Editorial policies - Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia

Preprints

Manuscripts deposited on preprint servers are accepted for submission to RBZ, provided that the license (CC-BY) and DOI of the preprint are clearly informed. We recommend the use of “SciELO Preprints” for authors looking to submit their preprints.

During the review process, RBZ editors may consider comments and additional information from the preprint server to aid in their evaluation. Relevant insights from this phase can be integrated into the decision-making process.

Immediately after the publication of the article in RBZ, it is the authors’ responsibility to inform the DOI of the article published to the Preprint server to ensure that the peer-reviewed version is accessible, maintaining the integrity of the published research.

Peer review process

The Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia employs a single-anonymized (also known as “single-blind”) peer review system to maintain the highest standards of quality and credibility. In this system, while the authors’ identities are known to both the editors and reviewers, the reviewers remain anonymous to the authors throughout the process.

The peer review process begins immediately upon manuscript submission. Initially, the manuscripts are analyzed for their adequacy to the scope and submission norms expressed in the “Instructions to Authors”. Then, the supplementary documentation (Assurance of Contents and Open Science Compliance forms and the cover letter) is checked before the manuscript is advanced for further review.

Once a manuscript meets these initial requirements, it undergoes a similarity check using the Crossref Similarity Check software (iThenticate) to ensure originality. Afterward, the manuscript is reviewed by a scientific editor who acts as the editor-in-chief (EIC) in the specific subject area of the manuscript. This EIC conducts a preliminary review to verify if the manuscript aligns with the journal’s scope and evaluates its scientific merit and relevance to the journal’s focus.

The EIC assigns the manuscript to a handling editor, here called associate editor (AE), who also evaluates its scientific merit and relevance to the journal’s focus. The AE selects a minimum of two reviewers with expertise in the specific study area of the manuscript.

Reviewers assess the manuscript independently and submit their evaluations to the AE, focusing on the scientific validity, originality, and significance of the manuscript. The AE carefully reviews these assessments and makes a recommendation to the EIC based on the reviewers’ comments and on their own judgment. The recommendation can be for the manuscript to be accepted, revised (major or minor), or rejected. The EIC then reviews these recommendations and includes their own observations to issue a decision letter to the authors.

Throughout the peer review process, we maintain strict confidentiality so that no conflicts of interest compromise the integrity of the review. Editors and reviewers are required to disclose any potential conflicts―whether positive or negative―that could compromise their capacity to deliver an impartial and objective review.

Communication with authors must be conducted through the scientific editor (EIC). Authors are allowed to suggest opposed reviewers for consideration by the EIC.

Adhering to the good practices of open science, the name(s) of the editor(s) responsible for the evaluation will be published in the final version of the manuscript.

Open data

The RBZ encourages authors to make all underlying content of the manuscript—including data, software codes, and other materials—publicly available in reputable data repositories, unless restricted by legal or ethical considerations. We recommend “SciELO Data” as a suitable repository.

When choosing a data repository, authors should make sure that it adheres to the FAIR principles, which emphasize that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Authors should also consider the reliability, reputation, accessibility, and visibility of the repository to ensure that their data can be effectively shared and utilized by other researchers.

Fees

Publication fee:

For manuscripts in which at least one author is a member of the Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia, the publication fee is set at R$215.00 (two hundred and fifteen Brazilian reals) per formatted page. The SBZ member must be either the first author or the corresponding author.

If no authors are SBZ members, the publication fee is R$323.00 (three hundred twenty-three Brazilian reals) per formatted journal page.

No submission fee:

There is no submission fee, ensuring that the decision to submit a manuscript to RBZ is not hindered by financial constraints.

Ethics and misconduct, correction, and retraction

The Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia follows the SciELO Guidelines on Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication and the ethical principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure the integrity and transparency in the manuscript review and publication processes. The journal is committed to publishing errata, retractions, and expressions of concern whenever necessary.

Ethics and misconduct policy:

The Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia investigates allegations of misconduct, employing plagiarism detection software and requiring authors to confirm their contributions and disclose conflicts of interest.
The editor-in-chief oversees the ethical standards, including the investigation of misconduct and the decision-making process for corrections or retractions.

