Submissions

Author Guidelines

SUBMISSION OF ORIGINALS — GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

To make typesetting easier, manuscripts must follow the official template, which will be provided to the author, together with the style guide.

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

Structure and headings

• Main headings: bold and full capitals. 

• Subheadings: bold and roman. 

• Lower-level headings: italics, not bold. 

• Indentation of section titles and first line: 0.5 cm, as in the template. 

Submission and blind review

• The manuscript must be submitted without the author’s name or identifying references. 

• Please attach a separate file with the title, name and affiliation, and a short bibliographical profile. 

• Authors may suggest reviewers, but the Editorial Board will make the final decision. 

• Please declare any possible conflicts of interest to avoid unsuitable review assignments. 

Failure to follow these guidelines may delay the review process. Thank you for helping us maintain a swift and high-quality review system.

The editorial team ensures the use of inclusive and non-sexist language. Research papers must avoid stereotypes and gender bias in their analyses. This includes adopting a perspective in the handling and treatment of sources and methodologies specific to Oral history that avoids the universal masculine, the exaggeration of biological differences, or the naturalization of socially constructed differences. https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/guidelines.shtml

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

1. Dossier proposals (summary)

• Submission: a proposal of 300–500 words explaining the topic, debates, relevance, contribution and fit with RIHO. 

• Composition: 4–7 articles on a shared issue; a provisional list of authors and titles is recommended. Mixed formats are accepted, combining an open CFP with commissioned articles. 

• Criteria: priority will be given to innovative approaches in interpretation, oral or mixed sources and methodology, as well as institutional and geographical diversity, gender balance and an international outlook. 

• Article synopsis: optional, around 200 words per article, with objectives, sources and method. 

• Translations: one translated article may be included, to be managed by the coordinating team. 

• Evaluation: acceptance of a dossier does not imply acceptance of its articles, which will undergo double-blind review. 

• Dossier introduction: a methodological and conceptual introduction of 3,500–4,500 words. 

2. Submission of articles (summary)

• Originality: only original works, not under consideration elsewhere. Scope: oral history, analysis of orality and memory, with interdisciplinary openness to history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, social psychology, cultural studies, heritage and related fields. 

• Languages: Spanish, Catalan/Valencian, Basque, Galician and Portuguese. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Review process: double blind. Initial editorial screening for fit with RIHO, scientific quality and linguistic accuracy. 

• Length: 8,000–12,000 words, including notes and images. 

• Format: Word file, quotations in quotation marks («…» / “…”), footnotes with superscript numbers placed after punctuation; final bibliography in Chicago style. The template for original submissions will be provided. 

• Graphic material: all graphic material must be numbered as Figure 1. Title, Reference, and so on. 

• At the end of the article, on a separate page, authors must provide a short biobibliographical profile of 250 words. 

3. Book reviews

• Length: 1,500–2,500 words. No exceptions outside this range will be accepted. 

• Scope: books published within the last 5 years and relevant to oral history, orality and memory, from an interdisciplinary perspective. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Review heading: the review’s own title, proposed by the reviewer. 

• Book reference, at the beginning or end: author(s), title, place of publication, publisher, year, number of pages, ISBN. 

• Signature: reviewer’s full name at the end of the text. 

• Format: Word file, quotations in quotation marks («…» / “…”), footnotes with superscript numbers placed after punctuation; final bibliography in Chicago style. The template for original submissions will be provided. 

• Graphic material: all graphic material must be numbered as Figure 1. Title, Reference, and so on. 

• Criteria: value will be given to critical engagement with the work, its contribution to the field of orality and memory, and its bibliographical contextualisation. 

4. Bibliographical essays / State-of-the-field essays

• Purpose: to map debates, approaches and trends in oral history, analysis of orality and memory studies, with openness to history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, social psychology, cultural studies, heritage and related fields. 

• Length: 4,500–5,500 words. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Structure: 

• Main body with internal coherence, whether chronological, thematic, methodological or historiographical. 

• Conclusion with critical assessment and future lines of research. 

• Format: Word file, quotations in quotation marks («…» / “…”), footnotes with superscript numbers placed after punctuation; final bibliography in Chicago style. The template for original submissions will be provided. 

• Graphic material: all graphic material must be numbered as Figure 1. Title, Reference, and so on. 

• Replies: the journal may open space for replies under the same rules. 

• Assessment criteria: relevance for RIHO, ability to synthesise and problematise, plurality of approaches and bibliographical dialogue. 

5. Presentation of projects and/or oral archives

• Aim: to give visibility to repositories, collections or oral history projects, whether institutional, community-based or personal, including their history, holdings, access policies and preservation. 

• Length: 2,000–3,000 words. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Minimum contents: 

• Origin, aims and institutional or community framework. 

• Description of holdings: time span, thematic coverage, interviewee population, volume, formats, metadata standards. 

