Rules of the Journal

The “Anuario de Derecho Municipal”/Municipal Law Yearbook (hereinafter, ADM or The Journal) is created with the purpose of promoting and widening research in the field of Local Government Law.

The ADM is an annual publication addressed to the academic community interested in Local Government Law.

In order to facilitate and guide the external evaluation of the ADM, the executive board, whose current membership is available in Annex I, has approved these Rules covering the structure and functioning of the ADM.

CHAPTER I
General Provisions

Article 1. Denomination, identification and responsibility of edition

• ADM is the acronym of the “Anuario de Derecho Municipal”. The ADM is property of the “Instituto de Derecho Local de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid” (Institute for Local Government Law of the Autonomous University of Madrid), which will be in charge of its publication along with the publishing house Marcial Pons Ediciones Jurídicas y Sociales.
• Under no circumstances shall the ADM be held liable for opinions conveyed by authors. All claims regarding said content should be submitted to its authors.

Article 2. Sponsoring Organizations

• To support and endorse its activity, the ADM may be sponsored by scientific societies, practitioner associations, universities, local entities, research bodies or any other institution of recognized prestige in the field of Public Law.

Article 3. Copyrights and publishing rights

• Any reproduction or translation of Journal’s articles must acknowledge the ADM as the original publisher.
• Authors retain copyright in the published paper and only license to the publisher a non-exclusive right to first publication and distribution of the published work. All the articles in the journal are published using the Creative Commons Attribution- 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits free third-party use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
• Once published, the ADM allows authors to deposit the final version of their articles in open access institutional or thematic repositories.
• Only authors shall be held liable for any copyright infringement that may result from quoting others’ content in their articles.

Article 4. Purposes

• The ADM has the following purposes:
  • The creation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the field of Local Government Law.
  • The promotion of considerations and debates on Local Government Law.

Article 5. Periodicity and format

• The ADM shall be published annually. It shall be published in digital and printed editions.
• Notwithstanding the provisions of the first point, one or more extraordinary monographic issues may be also published annually.

Article 6. Languages

• Original papers may be published in the ADM in English, Spanish and the other official Spanish languages.

Article 7. Topics of interest and geographical scope

• The ADM publishes original and unpublished research articles on Local Government Law. It also publishes translations of articles originally published in another language, respecting the corresponding intellectual property rights.

Article 8. Intended readership

• The ADM is a scientific publication addressed to the academic and professional community interested in Local Government Law.

CHAPTER II
Organisation of the editorial team

Article 9. Organisation

• The ADM’s collegiate bodies are the executive board, the board of editors and the advisory committee.
• The ADM shall have peer-reviewers, who are not members of the editorial team. Reviewers will assess the submitted articles.
• Likewise, the ADM will incorporate staff to manage the editing process. Said staff shall edit Journal issues and carry out tasks regarding layout, advertising, marketing, social networks, etc.
• The executive board, the board of editors and the advisory board can hold joint on-site and online meetings.

Article 10. Executive board

• The executive board shall be composed of two members, a director and the academic secretary and technical director of the ADM.
• The executive board shall be chaired by the director of the ADM, who shall be elected by the editorial board from among university professors or researchers holding a doctorate degree in Law.
• The executive board shall exercise its functions for a period of four years from the date of its constitution. Before the expiration of the term of office, the outgoing director shall propose to the editorial board the appointment of a director for the following four years. Once the appointment has been accepted by the editorial board, the new appointee shall appoint the academic secretary for the following four-year term.
• The responsibilities of the executive board are:
  • To draft guidelines on the evaluation of manuscripts as well as prepare the appropriate evaluation sheets.
  • To draft technical guidelines on the management of the editing process.
  • To draft technical guidelines for the ADM’s publication, which shall include all the necessary requirements to ensure the quality of the published information and to measure the ADM’s circulation and impact.
  • To draft the Journal’s code of ethics and good practices.
  • To establish the Journal’s editorial lines.
  • To request contributions in order to increase the Journal’s impact and visibility.
  • To control the quality of external reviews.
  • To pre-approve manuscripts to be evaluated by external peer-reviewers according to their thematic field and scientific interest.
  • To provisionally approve articles when favourably evaluated by peer-reviewers.
  • To draft the contents of every Journal’s issue prior to the final approval by the board of editors.
  • To select comments submitted following the initial publication of every article (open first) which will be included in the final version of every issue.
  • To propose the publication of special issues to the board of editors.
• Executive board’s meetings shall preferably be held online.

