Editorial

We are very pleased to present the first issue of Acta Botanica Brasilica, volume 23. Botany in Brazil has made tremendous advances recently and these are reflected in the growing penetration of our periodical in scientific circles, in the recognition by important assessment indices and in the support of funding agencies.

The ever-increasing demand on the part of authors who send their research results for publication (we receive one new manuscript every day) has created a heavy load for the Editorial Board, reviewers and the technical staff. Lack of funding, personnel and infrastructure all contribute to a substantial delay in the publication of accepted articles. This is not in our best interests since it has a negative influence on the qualitative assessment of our periodical and the articles published therein.

On the other hand, the improvement of indicators is an absolute necessity for the periodical which must include articles of excellent quality, with a broad scope. Available page space becomes more precious by the day, and there is increasing competition among the papers from different areas of botany. It is also necessary to reach a balance between articles published from each area and also those published in Portuguese and in English and/or Spanish.

Publication in English is highly recommended by funding agencies and, more recently, by our Editorial Council. This increases the impact of the periodical within the international scientific community, thus making possible a greater number of citations of published articles, which is very important for the periodical as well as the authors. Therefore, the article selection process for each issue has become extremely complex in order to meet both the interests of those who publish and the requirements of indexing and funding agencies.

In order to objectively provide our public with articles of a narrower scope, we will be publishing a section called Scientific Notes. In this issue we have included a new Point of View Section. We will also include the citation of links for additional article documentation (species lists or catalogues, tables, and other documents), thus making these data available electronically.

We are dedicated to reducing the time required for editing and publishing. This process has already begun with the onset of electronic editing. In order to achieve our goals, we must be able to count on the understanding of everyone involve - the authors in manuscript preparation, as well as those involved in the review process.

At this time we would like to thank our outgoing Area Editors for their efforts and dedication that surpassed the original mandate. We greet the new Area Editors, and look forward to a fruitful collaboration with them. We will be eternally grateful to those who have given their time and dedication to promoting the success of Acta Botanica Brasilica.

Sociedade Botânica do Brasil

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  09 Oct 2009
• Date of issue
  Mar 2009