About the Journal
1. General Information; 2. Editorial Policy – Aims and Scope; 3. Editorial Process; 3. 1. Stages of the Editorial Process; 3. 2. Quality Control of the Editorial Process; 4. Editorial Policies and Research Ethics; 4. 1. Editorial Code of Conduct: Declaration on Improper Practices in Publications; 4. 2. Open Access Statement; 4. 3. Copyright and Intellectual Property; 4. 4. Ethical Commitment; 4. 5. Policies on Authorship and Contributions; 4. 6. Conflicts of Interest; 4. 7. Post-Publication Correction Policies; 4. 7. 1. Addendum Publication Policies; 4. 7. 2. Retraction Publication Policies; 4. 7. 3. Erratum Publication Policies; 4. 8. Complaints Management Policy; 4. 9. Ethical Principles of the Editorial Process; 4. 10. Duties of the Editor; 4. 11. Duties of Ad Hoc Reviewers; 4. 12. Double-Blind Peer Review Process; 4. 13. Archiving Policy; 4. 14. Dissemination Policy – Websites and Social Media; 4. 15. Privacy Policy
1. General Information
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is published electronically, with a single continuous volume released annually as manuscripts are approved.
Publication frequency: Annual with continuous publication
Publication Type: Continuous publication
Year of Journal Creation: 2003
ISSN: 2237-6453
2. Editorial Policy – Aims and Scope
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is a publication of the Graduate Program in Regional Development at the Regional University of the Northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul – Unijuí. The journal aims to provide a platform for articles addressing themes related to development, urban and regional planning, and demography. Other topics include historicity, the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of socioeconomic systems, power relations, wealth and income generation and appropriation, and inequality.
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão follows an open access policy, with all articles freely available in full. The journal operates on a rolling pass system, meaning articles are published as soon as they are reviewed and approved.
Manuscripts submitted must not have been previously submitted to other publications (electronic or print). Submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under review by another journal, nor published in conference proceedings.
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão accepts unpublished articles in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, and the submission process is conducted online.
All manuscripts received are initially evaluated by a member of the Editorial Committee. Subsequently, articles are sent to two reviewers under a double-blind peer review process. The reviewers assess the manuscript and provide a recommendation regarding publication. Finally, the editor evaluates the scientific contribution of the article, based on the journal’s standards and the reviewers’ recommendations, to determine whether the submission is accepted, requires revisions, should undergo a new evaluation, or does not meet publication requirements.
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão does not charge any submission fees. However, after acceptance, a publication fee of R$ 500.00 is required.
The journal operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0).
3. Editorial Process
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão adopts standardized editorial procedures and quality assurance practices at all stages, starting from the receipt of the manuscript.
3. 1. Stages of the Editorial Process
Pre-analysis: Initially, the article is received by the technical team, which checks its compliance with the journal's guidelines. The manuscript is then reviewed by the Editorial Committee members, who assess its alignment with the journal's general criteria and editorial policy. At this stage, articles may be rejected for the following reasons: a) being a mere literature review or a section of a dissertation, thesis, project, or research report without appropriate adaptation; b) being overly descriptive with limited analytical content; c) lacking significant contribution to the field of knowledge; d) not following the journal’s publication guidelines. Articles rejected at this stage will be archived, while those approved will proceed to the next phase.
Peer Review: Articles will be evaluated by at least two subject matter experts from among the ad hoc reviewers registered as members of the journal’s Scientific Committee/Reviewers, affiliated with different institutions in Brazil and other countries. The review process is double-blind, meaning the identities of both authors and reviewers are concealed from each other. The reviews may or may not be published alongside the article. Reviewers will assess the article based on the following criteria: clarity of writing and reading flow; scientific structure and coherence; relevance and adequacy of the theoretical-conceptual foundation; clarity and alignment of the study's focus with the journal’s aims and scope; clearly stated objectives consistent across the abstract, introduction, and conclusion; well-explained and suitable methodological approach; solid presentation and discussion of results, with theoretical engagement; concise and appropriate conclusions in relation to the methods and results; originality and contribution to the field. After completing the evaluation and submitting their descriptive review on the journal platform, reviewers must select one of the following recommendations: Accept; Mandatory Revisions; or Reject.
