Author Guidelines

Introduction

Manuscripts for publication in Biota Neotropica are to be submitted EXCLUSIVELY through the ScholarOne. After you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below, please visit the online submission web site: http://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/bn-scielo  and must be prepared following the instructions below. After successful submission, you will receive a confirmation email along with an ID number for your paper.

All subsequent correspondence should be sent to the Managing Editor at ea@biotaneotropica.org.br.         

Current publication fee is R$ 1200.00 (One Thousand Two Hundred Reais) for Brazilian authors or US$ 450.00 (Four Hundred and Fifty Dollars) for foreign authors, irrespective of the number of pages published. Payment details will be sent to authors in the final editorial stage of articles accepted for publication. There are no submission fees for the articles.

Biota Neotropica publishes eight types of manuscript: editorial, point of view, articles, thematic reviews, short communications, identification key, inventories, and taxonomic reviews. Only the Editorial is written by the Editorial Board or by an invited researcher and is therefore subject to different submission rules.

Manuscripts submitted under any category should be written entirely in English.

The submitting authors and co-authors must provide a confirmed ORCID ID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID, http://orcid.org/) at the time of submission by entering it in the user profile in the submission system. 

Authors are responsible for presenting the article in clear and concise scientific English. To ensure the highest quality of language and grammar, it is strongly recommended that  manuscripts undergo a final revision by a specialized proofreading company such as American Journal Experts/AJE, Nature Publishing Group Language Editing, Edanz and/or other SciELO-approved services. If the Editorial Board considers that the level of English in a submitted manuscript is below the journal’s standards, they reserve the right to refuse the paper, even if it has been approved by the Area Editor. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).

Authors are reminded that submission of their manuscript indicates that the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere in English or any other language, except for a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium. While Biota Neotropica considers submissions that include material from a previously published PhD or academic thesis, it must adhere to the requirements of the institution that awarded the qualification. It is important to note that posting preprints on preprint servers is not considered prior publication and will not jeopardize consideration by Biota Neotropica. Authors are entitled to share their preprints (Author's Original Version) through various channels without impeding the submission process.

Aims and scope

Biota Neotropica is an electronic, peer-reviewed journal which aims to disseminate the results of original research work,  concerned with characterization, conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Neotropical region.

Biota Neotropica does not publish papers that include descriptions of new species of taxonomic groups for which the Nomenclatural Code requires printed copies. Authors are responsible to check if the specific requirements of the Nomenclatural Code of the organism they are working with. If your taxonomic group requires printed copies of your publications, it is advisable to seek you for another journal for submitting your paper.

Papers that only report the occurrence of species in a region where their presence would be expected, but have yet to be recorded, are not published by Biota Neotropica.

The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).

Manuscript Category

Editorial

For each issue of Biota Neotropica, the Editor-in-Chief may invite a researcher to write an Editorial on relevant topics, from a scientific standpoint and in terms of creating policies for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Neotropical region. Editorials should contain a maximum of 3000 words.

Points of View

This section acts as a forum for academic discussion on relevant issues within the scope of the journal. Researchers will write a short, thought-provoking article expressing their viewpoints on the specific issue in question. At the discretion of the Editorial Board, the journal may publish responses or considerations from other researchers to stimulate discussion on the given issue. 

Articles

Must be the result of research in characterization, conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Neotropical region. The manuscript is expected to address a scientific issue of interest within the journal’s scope and include a review of relevant and specialized literature, as well as a discussion of recently published articles in the international literature. It is important to note that posting preprints on preprint servers is not considered prior publication and will not jeopardize consideration by Biota Neotropica.

Thematic Reviews

The manuscript is expected to develop a scientific concept or theme related to the scope of the journal, based on references that are essential for understanding the subject of the reviews, and including the most recent published articles on the specific issue. 

