Editorial

In 1978, the São Paulo Chapter of the Botanic Society of Brazil (SBB) launched its journal, the Brazilian Journal of Botany - Revista Brasileira de Botânica.

Due to its high level, seriousness and continuity, the publication gained the respect of both national and international botanists. However, as it developed, legal issues emerged -such as registrations and taxes, among other procedures - showing that the São Paulo Chapter's enthusiasm, commitment and resources alone were not enough to maintain the journal.

For this and other reasons, the Sao Paulo Botanic Society (SBSP) was founded. Although totally independent of the SBB, it kept the title of the publication which was giving it so much prestige: the Brazilian Journal of Botany.

This situation forced the SBB to improve its organization: its statutes were thoroughly modified, and after they were approved, in Porto Alegre in January 1983, they allowed for a regrouping of the Brazilian botanists within the Society. The SBB has made efforts to regain the Brazilian Journal of Botany, but these have not succeeded.

The Board of Directors of the SBB and its Counseling Board felt that the Annals of the Society were slow publications, which lacked the dynamism of a periodical and they decided to found a new publication - Acta Botânica Brasilica - aiming at following an international standard. The idea was accepted in the Society's General Assembly. The very president of the SBB was elected editor, and an Editorial Committee was appointed in order to, together with the editor, take care of the publishing norms and the journal regulations, as well as of other legal procedures such as legal records, registrations and ISSN.

In 1985, volume zero came out and it included the publishing norms for Acta Botânica Brasilica, which are printed on the inside cover of this issue. In early 1987, volume 1(1) is to be printed. It is a difficult start, as it has little tradition and the funds and infra-structure available are scarce. Everything must be planned and carried out from ideas and suggestions, in a very economical way, while the printing and content standards are kept compatible with the outlined objectives.

There will certainly be gaps and inadequacies; the critical judgment of our readers, however, will be of great help for the advancement of Acta Botânica Brasilica.

Porto Alegre, January, 1987.

ALFREDO GUI FERREIRA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  08 July 2011
• Date of issue
  Jan 1987