Article 11. The Director

• The responsibilities of the director are:
  • To represent the ADM.
  • To appoint and remove the ADM’s peer-reviewers and collaborators.
  • To appoint and remove the members of the board of editors and the advisory committee.
  • To set the agenda, to call and to chair the meetings of the board of editors and the advisory committee.
  • To take all the decisions that do not fall within other boards’ responsibilities according to these rules.

Article 12. The academic Secretariat/Technical Director

• The academic secretariat/technical direction of the ADM corresponds to the person designated by the director of the ADM, from among researchers holding a doctorate degree in Law.
• The academic secretary and technical director will be responsible for:
  • Coordinating the process of editing the ADM, in particular, the evaluation processes, appointing two external reviewers to review each original submitted.
  • Supervising the publication process of the ADM, both in its printed and digital editions.
  • Managing communications between the ADM bodies, the authors, and the entity or entities in charge of the publication and distribution of this publication in print and electronic format.
  • Taking the minutes and issuing the certificates.
  • Proposing to the editorial board the editorial norms.
  • Any other function delegated or entrusted by the director of the ADM.
• Executive board’s meetings shall preferably be held online.

Article 13. Board of editors

• The board of editors shall comprise the director of the ADM, acting as chairperson, the academic secretary of the ADM, and other five members appointed by the director among scholars with special standing and expertise in the field of Local Government Law.
• The maximum number of members of the board of editors affiliated to the same institution is three. At least one quarter of members of the board of editors must be affiliated to foreign institutions.
• The membership term in the board of editors is for four years.
  • Any vacancy in the board of editors shall be filled by decision of the director.
• The quorum required for celebrating the meetings of the board of editors on second call is one third of its members, including its chairperson.
• The responsibilities of the board of editors are:
• To approve guidelines on the evaluation of manuscripts and the appropriate evaluation sheets.
• To approve technical guidelines on the editing process management.
• To approve technical guidelines on the ADM´s publication, which shall include all requirements in order to ensure information’s quality and to measure the Journal’s circulation and impact.
• To approve the Journal’s code of ethics and good practices.
• To approve the publication of special issues.
• To approve definitively the articles included in every ordinary or extraordinary Journal’s issue.
• The meetings of the board of editors shall preferably be held online.

Article 14. Advisory Committee

• The advisory committee comprises a chairperson, a secretary and members eligible from among scholars of recognized standing in the field of law. Members of the advisory committee are appointed by the ADM´s director.
• The maximum number of members of the advisory committee belonging to the same institution is three. At least a thirty per cent of the members of the advisory committee shall belong to foreign institutions.
• The responsibilities of the advisory committee are:
  • To propose a course of action to improve the Journal´s quality
  • To propose a course of action to improve the Journal´s circulation.
  • To propose a course of action to increase the Journal’s impact.
  • To propose a course of action to ensure the proper functioning of the Journal.
  • To advise the board of editors on every issue on which its counsel is requested.
• The meetings of the board of editors shall preferably be held online.

Article 15. Technical support staff

• In performing its duties, the executive board shall count on the Marcial Pons publishing house for technical and management support.

Article 16. External peer reviewers

• The Journal shall have a database of peer reviewers comprised by experts of recognised academic standing who are external to the Journal’s boards and the publishing house. Reviewers shall evaluate the originality, newness, relevance and methodological quality of submitted manuscripts in an anonymous and confidential way. Likewise, anonymity of authorship shall be ensured during the evaluation process (double blind).
• Reviewers shall hold a doctorate degree and a position as university professor or fellow in a research institution.
• At least twenty per cent of Journal reviewers shall be affiliated to foreign institutions.
• At least fifty percent of the evaluators shall be women.
• The list of reviewers shall be available on the ADM’s website.

CHAPTER III<br/

Article 17. Sections

• The journal is made up of two sections: studies and reports. The executive board may also agree on the inclusion of an additional section, with technical reports prepared by professionals from local entities.

Article 18. Studies section

• Studies are research papers consisting of original and unpublished academic contributions.
• Studies shall not exceed 100,000 characters including spaces.

Article 19. Reports Section

• 1. The sectorial reports referring to the different fields of action of the local entities shall have a maximum length of twenty pages in Times New Roman 12, line spacing 1.3.
• The reports shall reflect the most important legal developments (case-law, legislation and bibliography) in the different fields of action of the local entities in the year prior to the publication of the ADM.
• They may express scientific opinions on current legal issues.

