Information For Authors

  1. 1. Aim and scope
  2. 2. Types of articles accepted by the journal
  3. 3. Before Submission
    1. 3.1. Rights and Obligations in Studies Involving Humans and Animals
    2. 3.2. Informed Consent and Patient Details
    3. 3.3. Conflict of Interest Declaration
    4. 3.4. Declaration of AI Generated Writing in Scientific Manuscripts
    5. 3.5. Authorship and Changes in Authorship
    6. 3.6. Copyright
  4. 4. Editorial Process
    1. 4.1. Manuscript Preparation Guidelines
      1. a) Structure and Sections
      2. b) Tables, Figures, and Images
      3. c) ORCID Requirement
      4. d) Graphical Abstract (Optional)
    2. 4.2. Submit your manuscript
      1. a) Checklist of documents

1. Aim and scope

Revista Internacional de Investigación en Adicciones (RIIAD), serves as the official platform of Centros de Integración Juvenil for the dissemination of scientific knowledge derived from multidisciplinary research in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, social sciences, public policy, and related fields, both nationally and internationally, concerning substance use and other mental health issues.

RIIAD is a peer reviewed journal operating under a continuous publication model and adheres to international best practices in scientific publishing. The journal accepts original manuscripts, brief reports, and both narrative and systematic reviews, all of which undergo double blind peer review. Editorials and expert opinions are published exclusively by invitation from the Editor in Chief.

2. Types of Articles Accepted

RIIAD accepts manuscripts in both Spanish and English in the following categories:

  • Editorials (by invitation of the Editor‑in‑Chief)
  • Original articles
  • Review articles
  • Brief research reports
  • Expert opinions (by invitation of the Editor in Chief).

Manuscript submissions are accepted year round. Special calls for papers may be issued for thematic issues.

Editorials

Editorials address commentary on controversial or novel topics related to addictions or relevant aspects of published works. They are published only by invitation of the Editor in Chief, although proposals may be submitted for consideration by the Editorial Committee. Maximum length: 1,500 words.

Original articles

Original articles may be of two types:

Original quantitative research: Reports of cross sectional studies, clinical trials, quasi experimental designs, case control studies, cohort studies, and basic research. Maximum length: 3,500 words. Standards: STROBE, CONSORT, TREND.

Qualitative research: Reports of focus groups, discussion groups, in depth interviews, content analysis, narrative analysis, semantic networks, and ethnographic studies. Maximum length: 5,000 words. Standard: COREQ.

Review articles

Includes systematic or narrative reviews aimed at integrating or updating existing evidence on a scientific topic. All submissions must include a description of the systematic search method employed.

Systematic review protocol and registration

For scoping reviews or systematic reviews (with or without meta analysis), authors are encouraged to prospectively register their review in online databases such as PROSPERO or Open Science Framework Registries (OSF). Maximum length: 4,000 words. Standard: PRISMA.

Brief research reports

Reports of preliminary results or validation of clinical scales. Maximum length: 2,000 words.

Errata

Errata may be published. Any modification, correction, or withdrawal of partial or total content is the responsibility of the authors. Maximum length: 1,000 words.

Experts opinions

Essays reflecting experiences and perspectives of experts in research, public policy, or addiction treatment. Generally published by invitation of the Editor in Chief, though proposals may be submitted for consideration. Maximum length: 2,500 words.

Note: Word counts exclude title, keywords, abstract, references within the text, tables, figures, and reference list.

3. Before Submission

3.1. Rights and Obligations in Studies Involving Humans and Animals

For studies involving humans, authors must declare compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki for medical research involving human subjects: World Medical Association: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/.

For studies involving animals, authors must declare compliance with the ARRIVE Guidelines: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines.

3.2. Informed Consent and Patient Details

Studies involving humans require approval by ethics committees and signed informed consent. Authors must ensure privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality of participants. Written or digital consent forms remain the responsibility of the principal investigator and need not be submitted to the journal unless legally required.

3.3. Conflict of Interest Declaration

Authors must disclose any personal or financial relationships that could influence the publication of their findings. Examples include employment, consultancies, honoraria, or financial support.

