Fostering the professional development of junior authors and reviewers in scientific journals

Infancia y Aprendizaje has conducted several studies intended to provide readers, authors and editors with guidance and resources aimed at facilitating the processes of authorship and scientific publication. The overall goal of this special issue is to continue to foster the learning of the most junior members of the journal, not only in the capacity of authors but also in that of peer reviewers. After elaborating on the notion of peer review (history, purposes, advantages and disadvantages, training strategies), we present the aims and conditions of the call for papers (authored by junior researchers) and the call for reviewers that the journal published to launch this initiative. We then describe the criteria used to choose from the 30 manuscripts submitted by junior authors and the 87 candidates who applied to serve as reviewers. Finally, the various articles included in the dossier are introduced. We claim that scientific journals have the potential and the responsibility to foster the learning and professional development of their members, particularly those of the most junior members.