Submissions

Login or Register to make a submission.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Originality: The contribution is original and has not been previously published, and it is not under consideration by another journal. If there is any relevant overlap (e.g., a preprint, technical report, earlier version, or related submission), this must be disclosed and justified in “Comments to the Editor.”
  • File format: The submission file is in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or RTF format.
  • URLs/DOIs in references: Where available, URLs/DOIs have been provided for the references.
  • Minimum formatting: The manuscript is formatted with 1.5 line spacing, uses 12-point font, uses italics rather than underlining (except for URLs), and includes figures and tables embedded in the text (not placed at the end as attachments).
  • Compliance with Author Guidelines: The manuscript follows the style standards and bibliographic requirements described in the Author Guidelines on the About the Journal page, including use of the official template.
  • Manuscript type and LADS scope: The submission has been correctly categorized as a Data Paper or a Research Article, and it fits the LADS scope (data-driven scholarship).
  • Ethics, integrity, and Brazil’s LGPD: The corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors (when applicable), declares that the research and the collection/use of data were conducted ethically and in compliance with applicable regulations—especially when involving human participants, animals, and/or personal data.
    When personal data are involved (including data obtained from interviews, surveys/forms, social networks, and/or any information that can identify individuals directly or indirectly), authors declare compliance with Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (LGPD – Law No. 13,709/2018) and that appropriate anonymization/de-identification measures were applied, including risk minimization of re-identification, as applicable.
    Authors also declare that they are the data owners and/or have full authorization and a lawful basis to share the data for scholarly publishing purposes, and that there are no contractual restrictions (confidentiality, non-disclosure agreements, exclusive rights, or similar) that prevent dataset availability under LADS policies.
  • Mandatory data (all submissions): The associated dataset has been submitted together with the manuscript (as supplementary files) and/or is already available in a recognized repository, with an access link/identifier provided. The dataset must be robust, preferably based primarily on primary data and/or with a clear scientific contribution in curation/organization/methodology that supports its value and reuse potential.
  • Minimum dataset documentation: The dataset is sufficiently documented to enable reuse, including (when applicable) a README and a data dictionary/codebook (variables, units, codes/categories, and missing values). If scripts/code were used for cleaning, transformation, or analysis, authors are encouraged to provide them to support reproducibility.
  • Complete author metadata in the system (required): The corresponding author will register all authors in the system, providing: First and last name; contact email; country; ORCID; affiliation. This information must be entered during submission in the system fields. It is not sufficient for these details to appear only in the manuscript; they must be added individually in the submission metadata.
  • Dataset license and citation: The dataset must include an explicit reuse license (e.g., Creative Commons). When a DOI/persistent identifier exists, include a formal dataset citation in the manuscript references (or in the indicated “How to cite” field).

Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

About LADS and manuscript types

Latin American Data in Science (LADS) is a multidisciplinary scholarly journal, open access and continuously published, dedicated to data-driven science. We publish primarily Data Papers and also accept Research Articles—always with mandatory data sharing.

When starting a submission, select the correct manuscript type:

  • Data Paper (primary format): an article whose main goal is to describe a dataset and its documentation, enabling reuse.

  • Research Article (Data Required): a traditional scientific article reporting objectives, methods, results, and discussion, conditional upon making a robust, documented, open dataset available.

Tip: If the main goal is to “describe and make the data available,” choose Data Paper. If the main goal is to “test/evaluate and report results,” choose Research Article.

What you need to provide 

Mandatory deliverables by manuscript type

A) Data Paper

  1. Manuscript using the LADS template (Data Paper format).  Download the English template here: Article Template

  2. Open-access dataset (preferably in a recognized repository with DOI/ID; or as an OJS supplementary file).

  3. Complete reuse documentation: README + data dictionary/codebook.

  4. Variable-by-variable description (codebook): all variables must be described (in the manuscript and/or as supplementary material when the dataset is very wide).

  5. Dataset license and how to cite the dataset (formal dataset citation when a DOI/ID exists).

  6. Title page: file containing the authors’ details, licenses, and other information. Download the English template here: Title page | Eng.

B) Research Article (Data Required)

  1. Manuscript using the LADS template (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion/Conclusions). Download the English template here: Article Template

  2. Data Availability Statement (required) in the manuscript (template below).

  3. Open-access dataset (preferably in a recognized repository; OJS supplementary files are an accepted fallback).

  4. Minimum reuse documentation: README + data dictionary (codebook).

  5. Dataset license and formal dataset citation in the references (when applicable).

  6. Code/scripts (when there is a relevant cleaning/transformation/analysis pipeline).

  7. Title page: file containing the authors’ details, licenses, and other information. Download the English template here: Title page | Eng.