Short Communications

These are short articles submitted spontaneously by their authors. The manuscript must contain new data that has not been previously published or submitted for publication, either in part or in its entirety, in any other periodical or book. The research presented must focus on the characterization, conservation, restoration, or sustainable use of Neotropical biodiversity. The manuscript is expected to briefly discuss a new component among the issues of scientific interest related to the scope of Biota Neotropica, based on recently published articles. 

Identification Keys

The manuscript is expected to describe, to the fullest extent possible, the taxonomic group characterized by the identification key. It is essential to base this description on the existing taxonomic literature regarding the group in question. 

Inventories

The research presented must focus on the characterization, conservation, restoration, or sustainable use of Neotropical biodiversity.In addition to the list of inventoried species, the manuscript should clearly describe the authors’ selection criteria (e.g. assemblage, guild, locality) along with the methodology employed. The geographic coordinates of the study area, as well as an evaluation of the significance of the results in comparison to data from similar areas, using similarity indexes or other appropriate methods. The manuscript must be firmly grounded in  the best available taxonomic literature relevant to the studied taxonomic group. It is crucial  to inform the institution where testimony specimens are deposited.

Taxonomic Reviews

The research presented must focus on the characterization, conservation, restoration, or sustainable use of Neotropical biodiversity. The manuscript is expected to provide comprehensive information on the taxon under review, an elucidation of  the main taxonomic issues and a justification for the necessity of its revision. The review should be based on the current and historical scientific literature regarding the taxon in question. It is crucial to inform the institution where testimony specimens are deposited. 

Quick checklist for submissions

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines:

1. Make sure your submission is complete - Preparing for submission;
2. Make sure your submission follow the formatting instructions - Manuscript specifications;
3. Make sure to adhere to the authorship and ethics requirements - Authorship and Ethics;
4. Make sure your manuscript is accurate and readable;
5. Make sure that raw data related to your manuscript is available - Data Availability

Submission and Publishing

Preparing for submission

The submission must include: the manuscript file (main document, figures, tables), a cover letter, the URL for the raw data used in the manuscript and supplementary material (if applicable).

Editorial process

The manuscripts and associated materials are checked for quality, completeness, and the adherence to the journal’s guidelines by the Editorial Assistant.  If the submission meets the necessary criteria, it will be forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief, who will then pass it to the Area Editors. The Area Editors will select at least two "ad hoc" reviewers to evaluate the manuscript. Authors are asked to suggest at least three potential reviewers, being at least one from abroad. Additionally, authors must disclose any researchers with whom they may have conflicts of interest, and these individuals will be excluded from the review process.

Review process

Area Editors are responsible for the entire publishing phase of the manuscript. This includes providing  feedback to the authors and sharing reformulated versions of the work with the reviewers. Once all requirements and recommendations from the  reviewers and Area Editors are addressed and fulfilled, the manuscript is considered preliminarily accepted and forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief. The final decision to accept the paper rests with the Editor-in-Chief, in common agreement with the Editorial Board. 

Revision and Publication of accepted manuscripts

Authors must submit the definitive version of their work, including text, tables, and figures, through the Submission System. This version should incorporate all the necessary alterations or corrections requested by the reviewers and/or Area Editor, since this is the version that will be sent to the Editor-in-Chief for publication. Care taken at this stage significantly reduces the need for corrections or alterations to the article proofs.

Importance of Keywords for Discoverability  and Indexing

Search tools and indexing services rely on the title and the keywords of an article to locate and classify it. Therefore, the selection of appropriate keywords is crucial to enhance the discoverability of the author’s manuscript by other authors interested in the same topic. By choosing relevant keywords, authors increase the likelihood of their work being found and utilized by others, leading to potential citations. The information available at http://www.editage.com/insights/why-do-journals-ask-for-keywords  is a good source for selecting keywords. Biota Neotropica requires a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 keywords.

Copyright Transfer and Citation Requirements

Upon submission of  a manuscript to Biota Neotropica, the author(s) transfer(s) the copyright of the manuscripts to the journal. Any subsequent use of parts of the text, figures, and tables must acknowledge Biota Neotropica as the original source and include proper citation.