Handling misconduct:

Upon suspicion or evidence of misconduct, an investigation is initiated, potentially involving the authors, their institutions, or funding agencies.
The Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia follows COPE’s flowcharts for addressing various types of misconduct.

Retractions and corrections:

Misconduct findings may lead to retraction or expression of concern, with the article remaining indexed as retracted.
Errors or failures that do not constitute misconduct are corrected through errata, published promptly to maintain the accuracy of the scientific record.

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest may be of personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial nature. Conflicts of interest may occur when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that may influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. When submitting the manuscript, authors are responsible for recognizing and disclosing financial or other conflicts, even potentially, that may have influenced their work. They must inform this in a signed document attached to the submission platform (Cover Letter). For more information see: Disclosure of Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities, and Conflicts of Interest. Editors and reviewers also must disclose any potential biases and recuse themselves from the review or decision-making process if a conflict exists to ensure an unbiased and fair evaluation of manuscripts.

Measures in case of conflict of interest:

In instances in which a conflict of interest is identified during the review process, the case is forwarded to the editor-in-chief for investigation and, depending on the level, the evaluation process of the manuscript will be interrupted.

When a conflict of interest is identified post-publication, RBZ will take appropriate measures in line with international scientific journal standards. This may include the publication of a correction, expression of concern, or, in severe cases, retraction of the paper.

Adoption of similarity software

Manuscripts received through ScholarOne Manuscripts™ are submitted to a similarity check software (iThenticate) before they are forwarded to editors for evaluation and after they are accepted for publication, due to changes in the text during revision(s) and inclusion of new references to the databases. There is no specific percentage that prevents a manuscript from being reviewed; instead, we assess the results of the similarity check on a case-by-case basis.

Verification policy:

Consequences of detected similarity: RBZ takes instances of significant similarity to other published works seriously, as this may indicate plagiarism, which is a critical violation of ethical standards in scientific publishing. Manuscripts found to have substantial overlap with previously published content will be subject to rejection.
Authors’ responsibility: Authors bear full responsibility for the originality and accuracy of the content presented in their manuscripts. They must apply proper citation practices and acknowledgment of prior work, adhering to the highest ethical standards.
Sanctions: When plagiarism is detected, the RBZ editorial board will impose appropriate sanctions that may include barring the authors from submitting to the journal for a determined period, depending on the degree of the infraction.
Non-original figures: Authors must secure express written permission from copyright holders to republish figures in the RBZ. The original source must be cited immediately following the figure caption.

Gender and sex issues

The editorial board of RBZ, as well as the authors who publish in the journal, must adhere to the guidelines on Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER). Furthermore, RBZ implements a gender equity policy in the composition of its editorial board.

Ethics Committee

Research presented in manuscripts reporting the use of animals must guarantee to have been conducted in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies governing the care and use of animals.

The manuscripts must contain a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and, whenever pertinent, that the appropriate institutional ethics committee(s) has (have) approved them before commencement of the study.

Example: “Research on animals was conducted according to the ethics committee on animal use of the (institution name) (case/protocol number)”.

Copyright

All contents of the Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, unless otherwise stated, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY).

Authors retain copyright of the articles published by RBZ under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY), allowing unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided proper citation of the original work is given. Authors assign to the journal the right of first publication.

Intellectual property and terms of use

Journal’s responsibility:

The articles published in RBZ are made available on the journal’s website (https://www.rbz.org.br) and at SciELO under the Open Access policy and are freely accessible to readers.

All content of the Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, unless otherwise specified, are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Authors’ responsibility:

Authors hold the copyright of their articles published in RBZ under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY), which enables the reuse and distribution of the articles, provided the original work is properly cited.

The ideas and opinions presented in the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors.

The journal encourages authors to self-archive their published manuscripts and share them on personal blogs, institutional repositories, and academic social media platforms, as well as posting on personal social media accounts, provided that a complete citation to the journal’s website version is included.