General rules

Mandatory, open, and robust data (where the data should be hosted)

Every submission must be accompanied by a robust dataset, properly documented and made openly available.

Preferred standard (recommended):

  • Deposit in a recognized repository with curation/persistence, metadata, and a persistent identifier (preferably DOI), with the link/ID provided in the manuscript and in the submission metadata.

Accepted fallback option:

  • Deposit as an OJS supplementary file, especially when:

    • the dataset is small/medium and there is no suitable repository; and/or

    • access must be guaranteed for reviewers during the evaluation process; and/or

    • double-blind review must be preserved (e.g., the repository reveals authorship).

Double-blind + data: when a repository would reveal authorship, submit the dataset as a restricted supplementary file for review in OJS; after acceptance, the author provides the final public link/DOI.

We recommend following data management best practices aligned with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), with rich metadata and persistent identifiers.

Minimum dataset documentation

To enable reuse and reproducibility, the data package must include, at minimum:

  • README (file/folder structure, how to open/interpret, versions, limitations);

  • Data dictionary/codebook (variables, units, codes/categories, missing values, and relevant rules);

  • when applicable, scripts/code used for cleaning, transformation, and/or analysis.

Dataset license and citation (required)

  • The dataset must include an explicit reuse license (e.g., Creative Commons), indicated in the repository and/or in the data package.

  • When a persistent DOI/ID exists, include a formal dataset citation in the manuscript references (in addition to the link/ID in the text).

Ethics, integrity, and LGPD

Authors must declare ethical and legal compliance (including LGPD when personal/sensitive data are involved), applying appropriate anonymization/de-identification measures and mitigating re-identification risk. When any ethical/legal restriction exists, the author must justify it and provide an alternative sharing approach (e.g., anonymized, aggregated, synthetic data, or controlled access when strictly necessary).

Double-blind review

LADS uses double-blind peer review. The manuscript must be submitted without author identification in the text (and without file metadata that reveals authorship).

File format, template, and style

  • Manuscript file in Word, OpenOffice, or RTF.

  • Mandatory use of the LADS template.

  • Figures and tables must be embedded in the body of the text (not placed at the end as attachments).

  • Provide DOI/URL in references when available.

  • When the dataset has a DOI/ID, include a formal dataset citation in the references.

Complete metadata in the system (required)

At submission, the corresponding author must register all authors in OJS with: first and last name, email, country, ORCID, and affiliation.
(This information must be filled in the system fields; it is not enough to include it only in the manuscript.)

Languages

We accept submissions in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. When the manuscript is in Portuguese or Spanish, title, abstract, and keywords must also be provided in English.

Recommended length and APC

As an editorial reference:

  • Data Paper: recommended 1,500–3,000 words (longer submissions may be accepted when justified).

  • Research Article: recommended 3,000–6,000 words (or as advised editorially).

Specific guidelines — Data Paper

A Data Paper is a peer-reviewed article focused on describing data so that other researchers can reuse them; it is not centered on hypotheses/results/conclusions.

Recommended structure

  1. Title (and an English version when the manuscript is in Portuguese/Spanish)

  2. Abstract + 5 keywords (and an English version when the manuscript is in Portuguese/Spanish)

  3. Why are these data valuable? (3–5 objective points)

  4. Dataset context and motivation

  5. Data collection/production methods and processing/curation

  6. Dataset description (files, tables, variables, coverage, granularity): ensure that all variables are described in the data dictionary/codebook.

    • When the dataset is very wide (e.g., many columns/tables): include a structural summary in the manuscript and submit the full codebook as supplementary material (XLSX/CSV), keeping the variable-by-variable description.

  7. Validation and quality control (checks, known limitations)

  8. Data access and license (persistent link/ID; how to cite; dataset license)

  9. Reuse potential (use cases, questions the dataset can support)

  10. References (including formal dataset citation when applicable)

What we evaluate

  • robustness and usefulness of the dataset;

  • quality of documentation (metadata sufficient for reuse);

  • dataset accessibility;

  • consistency/quality and clearly stated limitations.

Specific guidelines — Research Article (Data Required)

Research Articles are traditional scientific articles, but with mandatory open and reusable data.

