Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física
Brief History
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The Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física – RBEF (Rev. Bras. Ens. Fís.) is an open-access publication edited by the Brazilian Physical Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Física – SBF), dedicated to improving the teaching of Physics at all educational levels. Through the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed articles, it aims to promote and disseminate Physics and related sciences, contributing to research and scientific education. It publishes articles on theoretical and experimental aspects of Physics, instructional materials and methods, curriculum development, educational research, history and philosophy of Physics, teacher education, educational policy, and other relevant topics of interest to the community engaged in Physics teaching and research. |
Open Access
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This journal follows the Open Access model, allowing unrestricted virtual access (including financial) to all published scientific texts. Open Access is the condition in which the copyright holder of an academic work grants usage rights to third parties using an open license (Creative Commons Attribution, CC-BY 4.0), allowing free and immediate access to the work and authorizing any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. |
Open Science Compliance
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This journal follows the Gold Open Access model. |
Publication Ethics
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RBEF adopts strict ethical guidelines in its editorial process, aligning itself with the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), whose recommendations it shares regarding integrity, impartiality, and transparency in scientific communication. Cases of misconduct, such as plagiarism, duplicate submission, data manipulation, or undeclared conflicts of interest, are treated seriously and follow the procedures recommended by COPE. The RBEF reviewers are systematically selected from PhD researchers with recognized expertise in the field of the manuscript. All reviewers are instructed to conduct their evaluations professionally, objectively, and transparently, respecting the confidentiality of the process and the principles of fairness and respect toward the authors. RBEF encourages authors to follow ethical practices in their research and in the communication of their results, taking full responsibility for the content submitted. In cases where inappropriate conduct is identified after publication, the journal follows the recommended protocols for issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern, when necessary. |
Focus and Scope
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RBEF is a publication of the Brazilian Physical Society (SBF) dedicated to topics in the field of Physics and cultural aspects, approached in a broad and pedagogical manner. The journal aims to reach an audience composed of researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, Physics teachers at all educational levels, and the community engaged in research and development of methodologies and materials for Physics teaching. Theoretical, methodological, and mathematical approaches should be connected to research in education or possible didactic extensions. Published on a continuous flow basis, the journal accepts submissions of original and innovative articles, in Portuguese, Spanish, or English, that address Physics content from pedagogical, conceptual, experimental, historical, technological, or interdisciplinary perspectives. RBEF values contributions that combine conceptual rigor, clarity of exposition, and relevance to Physics education in various contexts; therefore, topics or discussions of a generic educational nature do not fit its scope. Within the field of Physics or related sciences, in an interdisciplinary manner, the journal includes contributions derived from basic or applied research dedicated to: conceptual discussions; theoretical or methodological developments; foundations; pedagogical innovations; experimental proposals; epistemological, historical, and philosophical articulations; and interrelations with frontier topics of scientific knowledge. Articles whose sole purpose is to survey the state of the art are not accepted. However, systematic literature reviews may be exceptionally considered when they present consistent theoretical grounding and analysis, with rigorous, explicit, and reproducible methodology, synthesizing — within a defined timeframe and across significant databases — all previous research on a given topic or problem, in a critical approach connected to Physics-related teaching themes. |
Digital Preservation
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This journal follows the standards defined in the Digital Preservation Policy Program of SciELO. |
Indexing Sources
Bibliographic Record
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Websites and Social Media
Preprints
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RBEF accepts and encourages the publication of articles simultaneously made available in trusted preprint repositories, in particular, but not exclusively: SciELO Preprints (preferred), arXiv, Advance, OSFPreprints, etc. Although not mandatory, authors may mention this in the submission. Articles submitted to RBEF that are listed in preprint repositories will undergo the same editorial process practiced by the journal. |
Peer Review Process
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Manuscripts submitted to the Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física (RBEF) are initially screened by the Editor-in-Chief, who may admit them for ad hoc review or reject them in limine if the work is not properly formatted or does not fit the scope or minimum quality criteria. Articles admitted during screening proceed to evaluation by ad hoc reviewers, all holding a doctoral degree with recognized academic experience and scientific production in the manuscript's topic or field. The number of reviewers is determined according to availability and the complexity and specificity of the subject. The review process at RBEF is not double-blind; anonymity between authors and reviewers is not required, i.e., reviewers have access to the authorship, but not vice versa. Authors may suggest potential reviewers with expertise in the manuscript’s topic at the time of submission. All reviewers must declare the absence of conflicts of interest with any of the authors or the article content. Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on objective criteria provided in a specific form on the ScholarOne platform. They also assess and rate the manuscript’s interest, originality, and overall quality, including comparison and reference to other RBEF publications, evaluating the clarity and accuracy of the abstract, conciseness and relevance of the addressed problem, methodological description, relationship between results and interpretations/conclusions, appropriateness of references to other works in the field, text length, and number of tables, figures, and charts. Finally, they provide comments to the authors — and, if applicable, restricted to the Editor-in-Chief — along with a recommendation, which may be: accept without corrections; accept conditionally with minor revisions; accept conditionally with major revisions; reject and suggest resubmission; or reject outright. Reviews failing to meet quality standards, lacking sufficient supporting elements, or violating ethical aspects will not be considered. The final decision is the sole prerogative of the Editor-in-Chief, based on the evaluations received and maintaining the journal’s scope and quality. In line with open-access policies, the final version of approved articles will be published with the name(s) of the editor(s) responsible for the manuscript review process. Reviewers may be offered the option to communicate directly with the corresponding author, with or without revealing identities, as well as to have their review reports published, with or without identification. |
Open Data
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Our editorial policy follows open science principles in research communication.
