Brief History
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Floresta e Ambiente (FLORAM) is a scientific journal published by the Instituto de Florestas at the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). The journal was established in 1994 by professors from the Instituto de Florestas/UFRRJ. Since its inception, it has published uninterrupted annual volumes—single yearly issues from 1994 to 2002, bimonthly issues from 2003 to 2010, and quarterly issues from 2011 onward. In 2012, FLORAM joined the SciELO Brazil collection; in 2015, it adopted the ScholarOne submission system. Since 2017, it has been operating a continuous publication model. Since 2018, all articles have been published exclusively in English. Floresta e Ambiente aims to advance the frontiers of Forest Science by publishing articles that demonstrate scientific merit and innovative content. |
Open Access
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Floresta e Ambiente follows the Gold Open Access model, providing unrestricted virtual access (including financial barriers) to all scientific texts published in the journal. Open access means the copyright holder grants usage rights to third parties under an open license (Creative Commons Attribution, CC-BY), allowing any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to full-text articles, track them for indexing, use them as data for software, or employ them for any other lawful purpose without delay or charge. |
Alignment with Open Science
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This journal adheres to the Gold Open Access model and aligns its editorial policy with Open Science principles:
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Publication Ethics
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FLORAM upholds high ethical standards, appointing independent, qualified reviewers to ensure impartial, constructive, and professional peer review. The journal follows internationally accepted ethical guidelines, including SciELO’s Best Practices guide, supports COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) directives, and expects the same ethical commitment from editors, reviewers, and authors. |
Focus and Scope
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FLORAM accepts only manuscripts within one of the following four main Forest Science thematic areas:
(e.g., Dendrometry and Forest Inventory; Forest Economics; Forest Harvesting and Mechanization; Geoprocessing; Forest Policy and Legislation; Forest Planning and Optimization; Forest Logistics and Transportation; Certification)
(e.g., Anatomy and Identification of Forest Products; Wood Properties and Quality; Wood Drying; Wood Treatment; Mechanical Processing of Wood; Wood Chemistry; Pulp and Paper Technology; Panel Technology; Forest Biomass Energy; Biorefineries)
(e.g., Conservation of Natural Areas; Ecology of Forest Ecosystems; Urban Forestry; Restoration of Degraded Areas; Forest Biodiversity; Wildland Fire; Forest Hydrology; Watershed Management) |
Digital Preservation
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FLORAM complies with the digital preservation policy defined by the SciELO Program. |
Indexing Sources
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Bibliographic Record
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Websites and Social Media
Preprints
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Preprint submissions are accepted from the following servers: SciELO Preprints, arXiv e bioRxiv. Acceptance of preprints from other servers will be subject to review by the journal's editors. |
Peer Review Process
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All manuscripts are first screened by the Editor-in-Chief for scientific merit and scope fit. Upon preliminary approval, an Associate Editor is appointed to manage peer review. The Associate Editor selects qualified specialists and invites them to submit independent reviews. By default, two reviews are requested, but the Associate Editor may choose a different number. If the Associate Editor deems a manuscript to lack substantial merit, they may recommend rejection without external review. Final decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief, primarily based on the Associate Editor’s recommendation and, secondarily, on reviewer reports. FLORAM adopts different peer review models according to the manuscript submission route. For original manuscripts submitted directly to the journal and not previously made publicly available as preprints, FLORAM adopts a double-anonymous peer review process. For manuscripts previously deposited in a recognized preprint server, FLORAM adopts a single-anonymous peer review process. Authors must omit identifying information (names, institutions, acknowledgments, funding) from the manuscript body and provide these details in ScholarOne’s designated fields To ensure openness in the review process, FLORAM always publishes the name of the Associate Editor responsible for conducting the peer review in the article. The journal is open to discussing advanced openness options and asks authors to express their views on these possibilities by completing the Open Science Compliance Form. These options include allowing direct dialogue between reviewer and author, with or without disclosure of identities, and publishing article approval reports, with or without identifying the reviewers. The target timeframe for completing peer review is six months. Authors can track their manuscript status in ScholarOne under “Author” > “Submitted Manuscripts.” Status stages include:
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Open Data
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All submissions must include a Data Availability Statement specifying how underlying research data can be accessed. A dataset is a structured collection of information (numerical data, texts, computer programs, images, audio, videos, etc.) associated with a study and representing all types of data that support the document submitted or approved for publication. Thus, the dataset facilitates the evaluation of the research, the reproduction of its results, and the reuse of its data. The data availability statement is published alongside the article in the "Data Availability" field. Authors must declare data availability in one of three ways: 1) The data is available in a repository. In this case, authors must provide the dataset's URL at the time of submission; 2) A statement that all data are included within the published article; 3) An indication that the data should be requested from the corresponding author. Option 1 is the journal's preferred method of data availability, while options 2 and 3 are subject to review and approval by the Editorial Board. Option 3 is only accepted in cases where there are ethical, security, or financial restrictions, the justification for which must be included in the Open Science Compliance Form. We recommend using the SciELO Data repository for depositing research data, but we support the use of other repositories if they provide a DOI and have an open access model. When creating a dataset for their research, authors should follow the best practices recommended by SciELO. |
