Author Guidelines

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

 INFORMATION UPDATED IN AUGUST/2024

INTERCOM - Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação focuses on Social Communication and its interdisciplinary interfaces.

  Submissions that do not strictly follow the instructions to the authors will be rejected in the initial screening and will not proceed to evaluation.

Types of documents accepted

Revista Intercom publishes articles resulting from research, critical book reviews and interviews that make a scientific contribution to the field. Texts are received for the Articles, Arena, Interviews, Reviews and Preprints sections and must strictly observe the rules described below.

• Articles: a fixed section for analytical or review texts resulting from original theoretical or field research on topics in the field of Social Communication. They should contain a presentation and analysis of the results and an introduction explaining the research strategy and methodology used. Priority will be given to texts that are actually the result of research and that show scientific discovery and/or methodological and conceptual invention.
• Arena: a flexible section for publishing texts on controversial and/or emerging topics, reports on experiences and preliminary research notes. The texts can be more formally reflective).
• Interview: A fixed section for testimonials from researchers with a recognized academic career who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of research in the field of Communication and/or related areas.
• Reviews: a fixed section, containing the registration and criticism of recently published books.

With regard to preprints, it is important to point out that Revista Intercom does not consider that the publication of articles in preprint repositories detracts from the originality of the article submitted. Revista Intercom is attentive to updates to the principles of Open Science and, in this sense, foresees that articles published in preprint repositories can be submitted to the journal, without detriment to their originality.

Unprecedented

Collaborations must be the result of original and unpublished research. Authors are asked to submit only manuscripts that have not been simultaneously submitted for publication in another journal.  Texts previously published in proceedings of events, journals, books or repositories, regardless of language, will be automatically rejected during the initial evaluation stage.

Language

Revista Intercom publishes all its articles in a bilingual version: in the original language (Portuguese or Spanish) and the English version. Optionally, approved articles may also be published in all three languages. The costs of translation into any language will be the responsibility of the authors, and the journal will review them.

Articles in other languages can be submitted for evaluation and, if approved, will be published with a translation into Portuguese or Spanish, which is also the responsibility of the authors.

Authors' Contribution

Authorship refers to credit for the work published and implies responsibility for it. Revista Intercom uses the CREDiT taxonomy structure. All authors must describe their participation in the preparation of the manuscript using the "CREDiT Form" available in the Conditions of Submission. Revista Intercom recommends that authorship be based on the four criteria described below:

• substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research, the acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation of the data presented in the work;
• drafting preliminary versions of the manuscript or critically reviewing the intellectual content of the article;
• final approval of the version to be published;
• agreement to be responsible for all aspects of the work, in order to guarantee the accuracy and integrity of the article.

All those listed as authors must meet the four criteria for authorship, and all those who meet the four criteria must be identified as authors. Individuals who do not meet the four criteria mentioned may have their collaboration acknowledged by means of a note of thanks at the end of the work. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from these individuals before naming them in their acknowledgments.

Submission of the article through the journal's system implies tacit and public confirmation that all the authors listed on the title page have participated in the preparation of the manuscript.

Revista Intercom only receives articles in which: (a) at least one of the authors has completed a doctorate; (b) a doctoral student can be the first author, as long as the advisor also signs the article; (c) master's students can be indicated as the second author in articles signed by a doctor.

Articles will not be accepted from master's students, specialists, graduates or undergraduates.

Authors who have already published in the journal must wait 15 months before having a new article published. The editors recommend that authors submit only one article for evaluation, taking into account the time between publications described above.

The maximum number of authors and co-authors per submitted manuscript should be four.  

Preparation of the manuscript

Revista Intercom receives online submissions through the Intercom/Portcom website, which uses the Electronic Journal Publishing System - SEER (Open Journal Systems - OJS).  Manuscripts and/or supplementary documents sent by e-mail will not be considered.

We ask authors to carefully read all the requirements of the submission process below.

Article Submission Format

Authors must have their text checked for spelling and grammar before submitting it to the journal. Submissions must also include the following files, as detailed later:

• Title page;
• Original manuscript (use the templatefor drafting and formatting);
• Open Science compliance form;
• CREDit form;
• Declaration of conflict of interest;
• Statement of Responsibility for Content;
• Statement on the use of AI and language models.