Template: “The authors declare that they have no financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this article.”

3.4. Declaration of AI Generated Writing in Scientific Manuscripts

Authors must declare any use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in manuscript preparation. Use must be limited to language improvement and not content generation.

If AI was used: “Declaration: During the preparation of this document, the authors used the following tool [Name of Tool/Service] for [Purpose]. After using this tool or service, the authors edited and reviewed the generated content. The authors assume full responsibility for the manuscript’s content.”

If AI was not used: “The authors declare that no artificial intelligence assistants were used in the writing or generation of this document. All content was verified and edited by the authors, who assume full responsibility for the final version of the article.”

3.5. Authorship and Changes in Authorship

All authors must have made substantial contributions. Suggested order:

First author: Study conception/design, data collection, primary analysis/interpretation.

Second author: Partial writing or major revisions.

Third and subsequent authors: Final review, minor corrections, non substantial contributions.

Authors are encouraged to follow the CRediT taxonomy: Elsevier CRediT Author Statement: https://www.elsevier.com/researcher/author/policies-and-guidelines/credit-author-statement.

Changes in authorship order are only permitted prior to final acceptance and must be requested by the corresponding author with written confirmation from all co-authors.

3.6. Copyright

RIIAD recognizes authors’ moral rights and respects ownership of economic rights, which are transferred non exclusively to the journal for open access dissemination. Authors retain copyright and grant RIIAD the right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial License (CC BY NC 4.0).

Self archiving of post prints (final publisher PDF) is permitted for non commercial purposes in:

  • Social networks
  • Institutional/public repositories
  • Scientific social networks
  • Personal/institutional websites or blogs
  • Personal/institutional websites or blogs

4. Editorial Process

Step 1Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the RIIAD OJS platform: Submission Portal: riiad.org/index.php/riiad/login?source=%2Findex.php%2Friiad%2Fsubmission%2Fwizard.

Step 2 Editorial Review

Initial review ensures compliance with RIIAD’s scope, objectives, anonymization (double blind review), and ethical standards (COPE).

Step 3 Internal Scientific Review

Conducted by the Scientific Review Committee to assess relevance, originality, methodological quality, adherence to standards (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA), and ethical compliance.

Step 4 External Peer Review

Independent experts conduct double blind peer review to ensure quality, validity, originality, and relevance.

Possible outcomes

  1. Rejected
  2. Accepted with major revisions
  3. Accepted with minor revisions
  4. Personal/institutional websites or blogs
  5. Accepted

If reviewers disagree, a third external reviewer may be consulted. The editor may also make a final decision after careful consideration.

Timeline:

  • Internal review: 3–5 weeks
  • External review: 3-5 weeks

4.1. Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

a) Structure and Sections

  • Title in Spanish and English
  • Abstract in Spanish and English (max. 250 words; structured: introduction, objective, method, results, discussion/conclusions).
  • Keywords (3–5, preferably MeSH terms)
  • Introduction where the problem addressed in the research is briefly described, background and previous research on the topic, knowledge needs that justify the proposed work
  • Objective of the research.
  • Method (detailed for reproducibility; APA 7th edition headings: design, participants/sample, instruments, procedure, data analysis, ethical considerations). Note: The reasoning for the application of statistical analyses must be included, not just the analyses performed
  • Results (tables/figures allowed; statistical reporting per APA guidelines). Regarding mathematical and statistical formulas it is requested:
    • Use numbers when dealing with dates, samples, etc.
    • Report with letters the numbers between 0 and 9, with numbers figures greater than or equal to ten.
    • Use two or three decimals (example, p = .04; p = .002) without zero in front; if it is less than .001 indicate it with a < .001.
    • Statistical symbols are written in italics (M, SD, s, a, b).
    • Include effect size measures for the analyses performed, as well as crude and adjusted estimates, indicating confounders.
  • Discussion / Conclusions: in this section the most important aspects of the study and the conclusions derived from it are emphasized
  • References: (APA 7th edition; max. 50 references; prioritize indexed journals, specialized books, government reports). Here are some examples:
  1. Article: Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, XX, pp-pp. doi: xx.xxxx
  2. Book: Author, A. A. (year). Title of book. Location: Publisher
  3. Book chapter: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor, (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. xx-xx). Location: Publisher

The recommendations and guidelines for citations, references, tables and figures can be found in their basic form at the following link: https://apastyle.apa.org/.

b) Tables, Figures, and Images

Maximum of five figures/tables/images.

