Instructions for authors
La Calera journal publishes research and extension results from professionals and groups working in agricultural and environmental sciences in Nicaragua and beyond our borders.
In order to promote greater participation of teachers-researchers, students, professionals and institutions related to agricultural and environmental sciences and to streamline the editing and printing process of the journal, the following guidelines have been considered and must be observed by collaborators:
Open access policy. La Calera journal encourages the exchange of knowledge by allowing free and immediate access to its content. Its publications are protected and shared under the terms of the Creative Commons License with the attributions of Recognition, Non-Commercial and Share Alike.
Article processing charge (APC) policy. La Calera journal, by declaring itself open access, as part of the promotion of open science, does not establish any type of article processing charge (APC), in any of its editorial management phases, so all collaborators (authors) are free of editing and publication costs. All articles published in La Calera can be downloaded for free.
Copyright. The authors of the writings (contributions) grant the Universidad Nacional Agraria the rights to edit the submitted proposal, so the university has the exclusive right to publish it during the full period of copyright. These copyrights include printed and electronic reproduction, storage, retrieval, all forms of electronic publication and any other type of publication.
The authors must certify that the writing is original and has not been published, and also ensure that it is not subject to evaluation and possible publication in other journals or electronic sites. All authors express that they are aware of the writing and authorize its publication and citations.
The author or authors authorize the Universidad Nacional Agraria to protect the article against unauthorized use and authorize it to distribute it through printed or electronic media (PDF, HTML, EPUB, XML, VISOR or others) and secondary information sources such as abstract services and databases.
Refereeing system.
The refereeing system is external and the type of review is double-blind, so the reviewers are not aware of the authorship of the paper and the author(s) do not know the reviewers.
The review is based on the following criteria:
Correlation between the title, objectives, results and conclusions
The objectives are relevant to the advancement of knowledge
The introduction indicates the importance of the topic, justification of the research and relevant background that supports the objectives
The methodology is adequate to achieve the proposed objectives
The results present facts derived from the methodology, ordered in a logical and objective manner; are clear and understandable with relevance to the advancement of knowledge
Conclusions consistent with the results and analysis, and at the same time important for the advancement of knowledge
Adequate and updated bibliography regarding the topic discussed. Clear, brief and precise writing with logical organization that facilitates understanding
Reviewers may recommend:
Publish with minor adjustments
Publish with major adjustments
Not publishable
Plagiarism detection. The Turnitin system is used to obtain a similarity report or plagiarism detection. This system allows to know if the work includes information from other research without due recognition of copyright.
About the content. The purpose of the La Calera magazine is to contribute to the scientific and technical development of the agricultural and environmental sector of Nicaragua by disseminating the results of research carried out by UNA teachers and collaborators and to the National and international projection of the National Agrarian University. The journal welcomes works on various topics and at different levels (basic, applied and basic-applied).
Articles on scientific-technical aspects are welcome; they can be written from the perspective of a specific discipline or with a multi- and interdisciplinary vision. The topics of the articles may include innovative practices, new technologies, farming and farm systems, agroforestry, community forestry, natural resources and environment, livestock in its various components, veterinary medicine, socioeconomic evaluations, rural development, agroindustry, among others.
About the authors. The author can be any person or legal or corporate entity and is the only person responsible for preparing and submitting the articles in full, including text, tables, figures (graphs), photos and other illustrations. The writings must be unpublished and in exceptional cases, adapted versions of previous publications. The author must accompany his proposals with a letter requesting publication and authorization for publication.
The journal is not responsible for the opinions and statements expressed by the authors on its pages. The ideas of the authors do not necessarily reflect the point of view of the institution.
About the articles. Papers are accepted in electronic format, prepared in Word and using the Windows operating system or compatible systems. The writings must be presented in a single-spaced column; the size of the sheet must correspond to the letter layout (21.59 cm by 27.94 cm) and the font and size corresponds to Times New Roman size 10, however, the summary, abstract, titles and notes of figures and tables, as well as the bibliographical references in size nine font.
The proposals must be identified with the name of the author (first and last names), affiliation, ORCID number (https://orcid.org/) and email.
About the structure. The writings must have a maximum of 10 pages (including the summary, abstract and bibliographical references). The length of the articles will be considered by the editorial committee and it will be this committee that will decide on their publication, even if the work is divided for successive publications of the journal.
Style. It is recommended to use simple language; short titles, subtitles and paragraphs and avoid the use of long subordinate clauses. They must be clear, brief and precise.