CHAPTER IV
Management of the editorial process

Article 20. Submission of studies

• Manuscripts shall be sent to the ADM´s executive board through the website and electronic platform of the ADM established for this purpose. The author shall complete all the fields displayed in the electronic submission tool.
• The text of the article will not include the author's name or any affiliation that would allow his/her identification. Likewise, acknowledgements shall be omitted if they enable the author’s identification.
• The original manuscripts should not exceed 100,000 characters including spaces.
• Authors must submit their texts as a Word file following any citation and style rules commonly accepted by the academic community.Nevertheless, after their acceptance for publication, texts must be adapted by authors according to the Journal’s style guidelines available on the website. Manuscripts shall be written with inclusive language and avoiding all forms of unlawful discrimination.
• By submitting a manuscript, the author declares: his/her awareness and acceptance of the Journal’s ethics code, that the submitted text has neither been published previously nor is currently in publication process in any other journal or book.
• The submission message text shall identify every manuscript’s author by providing his/her name, surname, email address, ORCID code, institutional affiliation and country of the institution.

Article 21. Reception of studies

• Once the papers have been received, a receipt notice shall be sent to the authors with an indication of the approximate duration of the evaluation process.
• In no case will the evaluation of the papers be certified before their definitive and final acceptance.

Article 22. Evaluation of studies

• Received studies shall be screened by the executive board to determine whether they meet the requirements set by the Journal’s rules and guidelines. If it be so, evaluation process shall start within 5 days since the reception of the study. If not, the executive board shall return studies to their authors informing on the reasons for its decisions.
• Duly anonymized selected studies shall be sent out for evaluation to two peer-reviewers appointed by the executive board. The identity of reviewers shall not be disclosed (double blind).
• External peer review shall value originality, current interest and newness, relevance and significance of studies for the advance of scientific knowledge, as well as aspects regarding scientific reliability and validity such as proven methodological quality, format, writing and consistency.
• Evaluations shall be forwarded through online established means to the executive board within fifteen days. The result of the evaluation may be: a) publishable; b) publishable with minor modifications; c) publishable with major modifications; d) not publishable.
• The results of the evaluation’s results shall be conveyed to studies’ authors through online established means together with a summary of the main issues addressed by the evaluation report. Reviewer’s identity shall be omitted in case modifications were required.

Article 23. Provisional acceptance of studies

• The executive board shall accept provisionally every manuscript having two favorable evaluations regardless of the requirement of modifications. In this case, articles shall be returned to their submitters so that authors can consider suggestions and comments within a maximum term of ten days.
• Articles with two negative evaluations or with one negative evaluation and an evaluation suggesting major modifications shall not be published.
• In case one of the evaluations proposes either the non-publication or the publication with major modifications, the executive committee may:
• Send the author the negative evaluation, so that he or she can consider the comments and resubmit a revised manuscript. Once the modified manuscript has been received, the executive committee will assess whether the new text has overcome the objections indicated in the reference report, which will be decisive for provisionally accepting or rejecting its publication.
• Request a third report. If the new report is favorable, the executive committee will provisionally accept its publication; if the third report rejects the publication, or proposes new substantial modifications, the executive committee shall decide not to publish it.

Article 24. Final acceptance of studies

• 1. The publication of every provisionally accepted study shall be endorsed by the board of editors. The board of editors must take a decision within a maximum term of 5 days after reception of the study.
• Decisions adopted in the editorial process are not reviewable.
• A study that has been finally accepted shall be returned to authors only in case of non-compliance with style guidelines so that authors can make final formal adaptations.
• The final version must include the names of the authors and their affiliation. Shall there be multiple authors, the name of the one with the greatest responsibility or dedication to the preparation of the article will go first. When appropriate, an initial foot note will specify the parts of the article that have been written by each author.
• The final version will also specify in an initial footnote, where appropriate, the sources of funding for the article. In the case of public aids, the corresponding code will be mentioned.

Article 25. Publication of the original studies and sectorial reports

• The original studies and sectorial reports definitively accepted shall appear on the ADM's electronic portal. This publication shall bear pagination and definitive electronic identification.

Article 26. Final composition of each issue

• Each issue of the ADM shall be made up of:
  • The studies that have been the object of final approval and publication.
  • The sectoral reports that have been reviewed, approved and published.
• The executive board shall take special care to ensure that every issue is comprised by a minimum of eighty five percent of studies authored by non-members of the board of editors or the advisory board. Likewise, scholars affiliated to foreign institutions shall author a ten percent of published studies.

SOLE FINAL PROVISION
Entry into force

These rules shall entry into force on the day following their approval by the ADM´s executive board.

Annex
Initial composition of the Steering Committee

The first executive board of the ADM in electronic and printed format, drafter of these rules, is composed of: Francisco Velasco Caballero and Sofia Simou.