Article Processing Charges (APC)
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All articles submitted to FLORAM are evaluated free of charge. However, for accepted articles to be published, authors must pay the APC directly to SciELO. Full details will be provided with the article acceptance letter. Payment should only be made directly to the service provider. The APC is R$500.00 (five hundred reais) for payments made in Brazil, and US$150.00 (one hundred and fifty US dollars) for payments made abroad. The APC is used entirely to subsidize the journal's operating costs and is charged for all accepted articles. There are no policies for granting exemptions or discounts on this fee. |
Ethics, Misconduct, Erratum and Retractions
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FLORAM is committed to pursuing high standards of editorial and scientific ethics and demands a high level of integrity in the research it publishes. Criticisms or complaints regarding the review process, the integrity of published articles, or the ethics of authors, reviewers, or editors should be forwarded to the Editorial Office for immediate investigation by the Editor-in-Chief. The procedures for identifying and making decisions about misconduct follow the model proposed by the SciELO guide to Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publishing. Errors or flaws in a published manuscript, provided they are not caused by misconduct, will result in the publication of an erratum at the authors’ expense. Misconduct identified in a published manuscript will result in partial or total retraction of the work, depending on the degree of damage caused to the integrity of the research. |
Conflict of Interest
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In a scientific journal, public interest—defined by the pursuit of integrity and transparency in science—must always take precedence over any conflicting interest. The article submission process should preferably anticipate all potential personal, commercial, political, academic, financial, or ideological interests that may compromise the integrity of the peer review process. These conflicts, whether explicit or implicit, may involve any of the three actors in peer review: authors, reviewers, and editors. Conflicts of interest may vary in severity, ranging from minor to serious. A clear example of a serious conflict is the involvement of one of the authors as a reviewer or editor of their own manuscript. A mild conflict of interest may arise when a study is funded by an institution with objectives unrelated to the research outcomes. Mild conflicts may be deemed acceptable by the Editorial Board, but only if they are properly disclosed at the time of publication. FLORAM manages conflicts of interest through the following guidelines:
Adoption of Similarity Detection Software FLORAM utilizes the Crossref Similarity Check system to assess textual similarity. This verification is conducted by the Editor-in-Chief following a favorable outcome of the peer review process. The journal does not apply an arbitrary similarity threshold; instead, it qualitatively evaluates any detected overlaps. A higher similarity percentage is acceptable when the manuscript is derived from a thesis or dissertation. However, if the Editor-in-Chief deems the similarity excessively high—even in cases of self-plagiarism—the manuscript may be rejected. Adoption of Artificial Intelligence Tools All content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) must be thoroughly supervised and approved by the authors, who remain fully responsible for the manuscript’s content, even when AI tools are employed. Authors who choose to use AI must clearly specify, in the Materials and Methods section, which tools were used and at what stages they were applied. As a general rule, FLORAM permits the use of AI as a supportive tool, provided it serves to assist the researcher/author and not to replace them. The Editorial Board serves as the final arbiter in determining whether AI usage has exceeded acceptable limits. Editors and reviewers may also use AI tools to support the manuscript evaluation process, but never as a substitute for critical and scientific judgment. Permissible uses include plagiarism detection, reference consistency checks, and identification of inconsistencies potentially arising from AI use by authors. When the manuscript is not a preprint, editors and reviewers must refrain from submitting it to services that could compromise the confidentiality of identities or content. Editors and reviewers who choose to use AI tools must disclose such usage in their evaluation reports. Sex and Gender Considerations Studies that address sex or gender in their design must use these terms in accordance with the definitions recommended by the SAGER (Sex and Gender Equity in Research) guidelines. Additionally, FLORAM supports gender equity policies in the composition of its editorial board. |
Ethics Committee
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All research involving human subjects—individually or collectively, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, including the handling of data, information, or biological materials—must comply with all applicable guidelines and regulatory standards required in the country where the research is conducted. The study must indicate that informed consent was obtained from participants, meaning they were made aware of the nature of the research, its objectives, methods, anticipated benefits, potential risks, and any discomfort it might cause, in a manner appropriate to their level of understanding and with respect for their individual circumstances. All manuscripts involving human or animal subjects must include, in the methodology section, the ethics committee approval number issued by the responsible institution. |
Copyright
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Authors of articles published in Floresta e Ambiente retain the copyright to their work, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution BY 4.0 license. This license permits unrestricted reuse and distribution of the articles, provided that the original work is properly cited. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication under the CC BY 4.0 License. |