Original articles, including abstracts, notes and bibliographical references, should be no longer than 40,000 characters with spaces.

Critical reviews must not exceed 15,000 characters with spaces and must contain the full reference of the book, as well as the title and identification of the author of the book reviewed at the end of the text (full name and institutional affiliation).

Interviews should be between 20,000 and 30,000 characters long with spaces and contain the interviewee's full reference at the end of the text (full name and institutional affiliation). A high-resolution photograph of the interviewee in .tiff, .jpg or .png format should also be sent.

With the exception of the title page and other complementary documents, the pages containing the manuscript itself must be sent without any information that could identify the authors. Data such as: name, e-mail address and affiliation; information in any part of the text indicating links to research groups; title of academic work presented/defended (paper, dissertation, thesis) or names of departments and/or supervisors to which the authors are linked; among others, should be excluded.

When necessary, authors can indicate in the text, in place of the deleted passages, the following words: "Excerpt removed to preserve the blind review". If the article is approved, the author will have the opportunity to include the information again in the version that will be published.

When submitting manuscripts, authors should make sure:

• the originality and uniqueness of the submission, i.e. the work must not have been previously published and/or submitted simultaneously to another journal.
• that the submitted file is in text format (.doc; .docx or .odt) without identifying the authors, and that it has been prepared according to the submission template for the structure of the submitted text.
• that the registration for the presentation of the ORCID iD was carried out.
• that the "CRediT form" was filled in and included as an "other document" in the system.
• that the "Declaration of Conflict of Interest" was made, and included as an "other document" in the system.
• that the "Title Page" has been duly completed and attached to the system.

Authors should also check that the abbreviated citations in the body of the text and in footnotes (author, year of publication and, where appropriate, page) are complete in the references at the end of the text, according to ABNT standards. All references in electronic format (journals, e-books, digital theses and dissertations) must correctly indicate the full URL at the end of the reference. Very long URLs should be shortened by: https://bitly.com/.

As a submission policy, Revista Intercom establishes that authors must send their manuscripts in separate files, as described below:

1. A) Title page

The manuscript must be accompanied by a "title page" containing the following information:

• Title of the manuscript in Portuguese, English and Spanish;
• Section of the journal to which the manuscript is addressed;
• Mention the receipt of funding and the respective funding institutions, if applicable;
• Authors' names: the full names of the authors, as well as their responsibilities. The affiliation of each author must include the following information: university, department, city, zip code, country, e-mail address and ORCID (all authors must have an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) registration). A corresponding author must be indicated.
• Information on the deposit of the manuscript on a preprint server, if applicable.
• Statement that the research has been approved by an institutional ethics committee when necessary.

When submitting the manuscript via the system, authors must also correctly inform the requested metadata on the online submission form.

If the manuscript is approved, the information on the title page will be incorporated into the manuscript, according to the template used by the journal.

1. B) Original manuscripts

Structure

The manuscript should be structured as follows: Title in Portuguese, Resumo, Palavras-chave; Title in English, Abstract, Key-words; Title in Spanish, Resumen, Palabras-clave; introduction, theoretical framework, method, results and conclusion. references; authors' mini-curriculum; acknowledgments; financial or technical support; declaration of conflict of interest.

Use the "Template defined by Revista Intercom". The document is formatted and complies with the latest standardization requirements.

Configuring texts

Originals should be submitted in .DOC or .DOCX (Word for Windows), .ODT (Open Office) or .RTF format, with the following formatting:

• Sheet format: A4 size;
• 5 cm margins;
• Title: Times New Roman 16 font, left aligned, bold, with a maximum of 90 characters with spaces, representing the content of the article. The title should be presented in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
• Internal headings and subheadings: Times New Roman 14 font, respectively, in bold and on the left.
• Abstract and keywords: except for reviews and interviews, texts must include an abstract of up to 1,000 characters (with spaces), and a maximum of five keywords that make it possible to identify the content of the article, separated by semicolons. Use Times New Roman 11 font, without indentation, single-spaced. Abstract and keywords should also be presented in English and Spanish.
• Body: Use Times New Roman font, 12-point font for the body of the text, 1.0 line spacing (single space) and 1.25 indentation on the first line. For tables and references, use 11-point font. For direct quotations of more than 3 lines and footnotes, use 10-point font. The text must be justified. All titles, section headings and references must be aligned to the left.

