Author Guidelines
Manuscripts for publication in BIOTA NEOTROPICA are to be submitted EXCLUSIVELY through the website http://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/bn-scielo and must be prepared in accordance with 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 .
Currently the publication fee charged is R$ 1200.00 (One Thousand and Two Hundred Reais) for Brazilian authors or US$ 450 (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.
BIOTA NEOTROPICA does not publish papers that include descriptions of new species of taxonomic groups whose 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 does require printed copies of your publication, you should look for another journal to submit your paper.
BIOTA NEOTROPICA publishes eight types of manuscript: editorial, points of view, articles, thematic reviews, short communications, identification keys, 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.
The submitting author 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
Manuscripts submitted under any category should be written entirely in English. The authors are responsible for presenting the article in good scientific English, and it is strongly recommended that the manuscript 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. Should the Editorial Board consider the level of English to be below journal standards, the paper may be refused even after approval by the Area Editor. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
1 – Manuscript Category
To follow is a brief description of how the Editorial Board defines each 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 of a relevant issue within the scope of the journal, whereby the researcher will write a short, thought-provoking, article expressing his/her viewpoint on the issue in question. At the discretion of the Editorial Board, the journal may publish responses or considerations of other researchers to stimulate discussion on the issue. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Articles
Articles are submitted spontaneously by their authors in the System of Submission of the Journal at http://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/bn-scielo. The manuscript must bring new data, not published or submitted to publication, in part or entirely, in other journals or books, and must be results of research in characterization, conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Neotropical region. The manuscript is expected to discuss an issue of scientific interest within the scope of the journal and include a review of the specialized literature, as well as a discussion of articles recently published in the international literature. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Thematic Reviews
Thematic Reviews are also submitted spontaneously by their authors through the Journal Submission System. The manuscript is expected to develop a scientific concept or theme related to the scope of the journal, based on references that are essential to understanding the subject of the reviews, and including the most recent published articles on the issue. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Short Communications
These are short articles submitted spontaneously by their authors. The manuscript must contain new data, not previously published and/or submitted for publication in part or in whole, in any other periodical or book, and be the result of research 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. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
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.
Identification Keys
Identification Keys are submitted spontaneously by their authors through the Journal Submission System. The manuscript is expected to describe, to the fullest extent possible, the taxonomic group characterized by the identification key. It should be firmly based on the taxonomic literature regarding the group in question. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Inventories
Inventories are submitted spontaneously by their authors through the Journal Submission System. The manuscript should contain new data, not previously published and/or submitted for publication in part or in whole, in any other periodical or book, and be the result of research on the characterization, conservation, restoration or sustainable use of Neotropical biodiversity. In addition to the list of inventoried species, the manuscript should include the authors’ selection criteria (assemblage, guild, locality etc.), the methodology used and the geographic coordinates of the study area. It must be strongly based on the best taxonomic literature available for the group, and must clearly inform the institution where testimony specimens are deposited. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Taxonomic Reviews
Taxonomic Reviews are submitted spontaneously by their authors through the Journal Submission System. The manuscript should contain new data, not previously published and/or submitted for publication in part or in whole, in any other periodical or book, and be the result of research on the characterization, conservation, restoration or sustainable use of Neotropical biodiversity. The manuscript is expected to contain comprehensive information on the taxon under review, elucidate the main taxonomic issues and justify the need to revise it. The review should be based on the current and historical scientific literature regarding the taxon in question, and must clearly inform the institution where the testimony specimens are deposited. The content of manuscripts accepted for publication, regardless of category, is the sole responsibility of the author(s).
2 - Data availability
Data are important products of the scientific enterprise, and they should be preserved and usable for decades in the future. Following the standard of international publications in the area of biodiversity, and after two years of keeping data availability as a recommendation, the Editorial Committee of Biota Neotropica decided that, from 1st of January 2022, as a condition for publication, 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 domain-specific data repositories, but authors are free to select other repositories such as the Biota Neotropica Dataverse (https://data.scielo.org/dataverse/brbn), 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. Data URL must be mentioned in the Data availability section of the manuscript.
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.
For theoretical papers, the underlying model code must be archived. Authors should take care to maximize the accessibility and reusability of the data by selecting a file format from which data can be efficiently extracted (for example, spreadsheets or flat files should be provided rather than PDFs when providing tabulated data).
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. 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 the 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:
- 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).