The author of the article is responsible for the content. The writing must be clear and not contain spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. The editorial board is not responsible for spelling, grammar, or punctuation corrections. The writing will be received and accepted by the editorial board and returned to the author for final adjustments, either in form as well as to check the accuracy of arithmetic, statistical calculations, numerical data, cited texts, and bibliographical references.
About tables and figures. All tables, figures, illustrations, etc., can be made through cameras, draftsmen, scanned, photographic reduction, or made in electronic and spreadsheets. Each table, figure, or illustration must be made on a separate sheet or inserted in the text or content; they must not duplicate information. Literal symbols can be used to clarify any information and the exact value of p (p value) for levels of statistical significance.
The tables must be in editable format, without horizontal lines and in grayscale. The font is Times New Roman size nine. In the case of tables, in most cases do not use grids; only header and closing lines. The font size for the content is nine.
Regarding genres. The genres defined by the journal correspond to:
Scientific article. It is a scientific communication about original results from a research process, also known as an original article. The maximum length of the text is 10 pages.
Review or analysis article. It consists of a short analysis of what has been published or carried out on specific topics of agricultural sciences, natural resources or environmental sciences in a region or in the country, with the purpose of defining the current state of the same. It follows a chronological order or its stages of development. It generally highlights the progress, changes, contradictions and trends of the topic. The maximum length of the text is eight pages.
Use of measurements. The units of measurement that correspond to the decimal metric system must be used, since it must respond to the use of the international system of measurements (SI). If a local unit is used, an international equivalent unit must be placed in parentheses, e.g., 10 mz (7.03 ha).
Content of the articles. The articles must contain the following aspects:
Title. It must be clear, brief and descriptive, not exceeding 15 words (not counting articles, prepositions, phrases and conjunctions); and reflect the content of the text and the main objective. The title must be centered, written in lowercase letters with a font size of 11.
Authors. Start with the name of the main author, write the first and last names without academic degrees and separate the authors using commas, then on a separate line indicate academic degree, affiliation or academic dependency of work or study; you can also indicate that you are an independent researcher. Indicate ORCID number and email addresses. Please specify who is the corresponding author. The list of authors is located immediately after the title and aligned to the left with font size 10.
Abstract. The abstract in Spanish and its translation into English (abstract) must be included. It is written in a paragraph with a maximum of 300 words, and must express why and how the study was done. The abstract must include the most important aspects of the work: importance-justification, objective, methodology and the most relevant conclusions, supported by specific quantitative or qualitative results of the research. In the case of a description of a species (animal or plant), this must be accompanied by its respective scientific name and descriptor. The information in this section should be consistent with that presented in the other sections of the article. Do not use abbreviations.
Keywords. These are located immediately below the last line of the abstract. They can be words or short phrases (between four and eight). Their objective is to facilitate bibliographic searches in computerized databases or publications that include the condensed article. Words that identify the article should be selected and be different from those that make up the title of the publication. The abstract also includes the translation of the keywords (Keywords).
Abbreviations. The meaning of all abbreviations that appear in the text should be included. It is recommended to make an alphabetical list of abbreviations, or the most common ones used in the text. Some terms can be abbreviated in the text and do not necessarily have to be included in the list of abbreviations, for example (etc., i.e., e.g., Ej.). There are some abbreviations that are known to the scientific community; therefore, it is not necessary to include them in the list.
Introduction. Clearly indicate to the reader the importance of the topic, the justification of the research and the relevant bibliographical background that supports the hypotheses and objectives set out. In other words, it must be clearly indicated why and for what purpose the research was carried out, as well as what published information exists on the subject. This means that there will not be a specific chapter on literature review, but rather it will be presented in the introduction.
The background must be supported by recent bibliography, so that the current level of the topic is known. Only bibliographical citations, mainly published, will be accepted (course notes, mimeographed information or information from articles under review will not be accepted). The bibliographical background should be written in a congruent and orderly manner in relation to the subject of the writing. Avoid writing in the form of “reference lists” as well as “multiple references” to reinforce a single concept that is often too general, and make precise and specific use of the references cited (see the section on bibliographical references in this section). At the end of the introduction, the purpose or objectives of the work should be described.
Materials and methods. The materials and procedures used, the variables and their measurements, as well as their units of measurement and statistical treatment, if applicable, are described. In the case of non-experimental research, indicate the instruments for recording information and its analysis. It is necessary to provide sufficient information on each variable so that any researcher can repeat the study. The information in this section should be consistent with the stated objectives. Note the models and brands of the instruments used. The laboratory methods should also be sufficiently described to be able to reproduce them; if they are common, it will be enough to indicate the bibliographical reference.
Results and discussion. The facts derived from the methodology will be presented, arranged in a logical and objective manner, with the help of tables and figures (photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams or graphs). The information on the results must be presented clearly, without resorting to the repetition of data in tables and figures.