Manuscripts must include a statement on the availability of data generated and used in the research as follows:
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Article Fees
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RBEF does not charge submission, evaluation, or publication fees. The journal is maintained by the SBF and receives institutional support from funding agencies such as CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), enabling open-access operation at no cost to authors. |
Ethics, Misconduct, Errata, and Retractions
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RBEF adopts an editorial policy focused on scientific integrity and transparent handling of misconduct, corrections, and retractions. This policy is based on the Guidelines for Good Practices to Strengthen Ethics in Scientific Publishing and SciELO’s specific guides for registering, marking, and publishing Errata, Retractions, and Addenda. When significant errors are identified in published articles, the journal issues errata, retractions, or addenda, as appropriate, following indicated procedures. The decision on publishing corrections or retractions is made by the Editor-in-Chief, supported by the editorial board, ensuring the academic integrity of the journal. |
Conflict of Interest Policy
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Conflicts of interest may be of a personal, commercial, political, scientific, academic, or financial nature. Such conflicts may arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that could influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. Upon submission, authors are responsible for identifying and disclosing any financial or other conflicts of interest that may have affected their work. If there is any actual or potential conflict of interest, the author(s) must report it in a signed statement attached to the submission platform. For more information, see: Disclosure of Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities, and Conflicts of Interest. |
Use of Similarity-Checking Software
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The Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física (RBEF) operates in accordance with the ethical principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the American Educational Research Association Code of Ethics, the Code of Good Scientific Practice of the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de São Paulo (FAPESP), and the Council of Science Editors (CSE) regarding publication. To promote research integrity, strengthen ethical standards, and ensure transparency in publication processes, all material submitted to and published in RBEF must comply with the Guide to Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publishing and the Open Science Compliance Form. RBEF adopts the definition of research misconduct as established by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), which includes: 1) plagiarism: the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving proper credit. Self-plagiarism must also be avoided; 2) falsification: manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or omitting data or results so that the research is not accurately represented in the record. 3) fabrication: making up data or results and recording or reporting them as if they were real. These forms of misconduct constitute ethical violations, resulting in works based on falsified data, data manipulation, or the misappropriation of third-party ideas without due acknowledgment. All files submitted to RBEF are checked using plagiarism detection software (selected according to availability and usability). Manuscripts submitted to RBEF must not be simultaneously submitted to any other journal during the review process. If unethical research practices or misconduct are detected, the submission will be automatically rejected. In cases of allegations involving misconduct in already published manuscripts, after due investigation and the assurance of the right to defense, retraction will be required. |
Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
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The RBEF follows the recommendations of the Guide for the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools and Resources in Research Communication within the SciELO Network (2023) and establishes the following editorial policy regarding the use of generative AI technologies: Use by Authors Authors are permitted to use AI-based tools (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, among others) solely to assist in writing, linguistic revision, or textual organization, provided such use is explicitly disclosed in a note at the end of the article or in the submission letter. AI tools may not be credited as authors. Full responsibility for the content, ideas, analyses, and originality of the text lies exclusively with the human authors. Accountability and Transparency Authors must declare whether—and, if so, how—they used AI tools during manuscript preparation. This declaration must include the tool’s name, its purpose, and the extent of its contribution. Undeclared use may be considered editorial misconduct. Use by Reviewers and Editors The use of AI tools by reviewers or editorial board members is discouraged, particularly when it involves the analysis of unpublished content. If used to support the drafting of a review report, the manuscript content must not be entered into tools that do not guarantee data confidentiality and security. Evaluation Processes and Editorial Decisions Editorial decisions are not automated. The use of AI in RBEF’s editorial process is strictly auxiliary and never replaces human judgment. All decisions regarding acceptance, rejection, or revision of manuscripts are made by human editors. Updates This policy will be periodically reviewed to align with SciELO’s guidelines and the ongoing evolution of AI technologies and their impact on scientific communication.