Autorship

All authors are expected to have made substantial contributions to the work, taking responsibility for both the content and the published form of the manuscript. This includes substantial contributions to the: conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, as well as the creation of new software used in the work. Authors are also expected to have participated in drafting the manuscript, providing significant revisions or adding intellectual content. Furthermore, authors should have given their approval for the submitted version and any subsequent modifications that involve their contributions. The final manuscript should undergo thorough review and approval by all authors prior to submission.

The corresponding author (CA) is considered the author who submits the manuscript on behalf of all co-authors.  The CA takes responsibility for ensuring that all listed authors have approved the manuscript before submission and that all authors receive the submission and all substantive correspondence with editors, as well as the full reviews, verifying that all data, materials, and code, even those developed or provided by other authors, comply with the transparency and reproducibility standards of Biota Neotropica. This responsibility includes but is not limited to: 

• ensuring that original data/materials/code upon which the submission is based are preserved following best practices in the field so that they are retrievable for reanalysis;
• confirming that data/materials/code presentation accurately reflects the original;
• foreseeing and minimizing obstacles to the sharing of data/materials/code described in the work. The CA should be responsible for managing these requirements across the author group and ensuring that the entire author group is fully aware of and in compliance with best practices in the discipline of publication;
• confirming that all who deserve authorship are listed as authors and have received the appropriated credits in the “Authors’ Contributions”.

During the submission process, all authors will receive an email notifying them of their co-authorship in the manuscript. No confirmation is required.

The specific contributions of each author must be clearly stated in the “Authors’ Contributions” section of the manuscript. It is recommended to utilize CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy) for specifying the roles and contributions of each author to the manuscript.

Individuals who have made specific contributions to the study but do not meet the authorship criteria outlined above (non-authors) should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section of the manuscript. 

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Ethics section of the manuscript (see 12. Ethics).

Copyright and Licensing

Upon submitting a manuscript to Biota Neotropica, the author(s) transfer(s) copyright to the journal. Any subsequent use of parts of the text, figures, and tables must include proper citation, acknowledging Biota Neotropica as the source. In case of using the entire article or parts of it in any medium, appropriate attribution should be provided. Links to the final article on Biota Neotropica’s website are encouraged where applicable.

Any accompanying data submitted to repositories with stated licensing policies should adhere to a licensing policy that is not more restrictive than CC BY 4.0.

During the publication process the corresponding author will be required to complete a copyright license agreement on behalf of all authors of the paper.

Data Availability

Data are important products of the scientific enterprise, and they should be preserved and accessible for long-term use in the future. Following the standard of international publications in the area of biodiversity, all data supporting the results in papers published in the journal must be archived in an appropriate public archive offering open access and guaranteed preservation. Submissions will not be accepted without a link to the repository where the data has been deposited. 

Preferably data should be deposited in the journal’s Dataverse repository (https://data.scielo.org/dataverse/brbn), but authors are free to select other repositories such as the Sistema de Informação Ambiental do Programa Biota/Fapesp/SinBiota, Dryad Digital Repository - Dryad, TreeBASE Web, GenBank, Figshare, Sistema de Informação sobre a Biodiversidade Brasileira/SiBBr or another repository that provides comparable access and guaranteed preservation. When submitting the paper to Biota Neotropica the provisional URL of the dataset must be included in the Data Availability section. The provisional URL shows that the data deposited is in a Draft Format and can be deleted if the paper is not accepted. For accepted papers the final URL of the data deposited must be included in the Data Availability section. 

In the case of theoretical papers, the underlying model code must be archived. Authors are encouraged to prioritize the accessibility and reusability of their data by selecting file formats that allow for efficient extraction of the data. Instead of providing tabulated data in PDF format, authors should consider using file formats such as spreadsheets or flat files. 

The data underlying all the results presented in the paper must be archived in a format that allows a third party to interpret the data. It is important to include appropriate metadata that describes the contents of the data, providing essential information about its structure, variables, units, and any other relevant details. The archived data must allow each result in the published paper to be recreated and the analyses reported in the paper to be replicated in full to support the conclusions made.  Authors are welcome to archive more than this, but not less.

