing them of the registration number assigned.
The Directors of Cuestiones de Fisioterapia with the assistance of the editorial committee will undertake a preliminary assessment of the works received assessing their compliance with the instructions to authors that their content fits into the subject that the magazine covers, and which may be of interest to readers. Manuscripts that pass this initial screening will be sent to two external reviewers in the specialty to begin the process of peer review. When deemed necessary, a third reviewer or methodological reviewer may intervene. Authors may suggest the names of possible reviewers for their articles.
The review process followed in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia is double blind: authors do not know the identity of the external reviewers nor do these know the identity of the authors.
The Directors and the editorial board, either directly or once the reviewers’ opinions and suggestions are provided, reserve the right to reject the papers that are not deemed appropriate, as well as proposing any amendments it deems necessary. When the editorial board suggests amendments in the articles, it will notify the authors and enclose the contents of the reviewers’ reports. Authors should submit, within the period the editorial committee establishes, the new version of the manuscript with the changes that have been made, which will be highlighted by underlining or a different color to the rest of the document. The new version of the manuscript will be accompanied by a letter stating the registration number assigned to the article and shall specify that it is a modified version. Likewise, the authors will respond to each of the comments received by the editorial board and external reviewers and express the changes made in the manuscript in detail. Authors should be careful when reviewing, as their capacity of response to suggestions received and the quality of these are factors to consider when accepting a manuscript. Submitting the revised and amended article does not necessarily mean acceptance, since it can be sent back for external review. Authors will receive a letter with the final decision on the acceptance or rejection of the article.
Upon final acceptance, the manuscript will undergo copyediting, thus Cuestiones de Fisioterapia reserves the right to make editorial style changes and modifications to facilitate clarity and understanding, including changing the title and abstract, without altering the resulting intellectual content.
After the technical process, authors will receive a galley proof of the edited manuscript to be reviewed and approved within 48 hours. At this stage of editing, corrections made to the work should be minimal; only correction of grammatical errors, involuntary omissions by the printer or other mistakes related to syntax and semantic understanding of the text are permitted. In no case, will further modifications in work content be allowed. The editorial board reserves the right to accept or not corrections made by the author in the galley proof.
Cuestiones de Fisioterapia reserves the right to publish an article in the magazine when it deems appropriate.
CORRECTION, RETRACTION AND REPUBLICATION OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES
When an unintended error is detected in a published article, Cuestiones de Fisioterapia will publish a correction notice as soon as possible detailing changes from and citing the original publication; ensuring that changes are included in the content index for proper indexing. Likewise, it will also post a new article version with details of the changes from the original version and the date on which the changes were made. Previous versions of the article will be available to readers with the warning that there is a newer version. Finally, it will inform that the citation of the article must be of the most recent version.
When the error results from a coding problem or a miscalculation and may result in extensive inaccuracies throughout an article, but does not change the direction or significance of the results, interpretations, and conclusions of the article, a correction will be published that follows the minimum standards noted above.
If the error is serious enough to invalidate the results of the study and its conclusions, yet is judged to be unintentional (e.g., a misclassification or miscalculation), a retraction of the article will be required and a new publication may be made (replacement) accompanied by an explanation. The magnitude of the changes in a complementary annex will also be explained.
When scientific misconduct is alleged, due to data fabrication; data falsification, including deceptive manipulation of images; purposeful failure to disclose conflicts of interest; and plagiarism; or concerns that are otherwise raised about the conduct or integrity of work described in submitted or published papers Cuestiones de Fisioterapia will initiate appropriate procedures detailed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) ( https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts) and decide whether to publish an expression of concern pending the outcome of those procedures.
If the procedures involve an investigation at the authors’ institution, the editor will notify readers of the outcome if appropriate; and if the investigation proves scientific misconduct, will publish a retraction. If authors of the article are unwilling or unable, they will be made responsible for other person. The text of the retraction will explain why the article is being retracted and include a complete citation reference to said article. Expressions of concern and retractions will be prominently labelled, appear on an electronic or numbered print page that is included in an electronic or a print Table of Contents to ensure proper indexing, and include in their heading the title of the original article. Online, the retraction and original article should be linked in both directions. Retracted articles will remain in the public domain and be clearly labelled as retracted in all its forms (abstract, full text, PDF).
TRANSMISSION OF COPYRIGHT
By virtue of being published, the manuscripts belong permanently to Cuestiones de Fisioterapia, authors waiving the rights of use and distribution of their manuscripts, rights that they cede to Cuestiones de Fisioterapia with the authority to cede to third parties. Consequently, they may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission except as described below under "Rights of Authors"
AUTHORS’ RIGHTS
Authors who publish papers in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia have the following rights:
• To make copies of the article for personal use or fellow researchers, including its use for teaching in the classroom.
• To publish a personal version of the final text of the article at their website or personal or institutional web server site for educational purposes, including the full citation with a link to the digital object identifier (DOI) of the article.
• To present the results of the article published in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia at a meeting or conference and to distribute copies among those attending said meeting.
• To file patent and trademark rights in any process or procedure described in the article published in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia.
• To include the article, in whole or in part in a thesis or dissertation.
• To include the article in a printed compilation of papers by the author, after the publication of the article in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia.
• To prepare other papers derived from the article, provided its original publication is properly referenced in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia.
DATA PROTECTION
Personal data will be treated for the sole purpose of managing the publication of articles. Unless otherwise indicated, by submitting their articles, authors expressly authorize that their first name, second name(s), contact address, and e-mail address will be published in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia in both printed and electronic formats, in order to acknowledge authorship of the article and to assist readers in contacting with authors.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The statements, opinions and judgments contained in the articles published in Cuestiones de Fisioterapia belong solely to the authors and not the Editorial Board. Both this and the publisher disclaim any liability that could arise from the ideas expressed in said articles. Likewise, neither the Editorial Board nor the publisher support any product or service that is mentioned in the magazine, nor guarantee the claims that are made about the product or service.