It is not enough to present results in the form of numbers; they must be interpreted based on clear, objective and impartial reasoning. In addition, their significance must be discussed according to their similarity or contrast with those published by other authors. The possible causes of such differences must be discussed and options for future studies must be proposed. In this chapter, new bibliographical references that were not included in the introduction can be added.
In this section, the author must compare his hypotheses. Consequently, it is important that the discussion is based on the results and that both are consistent with the objectives and methodologies described in the respective sections. Extensive explanations of numerical differences that are not supported by statistical tests or of variables not measured in the research (giving rise to speculation) must be avoided. In any case, propositional or speculative explanations will be valid in the discussion, if they are duly supported with bibliographical references or by clear and correct reasoning, but without taking up more paragraphs than the discussion of the results themselves.
Conclusions. State in a categorical, brief and precise manner the concrete contributions to knowledge supported by the demonstrable and verifiable results of the work, not from other people's research. No conclusions should be argued or based on assumptions. Do not list the conclusions or use abbreviations, but rather complete terms, so that the reader does not have to refer to other parts of the text to understand them. There must be consistency with the information presented in the summary.
Bibliographical references. This section consists of the list in alphabetical and chronological order of all the references cited in the text. The references must have complete information and be presented according to the APA (American Psychological Association) standards, latest edition.
The bibliographical references must contain the following information:
PRINTED DOCUMENTS Author: surname(s) and initial(s) of the name(s). /year of publication (in parentheses). /title of the work and subtitle, if any, separated by two points (in italics). /edition: from the second edition, it is abbreviated with (ed.) (lowercase and in parentheses). /place of publication. /publisher.
BOOKS: Surname(s), initial(s) of the name(s). (year of publication). Title of the book: Subtitle (edition number from the second one onwards). Publisher.
Dutta, D., Lukose, L. & Samanta, S. (2020). Aplicación de la teledetección hiperespectral en estudios de cultivos y suelos. Académica Española.
Montané de la Vega, R. (2015). Ecología y conservación ambiental. (2a ed). TRILLAS.
BOOK CHAPTER: Surname(s), initial(s) of the name(s) of the author of the chapter. (year of publication). Title of the chapter. In initials of the name(s), followed by the surnames of the editor, Title of the book (in italics) (pages of the chapter). Name of the first publisher; name of the second publisher.
Carlier, J., Fouré, E., Gauhl, F., Jones, D. R., Lepoivre, P., Mourichon, X., Pasberggauhl, C. & Romero, R. A. (2000). Black leaf streak. In D. R. Jones (Ed.), Diseases of Banana, Abacá and Enset (pp. 37-79). CAB International.
Salazar, C. D. & Munguía, H. R. (2010). Estrategias para la elaboración e implementación de la curricula del diplomado en sistemas de calidad en la producción de café con responsabilidad ambiental, social y empresarial. En F. Alemán, H. Medrano, A. Norgren, A. Reyes y S. Scheinberg (Eds.). Innovaciones en las universidades nicaragüenses: casos exitosos (pp 163-171). Consejo Nacional de Universidades; Universidad Nacional Agraria.
THESIS: Last name, A. & Last name, A. (Year). Title of the thesis [Engineering, Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral Thesis]. Name of the institution.
Reynosa Correa, C. M. & Díaz Mena, F. M. (2016). Estado de los suelos y capacidad de uso de la tierra en la finca El Cacao, La Fonseca – Kukra Hill [Tesis de Ingeniería]. Universidad Nacional Agraria.
PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS: Last name(s) and initial(s) of the name(s) of the author(s). / date of publication. / title of the article. / title of the journal. / volume. / number if it is a journal with separate pagination. / pages, if it is a newspaper or illustrated magazine that deals with various topics, use p. or pp. before the page number(s). If it is a journal, only the page numbers are indicated without putting p. or pp.
SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ARTICLE: Last name(s), Initial(s) of first name(s). (year). Title of the Article. Name of the Journal, Vol(No.), initial page - final page of the article.
Larios-González, R. C., Salmerón-Miranda, F. & García-Centeno, L. (2014). Fertilidad del suelo con prácticas agroecológicas y manejo convencional en el cultivo de café. La Calera, 14(23), 67-75.
Liebman, M., Corson, S., Rowe, R. J. & Halteman, W. A. (1995). Dry bean responses to nitrogen fertilizer in two tillage and residue management systems. Agronomy Journal, (87), 538-546.
ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
ELECTRONIC BOOK: Last name(s), initial(s) of first name(s) of the author. (Year of publication). Title of the book in italics. Publisher. URL
Jiménez-Martínez, E. & Rodríguez, O. (2014). Insectos plagas de cultivos en Nicaragua. Universidad Nacional Agraria. https://repositorio.una.edu.ni/2700/1/NH10J61ip.pdf
JOURNALLY PUBLISHED ARTICLE WITH DOI: Last name(s), initial(s) of the first name(s). (Year of publication). Title of the journal article. Name of the journal. Vol. (No.), initial page - final page of the article. DOI
Treminio Corea, M. L., Mendoza Corrales, R. B. y Garmendia Zapata, M. A. (2023). Erodabilidad en suelos Andisoles, Mollisoles y Vertisoles de la región del Pacífico de Nicaragua. La Calera, 23(41), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.5377/calera.v23i41.16678
ONLINE JOURNAL ARTICLE: Last name(s), initial(s), first name(s) (year). Title of the article. Name of the Journal, Vol.(No.), initial page - final page of the article. URL
Escorcia, J. C., Arauz Espinoza, J. L., Sánchez Gómez, I. E. y Lanuza Rodríguez, E. H. (2023). Identificación fenotípica de mecanismo de resistencia de las bacterias Burkholderia gladiolii y Burkholderia plantarii y sensibilidad in vitro a bactericidas de uso agrícola. La Calera, 23(41), 84-90. https://lacalera.una.edu.ni/index.php/CALERA/article/view/538
THESIS FROM AN INSTITUTIONAL DATABASE (INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY): Last name(s), initial(s), first name(s). (year). Thesis title [Engineering, bachelor's, master's or doctoral thesis, name of the institution granting the degree]. Institutional Repository. URL
Galeano Calderón, J. R. & Gámez Martínez, M. (2023). Planificación estratégica para el fortalecimiento del turismo rural en el Centro Turístico Rancho Vuelo del Águila, Jalapa-Nueva Segovia, 2022. [Tesis de Licenciatura, Universidad Nacional Agraria]. Repositorio Institucional. https://repositorio.una.edu.ni/4659/1/tne20g152.pdf
WEBSITE OR WEB PAGE: Author, A. (year, month day). Document title in italics. Name of the site. http://xxxxxxxxx
Normas APA. (2019, septiembre 26). Formato de documento con normas APA. http://normasapa.com/formato-apa-presentacion-trabajos-escritos
SOFTWARE: Last name(s), initial(s) of first name(s) (name of group) (year). Title of the work (version) [computer software]. Manufacturer. URL
SAS Institute. (2003). Statistical Analysis System (versión 9.1) [software]. https://www.sas.com/
LAWS: Organism that decrees the norm (Year, day of month). Numbered denomination. Complete name of the norm. Publication where it is hosted. URL
Asamblea Nacional de Nicaragua. (2013, 8 de marzo). Ley Nº 835. Ley de Turismo Rural Sostenible de la República de Nicaragua. Diario Oficial No. 184. https://rb.gy/bvjhf1
PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS: Because they do not provide retrievable data, personal communications are not included in the reference list. Cite only in the text (when appropriate) and provide: the initials and last name of the sender, as well as an exact date if possible.
First name(s) initials. Last name of the sender (personal communication, day of month, year).
- C. Larios-González (personal communication, March 25, 2023) stated that his…
(A. N. Ortiz-Aragón, personal communication, September 28, 2022).
In-text citations. The textual bibliographic citation is noted using the author's surname, the publication date, and the cited page in parentheses, for example, (Bendaña, 1998, p. 7). When the citation is indirect (the author's idea is mentioned, but not cited verbatim), the reference page is not included. When there are more than two authors, the surname of the first author is written followed by et al (Puga-Torres et al., 2023). Articles by the same author are cited chronologically (González, 2022 and 2023). Articles by the same author published in the same year are cited alphabetically (García, 2022 a and b).
To learn more about the correct way to cite and reference using APA standards, we suggest you consult: https://normas-apa.org/wp-content/uploads/Guia-Normas-APA-7ma-edicion.pdf
Acknowledgements. This section will be included if you wish to acknowledge people or institutions that advised or assisted in the research; indicating the name of the institution where they work, as well as the manner and extent to which the collaboration was given.
Annexes (when necessary). Tables, graphs, drawings, photos, etc. may be submitted, which will be optional, and it will be up to the editorial committee to take them into account at the time of publication, especially when they are explicit, clear and well-founded.
Others. First-order headings or titles (MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, etc.) are written in capital letters, centered and in bold; second-order titles are written in lowercase letters, using bold, a full stop, and then the content being referred to. The heading INTRODUCTION should not be stated, since this section marks the beginning of the article.
