About the Journal

Brief history of the magazine

Civitas: Social Sciences magazine (qualis A1) is the academic journal maintained by the Postgraduate Program in Social Sciences at Pucrs. Created in 2001, Civitas was published without interruption. Between 2001 and 2021, 58 issues and approximately 670 articles were published. The institutional origins of the authors are quite diverse, covering all regions of Brazil, several countries in Latin America and other continents. From 2022 onwards, an annual issue will be published, in a continuous flow, with up to three thematic dossiers and a section of separate articles.

Focus and scope

The journal publishes unpublished articles in Social Sciences, mainly in the areas of Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science, which contribute to the theoretical, methodological and/or empirical improvement of the area. Reviews of discussions of works in the area are published as long as they are related to a thematic dossier.

Peer Review Process

Submitted texts undergo an initial formal evaluation by the editorial team, which may request corrections and additions. Texts that do not fall within the scope of the Journal, that do not meet mandatory requirements or that are not suitable within the deadline will be archived and the archiving will be informed to the author via the system. Once the submission is admissible, as a rule, two opinions are requested from people specialized in the subject, external to the Program, who will serve as input to the editors, with the final decision remaining with them. If there are significant divergences between the assessments, another specialized person will be consulted. The publication of works is subject to compliance with its recommendations. The evaluation takes into account the originality of the treatment of the topic, the consistency and rigor of the approach, its contribution to Social Sciences and the thematic line of the magazine. The review system is double blind: the names of the reviewers will remain confidential, and the names of the authors will also be omitted from the reviewers.

Publication Frequency

Anual in continuous flow

Open Access Policy

This journal offers open access to its content, following the principle that making scientific research free and accessible will generate a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Principles of ethics and good practices in academic publishing

Civitas is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (Cope) and follows its principles of ethics, transparency and integrity in publishing.

Authorship

For texts with more than one author, the Civitas Editorial Committee needs to be informed about their specific contribution, both in the conception of the text, collection and interpretation of data, and in the writing.

The Editorial Board understands that author status should be reserved only for those who have made a significant intellectual contribution to research and writing. Following the usual practice in the field, the journal is accepted as co-author by those who have made a substantial and direct academic contribution in at least two of the following typical components of scientific research:

a) conception and design;
b) data collection and processing;
c) analysis and interpretation of data.

In addition, it is considered essential that each co-author has participated directly and significantly in the writing of parts of the text. Each person listed as an author must, in addition, have read the successive versions of the text and approve the final version, as it is supportive, ethically and academically, with the entirety of its content. All those designated as authors must meet all criteria for authorship, and all who meet the criteria must be identified as authors. Those who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship can be cited in the acknowledgments. The items to be included in the document to be sent by the authors are listed in the "Declaration of Co-authorship" section below.

Unprecedented and with originality

By submitting the manuscript, the authors ensure that the work has not been previously published or is being reviewed by another journal. At the time of submission, authors assume responsibility for not using false or copied data. Plagiarism, fraudulent use of data, manipulation of citations and false authorship will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Literal copies of excerpts already published are not acceptable except in exceptional cases in the form of quotation. Civitas uses similarity identification software: copied texts will be identified and the work will be returned to the authors. Illustrations and graphics from other sources must be credited, or accompanied by permission of their copyright holders, if applicable.

Error correction and retractions

After publication, authors must notify the publisher if an error is identified in order to post an erratum, addendum or notice. Should editors be informed of any allegations of misconduct, they will handle the allegations accordingly. Civitas follows Cope's guidelines for retracting or correcting articles. Publishers are willing to post corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies as needed. Relevant steps will be taken to identify and prevent publication of papers with errors or ethical misconduct in the research.

Secrecy

The manuscript submitted for evaluation is a privileged document and will be protected against any form of exploitation. Editorial team members and reviewers are advised not to cite a manuscript before it is published and not to distribute or use the information it contains to advance their own research. During the review, the manuscript should not be shown or discussed with others, and no one else should be involved in the review, except in special cases who may provide some specific advice. In this case, the reviewer is responsible for ensuring confidentiality. The reviewer should inform the editor of others who have made significant contributions to the review.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest may be personal, financial, intellectual, professional, political or religious in nature, and may occur with authors, reviewers and editors. Perception of a potential conflict of interest is as important as a real conflict in itself.

Authors: When there is any relationship between the authors and any public or private entity that may generate a conflict of interest, this possibility should be communicated and will be informed in the article. If not, the author should inform the absence of conflicts of interest.
Reviewers: In the Civitas peer review system, the manuscript is sent to the reviewer without the author's identification. However, if the reviewer recognizes the authors or the institution, they may perceive a conflict of interest. To maintain the impartiality of the peer review process, the reviewer should determine whether the manuscript can be judged impartially. If there is a perception of any conflict of interest, the editor must be informed immediately in order to designate another reviewer.
Editors: Publishers should not have any conflict of interest regarding manuscripts and authors.

Ethics in research with humans

When submitting articles, the authors and authors ensure that the ethical principles of their area of knowledge were observed, as well as the legal requirements related to research ethics, both in the country in which they maintain their institutional ties, such as those where the people participating in the research live. The editorial team is entitled to request clarification and supplementary documentation whenever it deems it appropriate.