It is essential to use the template, which has all the appropriate formatting for submission.

Section headings: Section/subdivision headings should be brief and clear.

Acronyms and abbreviations: Acronyms and abbreviations must be enclosed in brackets and preceded by their full meaning when first used in the text.

Foreign words: Foreign words should be written in italics. For emphasis or highlighting use bold, 'single quotation marks' or 'double quotation marks'.

Abbreviated citations in the body of the text and in footnotes (author, year of publication and, where appropriate, page) must be completed in the references at the end of the text. Links to electronic addresses must be active.

Footnotes are optional and explanatory. They should only be used as an exception, when strictly necessary for the understanding of the text and with a maximum of five lines. Footnotes will be numbered consecutively in Arabic in the order in which they appear in the text.

Once accepted for publication, authors will be asked to send the article translated into English.

1. C) Supplementary documents

The documents below are available for download:

• Title page;
• Original manuscript (use the templatefor drafting and formatting);
• Open Science compliance form;
• CREDit form;
• Declaration of conflict of interest;
• Statement of Responsibility for Content;
• Statement on the use of AI and language models.

Digital Assets

Use of illustrations, tables and graphs

The purpose of illustrations, charts, tables and graphs is to present the results in a succinct and detailed way, to allow visual analysis or to help explain ideas, making it possible to express more clearly what would be difficult to write and tiresome to read.

Images, illustrations, tables and graphs must be numbered in Arabic numerals, in the sequence in which they appear in the text, preceded by the word Table/Figure.

Images, tables, illustrations and graphs should be inserted into the text as close as possible to the passage to which they refer. Avoid using expressions such as "the image above" or "the figure shown below". Always refer to the numbering of the item (figure 1 or graph 2, for example) as the figure will not always be exactly below or above the reference section in the editing process.

Tables

Tables and charts should be inserted in the text itself, following the standards defined by the IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, as established by ABNT. They must be written in Times News Roman font, body 10, regular, single-spaced.  Tables added as images will not be accepted. Avoid long tables that take up more than one page.

Figures

Figures are all forms of illustration other than tables and charts. Figures include drawings, photos, diagrams, engravings and maps.

The use of figures is important because they complement the scientific text, which is often not easily understood, and help the reader to understand it better.

For illustrations and images to really enrich the scientific text, they need to be of good quality and also sent correctly for publication.

When preparing visualizations (graphs, figures, maps, etc.), we recommend following good visualization accessibility practices. We suggest reading the following text: "Accessibility in scientific visualizations", and that authors try to adapt their visualizations (except for interactivity, since articles are also published in PDF).

After each visualization and its source, an alternative text (Alt text) should be added with a brief description of the image. This is important for accessing the content using screen readers. We suggest reading the following text: "Image Alt Text: How to Make Your Scientific Publication More Accessible".

In addition to being inserted in the text, illustrations and images must be sent separately as complementary files via the journal's submission system. Each image must be a maximum of 15 cm wide by 20 cm high and at least 10 cm wide by 8 cm high.

Text inserted in the image must be written in sans serif fonts, 8 to 12 point body to allow visualization. The image resolution must be at least 300 DPI. Image files are accepted in one of the following formats: jpeg, tiff, gif, eps or bmp.

Graphics

We recommend using the most synthetic format possible. When using color in graphics, evaluate how the colors used will look if printed in grayscale. Avoid using 3D graphics as they can be difficult for screen readers to use. For axis titles, legends and other short texts used in graphics, use Times New Roman, body 8 to 12.

Do not include authors' names, article title or figure number/title/legend in the figure files. This information will be included in the caption of your figure in the manuscript.

In addition to being inserted in the text, graphics must be sent separately as complementary files via the journal's submission system, in one of the following formats: jpeg, tiff, gif, eps or bmp.

Citations and References

Revista Intercom is obliged to use the following normative instructions from the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT):

• References - Elaboration (NBR-6023/2018);
• Quotations in documents - Presentation (NBR 10520/2002);
• Progressive numbering of the sections of a written document (NBR-6024/2003);
• Abstract - Presentation (NBR 6028/2003).

