The Revista de Biología Tropical / International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation is a scientific journal published since 1953 and covered in more than 50 indices.
EDITORIAL ENTITY
Universidad de Costa Rica, Sede Rodrigo Facio Brenes, Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Montes de Oca, San José, Costa Rica. Postal Code: 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica. vicerrectoria.investigacion@ucr.ac.cr
The journal is financed by public funds via the Universidad de Costa Rica, and editorial independence and ethical compliance are guaranteed by SIEDIN norms (https://bit.ly/2Dwyg36)
PEER REVIEW PROCESS
Our editorial board and editors evaluate that each submitted manuscript meets our scope and format indications, and is original and interesting; we provide a first decision within seven working days. Editorial decisions are stored in the Archive of the University of Costa Rica as public documents.
Manuscripts at this editorial stage are sent to two or three external reviewers. Both reviewers and authors are unaware each other identities (double-blind).
The acceptance or rejection decision of each manuscript rests with the Editors, who act based on the opinions and scores provided by referees. The manuscript can be rejected or sent back to authors for either major or minor improvements.
The second draft is accepted if the authors properly take into account reviews and editorial indications. Some manuscripts required a second peer review round. The editorial staff verify that corrections were done, and in the proofreading process, the manuscript is returned with instructions to prepare the final version for publication.
Authors can appeal the Editors’ decisions to the Editorial Board once and the Board’s decision is final.
Rapid decision and publication (7 days for first decision, 5-7 months for definitive acceptance, 6-8 months from submission to publication).
EVALUATION FORMS
The evaluation forms for reviewers, which include our criteria, are public (here).
COPYRIGHT, OPEN ACCESS
The journal is Full Open Access and is widely read where your article can have the highest real impact.
Copyright is openly shared by the authors and the journal; contents can be reproduced and reused by our readers, but source and copyright must correctly acknowledged, according to our CC BY 4.0 Open Access license.
Self-storage in preprint servers and repositories is allowed for all versions.
ETHICS CODE AND LEGAL ASPECTS
Since its beginning in 1953, the Revista de Biología Tropical follows these principles: objective and independent evaluation of all manuscripts; transparency in all processes; ethical use of procedures, data, specimens, and subjects; fair treatment of all parties; and absolute predominance of scientific rigor over any other aspect. All its operation complies with international practice.
The journal publishes only ethically produced original work that makes a clear and strong contribution of new information in its field.
When authors submit a manuscript they legally imply that they followed all pertinent legislation and ethical principles (including informed consent and proper treatment of nature according to UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers; Committee on Publication Ethics; Declaration of Helsinki – ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, and onlineethics.org); that all coauthors participated in the main aspects of research and agree to publication; and that the study is original; scientifically valid; has not been published before, and was not sent simultaneously to another journal.
Authors, reviewers, board members and staff must report conflicts of interest as soon as they arise. Board and staff members can publish in the journal but are excluded from all decisions regarding their manuscripts.
PLAGIARISM DETECTION
We apply plagiarism detection software (turnitin) to all manuscripts.
Any cases of error, citation manipulation, piracy, plagiarism, duplicate submission, republication, fabrication or falsification of data, and financial conflict detected by the reviewers, staff, or readers, must be informed to the Editorial Board.
All the cases are investigated even if the report is from anonymous sources. Articles found in fault can be added errata; rejected; or retracted.
DIGITAL PRESERVATION POLICY
All files and processes are instantly backed up on Google servers, copies in the journal office and on the institutional servers of the University of Costa Rica (OJS).
The articles in PDF and HTML format can be found in the Portal of Academic Journals of the University of Costa Rica: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr
The journal is also available in PDF and HTML at the website of the National Academy of Sciences of Costa Rica: https://www.anc.cr/revista-biologia-tropical and in the website of the Organization for Tropical Studies: https://tropicalstudies.org/rbt/pages/es/inicio.html
URL interoperability protocol: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/oai
ADDED VALUE SERVICES
We publish machine-readable versions as soon as available under a continuous publication system. Each article provides the appropriate way in which it should be cited in APA 7th ed. and other formats.
We encourage authors to publish raw data and data logs in public repositories and to include the links from the first draft on, so that reviewers and readers can consult them at any time. We also publish other media, for example sound or video files, if pertinent to enrich the study. Additional supplementary content (additional statistics, figures, text, or other) can be published at cost.
