--
The International Journal on Working Conditions accepts original academic works in the various areas related to working conditions. The publication is subject to a technical-scientific system of blind refereeing, provided by the member of Editorial Board.

Although there are various conceptualizations and models of analysis about this thematic, we assume working conditions as a concept that refers to all elements that contribute to define the circumstances in which workers do their work. That is the term takes into account all aspects that influence directly or indirectly the exercise of a particular occupation, starting from the organizational context in which that activity is carried out, without losing of sight the dialectic that sets and resets at each moment between this context and the external environment.

Below, it is available a list of topics, for example, that can be considered into the IJWC:

- Occupational Health and Safety
- Work Organization
- Diversity and interpersonal relationships at work
- Professional training and job skills
- Careers and professional development
- Workers participation and labour representation structures
- Balance between spheres of life
- Labour market, productivity and labour performance
- Labour legislation and its implications
- …

Texts can be submitted in Portuguese or English language. They must have a minimum of 6,000 words and a maximum of 9,000 words (includes references, figures and attachments). All formatting instructions are available in the following Template.

The template must be used in the preparation of the articles. The submission must be made by e-mail to: info@ricot.com.pt.

The reception of the article will be confirmed to the authors, specifying that it will enter into the scientific and editorial review process.

In the edition process, tools for analysis and screening for plagiarism situations are used.

The editorial review process can take between 2 to 4 months, and the overall period between submission to publication, tends to take between 3 to 6 months.

The steps followed in the editorial and scientific review process are as follows:

- After receiving the text, the first analysis is made by the editorial coordination of the IJWC to verify compliance with the formal requirements (thematic, formatting, etc.) and the originality of the paper (application of plagiarism verification software);
- The texts approved in the first analysis proceed to the next stage: application of double-blind peer review, by specialists in the field of the paper;
- The obtained reviews are compiled in a single document, prepared by the editorial coordination of the IJWC, with the elements provided by the peer review process, and then the document is communicated to the authors;
- If the text is recommended for publication with proposals for improvement, the authors shall have the opportunity to readjust the paper and send a revised version;
- Depending on the extent of the changes, the revised version will be sent to the reviewers to validate the improvements or, in the case of minor changes, the editorial coordination of the journal directly validates the new version;
- When approved, the text goes on to the final edition and publication. In this period can be requested minor adjustments to the text, to which the authors must respond;
- The author will validate the final version of the article, giving its approval for publication, and sign the copyright statement, indicating that he provides authorization to RICOT to publish the document and that the article is original and that it was not published in any other publication.

After approval, each text will be assigned a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and after being published on the IJWC website, the texts will be indexed in the databases subscribed by the IJWC, which are indicated on the journal website.

The journal allows the collection of ORCID data in the publication process.

In accordance with the Sherpa / RoMEO color system with respect to the Auto-Archive Policy, the IJWC has the following policy: “Postprints self-archiving allowed (Final post-peer review document)” (Blue Color in the Color System RoMEO).

The IJWC advocates the adoption of ethical practices throughout the scientific process and the abolition of misconduct and plagiarism when publishing scientific papers. It also carries out a strict authors personal data management, The data are used only in the context of IJWC publishing activities. They will not be used for other purposes, nor shared with other entities.

In addition to these advocated principles, the IJWC editorial coordination also maintains this requirement within reviewers and authors. In the editorial process, tools for the analysis and screening of plagiarism situations are used, copyright statements are requested, where the authorship and originality of the articles validated for publication are expressed.

The IJWC is also a Signatory to the ORCID Open Letter - Publishers, as well follow the guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), namely seeking to apply the Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors. This implies carry out and requiring the following of basic ethical principles by the editorial coordination, reviewers and authors. As an example, it is intended that:

The Editorial Coordination
- Ensure that the editorial process follows the ethical guidelines assumed by the journal;
- Receive and investigate identified or reported misconduct situations;
- Do not publish or withdraw from publication articles that have been proven to be in violation of the ethical principles assumed by the IJWC;
- Periodically update the ethical principles and guarantee of the integrity of the editorial process, in accordance with good international reference practices

The Editorial Board (reviewers)
- Ensure the peer review process in an ethical and impartial manner;
- Treat confidential data to which have access;
- Do not misuse the scientific materials that have access during the scientific review process. The analysed articles should only be used in the evaluation process and in the review report;
- Communicate to the Editorial Coordination any conflicts of interest that may have in relation to the scientific articles analysed, as well the bad practices detected in the evaluated articles.

The authors
- Ensure the authorship and originality of the articles submitted for evaluation and publication in the IJWC;
- Ensure that each article submitted for evaluation at the IJWC is not being analysed in any other publication;
- Respect copyright and intellectual and commercial property, among others, of materials, citations and other content used in articles;
- Ensure that the people indicated as authors of the article have an effective participation in the preparation of the work.