«Retos» meets rigorous criteria and quality indicators in its editorial process that starts from the moment authors submit their manuscripts through our platform. In addition to faithful compliance with our Code of Ethics, based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), all members of our publications council, scientific council and editor's council have a philosophy based on the highest quality criteria, such as: impact, visibility and access, punctuality and seriousness, scientific rigor, ethics and commitment, editorial management, scientific community, emerging technologies, originality and progress, and the author as the main person in the investigation.

IMPACT: «Retos» is indexed in Emerging Sources Citation Index® (ESCI) and SciELO Ecuador^®; thus, all published articles are on the Web of Science^®, the exclusive online service of the world's largest scientific information. In addition, Retos is indexed in the Network of Scientific Journals of Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal (Redalyc), Dialnet and Latindex, increasing the impact and availability of articles published in Ibero-America. It is also in the top 10 of economic journals of the Ibero-American Network of Innovation and Scientific Knowledge (REDIB), in Google Scholar Metrics®, ERIH+, among others.

VISIBILITY AND ACCESS: «Retos» maintains an open and shared access to knowledge policy, having all its articles published in Spanish and English, and it is available on the web for free. The international visibility of «Retos» is generated by its multiple access platforms (ePub, pdf, html, xml), in different academic social networks (Academia.Edu, ResearchGate, Mendeley) and generalists (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN), author´s identifiers (ORCIDs), as well as document managers.

PUNTUALITY AND SERIOUSNESS: The periodicity of the publication (semi-annual) ensures an efficient number of manuscripts; the author can complete on time the different parts of the process that are strictly explicit in the regulations: a) Pre-estimation/rejection of manuscripts (maximum 90 days); b) Manuscript evaluation phase for its rejection or acceptance (maximum 90 days); e) Online and printed publication of the volume. Every step of the process is meticulously set. The authors receive direct communication from the Editorial Committee throughout the process: changes suggested by reviewers, style editing, among others.

RIGOR OF THE PROCESS: «Retos» ensures a rigorous and transparent anonymous peer review system through an International Reviewers' Council (CIR) of more than half a hundred researchers, specialized in development and its transverse lines. A model is employed with a tight and demanding process, in which each article is subjected to a minimum of three blind reviews by experts in the subject, excluding endogamy and always tending to the dissemination of original knowledge with international projection.

ETHICS AND COMMITMENT: «Retos» has an ethical code that guarantees the rights and duties of the entire scientific community: authors, reviewers and editors. The Ethical Code of «Retos», based on the International Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE), regulates the commitments acquired by all authors in the authorship of the works, access to data, conflict of interest, correction of errors and responsibility. On the other hand, the reviewers commit to an honest and constructive criticism, respect for the times, confidentiality and maximum objectivity that avoids redundancies or conflict of interest. Finally, the editors guarantee the ethics and commitment of "communicating", by having an honest and objective practice, ensuring the optimal selection of reviewers, confidentiality and maximum respect for the times set.

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT: «Retos» guarantees the quality of the editorial process through the Open Journal System (OJS) Platform. There is an excellent editorial management based on the work of reviewers, style editing department in Spanish and English, a professional layout and adaptation to different online editing formats (ePub, PDF, html, xml). The journal offers a serious and rigorous editorial process that is accessible on the web and transparent to the author throughout the process, and it is explained in detail with downloadable documents: regulations, revision before the submission, submission format, quotation rules, standardization of author´s credits and emails, shipping manual, cover letter, revision protocol.

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY: «Retos» is part of an important scientific community of unique authors, reviewers and readers around the world. An important editorial team collaborates intensively in the growth and consolidation of this community constituted by: Editorial Council (Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors), Scientific Committee (from different countries and universities), International Council of Reviewers, as well as a specialized Technical Board. All this human team looks after the highest scientific, stylistic, formal and ethical quality of the editorial process in «Retos».

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: Both the editorial process and the dissemination and impact processes are continually adapting to the advancement of emerging technologies, involving an adjustment and flexibility of formats, an update of communication models with authors, as well as platforms for the editorial management and the necessary process for the global and international dissemination of published articles.

ORIGINALITY AND PROGRESS: In «Retos» the originality of the work presented is one of the main objectives. For this reason, all articles submitted are subjected to plagiarism controls with the professional program of scientific journals (CrossCheck / iThenticate). According to the regulations of the journal, plagiarism or autoplagiarism is an automatic reason for the rejection of a manuscript. Only unpublished and original works are published, guaranteeing real progress in the results presented and providing relevant and interesting data to the scientific community. In this sense, the journal's publications are oriented to the progress of science in the field of development and its cross-sectional lines.

THE AUTHOR AS THE MAIN ROLE: In «Retos» the author is the fundamental role that sustains and gives meaning to the entire publishing process, prioritizing originality and novelty. «Retos» aims at greater visibility, academic excellence and respect for authorship. Each published manuscript provides detailed information on how to quote it, its international supports (FundRef), statistical data, hyper-linked primary sources, and alternative impact metrics (PlumX).