About the Journal

RELEVa is an open-access electronic publication affiliated with the Department of Spanish Language at the University of Valladolid. Its main objective is to publish original research on the Spanish language, along with reviews of scholarly works in the same field.

This annual journal features a miscellaneous section (where research papers approved by the Scientific Committee and previously screened by the Editorial Board are published) and a review section.

Occasionally, and with the approval of the Editorial Board, some issues may include a monographic section coordinated by a researcher from within or outside the University of Valladolid.

The journal has both an Editorial Board and a Scientific Committee, whose members are listed in the respective sections. The Editorial Board is composed entirely of researchers from the University of Valladolid, while the Scientific Committee consists mainly (90%) of scholars external to the university.

The composition of the Scientific Committee ensures gender equality and parity, maintaining a balanced gender representation. More than 10% of its members are affiliated with foreign institutions.

RELEVa does not charge any fees for submission or publication of articles.

Topic areas:

RELEVa welcomes and evaluates articles in any area related to the Spanish language, including but not limited to:

  • Spanish Grammar
  • Spanish Syntax
  • Spanish Morphology
  • Spanish as Foreign Language (ELE): Teaching and Acquisition
  • Spanish Semantics
  • Spanish Lexicology and Lexicography
  • Historical Linguistics of Spanish
  • Spanish Historiography
  • Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
  • Spanish Dialectology and Varieties
  • Colloquial Spanish
  • Corpus Linguistics: Spoken and Written Corpora
  • Spanish in the Media
  • Spanish in Social Networks
  • Discourse Analysis in Spanish
  • Comparative Spanish Linguistics with Other Languages
  • Translation from Spanish to Other Languages

Institutional Affiliation

This journal is owned by the University of Valladolid (España), which hosts, maintains, and manages it through Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid (EdUVa) and the University's Information and Communication Technologies Service (STIC). The University guarantees open access to all journal contents. All published works are archived in the University of Valladolid’s Institutional Repository to ensure long-term preservation.

Peer review process:

Submitted articles must present original research of scientific quality. Simultaneous submission to other journals or platforms is not allowed.

The Editorial Board may reject submissions without peer review for any of the following reasons:

  • The manuscript does not adhere to the journal’s style guidelines;
  • The manuscript does not follow the required formatting template;
  • The topic does not align with the journal’s thematic scope;
  • Plagiarism is detected.

All submissions undergo double-blind peer review. Each article is evaluated by two experts selected from the Scientific Committee or, when necessary, from external reviewers.

If both reviewers reject the article, it is declined. If only one rejects it, a third reviewer is assigned, and their verdict will be final.

Evaluation criteria include:

  • Originality
  • Methodological quality
  • Contribution to the academic field

The anonymity of authors and reviewers is preserved throughout the evaluation process.

Authors will be informed of the final decision by the Editorial Board after the peer review is complete. All parties must adhere to the deadlines established for each phase.

Publication frequency

RELEVa. Revista de Estudios de Lengua Española. Valladolid is published annually.

There is a fixed yearly deadline for article and review submissions. The submission window opens on January 1st and closes on a specific date announced each year in the “Announcements” section. Submissions outside this window will not be considered.

Code of ethics

The journal adheres to the Code of Ethics set out in the Good Practices Guide of Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid, which aligns with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

  1. Authors

Authors must conduct ethical and responsible research, comply with current legislation, and follow the guidelines in Section 1 of the Good Practices Guide. Submissions must be original, unpublished, and properly attributed. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and redundant publication are strictly prohibited.

Sources must be clearly cited, and any fabrication, distortion, or manipulation of data is forbidden. Unauthorized use of private communications or debates is not allowed. Third-party images or graphics must have proper permissions and citations.

Submissions under evaluation elsewhere will be rejected. Once submitted to RELEVa, a manuscript may not be submitted elsewhere until the review process concludes.

  1. Editorial Board

The Editorial Board must ensure the quality of publications, promote good research practices, and avoid misconduct. It is responsible for managing the peer review process fairly and impartially, protecting authors’ rights, and maintaining confidentiality until publication.

Reviewers’ identities may be withheld only when justified. Contributions from reviewers will be acknowledged with official certifications if requested.

Cases of misconduct such as redundant publication, plagiarism, falsified data, or omitted sources may lead to correction or retraction, as described in the Good Practices Guide.

Conflicts of interest must be resolved as outlined in Section 2.4 of the guide.

  1. Reviewers

Reviewers must decline to evaluate any work in which they have a conflict of interest, as outlined in Section 3 of the Good Practices Guide.

Review is confidential. Reviewers must not use the content for personal or third-party benefit. They must evaluate work objectively and respectfully, offering constructive criticism and improvement suggestions.

Any misconduct should be reported to the Editorial Board.

Reviewers must deliver their reports within the established deadlines. If unable to do so, they should inform the Editorial Board promptly.

Plagiarism Detection Policy

RELEVa enforces compliance with the ethical standards described above. All manuscripts are checked for plagiarism using software provided by the University of Valladolid’s ICT Service (STIC). Appropriate actions will be taken in the event of detected misconduct.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If artificial intelligence tools were used in preparing the article, authors must disclose how and for what purpose.

Gender Equality Best Practices

RELEVa promotes gender equality. The composition of its editorial and scientific bodies is balanced, and the proportion of male and female reviewers is also equitable.

The journal publishes full author names. It uses inclusive, non-sexist language and recommends the same to contributors, in line with the UN Guidelines for Gender-Inclusive Language.

Authors are encouraged to avoid gender bias, including using masculine forms as generics. It is recommended to consult the European Commission’s "Gendered Innovations" manual and, where applicable, report disaggregated results by sex in human research.

Privacy Statement

Names and email addresses collected by the journal are used solely for its operational purposes and will not be shared for any other reason. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), users have the right to access, rectify, oppose, erase (“right to be forgotten”), restrict processing, and request data portability or opt out of automated decisions.

Open Acces Policy and Copyright Notice

This journal provides immediate open access to its content, fostering global knowledge exchange.

All works in RELEVa are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Published content reflects the authors’ views, not necessarily those of the journal’s editorial team.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and Digital Archiving Policy

All articles published will be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). They will also be archived in the University of Valladolid’s Institutional Repository and in other databases, and preserved by the university’s ICT Service (STIC).

Financing

The magazine does not charge authors for sending their articles or reviews or for publishing them, and is financed and managed through the resources of Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid.

Information policy on sources of financing

Authors must disclose any public or private funding related to their research during submission. In multi-authored articles, each author must declare their sources of funding, including the funding body, grant number, and the funder’s role. If applicable, a footnote indicating funding support or research project affiliation will be added to the published article.

Interoperability protocol

The journal has an OAI-PMH interface (Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) that enables databases or information services to access the metadata of published works. Path to obtain the metadata: https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/releva/oai?verb=Identify.