• Access and consultation: policies, conditions, embargoes, GDPR/ethics. 

• Technical workflow: recording, transcription, cataloguing, preservation, interoperability, for example OAI-PMH. 

• Uses in research, teaching and outreach; impact indicators where available. 

• Optional appendices: 2–4 images, such as interfaces or archive records, and persistent links such as DOI or handle. 

• Evaluation: editorial review of quality, relevance and clarity. 

6. Educational innovation proposals using oral sources

• Aim: to document teaching experiences that integrate testimony, oral archives or memory narratives in universities, secondary education, museums or archives. 

• Length: 2,000–3,000 words. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Minimum contents: 

• Context, including educational level, subject and competences; learning aims. 

• Methodological design, including consent procedures, ethics/GDPR, rubrics and assessment. 

• Resources, such as interview guides, metadata records and digital tools. 

• Results, evidence and lessons learned; scalability and transferability. 

• Additional materials: the possibility of including a poster (PDF) or teaching resources, such as rubrics and guides. 

• Evaluation: editorial review of quality, relevance and clarity. 

7. Interviews

• Aim: dialogues with leading figures in oral history, memory and orality, whether in research, archiving, teaching or community work. 

• Length: 5,000-6,000 words in edited interview format. 

Quotations and style

• Use Spanish-style angle quotation marks « »; for occasional emphasis you may use double quotation marks “ ”. 

• Italics should only be used for authorial emphasis, not for quotation marks or section titles. 

• Quotations longer than 40 words should appear without quotation marks, in 11-point type, and indented on the left. 

• Do not use brackets for parenthetical remarks: use em dashes —like this—. If the sentence between dashes ends with a full stop, do not close it with a second dash. 

• Requirements: 

• A short biographical note of no more than 150 words. 

• A contextual introduction of no more than 300 words outlining the interviewee’s key contributions. 

• Consent and authorisation for publication, with clarification of rights. 

• Evaluation: editorial review of quality, relevance and clarity. 

Style corrections and minor errors

• The RIHO editorial team may make minor stylistic corrections and correct typographical errors at the final stage, without altering the meaning of the text. 

• If more substantial changes are needed, the author’s approval will be requested. 

Publication window after acceptance

• RIHO reserves the right to schedule publication of accepted texts within two years after completion of the review and revision process, depending on volume, editorial timetable and the balance between sections. 

Citation

Citation (Chicago, Notes and Bibliography)

• All citations, both primary and secondary sources, must appear in footnotes, with superscript numbers placed after punctuation. 

• When several works are cited in the same note, separate them with semicolons. 

• In the first reference to a work, give the full citation; in later references, use the short form, surname, shortened title, page. 

• Primary sources, such as interviews and archival documents, must also always be cited in footnotes. 

Example in the text

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…^1 Ut enim ad minim veniam…^2 Duis aute irure dolor…^3

Corresponding footnotes

1. Ricard Vinyes, El Estado y la memoria: Gobiernos y ciudadanos frente a los traumas de la historia (Barcelona: RBA Libros, 2009). 

2. Rosario Ruiz Franco, “Las mujeres en la Guerra Civil española,” in Los libros sobre la Guerra Civil, ed. Ángel Bahamonde and Rosario Ruiz Franco (Madrid: Cátedra, 2021), 231–60. 

3. “Expedientes de excombatientes,” Fondo de la Confederación Nacional de Excombatientes, Archivo General de la Administración (AGA), 23/23, 3. 

Subsequent short citations

• Vinyes, El Estado y la memoria, 145. 

• Ruiz Franco, “Las mujeres en la Guerra Civil,” 244. 

• “Expedientes de excombatientes,” AGA, 23/23, 7. 

Models for footnotes (first mention) and bibliography

In Chicago style, the final bibliography is ordered by the author’s surname and uses a slightly different format from the footnote. Each item below includes the full note and the bibliographical entry.

Book

Note:
Ricard Vinyes, El Estado y la memoria: Gobiernos y ciudadanos frente a los traumas de la historia (Barcelona: RBA Libros, 2009).

Bibliography:
Vinyes, Ricardo. El Estado y la memoria: Gobiernos y ciudadanos frente a los traumas de la historia. Barcelona: RBA Libros, 2009.

Book chapter (in an edited volume)

Note:
Rosario Ruiz Franco, “Las mujeres en la Guerra Civil española,” in Los libros sobre la Guerra Civil, ed. Ángel Bahamonde and Rosario Ruiz Franco (Madrid: Cátedra, 2021), 231–60.

Bibliography:
Ruiz Franco, Rosario. “Las mujeres en la Guerra Civil española.” In Los libros sobre la Guerra Civil, edited by Ángel Bahamonde and Rosario Ruiz Franco, 231–60. Madrid: Cátedra, 2021.