Feedback to Authors: After the peer review process, the editor will forward the reviewers' comments to the corresponding author, indicating the aspects that require corrections, additions, or improvements. The author must complete the modifications within the specified timeframe.
Author Revisions: Upon resubmission, the author must highlight the changes made in the manuscript and attach a detailed response letter, explaining how each suggestion was addressed or, when applicable, justifying any disagreements. This step is essential to ensure the scientific rigor and editorial quality of the article before the final decision.
Editorial Decision: Based on the peer reviews and the revised version, the Editors will communicate their decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. If additional content or structural adjustments are needed, these will be indicated to the authors, who must carry them out. Editors may also suggest stylistic adjustments to align the article with the journal’s editorial guidelines and visual standards.
Publication of the Pre-proof Version: After acceptance, the journal will publish the accepted version without edits, with a watermark indicating that it is an unedited version of the article, along with the following notice: This is a preliminary and unedited version of a manuscript accepted for publication in Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão. As a service to our readers, we are providing this early version as accepted. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, formatting, and author approval before final publication. At this point, the article will already have a DOI assigned. The editor will later contact the author for the replacement with the final versions.
Portuguese Language Review: All accepted articles undergo language editing and reference revision. Minor edits that do not affect the comprehension of the content may be made by the reviewers.
Typesetting: The article will be typeset according to the journal’s final publication format, in line with its graphic and visual standards.
Proofreading: The typeset version will be sent to the author for final review, allowing only linguistic corrections or minor adjustments that do not affect the content or structure of the article. Any corrections must be submitted within the deadline established by the Editorial Office.
Final Version: Once the final proof is approved, the pre-proof version is replaced by the definitive version on the journal’s website.
3. 2. Quality Control of the Editorial Process
Editorial Quality:
The editor and the editorial board are responsible for ensuring the quality of both the content published and the entire editorial process. They must strictly adhere to the principles of editorial ethics, ensuring that each stage of the editorial workflow is followed and that evaluation criteria are standardized. The journal publicly discloses the names of its editors, along with their institutional affiliations and ORCID IDs.
Quality of Ad Hoc Reviewers:
The selection of ad hoc reviewers is conducted carefully to ensure the quality and impartiality of the evaluations. Reviewers are chosen based on their active and productive engagement in the manuscript’s subject area, as well as their recent and recognized expertise in the field. The history of previous reviews is also considered, with priority given to those who have demonstrated commitment to deadlines and high-quality assessments. The journal ensures that reviewers have no conflicts of interest and no recent co-authorship or collaboration with the authors of the manuscript under review. A list of ad hoc reviewers who contributed evaluations is published annually.
Quality of Editorial Decisions:
Editorial decisions must prioritize, above all, the scientific validity of the article and its relevance to the academic community. Editors must follow the guidelines set by the journal’s editorial board and comply with legal requirements concerning defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
Decisions are based on the reviews provided by ad hoc reviewers, and are guided by the quality and scientific merit of the manuscript. The evaluation process is conducted impartially, without any discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political views of the authors.
The journal adopts a double-blind peer review system, in which both reviewers and authors remain anonymous to each other, in order to prevent any form of bias during the evaluation process.
Post-Publication Quality:
The journal adopts an open access model, meaning all articles are made immediately and freely available to the public upon online publication. Anyone can access, read, and examine the full content of the articles without restriction, promoting transparency and scientific reproducibility.
The journal welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions regarding published articles. Readers may submit a letter to the editor with their considerations.
If any scientific errors or ethical concerns are identified in a published article, we ask that readers contact the editorial team. Upon notification, the necessary procedures for investigation will be initiated. If any issues are confirmed, appropriate measures will be taken, such as issuing a correction or formal retraction, in accordance with international ethical guidelines.