Must follow APA guidelines.

Images/photographs in grayscale, submitted separately in JPG, TIFF, or EPS (min. 300 DPI).

Author Declarations

Separate document including:

  • Funding sources (mandatory)
  • Conflicts of interest (mandatory)
  • Acknowledgments (optional).

c) ORCID Requirement

All authors must provide ORCID identifiers. Authors of the manuscript who do not have this identifier number must create it and place it so that the manuscript can be considered for publication.

d) Graphical Abstract (Optional)

Authors are encouraged to submit a graphical abstract to enhance visibility. Minimum resolution: 531 × 1328 pixels. Formats: TIFF, EPS, JPG, PDF.

4.2. Submit your manuscript

To verify that the authors have all the necessary documents to submit their manuscript, we provide the following checklist. We kindly invite all those interested in publishing their manuscript in RIIAD to use this list to verify that their submission includes all the requested documents:

Check with "X" if document is already available

Document Description

Copyright Assignment Form

Sure, here is the most precise translation of the instructions you provided:

Sure, here is the most precise translation of the instructions you provided: It is a document signed by the corresponding author or first author on behalf of all authors, including the names and emails of all. With this document, the authors affirm that the manuscript has not been published before anywhere else, regardless of the language (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a lecture or degree thesis), nor is it currently in the process of publication or review in another journal. It is implied that all authors approve the presented version of the manuscript and that it has the approval of the authorities of the institutions where the research was carried out. By transferring rights to RIIAD, they acknowledge that the article may not be translated or reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief. It is sent in PDF format. You can find the required format here: Copyright Transfer Format.

Cover Letter

Document addressed to the Editor of the Journal, signed by the corresponding author or first author. Mention the following aspects: a) originality of the work, b) what is its contribution to the study of addictions and c) reason why it is considered that the journal is the most suitable for the dissemination of the findings found. Although it is not mandatory, it is recommended to include at least two possible external reviewers who are experts in the subject and can give an adequate assessment of the work submitted. It is delivered in PDF format.

Cover Page

Title (in Spanish and English), concise and informative, avoiding abbreviations and formulas.

Short title in the language of the manuscript, with a maximum of 50 characters.

Authors and affiliations, indicating full name(s) and surname(s) of all authors (mandatory) and their ORCID identification number (mandatory), along with their affiliations, indicating them differentiated with superscript number immediately after the author’s name, register the complete affiliation, including the country of origin. Job positions or occupations, current or past, should not be included. Only those who have contributed substantially to: the conception and design of the research, analysis and interpretation of data and in the writing and critical review of the manuscript should be considered as authors.

Contact details of the corresponding author, author to whom correspondence will be addressed during the review, correction and publication of the manuscript, as well as clarifications after publication, considering full telephone number (including country and region codes), in addition to email address.

Word count of the summary, abstract, number of keywords and keywords, body of the text and number of tables and figures.

Manuscript

Authors should follow RIIAD’s guidelines for manuscript writing, named sections and ethical specifications. Also, they must respect the publication standards of the American Psychological Association (APA):

  1. Use Times New Roman font at 12 points, double space, 2.5 cm margins, letter size sheet; saved in “.docx” extension.
  2. Avoid the use of bold in the text and in the references.
  3. Written in third person.
  4. Reserve the use of italics only for words, terms or short phrases in a foreign language or of uncommon use, as well as statistical symbols.
  5. Avoid the use of footnotes

Document with images and/or photographs

In case it is necessary to include images and/or photographs in the manuscript, they must be presented in grayscale and delivered in separate documents in JPG, TIFF or EPS formats with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.

Author Statements

It is a document in which the sources of funding for the study, the existence or non-existence of possible conflicts of interest are expressly stated, the Declaration of AI-generated writing in scientific manuscripts and the author statement of CRediT You can find the required format here: Author Statements