About the Journal

Focus and Scope

ARA: JTR is a publication primarily directed at the academic world (professors, students, and researchers) and the professional sector of tourism, travel, and related branches.

Articles must be originals and may be submitted in English or Spanish and will be published in the original language of the manuscript. The abstract will always be published in both languages. ARA Journal of Tourism Research publishes a volume of eight annually.

Peer Review Process

ARA: Journal of Tourism Research is an international peer-reviewed journal. It publishes only original research articles. All submissions will be subjected to a previous screening by the Editorial Team and an anti-plagiarism check with the plagiarism detection tool URKUND. If found suitable considering the scope of the journal and Author Guidelines, the manuscript will be peer-reviewed by two independent, anonymous expert referees (double-blind peer-review).

The author submits the paper through the OJS platform of ARA: JTR's website.
The Editorial Team registers the reception date of the paper.
The Editorial Team performs a Technical Review to confirm that the manuscript follows the author’s guidelines and checks the authenticity of the work with the plagiarism detection tool URKUND.
Two anonymous and independent referees will be chosen in order to evaluate the paper. The evaluation will be done based on a standard form. It is important to mention that this process will be carried out through the double-blind peer-review system.
Once the evaluation is finished, the reviewers’ decision is communicated to the author/s:

Acceptance of the paper and the number of the journal where the paper will appear.
Suggestions and/or corrections by the referees are provided if applies
The paper's rejection and the communication of its reasons are told to the authors.

If corrections are needed, the authors will have 15 days in order to send a new version of the paper.
The reviewers will evaluate the revised manuscript and will confirm whether the corrections and/or modifications suggested have been properly addressed. If necessary, the editorial team may refer to a new reviewer for a final round. In accordance with the reviewers’ decision, the Editorial team will determine if the article is suitable for publishing and will communicate the final decision to the author/s.
Once again, the Editorial Team will review the paper and decide if it is suitable for publishing. The decision will be told to the authors.
Once the paper is considered definite and suitable for publishing, the acceptance date is registered and the publishing process begins. When the journal number is closed and published, the publishing date is added to the paper.

Publication Frequency

ARA Journal of Tourism Research publishes a volume of eight annually.

Open Access Policy

ARA provides free access to the full texts of all its contents immediately upon publication.

Once published, authors can post a copy of their articles on his/their websites and in an Institutional or subject repository, providing acknowledgment is given to the original source.

The journal does not charge authors for submission or article processing.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.

Declaration of publishing ethics and best practices

Ara: Journal of Tourism Research subscribes to the Declaration of Publishing Ethics and best practices for scientific journals published by the University of Barcelona.

The University of Barcelona promotes the open-access publication of digital journals and endeavors to guarantee quality and conscientiousness in the transfer of scientific knowledge. The University is committed to ensuring that the articles it publishes and the publishing process itself observe the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It is therefore essential that all the stakeholders in this process—journal editors, reviewers, technical editors, and authors—know and act according to the Code.

Journal editors should:

- ensure that the decision to publish is not dependent on the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, country of origin, citizenship, or political persuasion;

- publish regular updates on the responsibilities of authors, submission requirements, the arbitration system used to select the articles and the evaluation criteria to be applied by reviewers;

- publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed and not make use of any article received for UB-specific research assignments without the author’s consent;

- guarantee confidentiality during the review process, meaning (a) the anonymity of reviewers and authors and the confidentiality of the content of the articles, the reports submitted by reviewers, and any other type of correspondence with or between the editorial, consultant, and scientific committees and (b) confidentiality in the correspondence between the author and the journal committees or reviewers when the author wishes to clarify, change or complain about some aspect of the article;

- make certain that the integrity of articles already published is respected;

- act swiftly to eliminate from the journal or refuse to publish any article that has been found to plagiarize information from other sources.

Authors should:

- understand that they are responsible for all submitted content;

- notify the journal editors of any errors in their published articles so that the appropriate corrections can be made.

- guarantee that the article and associated materials are original and do not infringe on the rights of third party authors and, when there are co-authors, guarantee that the consent of all the authors is obtained before the article goes to press.

Reviewers and technical editors should

- apply revisions that are objective, informed, critical, constructive, and unbiased, where acceptance or rejection is based only on the work’s relevance, originality, interest to the public in question, and compliance with the style and content regulations in the evaluation criteria;

- meet deadlines when this is possible and promptly inform the journal editor when it is not;

- avoid sharing, spreading, or reproducing any information from articles still under review without permission from the corresponding journal editors or authors.

Journal History

In the Taíno language, one of the indigenous languages of the Caribbean, the term Ara means tree and people, among various other significations. Ara is a symbol of Caribbean identity and origins, as well as a universal symbol with a positive message.

The main objective of ARA: JTR is to be an academic journal of basic and applied science. Through the publication of articles and studies specializing in scientific research and practice, it aims to deepen, extend, and propagate the understanding of the network of relationships between tourism and the sustainable development of communities.

ARA: Journal of Tourism Research invites researchers from all academic disciplines around the world to contribute to this objective.

Articles must be original and may be submitted in English or Spanish and will be published in the original language of the manuscript. The title and the abstract will always be published in both languages.