Recommended minimum structure (Research Article)

  1. Introduction

  2. Materials and Methods

  3. Results

  4. Discussion and/or Conclusions

  5. Data Availability Statement (required): where the data are, persistent link/ID, license, and how to access

  6. Code/Materials availability (when applicable)

  7. References, including formal dataset citation when applicable

Data Availability Statement template (required)

Include a paragraph in your manuscript using the information below:

Example – open data in a repository:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available in [REPOSITORY NAME] under identifier [DOI/ID], at [URL]. License: [CC BY / CC0 / other].”

Example – data as OJS supplementary material:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available as supplementary material in this journal. License: [CC BY / CC0 / other].”

Example – ethical/legal restriction:
“The data contain sensitive information and cannot be made publicly available due to ethical/legal restrictions. De-identified/aggregated/synthetic data and/or controlled access may be provided upon request, as described in [procedure].”

Data requirements (Research Article)

  • The dataset must be sufficient to support the analyses presented and be ready for reuse (README + codebook).

  • When there is relevant processing (cleaning, transformation, pipeline), providing scripts/code is recommended to support reproducibility.

Optional combined publication: Research Article + Data Paper

If your dataset is the main scientific contribution and you want to maximize reuse and citability, consider also submitting a Data Paper describing the dataset (with complete documentation and a detailed data dictionary). LADS may offer differentiated conditions (e.g., a discount) for combined publications. If interested, inform this in “Comments to the Editor” at the time of submission.

How to submit to LADS (step by step)

  1. Log in/create an account in the LADS system.

  2. Select the correct section: Data Paper or Research Article (Data Required).

  3. Complete the submission metadata (including all authors and ORCID).

  4. Upload the manuscript using the LADS template (anonymized for double-blind review).

  5. Upload the dataset as a supplementary file and/or provide the repository link/ID.

  6. Finalize the submission and track progress in the system.

Editorial process

  • Technical screening (compliance, anonymization, access to data and metadata);

  • Editorial admission (scope fit and robustness of the data package);

  • Merit peer review (double-blind).

Data papers

This section exclusively publishes articles in data paper format, which present a robust dataset, predominantly of primary data and with scientific methods that enable its use in scientific production.

Articles should be submitted via the official LADS website and should be structured using the template provided by the journal, preferably containing between 5 and 10 pages.

Research Articles

This section publishes Research Articles reporting scientific objectives, methods, results, and discussion, provided that each manuscript is accompanied by a robust dataset, properly documented and made openly available (as supplementary files within the system and/or deposited in a recognized open repository), enabling reproducibility, transparency, and reuse.

At minimum, the dataset must include reuse-enabling documentation (e.g., a README and a data dictionary/codebook defining variables, units, codes/categories, and missing values). When applicable, authors are encouraged to provide the scripts/code used for data processing and analysis.

Manuscripts must be submitted through the official LADS website and prepared using the journal template. A recommended length is 8–15 pages (or 3,000–6,000 words, as applicable), unless otherwise justified.

Note on ethical/legal restrictions
When data cannot be fully shared due to ethical or legal constraints (e.g., personal/sensitive data), authors must provide a justification and an appropriate sharing alternative (e.g., de-identified data, aggregated data, synthetic data, or controlled access when strictly necessary).

Copyright Notice

The submission of manuscripts to LADS implies the transfer by the authors of the publication rights. The copyright for articles published in this journal belongs to the author, with the journal's rights over the first publication. Authors may only use the same results in other publications by clearly indicating LADS as the medium of the original publication.

Articles published in LADS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original publication is properly cited.

Privacy Statement

The names, email addresses, and any other personal information entered on this journal website will be used exclusively for the journal’s stated purposes (e.g., user registration, submissions, peer review, editorial communication, publication, and related indexing services) and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. 

Data that help improve the publishing platform may be shared with the platform developer (Public Knowledge Project – PKP) in an anonymized and aggregated form, with appropriate exceptions such as article metrics. The data will not be sold by the journal or PKP and will not be used for purposes other than those stated here. 

If we use embedded third-party forms (e.g., Google Forms) for specific workflows, information submitted through those forms is also subject to the provider’s applicable policies. 

You may request access, correction, updating, anonymization, portability, or deletion of your personal data, in accordance with Brazil’s LGPD (Law No. 13,709/2018), by emailing: contact@datainscience.com.br