4. Editorial Policies and Research Ethics
4. 1. Editorial Code of Conduct: Declaration on Improper Practices in Publications
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is committed to research ethics and the ethical publication of results. The journal upholds the highest standards of ethical behavior expected from all parties involved in its publication process.
The journal adheres to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – https://publicationethics.org/core-practices – and the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors – https://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf.
Commitment to Ethics and Quality:
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão applies the highest standards throughout all stages of manuscript evaluation and publication, following ethical conduct principles for all parties involved in the editorial process — authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial staff.
All submitted manuscripts are evaluated based on their scientific merit and contribution, ensuring that each stage of the editorial process follows best practices and complies with ethical standards in scholarly publishing.
Additionally, the journal systematically checks all manuscripts for plagiarism using the Plagius software, as part of its commitment to academic integrity.
In cases where plagiarism is identified — meaning a substantial part of the text is identical to a previously published article — the Editor-in-Chief, in collaboration with the UNIJUÍ Publishing Support Team, will take the following steps: a) The evidence of detected plagiarism will be sent to the author(s), requesting a formal explanation. b) If the response is unsatisfactory or the corrected text is not provided, the article will not be published.
Submitted manuscripts must fully comply with the journal’s editorial guidelines, ethical standards, and quality criteria:
Consent: All authors must declare their consent for submission and potential publication of the article, confirming they actively contributed to the manuscript’s preparation and approve its final version submitted for review (see the journal’s Article Cover Letter template).
Author Contributions: All authors contributed significantly to the article, with no omission of any relevant contributor.
Originality: The manuscript is original, has not been previously published in whole or in part in any other medium, and is not under consideration by another journal. The authors guarantee the article’s originality and adherence to publication ethics.
Permission to Reproduce Third-Party Material: The article does not include copyrighted material from other authors without proper authorization. If any excerpts, images, tables, or other third-party content are included, the authors must provide explicit permission for reproduction in both print and digital formats, clearly citing the source and giving appropriate credit.
4. 2. Open Access Statement
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is an open-access journal, which means that all content is freely available at no cost to users or their institutions. The journal provides immediate and unrestricted access to its content, in alignment with the principle of disseminating scientific knowledge.
Articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.
In accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access, users are allowed to read, copy, distribute, print, search, link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any lawful purpose, without requiring prior permission from the publisher or the authors.
The opinions and concepts expressed in the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or its editorial board.
Ad Hoc Reviewers: Ad hoc reviewers have no employment, academic, or personal ties with the authors of the submitted manuscripts, ensuring impartiality and independence in the review process.
Use of Automated Tools in Peer Review: Ad hoc reviewers must conduct their evaluations with diligence and responsibility, providing well-grounded and critical assessments. The use of automated tools such as chatbots or artificial intelligence systems to generate review reports is strictly prohibited, as it may compromise the quality, confidentiality, and integrity of the editorial process. Reviews must be performed personally and carefully, in accordance with the ethical and scientific standards upheld by the journal.
4. 3. Copyright and Intellectual Property
By publishing in Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão, authors agree to the following terms:
All works are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows:
Sharing — to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
Adaptation — to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
These permissions are irrevocable, provided that the following terms are respected:
Attribution — authors must be properly credited, a link to the license must be provided, and any changes made must be indicated.
No additional restrictions — no legal or technological measures may be applied that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
The license does not apply to elements that are in the public domain or covered by legal exceptions.
The license does not grant all necessary rights for specific uses (e.g., image rights, privacy, or moral rights).
The journal is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the articles, which are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Editor, with the support of the Editorial Board, reserves the right to suggest or request modifications when necessary.
Only original scientific articles presenting research results of interest that have not been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal with the same purpose will be accepted.
Mentions of trademarks or specific products are intended solely for identification purposes and do not imply any promotional relationship by the authors or the journal.
License Agreement: Authors retain the copyright to their article and grant Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão the right of first publication.