Journal article

Note:
Laura Branciforte, “Mujeres pacifistas en los ochenta en España: vínculos y redes transnacionales,” Ayer 136, 4 (2024): 125–52, https://doi.org/10.55509/ayer/1468.

Bibliography:
Branciforte, Laura. “Mujeres pacifistas en los ochenta en España: vínculos y redes transnacionales.” Ayer 136, 4 (2024): 125–52. https://doi.org/10.55509/ayer/1468.

Article in an online newspaper

Note:
Soledad Gallego-Díaz, “Memorias en disputa,” El País, 10 February 2023, https://www.elpais.com/xxxxx.

Bibliography:
Gallego-Díaz, Soledad. “Memorias en disputa.” El País, 10 February 2023. https://www.elpais.com/xxxxx.

Doctoral thesis (in a repository)

Note:
Anabel Garrido Ortolá, Ni víctimas, ni victimarias. Análisis de las narrativas de género en torno al conflicto y postconflicto armado en Colombia (PhD diss., Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017), https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/16339.

Bibliography:
Garrido Ortolá, Anabel. Ni víctimas, ni victimarias. Análisis de las narrativas de género en torno al conflicto y postconflicto armado en Colombia. PhD diss., Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/16339.

Conference proceedings

Note:
Name Surname, “Title of contribution,” in Title of proceedings (Place: Publisher/Organiser, Year), xx–xx, DOI/URL.

Bibliography:
Surname, Name. “Title of contribution.” In Title of proceedings, xx–xx. Place: Publisher/Organiser, Year. DOI/URL.

Institutional web resource (with date)

Note:
FECYT, “Criterios del Sello de Calidad,” 2024, https://www.fecyt.es/xxxxx.

Bibliography:
FECYT. “Criterios del Sello de Calidad.” 2024. https://www.fecyt.es/xxxxx.

Web resource (without date)

Note:
Institution/Author, “Title,” n.d., URL.

Bibliography:
Institution/Author. “Title.” n.d. URL.

Legal document (Spain)

Note:
España, Ley Orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de diciembre, de Protección de Datos Personales y garantía de los derechos digitales, Boletín Oficial del Estado 294 (2018): 119788–119857, https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3.

Bibliography:
España. Ley Orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de diciembre, de Protección de Datos Personales y garantía de los derechos digitales. Boletín Oficial del Estado 294 (2018): 119788–119857. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3.

Archival document

Note:
“Expedientes de excombatientes,” Fondo de la Confederación Nacional de Excombatientes, Archivo General de la Administración (AGA), 23/23, p. 3.

Bibliography:
“Expedientes de excombatientes.” Fondo de la Confederación Nacional de Excombatientes. Archivo General de la Administración (AGA). 23/23.

Interview (unpublished)

Note:
Joaquín Almunia, interview by Francisco Leira, 14 September 2025, Archivo Fuentes Orales-UC3M, 25/001.

Bibliography:
Almunia, Joaquín. Interview by Francisco Leira. 14 September 2025. Archivo Fuentes Orales-UC3M, 25/001.

Podcast episode

Note:
Name Surname (role), “Episode title,” Podcast title, episode number, day month year, Producer, format/URL.

Bibliography:
Surname, Name (role). “Episode title.” Podcast title. Episode number. Day month year. Producer. Format/URL.

Social media

Note:
Author Name Surname (username), “First words of content,” Platform, day month year, URL.

Bibliography:
Surname, Name (username). “First words of content.” Platform. Day month year. URL.

Data / datasets

Note:
Institution/Author, Dataset title (version), Repository, year, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Bibliography:
Institution/Author. Dataset title. Version. Repository, year. https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Useful Chicago style details

• DOI should always appear as a URL: https://doi.org/xxxxx. 

• Use italics for books, journals, newspapers and repositories; use roman type and quotation marks where appropriate for articles and chapters. 

• Capitalisation: in Spanish, sentence-style capitalisation is used, with only the first word and proper nouns capitalised. Keep the title in its original language. 

• Multiple authors: in footnotes, list them all; in the bibliography, list them all if reasonable. In works with many authors, “et al.” may be used according to editorial judgement. 

• Dates: should appear in Spanish format, for example “10 de febrero de 2023”. 

• URLs: full and working; “Retrieved from” is not necessary. 

• Short citations: use the short form after the first full footnote, surname, shortened title, page. 

Quick note on multiple citations in a single footnote

If you need to refer to several works at once, do so in a single footnote, separated by semicolons:

Francisco J. Leira-Castiñeira, Soldados de Franco (Madrid: Siglo XXI, 2020); Laura Branciforte, “Mujeres pacifistas…,” Ayer 136, no. 4 (2024): 125–52; Álvaro De Dios, Título del libro (Lugar: Editorial, 2021), 67.