- All external data used in a journal 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.
3 – Submission and Publishing
The manuscripts that meet the guidelines will be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, who will forward them to the Area Editors, who in turn will select at least two “ad hoc” reviewers. Authors are asked to suggest at least three possible reviewers, being at least one from abroad, and indicate researchers with whom they might have some conflicts.
Area Editors are responsible for the entire publishing phase of the manuscript, sending feedback to authors and reformulated versions of the work to the reviewers. Once all requirements and recommendations made by reviewers and the Area Editors are met, the manuscript is preliminarily accepted and forwarded to the Chief Editor. It is up to the Editor-in-Chief, in common agreement with the Editorial Board, to definitively accept the paper.
Authors must submit the definitive version of their work (including text, tables and figures) through the Submission System, incorporating the final alterations/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/alterations to the article proofs.
Search tools, as well as indexation services, use the words in the title and the keywords to locate and classify an article. Therefore, the selection of keywords ensures that the author’s manuscript can be found by other authors interested in the same issue, increasing the likelihood of using their results and, consequently, of citations. The information available at http://www.editage.com/insights/why-do-journals-ask-for-keywords is a good source for selecting keywords.
Upon submitting a manuscript to Biota Neotropica, the author(s) transfer(s) copyright to the journal. In any subsequent use of parts of the text, figures and tables, Biota Neotropica must be cited as the source.
4 – File formatting
The manuscripts should be sent in DOC format (Word 97-2003 Document) or DOCX format (modern Word format) using Times New Roman font size 10. Section titles must be in font size 12. 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 below), 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 appropriate resources available in the word processors software (e.g. MS Word, LibreOffice).
After submission, manuscripts sent to Biota Neotropica must be divided into a file containing the entire text of the manuscript, including the main body of the text (first page, abstract, introduction, materials, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, authors' contribution, conflicts of interest and references) and, if necessary, a table file. The figures will be included separately and identified in the system. The authors must revise the files they have prepared for submission to carefully check whether the figures, graphs, or tables are in the desired format.
Template
For creating manuscripts Biota Neotropica recommends the use of its own Microsoft Word template. Our template is available to download via the link below.
Docx Template
Main document
A single file (called Principal.doc(x)) containing the authors' name and affiliation, titles, abstracts, and keywords (also included in another submission step) in English and in another language (Portuguese or Spanish), the full text of the manuscript, references, and tables. Figures must NOT be included in this file, which must be entered separately in the system, as described below. The manuscript should use the following format:
Brief and informative title
Use a capital letter in the first word and in accordance with pre-established grammar or scientific rules.
Body of the Manuscript
Sections – must not be numbered
Introduction
Material and Methods
Results
Discussion
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Contribution
Conflicts of Interest
Ethics
Data availability - including the URL to the repository where the data has been deposited
References
Special cases
- At the author’s discretion, in the case of “Short Communications” and "Inventory", Results and Discussion can be combined. Do not use footnotes, include the information directly in the text, since it makes reading easier and reduces the number of electronic links to the manuscript.
- In the case of the "Inventories" category, the list of species, environments, descriptions, photos, etc. should be sent separately so that they can be organized in accordance with specific formats. To facilitate the use of search engines, such as XML, the Editorial Board will send the authors specific instructions for formatting the list of species cited in the manuscript.
- In the "Identification Keys" category, the key itself should be sent separately so that it can be adequately formatted. In the case of references to material collected, 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.
Numbering subtitles
The title of each section should be written without numbering, in boldface, with only the first letter capitalized (Ex. Introduction, Materials and Methods etc.). Only two levels of subtitles, below the title of each section, will be permitted. Subtitles must be numbered in Arabic numerals followed by a period to help identify their order in the final format of the manuscript. Ex. Material and Methods; 1. Subtitle; 1.1. Sub-subtitle.
Species names
In the case of species citations, they must comply with the respective Nomenclature Codes. In the area of Zoology, all the species cited in the paper must be followed by the author and date of the original publication of the description, or by the author and/or revisor of the species in the case of Botany. In the field of Microbiology, specific sources should be consulted, such as the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
References in the text
Insert references in accordance with the following standard:
Silva (1960) or (Silva 1960)
Silva (1960, 1973)
Silva (1960a, b)
Silva & Pereira (1979) or (Silva & Pereira 1979)
Silva et al. (1990) or (Silva et al. 1990)
(Silva 1989, Pereira & Carvalho 1993, Araújo et al. 1996, Lima 1997)
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.