Intellectual Property and Terms of Use
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Website Responsibility: Floresta e Ambiente reserves the right to make normative, orthographic, and grammatical adjustments to original publications to maintain the formal standard of the language, while respecting the authors’ stylistic choices. Author Responsibility: Authors of articles published in Floresta e Ambiente retain the copyright to their work, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license. This license permits unrestricted reuse and distribution of the articles, provided that the original work is properly cited. Floresta e Ambiente encourages authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts by posting them on personal blogs, institutional repositories, academic social networks, and personal social media platforms, provided that the full citation to the journal’s website version is included. |
Sponsors and Funding Agencies
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Editor-in-Chief
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Associated Editors
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Equipe Técnica
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Accepted Document Types
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The journal accepts submissions of the following document types: Research Articles: These are manuscripts presenting results derived from concrete data obtained through experimental procedures or collected from the literature or other reliable sources. Review Articles: Review article submissions are accepted only by invitation from the Editorial Board. These are considered special content articles, intended to provide a comprehensive literary foundation on a specific topic of relevance. Short Communications: These are concise articles that report innovative events of significant importance to Forest Science. They must be written clearly, focusing directly on original results and/or proposals. Short Communications are expected to offer meaningful contributions to the scientific community. For articles accepted for publication, in accordance with the previously described evaluation procedure, a DOI will be generated and assigned. Language The manuscript must be written in English, with particular attention to objectivity, clarity, and conciseness. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the article has been reviewed or translated by native English speakers or by professionals with proven proficiency in the language. This must be confirmed through a formal declaration document, which must be attached at the time of submission (see Mandatory Supplementary Documents section). The declaration must include the manuscript title, the type of service provided (translation or revision), and the name and signature of the responsible party (company or individual). If the translator/reviewer is an individual, the declaration must also detail their credentials (e.g., certification/training from educational institutions and/or proof of residence in English-speaking countries) and must bear a handwritten signature. Should language-related issues be identified during the article’s evaluation, a language editing fee may be charged to the authors after the manuscript has been accepted. |
Author Contributions
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During submission via the ScholarONE system, authors must specify each contributor’s role according to the CRediT taxonomy. This system encompasses 14 distinct areas of contribution (e.g., Conceptualization; Data Curation; Supervision) and three levels of involvement (Lead, Equal, or Supporting). Authors may be assigned to as many contribution areas as necessary. Author contributions must be entered directly into the submission system; no separate documents are required for this purpose. These contribution details will be published alongside the article. Given their importance, these entries should be completed carefully and thoroughly. FLORAM recommends that authorship be granted only to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research. Minor contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. As all authors must approve the manuscript content prior to submission, it is mandatory that each author be assigned the contribution Writing – review & editing. After submission, the addition or removal of authors is not permitted. If such changes are necessary, the manuscript will be withdrawn from review and must be resubmitted. Changes to the order of authors after submission will only be accepted with proper justification and are subject to approval by the Editor-in-Chief. |
Manuscript Preparation
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Manuscripts must be prepared using Microsoft Office Word, formatted in Times New Roman font, black color, size 12, double spacing, with numbered lines and pages. Research Articles must not exceed 4,000 words; Review Articles, 6,000 words; and Short Communications, 1,200 words. Word count excludes all titles and content within figures and tables, as well as the entire References section. Author names, affiliations, email addresses, acknowledgements, or funding sources must not appear in the manuscript. The body of the manuscript must not include an Acknowledgements section or any similar content. All such information will be collected separately during the submission process. At the time of submission, authors must provide a Cover Letter addressed to the Editor-in-Chief. It is recommended that the letter confirm the consent of all authors regarding the submission, express agreement with the journal’s guidelines, summarize the submitted work, and explain how the research aligns with the journal’s scope. Manuscript Submission Format All manuscripts must begin with a title page containing the Title, Abstract, and Keywords, followed by the main body of the manuscript structured according to its type: Research Article, Review Article, or Short Communication.
Exceptionally, Short Communications should be written as a single continuous text, with technical details and relevant comments provided in footnotes. The following items must be entered into the submission system and should not appear in the manuscript file:
Figures, Tables, Equations, and Units of Measurement Figures and tables must be embedded within the body of the manuscript. For Research Articles and Review Articles, a maximum of ten (10) figures and tables combined is allowed. For Short Communications, the limit is five (5) combined.
Figures:
Tables:
Equations: Units of Measurement: All units must conform to the International System of Units (SI).