This policy applies to the research data that would be required to verify the results of research reported in articles published in the journal. Research data include data produced by the authors (“primary data”) and data from other sources that are analyzed by authors in their study (“secondary data”). Research data includes any recorded factual material that is used to produce the results in digital and non-digital form. This includes tabular data, code, images, audio, documents, video, maps, raw and/or processed data

For sensitive data relating to endangered species or protected locations, authors should transform locality details or provide an anonymized version of the dataset whenever possible. In situations when endangered species or protected locations cannot be transformed, when data access is politically or culturally-sensitive, or when datasets include sensitive social data/information, editors may waive the archiving requirement.  Authors must provide a short explanation in the Data Availability Statement when the archiving requirement has been waived.

General Guidelines for data publishing:

• Large primary biodiversity data sets (e.g., institutional collections of species-occurrence records) should be published with the Sistema de Informação Ambiental do Programa Biota/Fapesp/SinBiota, Sistema de Informação sobre a Biodiversidade Brasileira/SiBBr or  GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT); 
• Gene sequence and genomic data should be deposited with INSDC (GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ), either directly or via a partnering repository, e.g. Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD). 
• Transcriptomics data should be deposited in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) or ArrayExpress.
• Phylogenetic data should be deposited at TreeBASE.
• Biodiversity-related geoscience and environmental data should be deposited in PANGAEA.
• Morphological images other than those presented in the article should be deposited at Morphbank. Images of a specific kind should be deposited in appropriate repositories if these exist (e.g Morphosource for MicroCT data).
• Videos should be uploaded to video sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo or SciVee and linked back to the article text. Similarly,  audio files should go to platforms like FreeSound or SoundCloud, and presentations to Slideshare. In addition, multimedia files can also be uploaded as on the journal’s Dataverse (https://data.scielo.org/dataverse/brbn).
• Other large data sets for which there is no existing thematic or domain-specific repository, could be deposited in the Biota Neotropica Dataverse, Dryad Data Repository, Zenodo, prior to the acceptance of the manuscript. Detailed instructions to deposit data in the Biota Neotropica SciELO Dataverse are available at https://scielo.org/pt/sobre-o-scielo/scielo-data-pt/termos-data/ and https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/Guia-deposito_pt.pdf

All external data used in a paper must be cited in the reference list, and links to these data (as deposited in external repositories) must be included in the Data Availability Section of the manuscript. 

Manuscript specifications

Document type

The manuscripts should be sent in Microsoft Word format. PDFs or any other file format are not accepted for initial submissions.

Word

• Font type: Times New Roman 
• Font size: 10pt
• Section titles font size: 12pt 
• Boldface, italics, underlines, subscripts, and superscripts can be used when pertinent, but excessive use of these resources should be avoided. 
• In special cases (see Formulas), the following fonts can be used: Courier New, Symbol, and Wingdings. 
• Manuscripts can contain electronic links that the author judges appropriate. These must be included using the resources available in MS-Word.
• A Word template is available at: www.biotaneotropica.org.br/public/templates/bn-word.docx 

Formatting and manuscript sections

Main document

The main document of the manuscript must contain:

• authors' name and affiliation;
• titles in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish), using a capital letter in the first word and in accordance with pre-established grammar or scientific rules,
• abstracts in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish);
• 5-10 keywords in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish);
• the full text of the manuscript in English;
• references;
• figure legends (figures must NOT be included in this file. They must be entered separately in the system, as described in d. Figures).

Manuscript structure

The manuscript must be divided in the follow sections (sections must not be numbered):

• Introduction
• Material and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion (optional)
• Acknowledgments (optional)
• Authors’ Contribution
• Conflicts of Interest
• Ethics
• Data availability
• References
• Figure legends (see Figures)
• Table legends (if applicable, see Tables)

The decision to include optional sections rests with the authors. However, it is important to note that all other sections, apart from the optional ones, are mandatory and required for all article categories.

