Last year, the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (AABC), the sole broad multidisciplinary journal edited in Brazil, published a special issue on Antarctic research (Simões et al. 2022SIMÕES JC, LEPPE MC & SAYÃO JM. 2022. Forty years of Brazilian Antarctic research: A tribute to Professor Antonio Carlos Rocha-Campos. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20220493. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220220493.). In total, there were 57 articles in different areas, ranging from the adaptation of researchers in camping activities during fieldwork (Martins et al. 2022MARTINS YAT ET AL. 2022. A 32-day long fieldwork in Antarctica improves heat tolerance during physical exercise. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210593. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210593.), studies on the characteristics of Antarctic bacteria and their resistance to freezing (Moreira et al. 2022MOREIRA ERB, OTTONI JR, DE OLIVEIRA VM & PASSARINI MRZ. 2022. Potential for resistance to freezing by non-virulent bacteria isolated from Antarctica. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210459. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210459.), to the dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions (Ferrari et al. 2022FERRARI FR, THOMAZINI A, PEREIRA AB, SPOKAS K & SCHAEFER CEGR. 2022. Potential greenhouse gases emissions by different plant communities in maritime Antarctica. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210602. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210602.) and the consequences of global warming on iceberg melting rates (Barbat & Mata 2022BARBAT MM & MATA MM. 2022. Iceberg drift and melting rates in the northwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Novel automated regional estimates through machine learning. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20211586. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220211586.). Additionally, articles on paleontology (e.g., Santos et al. 2022aSANTOS A ET AL. 2022a. Paleoenvironment of the Cerro Negro Formation (Aptian, Early Cretaceous) of Snow Island, Antarctic Peninsula. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20201944. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220201944.) and legal issues regarding the protection of this region (e.g., Santos 2022bSANTOS LEF. 2022b. Constitutionality analysis of amendments to the Protocol on Environmental Protection on the Antarctic Treaty Annexes. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210385. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120210385.) were also presented.
The large number of submissions and the expressive variety of subjects presented in the manuscripts were surprising and showed that there is great interest on the part of researchers specialized in Antarctic studies in publishing their work. At the same time, as field activities in this and other regions around the world were very limited due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19, perhaps many researchers took advantage of the opportunity to finalize articles that were already being planned.
Due to this great interest, the AABC decided to publish a new edition on Antarctic Science this year. Once again there was a great demand for this publication and, as before, there are several articles addressing a large variety of topics. The AABC plans to have more publications about Antarctica in the near future.
I would like to take this opportunity and thank the editors for their effort and the excellent work they have done. Everyone who deals with editing scientific journals knows how increasingly difficult it is to obtain good articles nowadays and, above all, reviewers who dedicate their time freely to reviewing manuscripts, not to mention other problems resulting from the growing asymmetry involving scientific publications (e.g., Rocha 2021ROCHA CFD. 2021. Integration of the elements involved in scientific publication. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201948. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201948.).
I am sure that, as with the previous issue, this one will also attract great interest and contribute to the study of one of the most inaccessible places on the planet (e.g., Kellner 2022KELLNER AWA. 2022. Research in Antarctica - challenging but necessary. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e202294S1. DOI 10.1590/0001-37652022202294S1.).
REFERENCES
- BARBAT MM & MATA MM. 2022. Iceberg drift and melting rates in the northwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Novel automated regional estimates through machine learning. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20211586. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220211586.
- FERRARI FR, THOMAZINI A, PEREIRA AB, SPOKAS K & SCHAEFER CEGR. 2022. Potential greenhouse gases emissions by different plant communities in maritime Antarctica. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210602. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210602.
- KELLNER AWA. 2022. Research in Antarctica - challenging but necessary. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e202294S1. DOI 10.1590/0001-37652022202294S1.
- MARTINS YAT ET AL. 2022. A 32-day long fieldwork in Antarctica improves heat tolerance during physical exercise. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210593. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210593.
- MOREIRA ERB, OTTONI JR, DE OLIVEIRA VM & PASSARINI MRZ. 2022. Potential for resistance to freezing by non-virulent bacteria isolated from Antarctica. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210459. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220210459.
- ROCHA CFD. 2021. Integration of the elements involved in scientific publication. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201948. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201948.
- SANTOS A ET AL. 2022a. Paleoenvironment of the Cerro Negro Formation (Aptian, Early Cretaceous) of Snow Island, Antarctic Peninsula. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20201944. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220201944.
- SANTOS LEF. 2022b. Constitutionality analysis of amendments to the Protocol on Environmental Protection on the Antarctic Treaty Annexes. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20210385. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120210385.
- SIMÕES JC, LEPPE MC & SAYÃO JM. 2022. Forty years of Brazilian Antarctic research: A tribute to Professor Antonio Carlos Rocha-Campos. An Acad Bras Cienc 94: e20220493. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202220220493.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
03 Nov 2023 -
Date of issue
2023