Note: Citations and References FLORAM adopts the author-date citation style and the Vancouver reference formatting system. Citations must follow the format below:
References should preferably consist of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals. It is strongly recommended that at least 90% of all citations be drawn from such sources. References should also be current. It is strongly recommended that at least 50% of all citations be from publications less than five years old. For FLORAM, the scientific merit and quality of a manuscript are closely linked to the quality of its references. Manuscripts that do not meet these recommendations may be rejected at any stage of the review process. References must be listed in alphabetical order.
For works with more than six authors, list the first six followed by et al. The structure of references must follow the examples below: Books and Booklets Harborne JB. Introduction to ecological biochemistry. 3rd ed. London: Academic Press; 1988. Book Chapters Kuiters AT, van Beckhoven K, Ernst WHO. Chemical influences of tree litters on herbaceous vegetation. In: Fanta J, editor. Forest dynamics research in Western and Central Europe. Wageningen: Pudoc; 1986. Articles Published in Scientific Journals Latorraca JVF, Albuquerque CEC. Efeito do rápido crescimento sobre as propriedades da madeira. Floresta e Ambiente 2000; 7(1): 279-291. Articles Accepted for Publication Almeida MV. Qualidade da madeira de E. urophylla da região de Seropédica – RJ. Floresta e Ambiente. In press. Santana R. Effect of the fost growth on the wood. Floresta e Ambiente. In press. Legislative References Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro. Portaria n. 187, de 16 de setembro de 1998. Diário Oficial da República Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, DF (1998 set. 24); Sec. 2: 8301-8302. Electronic Documents Bellato MA, Fontana DC. El niño e a agricultura da região Sul do Brasil. [cited 2001 abr. 6]. Available from: http://www.cntp.embrapa.br/agromet/elnino2. Technical Standards Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas. NBR-6023: informação e documentação – referências – elaboração. Rio de Janeiro; 2000. Patents Nogueira MM. Branqueamento de celulose kraft através de oxigênio. BR. n. MT023467. 1978 maio 31. Casa Erlan Ltda, Silva MA. Embalagens especiais. BR n. DT456345. 1990 out. 12. Translations Willeitner H. Proteção florestal. Trad. M Peixoto. São Paulo: Nova; 1985. Original em inglês. Theses and Dissertations Paiva SR. Aspectos da biologia celular e molecular de espécies de Plumbaginaceae [dissertação]. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; 1999. Brito EO. Produção de chapas de partículas de madeira a partir de maravalhas de Pinus elliottii Engelm. Var. Elliottii plantado no sul do Brasil [tese]. Curitiba: Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal do Paraná; 1995. Research Data Williamson, G. Forest Management Analysis - Large Code and Data [dataset]. 1 Jul. 2021. figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14676048.v1 Submission, Upload, and File Designation Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the ScholarONE submission system, accessible via the websites www.floram.org, www.scielo.br/j/floram, or directly through the link https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/floram-scielo. The submitting author must have a valid ORCID iD linked to their ScholarONE account. Upon submission, the manuscript will be assigned a unique identifier (ID) (e.g., FLORAM-2018-0001), which may include an “Rx” suffix depending on the review round. Authors must reference this ID in all communications and inquiries with the FLORAM editorial office. Information entered during submission is automatically saved, even if the process is not completed. Manuscripts that have been initiated but not submitted, or that have been returned to authors due to noncompliance with submission guidelines, will display the word “draft” in their ID. This indicates that the manuscript is still in draft form and has not yet entered the review process. Within the ScholarONE system, authors may upload the manuscript and all required or optional supplementary files (see Mandatory Supplementary Documents section). All uploaded files must be correctly designated. The manuscript, including all figures and tables, must be labeled as “Main Document.” Authors may submit supplementary files for editorial and reviewer consideration, such as datasets used in the study. These files must be designated as “Supplemental files for review” and must not contain any information that could compromise the double anonymity in peer review process. Files that should not be accessible to reviewers, such as the translation/revision declaration, must be designated as “Supplemental files not for review.” Supplementary files may be published alongside the article as links, appendices, or annexes, provided they are cited within the manuscript. Figures and tables submitted as supplementary files must be numbered with an “S” prefix (e.g., Figure S1, Table S1). Supplementary files intended for publication must not be embedded in the manuscript but submitted separately as “Supplemental files for review.” Files designated as “Supplemental files not for review” will not be published with the article. Upon publication, supplementary files will be accessible via links embedded in the manuscript. Mandatory Supplementary Documents The following supplementary documents must be submitted at the time of initial submission:
For resubmissions, the following supplementary documents are required:
Funding Statement During submission, authors must disclose all relevant information regarding research funding and sources of support, including the names of sponsors, contract numbers (if applicable), and a description of the role played by these entities. |
Read our Open Access Statement