The “Results” and “Discussion” sections can be combined into the section “Results and Discussion”, at the authors’ discretion, specifically for manuscripts in the Short Communications and Inventories categories.

Format and style

Special cases: 

• for manuscripts submitted under the Inventories category, authors are required to submit the list of species, environments, descriptions, photos and other related documents separately. The Editorial Board will provide authors with specific instructions on how to format the list of species cited in the manuscript to facilitate the use of search engines;
• for manuscripts submitted under the Identification Keys category, authors are required to submit the key itself separately to ensure proper formatting. When referring to collected material,  the geographical coordinates of the collection area must be included. Whenever possible, the coordinates should be in degrees, minutes, and seconds (for example, 24°32’75” S and 53°06'31" W). In the case of references to endangered species, specify only degrees and minutes.

Abstract

Abstract must be provided in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish) and must not exceed 400 words. The abstract should succinctly summarize the purpose of the paper, main results, conclusions and recommendations. 

Keywords

Keywords must be provided in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish). 

Keywords should be given in alphabetical order and consist of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 words or short phrases. For advice on selecting suitable keywords for your manuscript, you can refer to the following resources:

•  “Why do journals ask for keywords?” 
• “Maximising the Exposure of Your Research: Search Engine Optimisation and why it matters”

Data Availability

The permanent URL identifier of the dataset must be provided by the authors in the “Data Availability” section of the manuscript. Data should normally be made publicly available at the time of publication, but may be postponed for up to one year if the technology of the archive allows for it. 

Example: The data collected and generated during this study are available in the [repository name] at [URL or DOI]. The dataset includes [specify the nature of the data] used in the analysis and can be accessed at [provide the direct URL or DOI of the dataset]. The authors confirm that all data necessary for reproducing the study findings are available in the designated dataset.

Tables

Tables must be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals.

Table legends contained in a single paragraph, and identified by starting the paragraph with Table N, where N is the number of the table.

Tables should be directly inserted into the body of the manuscript , accompanied by their respective legends. Alternatively, for larger tables, it is recommended to submit them as separate files in  Excel (XLS, XLSX) or Text Delimited Values (e.g. CSV, TSV) format. In such cases, the legends for these tables should be included after the “References” section of the manuscript. 

Figures

Figures, including maps, photos and graphs, must not be included in the manuscript body. Instead, they should be submitted as separate files in any bitmapped file format (e.g. JPG,PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP).  To maintain high-quality images, ensure that the resolution is at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) or at the best available resolution when the source is at a lower resolution (e.g. camera trap photography).

Figures should be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals.

In the case of drawings, the texts contained in the figures should use sans-serif fonts, such as Arial or Helvetica, for better legibility. Figures composed of several others should be identified by letters (ex. Figure 1a, Figure 1b). Use a scale bar to indicate size. Figures should not contain legends.

Figure legends should be included in the Figure legends section of the manuscript text. 

Each legend should be contained in a single paragraph and be identified, starting the paragraph with Figure N, where N is the number of the figure. 

Compound figures can have either independent legends for each subfigure or a single legend that encompasses the entire compound figure. The choice between these options should be made based on the clarity and readability of the figure.

Images downloaded from the internet cannot be published unless they are released under the correct Public Domain license. Clarify the source of any images that you do not own. Third-party images cannot be published without securing the appropriate rights.

Formulas

Formulas that can be written on a single line, even if they require the use of special fonts like Symbol, Courier New, and Wingdings, can be included in the text. For example: “a = p.r2” or “Na2HPO”.

Any formula or equation that cannot be accommodated within a single line should be sequentially numbered using Arabic numerals, and the equation’s label should be positioned at the right side of the equation. Ex:

dxdt=x -xy Equation 1

Citations

Figures, tables and equations must be cited using their full labels (Ex. Figure 1, Table 1, Equation 1).