4. 4. Ethical Commitment
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão maintains a strong commitment to complying with ethical issues related to published articles, as well as the evaluation and publication processes.
The ethical decisions and procedures adopted by the journal are based on the following documents:
- CNS Resolution No. 466, dated December 12, 2012 (Ethics in Research with Human Beings);
- CNS Resolution No. 510, dated April 7, 2016 (Ethics in Research in Human and Social Sciences);
- Document from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) – Ethics and integrity in scientific practice (Available at: https://www.gov.br/cnpq/pt-br/composicao/comissao-de-integridade).
4. 5. Policies on Authorship and Contributions
The journal adopts strict criteria for the definition of authorship. All listed authors must have made a significant contribution to the conception, development, or writing of the article, and omission of any relevant authorship is not permitted. It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that all individuals who meet the authorship criteria are properly acknowledged. This policy aims to ensure transparency, proper credit attribution, and the integrity of the academic work.
4. 6. Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest in research occurs when one or more participants in the process — which may include researchers, editors, or reviewers of the journal — have ties to institutions or interests that could compromise the integrity of the research or limit impartiality in the evaluation of the study. For the Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão, authors must complete a Cover Letter indicating whether or not there is any conflict of interest. This letter must be submitted along with the manuscript.
4. 7. Post-Publication Correction Policies
Any addition or modification to the submitted text must be made exclusively before the manuscript acceptance and only if approved by the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief will consider additions or modifications to the text after acceptance only under exceptional circumstances. During the period in which the Editor-in-Chief evaluates the request, the publication of the manuscript will be suspended.
Similarly, the addition (or changes) of authorship will only be allowed during the review stage upon a formal and justified request submitted by the authors.
However, when an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, it is their obligation to immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief and cooperate with the editor to correct the article.
4. 7. 1. Addendum Publication Policies
The publication of an addendum is carried out in cases where there are no text corrections, but additional information is included regarding an already published document. Addenda do not contradict the original publication and are not used to correct errors; they should be used when adding information is beneficial to the reader’s understanding of a significant part of the published contribution. See: Guide for the registration, tagging, and publication of Addenda.
4. 7. 2. Retraction Publication Policie
An article previously published in Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão in which misconduct is identified will remain indexed in the journal’s database with the status of retracted. The procedure to register the retraction of an article published by Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão will be initiated upon receipt of a formal communication sent to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal via email: revistaseletronicas@unijui.edu.br. The communication must be accompanied by the retraction text, explaining the reasons why the article is being retracted. See: Guide for the registration, tagging, and publication of retractions.
4. 7. 3. Erratum Publication Policies
In cases where an erratum is necessary, provided that no misconduct is involved, these should be carried out in accordance with the Guide for the registration, tagging, and publication of Errata.
4. 8. Complaints Management Policy
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is committed to receiving complaints and providing information about its editorial process. In the event of a complaint alleging that any contribution to the journal violates intellectual property rights or contains material inaccuracies or illegal content, an investigation will be initiated. This process may include requesting evidence from the involved parties to support their claims. Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão will make a good faith decision regarding the removal of the allegedly unlawful material, and all stages of the investigation and decision will be properly documented by the editorial team.
We recognize our commitment to ensuring that Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão maintains the highest quality standards and remains free of errors, although we understand that mistakes may occasionally occur. The Editor-in-Chief and the Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão team will devote every effort to promptly correct any issue appropriately, including offering the right of reply when necessary. We aim to investigate complaints impartially, examining how systems can be improved to prevent errors whenever possible.
To submit complaints or request information about the editorial process, Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is available via email at revistaseletronicas@unijui.edu.br.
4. 9. Ethical Principles of the Editorial Process
a) Editorial Independence: Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is committed to maintaining full editorial independence, ensuring that political, economic, or corporate factors do not influence its decisions and processes.
b) Equality and Inclusion: Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão guarantees that authors, editors, and reviewers are treated fairly, without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, nationality, or political ideology.
c) Mutual Respect: Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão ensures that interactions among authors, reviewers, and editors are always based on mutual respect. Any form of offensive or disrespectful communication will not be tolerated.
d) Transparency and Communication: Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão commits to transparency throughout the editorial process and to clear and open communication among editors, authors, and reviewers.