Numbers and units
Present numbers and units as follows:
- numbers up to nine should be spelled out, unless they are followed by units;
- use a period for the decimal number (10.5 m);
- use the International System of Units, separating the value units by a space (except for percentages, degrees, minutes, and seconds);
- use unit abbreviations whenever possible. Do not use spaces to change lines if the unit does not fit on the same line.
Formulas
Formulas that can be written on a single line, even if it requires the use of special fonts (Symbol, Courier New and Wingdings), can be included in the text. Ex. a = p.r2 or Na2HPO, etc. Any other type of formula or equation will be considered a figure and must therefore follow the rules established for figures.
Figure and Table citations
Write words in full (Ex. Figure 1, Table 1)
Refrences
Adopt the format shown in the following examples, including all data requested, in the sequence and with the punctuation indicated, without adding items not mentioned:
FERGUSON, I.B. & BOLLARD, E.G. 1976. The movement of calcium in woody stems. Ann. Bot. 40(6):1057-1065.
SMITH, P.M. 1976. The chemotaxonomy of plants. Edward Arnold, London.
SNEDECOR, G.W. & COCHRAN, W.G. 1980. Statistical methods. 7 ed. Iowa State University Press, Ames.
SUNDERLAND, N. 1973. Pollen and anther culture. In Plant tissue and cell culture (H.F. Street, ed.). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p.205-239.
BENTHAM, G. 1862. Leguminosae. Dalbergiae. In Flora Brasiliensis (C.F.P. Martius & A.G. Eichler, eds). F. Fleischer, Lipsiae, v.15, pars 1, p.1-349.
MANTOVANI, W., ROSSI, L., ROMANIUC NETO, S., ASSAD-LUDEWIGS, I.Y., WANDERLEY, M.G.L., MELO, M.M.R.F. & TOLEDO, C.B. 1989. Estudo fitossociológico de áreas de mata ciliar em Mogi-Guaçu, SP, Brasil. In Simpósio sobre mata ciliar (L.M. Barbosa, coord.). Fundação Cargil, Campinas, p.235-267.
STRUFFALDI-DE VUONO, Y. 1985. Fitossociologia do estrato arbóreo da floresta da Reserva Biológica do Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo, SP. Tese de doutorado, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo
FISHBASE. http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm (last access in dd/mmm/aaaa)
Abbreviate periodical titles in accordance with the "World List of Scientific Periodicals" (http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/) or according to the database of the Catálogo Coletivo Nacional (CCN -IBICT) (search available at http://ccn.ibict.br/busca.jsf).
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. 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 (last access on dd/mm/yyyy)
Tables
Tables can be inserted directly into MS Excel software but must be saved in a spreadsheet, not workbook format.
Tables must be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals.
The legend should be included in this file, contained in a single paragraph, and identified by starting the paragraph with Table N, where N is the number of the table.
Figures
Maps, photos, and graphs are considered figures. 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; these must be included in their own file.
Figure legends should be part of the Principal.rtf or Principal.doc text file, and included after the references. 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 or not have independent legends.
5 - Authorship
After acknowledgements, create the item Authors' Contributions, containing information about the contribution of each of the authors, which should be described using one of the following:
Substantial contribution in the concept and design of the study;
Contribution to data collection
Contribution to data analysis and interpretation
Contribution to manuscript preparation
Contribution to critical revision, adding intellectual content
The contributions of each co-author must be included in the system to appear as a note in the published manuscript.
6 – Conflicts of interest
Biota Neotropica requires all authors to explain 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. The existence of a conflict of interest does not impede publication in this journal, provided that it is clearly explained by the authors in a footnote or in the acknowledgments.
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”.
7 - Ethics
Biota Neotropica is confident that the authors who submit manuscripts have complied with the guidelines established by the ethics committees of their respective research institutions. Studies involving human beings and/or clinical trials must be approved by the Institutional Committee that assesses this type of research. This approval, as well as information on the nature of this Committee, should be included in the Materials and Methods section. In the case of human subjects, it is essential to include a declaration that prior informed consent was obtained from all the participants, or a declaration stating why this was not necessary.
Biota Neotropica uses CrossCheck to identify any sort of plagiarism, double submissions, already published articles and possible frauds in research.
8 – 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 supported by the BIOTA/FAPESP program of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).