Insert references in accordance with APA7 “AUTHOR-DATE” citation style, as in the following examples. Please note that final styling is applied by the publisher, and that the final style used in the publication deviates slightly from what many citation services will output as APA7. The Deakin guide to APA7 is a good reference to see more details. General guidance is given in the following example:

• One author: Silva (2020) or (Silva 2020),
• Multiple citations with same author(s): Silva (2020, 2021),
• Multiple citations with same author(s) and same publication year: Silva (2020a, b),
• Use “and” to separate authors’ names for publications with a maximum of three authors: Silva and Pereira (2019) or (Silva and Pereira 2019),
• For citation with more than three authors use “et al.”: Silva et al. (2020) or (Silva et al. 2020),
• Citations should be ordered by publication year: (Silva 2020, Pereira & Carvalho 2021, Araújo et al. 2022, Lima 2023).

Biota Neotropica does not accept references to unpublished data that are inaccessible to the reviewers or readers. In taxonomic studies, include citations of the material examined in accordance with the specific rules of the type of organism under study.

References

Adopt the format APA7 “AUTHOR-DATE” bibliography style, as in the following examples. Please note that final styling is applied by the publisher, and that the final style used in the publication deviates slightly from what many citation services will output as APA7. The Deakin guide to APA7 is a good reference to see more details.General guidance is given in the following example:

Crooks, K. R. (2002). Relative sensitivities of mammalian carnivores to habitat

fragmentation. Conservation Biology 16, 488–502. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00386.x 

Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst. Penguin Books.

Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G. (1980). Statistical methods (7th ed). Iowa State University Press.

Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016 

Reeve, W., Ardley, J., Tian, R., De Meyer, S., Terpolilli, J., Melino, V., Tiwari, R., Yates, R., O’Hara, G., Howieson, … Kyrpides, N. (2014). Genome sequence of the Listia angolensis microsymbiont Microvirga lotononidis strain WSM3557 (T). Standards in Genomic Sciences 9(3), 540–550.

Bentham, G. (1862). Leguminosae. Dalbergiae. In C.F.P. Martius & A.G. Eichler, (Eds.) Flora Brasiliensis  (v.15, pars 1, pp.1-349). F. Fleischer Lipsiae, 

Ferreira, A. S., Peres, C. A., Bogoni, J. A. & Cassano, C. G. (2018) Use of agroecosystem matrix habitats by mammalian carnivores (Carnivora): a global-scale analysis. Mammal Review 48, 312-327.  https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12137 

Padgurschi, M.C.G. (2014). Padrão espacial de Taquaras (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) em uma Floresta Neotropical do Sudeste do Brasil. [Doctoral thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas]. https://catalogodeteses.capes.gov.br/catalogo-teses/#!/

Fishbase (2023) http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm  Retrieved  August 25, 2022

All papers published in Biota Neotropica have an individual electronic address, which appears on the top-left area of the PDF, as well as a DOI identification number. Therefore, to reference papers published in Biota Neotropica follow the example below:

Santos, R.M., Schlindwein,  M.N. & Viviani, V.R. (2016). Survey of Bioluminescent Coleoptera in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Serra da Paranapiacaba in São Paulo State (Brazil). Biota Neotropica 16(1), e0045. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2015-0045  

Supplementary material

Any information (including display items) not directly related to the description of the main findings, but needed to properly understand the study, should be included in supplementary information files.

Only Supplementary Information that is relevant to the conclusions of the paper should be included.

The Supplementary Information document will be sent to peer reviewers alongside the manuscript file. 

Acknowledgements (optional)

Contributors who have made significant contributions to the work but do not meet the authorship criteria may be listed in the Acknowledgements section. This section also provides an opportunity to recognize funding sources, provide relevant award/grant numbers, and express gratitude to nature reserves or other organizations that have supported the research. Authors bear the responsibility of ensuring that individuals and organizations named in the acknowledgements have given their consent to be acknowledged. The Acknowledgements section should be concise and avoid thanking anonymous referees and editors. 

