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Author Guidelines

Scope of the journal

Ecotrópicos is the scientific publication of the Venezuelan Society of Ecology dedicated to disseminating research on the ecology of tropical systems. Its thematic scope is broad and includes studies on biodiversity, conservation, population and community ecology, natural resource management, ecotechnologies, and methodological advances that contribute to the understanding and management of tropical ecosystems. The journal is committed to publishing works that provide solid, scientifically relevant information with the potential to generate impact in the academic community, environmental management, and biodiversity conservation.

Open access policy

Ecotrópicos adopts a diamond open access model: all articles are freely and immediately accessible, with no article processing charges (APCs) or subscription fees for readers. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Content is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which allows the material to be shared and adapted with appropriate acknowledgment of the original authorship.

Language and editorial quality

The journal accepts manuscripts in Spanish or English. The text must be written clearly, accurately, and coherently, avoiding ambiguities, redundancies, or grammatical errors. 

To facilitate consistency and accuracy in citations and references, the use of bibliographic management software such as Zotero (recommended) is mandatory. These programs allow you to maintain a consistent format, incorporate complete metadata, and ensure that all DOIs are active and correctly linked.

Manuscript format and preparation

The manuscript should be double-spaced, with continuous page and line numbering, using a legible font (usually the default fonts in word processors are sufficient). Figures and tables should ideally be placed on the pages where they are first referenced, numbered consecutively, with complete titles and captions that allow them to be interpreted independently of the text. The file submitted must include all sections requested according to the type of contribution. To facilitate the layout process, we strongly recommend including a BibTeX file, which can be generated with any available reference manager.

Citations and references

Ecotrópicos uses an author-year style inspired by the Ecological Society of America (ESA), optimized to ensure the correct linking of references with their DOI in databases such as Crossref, Scopus, and Web of Science.

In the text, citations are presented as follows: for one author, (Pérez, 2020); for two authors, (López & Martínez, 2019); for three or more authors, (García et al., 2018). 

When citing several references simultaneously, they should be separated by semicolons and arranged chronologically, for example: (Smith, 2005; Pérez & Gómez, 2010; Andrade et al., 2021).

The list of references at the end of the manuscript should be organized alphabetically by the last name of the first author and, within the same author, in chronological order. All authors must be included, without abbreviations such as et al. Journal titles must be written in full, without abbreviations, and all works with a DOI must include it in official URL format (https://doi.org/...). The use of a bibliographic manager such as Zotero is mandatory for preparing this section.

Examples:

Journal article:
Pérez, J. M., & L. F. Gómez. 2022. Population dynamics of Attalea maripa in dry tropical forests. Ecotrópicos 35(2): 123–135. https://doi.org/10.1234/ecotropicos.2022.5678

Complete book:
Smith, A. B. 2021. Mangrove ecology in changing climates. Academic Press, London, UK. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-345678-9.00004-5

Book chapter:
López, R., & K. Hernández. 2021. Mangrove dynamics under climate variability. In: Pérez, J. M., & L. F. Gómez (eds.). Tropical Coastal Systems, pp. 45–68. Academic Press, London, UK. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-345678-9.00004-5

Dataset:
Méndez, P. A., & C. R. Torres. 2020. Fish assemblage survey in the Orinoco Delta [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1234567

Preprint:
García, M., & R. Soto. 2023. Ecological resilience of tropical dry forests under extreme drought. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.12.540678

Authors are recommended to export their references in BibTeX format. Failure to comply with this format may result in the manuscript being returned before the peer review process begins.

Supplementary data and materials

The journal encourages the availability of supplementary data, codes, and materials by depositing them in open access repositories such as Dryad or Zenodo, with DOI assignment. These must be accessible at the time of publication to ensure transparency and reproducibility of results. If you have questions about how to deposit your supplementary materials, we can advise you.

Editorial process

All manuscripts are initially evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or an associate editor to verify their thematic suitability and compliance with formal requirements. Those that pass this stage will be sent for peer review, in single-blind or double-blind mode, according to the preference indicated by the author at the time of submission. The editorial process may result in acceptance, acceptance with modifications, request for major revision, or rejection.

Publication ethics

Ecotrópicos does not accept manuscripts that are simultaneously under review by other journals. Falsification or manipulation of data, plagiarism, and omission of conflicts of interest are unacceptable practices. The use of generative artificial intelligence tools is permitted only for linguistic assistance, provided that it is explicitly stated and does not replace the authors' original intellectual work.

If errors are detected in a publication, Ecotrópicos may record post-publication updates. In the specific case that an article is found to have engaged in unethical practices after publication, Ecotrópicos may retract the article and issue a Retraction Notice, in accordance with COPE recommendations (COPE Guidelines: Retraction Guidelines, 2019). 

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the online platform: https://ecotropicos.svecologia.org. Authors must use the official templates available in Word or LaTeX (coming soon) and complete the checklist provided on the portal before submitting the file. We recommend including a bibtex file with the manuscript containing all the references used to facilitate the layout process of the final article.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • This submission meets the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • This submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  • All references have been checked for accuracy and completeness.
  • All tables and figures have been numbered and labeled.
  • Permission has been obtained to publish all photos, datasets and other material provided with this submission.

Research articles

These correspond to standard research papers that present complete and developed results. The main text is structured as follows: title in Spanish and English, list of authors and affiliations, abstract in Spanish and English (both with a maximum of 300 words), introduction, methods, results, discussion, and list of references. It is recommended not to combine sections and to use an optional acknowledgements section, avoiding any mention of funding, which should be recorded in the appropriate field on the submission platform. The body of the text may be in Spanish or English, and the methods should be described in sufficient detail so that a competent professional in the field can replicate the study.

Data papers and short notes

These are short manuscripts, generally no longer than 2,000 words and with a maximum of two figures, excluding the abstract. They present descriptions, observations, or data sets of ecological relevance, accompanied by specific analyses. Their structure should include a characterization of the general scope, a description of the data collection process (with details of protocols and validation of techniques), and in the case of data sets, a complete characterization of the fields and metadata. In addition, they should specify information about data records and provide a section on the use of the information, including warnings about analysis and interpretation. It is a requirement that the data be made public at the time of publication, preferably by depositing it in a permanent online repository. Both the summary in Spanish and the abstract in English must be structured and not exceed 200 words.

Concepts, methods, and tools

This category maintains the structure of a research article, but focuses on the presentation, development, or evaluation of new ideas, methodologies, or tools for ecological research. These articles must include at least one preliminary empirical validation as a case study. They are expected to apply new methods of biological or ecological data analysis, evaluating their potential to expand study capabilities in the field. They must incorporate a structured abstract of no more than 300 words, use three to five headings that fit the organization of the text, and have a recommended length of no more than 6,000 words.

Privacy Statement

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