General recommendations

We encourage authors to explore and integrate into their submissions articles already published in Revista Intercom whenever relevant. This not only enriches the discussion, but also strengthens connections within the academic community in the field.

We encourage the use of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), as it guarantees a permanent access link to the electronic article.

or articles or texts published on the internet that do not contain a DOI, please indicate the full URL address and the date they were accessed.

 References and citations

References should be cited in alphabetical order, without numbering, single-spaced with 6pt before and 0pt after paragraphs. If there is more than one work by the same author, cite in chronological order of publication; if there is more than one work by the same author published in the same year, differentiate them by a, b and c. References should only include the works actually used to prepare the article.

Examples:

1) Books:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title of the book (in bold, only the first letter capitalized): subtitle (without bold). Edition. Place: Publisher, date. v. (Series or Collection).

Example:

HAGEMEYER, R. R. História & Audiovisual. 1. ed. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica Editora, 2013. 152 p.

Citation in the text: HAGEMEYER (2013) or at the end of the citation (HAGEMEYER, 2013).

2) Book chapters:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title of the chapter without emphasis. In: followed by the references of the book: AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, Author's name. Title of the book (in bold, only the first letter capitalized): subtitle (in bold). Edition. Place: publisher, date, page numbers (pages consulted) or volume (Series or Collection).

Example:

RIBEIRO, C. M. Digital library. In: SANTOS, G. C. Acronyms, acronyms and technical terms: archives, librarianship, documentation, information technology. 2. ed. rev. and ampl. Campinas, SP: Átomo, 2012. 289 p. (Dictionaries Series).

Citation in the text: Ribeiro (2012) or at the end of the citation (RIBEIRO, 2012).

3) Works published in proceedings of events or similar:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title: subtitle. In: NAME OF EVENT (in capital letters), number, year, place of organization. Title of publication followed by ellipsis in brackets (in bold).  Place of publication (city): Publisher, date, initial and final pages of the work.

Example:

SANTOS, G. C. Biblioteca escolar digital (BedNet). In: SEMINÁRIO DE GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO EM EDUCAÇÃO E TECNOLOGIA DA INFORMAÇÃO, 3., 2004, Campinas, SP. Anais [...]. Campinas, SP: UNICAMP/FE, 2004. p.25-35.  

Citation in the text: Santos (2004) or at the end of the citation (SANTOS, 2002).

4) Parts of periodicals

 4.1) Journal articles:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title of the article (without emphasis). Name of the journal (in bold), city, volume and number of the journal, pages, date of publication.

Example:

AMORIM, A. L. T.; ARAÚJO, M. J. C. G. Como o isolamento social causado pela pandemia de covid-19 impactou o consumo de podcasts no brasil: uma análise de matérias jornalísticas nacionais. Brazilian Journal of Development, Curitiba, v. 7, n. 3, p. 25802-25815, mar. 2021.

Citation in the text: Amorim and Araújo (2021) or at the end of the quote (AMORIM; ARAÚJO, 2021).

4.2) Newspaper articles:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title of article. Title of the newspaper. Number or title of the section or supplement, place, first and last pages, day, month, year.

Example:

BRITO, A. As relíquias dos sebos de Campinas: pontos de venda de livros usados sobrevivem ao domínio das megastores e oferecem um acervo que faz inveja às bibliotecas. Gazeta Mercantil, São Paulo, 6 ago.1999.

Citation in the text: Brito (1999) or at the end of the citation (BRITO, 1999).

5) Monographs, dissertations and theses:

AUTHOR'S SURNAME, Author's name. Title (in bold): subtitle. Year, number of pages or volumes (Category and area of concentration) - Name of Faculty, Name of University, city.

Example:

MENDONÇA, M. C. A maternidade na publicidade: uma análise qualitativa e semiótica em São Paulo e Toronto. 2014. Tese (Doutorado) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Comunicação e Semiótica, São Paulo, SP.

Citation in the text: Mendonça (2014) or at the end of the citation (MENDONÇA, 2014).

6) Online publications:

SOUZA, K. P. University library: risk analysis. RDBCI: Digital Journal of Library and Information Science, Campinas, SP, v. 17, p. e019037, 2019. DOI 10.20396/rdbci.v17i0.8653319. Available at: https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/rdbci/article/view/8653319. Accessed on: 11 Nov. 2022.