Authors’ Contributions

All individuals who meet the authorship criteria, as described in the Authorship section, must be listed in the manuscript’s “Authors’ Contributions” section along with their respective contribution. It is recommended to use CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy) for specifying the roles and contributions of each author to the manuscript. When using CRediT, it is preferable to present the authors’ contributions in a table format, as exemplified below.

Example of an “Authors’ Contributions” utilizing CRediT. Authors’ names are abbreviated to their initials, and roles are limited to those relevant to the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

Biota Neotropica requires all authors to  disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise, that could potentially influence the author’s objectivity, is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be revealed when they are either directly or indirectly related to the manuscript submitted to the journal. Conflicts of interest can arise when authors, reviewers, and editors have personal or financial interests that may potentially influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. The existence of a conflict of interest does not impede publication in this journal, provided that it is clearly explained by the authors in the Conflicts of Interest section. Examples can be found in What is a conflict of interest?

The corresponding author is responsible for informing all the authors regarding this policy and ensuring that they comply with this guideline.

If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must state the following:

“The author(s) declare(s) that they have no conflict of interest related to the publication of this manuscript”.

Ethics

Authors are expected to exhibit awareness and adherence to best practices in publication ethics, which include upholding authorship integrity by avoiding "ghost" or "guest" authorship, refraining from dual submission, maintaining academic integrity by avoiding plagiarism and manipulation of results, disclosing any competing interests, and complying with research ethics policies.

Publication Ethics

Biota Neotropica uses Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to identify any sort of plagiarism, double submissions, already published articles, and possible frauds in research.

Research involving animals or humans

If concerns are discovered after publication, the journal staff will conduct an investigation and may take appropriate actions, such as correction or retraction, if significant issues regarding the treatment of animals or research oversight are found. The editorial team also reserves the right to contact the authors’ institution, ethics committee, or other relevant body regarding these concerns.

Animal research

Biota Neotropica is confident that the authors who submit manuscripts have adhered to the guidelines and obtained prior approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethics committee(s) at their respective research institutions. At the time of  submission, authors must provide the name of the IACUC or equivalent ethics committee and relevant permit numbers, along with any other pertinent experimental details, in the Ethics section of their manuscripts. 

Biota Neotropica encourages authors to follow the Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines for the design, analysis, and reporting of scientific research.

Human participants and clinical trials

Studies involving human subjects and/or clinical trials must receive approval from  the Institutional Committee responsible for evaluating this type of research, in accordance with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors are required to include information about this Committee and its approval in the Ethics section of the manuscript. It is essential to include a declaration confirming that prior informed consent was obtained from all participants. Alternatively, if obtaining informed consent was not necessary for specific reasons, a declaration explaining the rationale should be included in the Ethics sections. If the study did not involve human subjects and/or clinical trials requiring committee approval, a statement should be included: “This study did not involve human beings and/or clinical trials that should be approved by an Institutional Committee.”

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The following guidance only applies to the writing process, and does not to the use of AI tools for data analysis or drawing insights as part of the research process.

Authors are advised to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies (e.g ChatGPT-3. ChatGTP-4), exclusively for the purpose of enhancing readability and language quality during the writing process. The usage of these technologies should be done with human oversight and control, and authors shou;d carefully review and edit the generated output as AI has the potential to produce content that may sound authoritative but could be incorrect, incomplete or biased.

AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in policy for authors.

When the use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors must include a statement about it in Ethics section with the following content:

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process: during the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

Cover letter

The cover letter should provide a concise explanation  of the importance and relevance of the work, highlighting why it is considered appropriate for publication in Biota Neotropica. 

The cover letter is not seen by peer reviewers.

Publication Frequency

Biota Neotropica is a quarterly journal that publishes 4 issues a year. The online publication is continuous and the paper is published as soon as the authors approve the final document. An issue is finalized every three months. The Editorial Board may decide to publish special editions of the journal.

This journal is financed by the BIOTA/FAPESP Program of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).