http://dx.doi.org/10.14718/NovumJus.2017.12.1.1

Based on its eight years of continuous work, and after recognizing the challenges and necessary transformations in the world of periodic academic publications, Novum Jus has started a consolidation process to guarantee its suitability and excellence under international parameters. It is a process that is consistent with the quality roadmap of the School of Law of Universidad Católica de Colombia and that has shown important results, such as the High-Quality Institutional Accreditation of the Law program and the positioning of the research groups of the School of Law in both the national and international context.

We want to ensure our readers' access to research results and academic reflections of the highest category and relevance. For this reason, we have been working with an outstanding team of national and foreign peer reviewers, experts in different areas of knowledge who value and provide accurate feedback about the proposed articles.

We also want to promote and strengthen an interdisciplinary dialogue so as to contribute to the understanding of socio-legal and sociopolitical phenomena. Interdisciplinarity is the very core of NovumJus, supported by an editorial committee of researchers from the most prestigious higher education institutions in the world, which, in turn, are renowned authorities in a wide range of subjects.

As part of the renewal process of the journal, and aimed at the constant strengthening of the publication, our authors can find a clear and solid editorial policy, with submission guidelines and an ethic code that is in line with the international trends and demands. The scientific accuracy of our articles is accompanied by a novel and pleasant format for our readers.

Aware of the need to promote a high level of socialization of published researches, Novum Jus is in a constant process of international recognition through indexation in the most relevant regional and international databases, among which we have Tirant lo Blanch, the Directory of Research Journals Indexing, the Emerging Sources Citation Index, the Ibero-American Network for Innovation and Scientific Knowledge (REDIB), and academic networks such as Google Scholar and Mendeley. Novum Jus guarantees the dissemination of the research output of its authors in the national, regional and international scientific community as extensively as possible.

The processes being carried out by the journal are a reflection of the self-assessment culture, the goal of quality, and the path to excellence that the School of Law of Universidad Católica de Colombia has undertaken, which have allowed Novum Jus to position itself in the regional and international landscape.

The School of Law responds to the university's substantive role of research through the Center for Socio-Legal Studies (CISJUC). The CISJUC is a law think thank where the efforts of professors and students meet in order to create new knowledge allowing the study, understanding and provision of innovative solutions to the main legal, socio-legal and socio-political issues that currently exist.

In recent years, the CISJUC has strengthened its performance and its technical team, optimized its visibility and expanded its academic impact, with the intention of establishing itself as one of the main and most influential law think thanks in Colombia. Right now, it has a team of researchers of high academic quality, a significant number of research groups and research incubators recognized by Colciencias, a high frequency of publication of research results and a constant process of socialization of research production academic settings, both national and international.

The CISJUC has more than fifty researchers, twenty-eight of whom have PhD degrees. It has also received more than 252 international researchers in the last six years, who have developed research projects and taken part in academic events promoted by the Research Center. This has allowed the creation of agendas that have expanded to the local context and that are in constant evolution.

Today, the CISJUC has six research groups recognized by Colciencias, most of which have been classified in the highest category (Aldo Moro, People, Institutions and demands of justice, Public and ICT Law, Phronesis, Conflict and crime, and Private and intellectual property study groups). In addition, the Center supports the work of six research incubators with the participation of more than 67 students. These research incubators are: Legal theory, Legal philosophy and legal argumentation,

Postmodern reflections of crime, Observatory of constitutional justice and human rights, law and ICT, Private and intellectual property studies, and Territorial outlook, legal framework and peacebuilding.

In recent years, the results of the research groups and incubators have been shared in prominent international academic scenarios, including the Annual Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition, conducted by the School of Law of the American University in the United States; the International Arbitration Competition, organized by Universidad Carlos III in Spain; the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition (Spanish version), held by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands; the BEA Conference in the United States and the Legal Partner Network, based in Colombia.

Similarly, the CISJUC researchers have received invitations from renowned institutions, such as the Royal Society of London, United Kingdom; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; the United Nations/International Astronautical Federation Workshop on Space Technology for Economic Development, China, and Universidad de Valencia, Spain, among others. Broadly speaking, the CISJUC has had a presence in China, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as in a number of African.

In accordance with the need to disclose and position the knowledge produced by the CISJUC in the academic world, more than sixty books have been published over the past few years. A considerable number of these books are referenced in the libraries of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom; the Max Planck Institute, Germany, and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid. Other research works of the Center have been referenced in their databases by NASA, Harvard University and the German Library of Science and Technology.

Universidad Católica de Colombia, its School of Law, and the Socio-Legal Research Center are pleased to present the scientific community with issue 1, volume 12 of our scientific journal, Novun Jus, for 2018. We are sure you will find it most agreeable.

Eduardo Andrés Perafán del Campo
Director of Novum Jus
Universidad Católica de Colombia

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