4. 10. Duties of the Editor
a) Publication Decision: The editor is responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be accepted for publication, based on the evaluations provided by the ad hoc reviewers.
b) Confidentiality: The editor must ensure the confidentiality of all information related to a submitted manuscript, sharing it only with the ad hoc reviewers.
c) Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: The editor must not use unpublished materials from a submitted manuscript in their own research without the express written consent of the author. Furthermore, the editor should refrain from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest, whether competitive, collaborative, or due to other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions related to the manuscripts.
d) Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: The editor must take appropriate and necessary actions in response to ethical complaints related to a submitted manuscript or a published article.
4. 11. Duties of Ad Hoc Reviewers
a) Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Contribute to editorial decisions through thorough and informed peer review.
b) Timeliness: Be punctual in submitting evaluations. Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review the article or unable to meet the deadline must promptly notify the editor.
c) Confidentiality: Treat manuscripts received for review as confidential documents and must not share or discuss them with others.
d) Objectivity: Maintain objectivity in evaluations, expressing opinions clearly and with proper justification.
e) Identification of Relevant References: Identify relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors.
f) Alerting about Similarities: Notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published article of which they have personal knowledge.
g) Conflicts of Interest: Inform the editor of any conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors, companies, or institutions related to the manuscripts, and abstain from reviewing in such cases.
4. 12. Double-Blind Peer Review Process
To maintain impartiality and a high level of quality in our publications, submitted manuscripts are evaluated through a double-blind review system. It is the responsibility of Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão to:
a) Review Structure: Provide reviewers with the necessary resources to ensure the evaluation process is conducted properly.
b) Ethical Guidelines: Encourage reviewers to act in accordance with established Ethical Guidelines.
c) Anonymity: Ensure the anonymity of both parties (authors and reviewers) throughout the review process.
d) Investigation of Irregularities: Investigate any indications of fraudulent or manipulated review processes.
4. 13. Archiving Policy
The journal is published and archived in the Open Journal System (OJS) developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a multi-university initiative that promotes open access and improvements in academic publishing. OJS is free software for managing and publishing scientific journals.
The content is also preserved by the Brazilian Network of Digital Preservation Services (Rede Cariniana). As an initiative of the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT), Rede Cariniana is part of the Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe (LOCKSS) program.
LOCKSS is free software developed by the Stanford University Library that enables the preservation of selected online journals by regularly crawling their pages for newly published content and archiving it. Each archive is continuously validated against copies from other libraries. If the content is corrupted or lost, copies are used for restoration.
Additionally, institutional archiving is performed with backups carried out daily.
4. 14. Dissemination Policy – Websites and Social Media
Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão is committed to broadly disseminating the published research, reaching academic, professional, and general society spheres. Our dissemination strategy includes the following actions:
Monthly Mailing: We send a monthly newsletter with recently published articles to authors, researchers, and reviewers registered with the journal. This newsletter aims to keep our community informed and engaged with the latest contributions in the field of Urban and Regional Planning / Development.
Dissemination to Civil Society: To reach a wider audience and promote public understanding of the research, Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão publishes accessible summaries of the studies on the social media platform of Editora Unijuí. The texts are presented clearly and comprehensibly to ensure that anyone, regardless of their level of expertise, can understand and appreciate the impact of the research. This dissemination is done on Editora Unijuí’s Instagram® account, available at @editoraunijui.
Through these strategies, Revista Desenvolvimento em Questão seeks not only to foster academic and professional visibility of the articles but also to contribute to education and societal engagement with science and research in Urban and Regional Planning / Development.
4. 15. Privacy Policy
The names and addresses provided to this journal will be used exclusively for the services offered by this publication and will not be disclosed for other purposes or to third parties.
Amended on June 11, 2025.
