ANNOUNCEMENTS

ARQUEOLOGÍA journal adopts the continuous publication system

We inform our colleagues (readers, authors and reviewers) that, as of 2022, the journal ARQUEOLOGÍA adopts the continuous publication system, maintaining its usual quarterly frequency. This technological implementation is based on the need to streamline the processes of scientific communication, with the aim of improving the circulation, availability and scope of the published contents (Baiget, 2020; Packer et al., 2016). Its incorporation is in tune with the rise of the paradigm of open access to scientific knowledge and is in line with current times, where the immediacy of communications is a key factor. In addition, it is noteworthy that, in recent years, the continuous publication modality has begun to be adopted more frequently by various prestigious scientific journals, both national and international (Aparicio et al., 2016; Cirasella and Bowdoin, 2013; Pérez Andrés, 2015).

In this way, we left behind the traditional format that emulated the old printed media, where the time elapsed between the submission of a manuscript and its publication was marked by the publication dates of each of the four-monthly issues that form part of an annual volume. In other words, in order to be included in a particular issue, each approved article had to wait for another set of contents, thus delaying its publication. In contrast, the continuous publication system breaks with this concept under the motto "ready, set, cite" (Anderton and Harvey, 2013, p. 1) or, as our colleagues at the journal Salud Colectiva (2019) put it, "you approve, you edit, you publish." This modality avoids unnecessary delays and releases the contents one by one, individually, as they favorably pass the evaluation and editing processes (Baiget, 2020; Packer et al., 2016; SciELO, 2017).

Consequently, the article that has been approved by the reviewers and accepted by the editors, advances to the editing or editorial production stage, is published in its final version (postprint) and is immediately citable, without waiting for the full issue to be available (Alonso Gamboa et al., 2020; Aparicio et al., 2016; Baiget, 2020; Cirasella and Bowdoin, 2013; Pérez Andrés, 2015; Packer et al., 2016; Quirós-Segura, 2018; SciELO, 2017, 2019). It should be clarified that this mechanism does not alter in any way the quality of the published papers, which continue to be subjected to the same evaluation processes validated by the scientific community (Pérez Andrés, 2015; Quirós-Segura, 2018). This instance, through the external double refereeing system, is necessarily conditioned by the response times of the multiple actors involved in it.

On the other hand, the implementation of the continuous publication modality poses the disappearance of the classic concept of sequential pagination of the contents, a situation that also transforms the way of referencing them (Baiget, 2020; Cirasella and Bowdoin, 2013; Pérez Andrés, 2015; SciELO, 2017, 2019). Instead of using page numbers to cite an article within a published issue, a unique electronic identification number or code is used for each content. As an example, we cite an illustrative case taken from the Journal of Archaeological Science:

Finally, this model entails a large number of advantages, not only because it shortens the deadlines and waiting times of the editorial process but, fundamentally, because it speeds up the social circulation of the knowledge produced, thus enhancing its access and use by readers (Packer et al., 2016; Quirós-Segura, 2018). Among the most outstanding benefits, the following can be mentioned: a) reduction of the time between the submission of manuscripts and their publication; b) reduction of the risk of research data becoming outdated at the time of publication; c) increased immediacy in the dissemination of scientific information; d) increase in the visibility of research and in the amount of updated information available online and e) reduction in reading access time, increasing the probability of citation of publications (Baiget, 2020; Cirasella and Bowdoin, 2013; Packer et al., 2016; Quirós-Segura, 2018).

References

Alonso Gamboa, J. O., Authier, C. N., Córdoba González, S. y Valenzuela Grosso, C. (2020). Glosario Latindex. Actualización 2020. México D. F.: Latindex. Sistema Regional de Información en Línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). https://www.latindex.org/lat/documentos/Glosario_Latindex_esp.pdf

Anderton, S. y Harvey, L. (2013). Continuous publication: ready, set, cite! The British Journal of Radiology, 86(1026), 20130252. https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20130252

Aparicio, A., Banzato, G. y Liberatore, G. (2016). Manual de gestión editorial de revistas científicas de ciencias sociales y humanas: Buenas prácticas y criterios de calidad. Buenos Aires: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO), Centro Argentino de Información Científica y Tecnológica (CAICYT, CONICET), Programa de Investigación sobre la Sociedad Argentina Contemporánea (PISAC), Consejo de Decanos de Facultades de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Ministerio de Educación y Deportes y Red de Editoriales de Universidades Nacionales (REUN). https://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/libros/pm.482/pm.482.pdf

Baiget, T. (2020). Manual SCImago de revistas científicas. Creación, gestión y publicación. Granada: Ediciones Profesionales de la Información S. L. https://doi.org/10.3145/manual

Cirasella, J. y Bowdoin, S. (2013). Just Roll with It? Rolling Volumes vs. Discrete Issues in Open Access Library and Information Science Journals. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 1(4), eP1086. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1086

Packer, A. L., Santos, S., Peres Sales, D. y Salgado, E. (10 de marzo, 2016). Acelerando la comunicación de las investigaciones: las acciones de SciELO. Blog SciELO en Perspectiva. https://blog.scielo.org/es/2016/03/10/acelerando-la-comunicacion-de-las-investigaciones-las-acciones-de-scielo/

Pérez Andrés, C. (2015). La publicación continua frente a la publicación periódica: otra vuelta de tuerca en la edición de las revistas científicas en Internet. Revista Española de Salud Pública, 89(6), 533-536. https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1135-57272015000600001

Quirós-Segura, F. Q. (2018). La publicación continua y la publicación preliminar: modalidades de publicación electrónica en Pensar en Movimiento. Pensar en Movimiento, 16(1), 33609. https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v16i1.33609

Salud Colectiva (2019). Publicación continua. Revista Salud Colectiva, Universidad Nacional de Lanús. http://revistas.unla.edu.ar/saludcolectiva/Publicacion-continua

SciELO (2017). Publicación Pre-Print, Publicación Ahead of Print (AOP) y Publicación Continua (Rolling Pass). México D. F.: Scientific Electronic Library Online - Dirección General de Bibliotecas y Servicios Digitales de Información, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). https://bit.ly/2lGk8f6

SciELO (2019). Guia para Publicação Contínua de artigos em periódicos indexados no SciELO (Dezembro de 2019). São Paulo: Scientific Electronic Library Online. https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/guia_pc.pdf