Journal profile in ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Revista-de-Biologia-Tropical-2215-2075
FULL INDEXING
The Revista de Biología Tropical / International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation is a mainstream scientific journal covered by the following international indexation systems:
- Web of Science
- Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
- Current Contents
- Google Scholar
- Scopus
- SciELO
- Biological Abstracts
- DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)
- Latindex
- Zoological Record
OTHER INDICES THAT COVER OUR JOURNAL
International indices
- Abstracts on Hygiene and Communicable Diseases
- Animal Breeding Abstracts
- ASFA (Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts)
- Bio-Control News and Information
- Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities
- Cabell’s White List
- Chemical Abstracts
- Dairy Science Abstracts
- Ecological Abstracts
- Entomology Abstracts
- Field Crop Abstracts
- Forestry Abstracts
- Free Journal Network
- GetCited
- Grasslands and Forage Abstracts
- Helminthological Abstracts
- Herbage Abstracts
- Horticultural Abstracts
- Human and Experimental
- Index Medicus
- Index Veterinarius
- INIS Atomindex (International Nuclear Information System)
- Livestock and Feeding
- MEDES – MEDicina en ESpañol (Fundación Lilly)
- Medline
- MIAR
- Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews Series A: Human and Experimental Biology
- Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews Series B: Livestock and Feeding
- Pascal
- DOAJ
- Poultry Abstracts
- Protozoological Abstracts
- REDIB
- Research Alert
- Review of Agricultural Entomology
- Review of Medical and Veterinary Entomology
- Review of Medical and Veterinary Mycology
- Review of Plant Pathology
- Scirus
- Seed Abstracts
- Veterinary Bulletin
- Water Resources Abstracts
- Weed Abstracts
- WorldCat
Regional índices
- LATINDEX
- LILACS (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde)
- Periódica (Índice de Revistas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias)
- Plataforma de Revistas Latinoamericanas e-revist@s
- Redalyc
Local indices
- UCR Index
HISTORY OF THE REVISTA DE BIOLOGÍA TROPICAL
According to Dr. Ettore de Girolami, in September of 1952, he proposed the creation of a scientific journal sponsored by the University of Costa Rica to Dr. Alfonso Trejos, Director of the Clinical Laboratory, San Juan de Dios Hospital. According to Dr. Rodrigo Zeledón, the idea was “already in the air” among a small group of microbiologists and physicians. In any case, Dr. Trejos took the idea with enthusiasm and began planning the journal.
By that time, Dr. Rodrigo Facio, with whom Dr. Trejos and Dr. de Girolami had a good relationship, was elected University President. They knew that Dr. Facio had other priorities in his new administrative position, yet they submitted their idea to him and to the University Council. The establishment of a journal would bring the opportunity to disseminate, in Costa Rica and foreign countries, the scientific goals and products of the institution and would also enrich the university library thanks to journal exchange, quite common at the time.
In October of the same year, in an informal meeting, Dr. Facio, recommended them how to proceed with the administrative paperwork, prior to the presentation of the project to the University Council. In December, the formal proposal was ready, and the Council approved it on January 5th, 1953. Few days later, founder members met several times to discuss details, such as journal name, size, issues published every year, type of paper, shape and color of the front cover and how many copies would be printed in each edition. All were difficult decisions that, at the end, were properly solved.
Considering that most articles were expected to be regional, the word “tropical” should be part of the journal's name. The University of Costa Rica had only four faculties at the time: Pharmacy, Odontology, Sciences, and Agronomy, in consequence, the appropriate word was “biology”. To choose the first word of the name, a list of known journals was consulted: Acta, Anales, Boletin, Publicaciones, Gaceta, Revista, Prensa, etc.
On February 9th, 1953, founders met with the deans of the four faculties and made a final pronouncement: the name of the journal would be "Revista de Biología Tropical".
Most steps were followed as expected, with the exception of some problems in the university’s printing office, that was not ready to start publishing the new journal. To solve this, the University President and the Treasurer, Mr. Abel Méndez, authorized the Board to hire an external company that could print the Revista. The company, FALCO, offered the best options in quality and price, and had a linotypist with experience in scientific terminology.
On July 15, 1953, the first issue of the Revista de Biología Tropical was out of the printer and ready to be distributed.
Since then, the journal has been an important motivation for young scientific minds who work in tropical countries, and find in Revista de Biología Tropical a good medium to express their ideas.
Summarized from a Spanish account written by Ettore De Girolami in 1988, and complemented with Rodrigo Zeledón’s recollection (summary by J. Monge-Nájera).