Citation in the text:  Souza (2019) or at the end of the citation (SOUZA, 2019).

RDBCI: DIGITAL JOURNAL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE. Campinas: State University of Campinas, 2003- . ISSN 1678-765X. Annual. Available at: https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/rdbci. Access on: 06 jan. 2021.

Citation in the text:  RDBCI... (2003) or at the end of the citation (RDBCI..., 2003).

PASSOS, R. The presence of information competence in the National Book and Reading Plan: as pects on reading mediation and mediator training. 2015. Thesis (doctoral) - State University of Campinas, Faculty of Education, Campinas, SP. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12733/1627403. Accessed on: 11 Nov. 2022.

Citation in the text:  Passos (2015) or at the end of the citation (PASSOS, 2015).

For other examples, we recommend consulting the ABNT-NBR-6023/2018 standards. For users of electronic reference indexing systems (Mendeley, EndNote, Zotero or other), adopt the ABNT - Brazilian Association of Technical Standards style as the standard for normalizing references.

 Supplementary Documents

To submit a manuscript, authors must use the Revista Intercom online submission system provided by Open Journal Systems (OJS) and available at https://revistas.intercom.org.br/index.php/revistaintercom/submission/wizard.

The submission must include the following items, available for download:

• Title page;
• Original manuscript (use the templatefor drafting and formatting);
• Open Science compliance form;
• CREDit form;
• Declaration of conflict of interest;
• Statement of Responsibility for Content;
• Statement on the use of AI and language models.

Each document must be attached separately in the designated field within the system. Before starting the process, the person responsible for the submission must first register in the system as an author and create/associate their ORCID record. All authors must have an up-to-date ORCID record

Once the manuscript has been accepted, the authors must attach:

• Authors' declaration duly signed by all.
• Separate files - in high resolution - of images, illustrations and graphics.

Important! The revised and translated files must also be attached via the Revista Intercom publication system.

Financing Statement

It is essential that authors provide detailed information on the sources of support for their work when submitting their manuscripts to Revista Intercom. This includes:

• Identification of Sponsors: list all the sponsors of the work, including institutions, organizations or individuals who have provided financial or other support.
• Contract Details: if applicable, please provide the contract number or any other specific reference related to the financial support.
• Role of Supporting Sources: clearly describe the role played by each supporting source in the development of the work. This may include, but is not limited to, contributions in the design of the study, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the article for publication.

This information is fundamental to guaranteeing the transparency and integrity of the scientific process, allowing readers to assess the potential impact of funding sources on the work. Information on sources of support should be included in the appropriate section of the manuscript, in accordance with the Intercom Journal guidelines.

Additional Information

If the manuscript is approved by the Editorial Team and the referees, the corresponding author will be notified of the approval and will have 30 days to send the revised Portuguese version and the English version of the text.

In the case of an English version, once the submitted article has been approved, Revista Intercom will check the manuscript using the free AJE's (American Journal Expert - Part of Springer Nature) Grammar Check Tool, which provides a reliable assessment of the quality of the translation and guarantees that the manuscript communicates clearly and accurately. Only manuscripts in which the tool indicates that your Language Assessment Score (LAT) is equal to or above the 75th percentile will be accepted.

After the editorial team has checked the version revised by the authors, they will receive a proof of the manuscript in a text file (.doc or .docx), which includes observations and changes made by the team. The author will have four days to review the proof. If there are still issues related to the proof, the editorial team will contact the author to resolve them, until a final version of the text is reached.

Once the manuscript has been accepted, the corresponding authors will receive the finalized version of the article in PDF format for approval. To open these files, it is necessary to have Acrobat Reader installed (available for free download at http://get.adobe.com/reader/). Corrections requested at this stage of the process should be limited to typographical errors and should not involve changes to the content of the study or the list of authors. Authors must return the approved version by e-mail within 48 hours of receiving the message. Once the PDF production process has been completed, the article will be sent for publication.

As a form of reciprocity with the academic community, Revista Intercom reinforces the commitment that authors of approved papers have to act as evaluators of papers submitted to the journal.