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Sex and Gender Issues
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The editorial team and authors of the Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física (RBEF) must adhere to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines. These guidelines provide a framework for reporting sex and gender considerations in study design, data analysis, results, and interpretation. Moreover, RBEF upholds a gender equity policy in the composition of its editorial board and reviewer pool. |
Ethics Committee
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RBEF generally does not require submission of an institutional ethics committee approval for manuscripts, as most contributions do not directly involve the collection of sensitive data from human subjects. However, in cases where research involves human participants in contexts that require ethical evaluation—such as the administration of questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations, or the analysis of identifiable data—RBEF may request an ethics committee approval or equivalent statement, in accordance with the authors’ institutional guidelines and Brazilian regulations. Authors are encouraged to include appropriate ethical considerations whenever applicable. |
Copyright
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Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which allows sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal. |
Intellectual Property and Terms of Use
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Website Responsibility The infrastructure of the RBEF website, hosted on the SciELO platform, is maintained by SciELO itself. However, the published content—including articles, metadata, licenses, and editorial information—is the sole responsibility of the Brazilian Physical Society (SBF), the publisher of the journal. Author Responsibility All RBEF content, unless otherwise specified, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0. Authors of articles published in RBEF retain copyright of their works under this license, which permits reuse and distribution without restriction, provided the original work is properly cited and referenced. RBEF encourages authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts by posting them in institutional repositories, personal blogs, or academic social media, provided that they include the full citation of the version published on the journal’s website. |
Sponsors and Funding Agencies
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RBEF is published by the Brazilian Physical Society (SBF) with institutional support from the following funding agencies:
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Editor-in-Chief
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Executive Editors
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Associate Editors: Theoretical Physics, Computational Physics and Frontier Topics
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Associate Editors: Experimental Physics
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Associate Editors: Physics Education Research
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Associate Editors: Epistemology and History of Physics and Astronomy
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Honorary Editors
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Types of Accepted Submissions
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The Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física (RBEF) accepts unpublished manuscripts that represent an original and relevant contribution to the field of Physics Education. Submitted works must not be under review by another journal or previously published. All manuscripts undergo editorial screening and peer review by ad hoc referees and must meet the criteria of clarity, relevance, conceptual rigor, and alignment with the journal’s scope. RBEF publishes original articles, review papers, reports of teaching experiences, proposals of experiments, epistemological, philosophical, and historical perspectives, technological developments, and interdisciplinary approaches in the field of Physics fundamentals or frontier topics. The journal particularly encourages submissions that consider issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, sustainability, and the promotion of peace, within the following sections: General Articles: Contributions in theoretical, experimental, or computational Physics that approach Physics topics from a didactic perspective, especially those addressing aspects rarely discussed in classic texts or research subjects presented at an accessible level for non-specialists. Products and Didactic Materials for Physics Teaching: Contributions that highlight work in the development of teaching innovations or research directly related to the creation of didactic materials for Physics Education. Research in Physics Education: Intended for the dissemination of research in Physics Education in a broad sense, encompassing issues of educational research foundations and methodologies relevant to the teaching and learning of Physics. Critical and systematic reviews of literature on relevant topics are also accepted. History of Physics and Related Sciences: Open to researchers in the field, particularly those presenting results with implications for the teaching of Physics. The journal also publishes letters or notes to the editor and book reviews in Physics or Physics Education. |
Author Contributions
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Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study’s results. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication. The number of authors should be consistent with the nature of the work—a criterion that will be evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief during the editorial screening. RBEF uses the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system within the ScholarOne submission platform to explicitly state each author’s specific contribution. During submission, authors must indicate individual contributions such as conceptualization, methodology, analysis, writing of the manuscript, translation, and critical revision, among others. The order of authorship is determined by the authors themselves. The system allows multiple roles per contributor without requiring justification for the number or order of names. |
Article Submission Format
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Articles may be submitted in .tex or .doc formats, but not as .pdf files (the submission system automatically generates a PDF). For .doc files, equations must be inserted using Word’s equation editor. For .tex files: text must use UTF-8 encoding with proper accentuation; class declarations, styles, and other commands must appear in the preamble; the TikZ package should not be used; the final text must be clean, without commented-out portions of previous articles; references should be provided using the \bibitem format. There is no official template for submission to RBEF. Authors must register in the electronic submission system and provide all requested information. The corresponding author must include their ORCID ID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) in their user profile at the time of submission. Co-authors are also strongly encouraged to provide their ORCID IDs. Through the user area, authors can submit their manuscripts and track the editorial process from submission to publication. Although a corresponding author is designated, all authors share responsibility for the submitted work’s content. Manuscripts are accepted in Portuguese, Spanish, or English. Authors must indicate the section most appropriate for their submission. In addition to the title, abstract, and 3 to 6 keywords in the language of the manuscript, authors must include versions of these items in either Portuguese or English, as applicable. In other words, the titles, abstracts, and keywords must be bilingual. Equations should appear within the text and be referred to as “equation (1).” All published articles will receive a DOI. Suggested article length: 5,000 to 15,000 words, corresponding to approximately 30,000 to 105,000 characters, including spaces (these limits may be adjusted depending on the nature of the manuscript). Authors are fully responsible for the content of their work, which does not necessarily reflect the journal’s opinions. For guidance, authors are encouraged to consult recent issues of RBEF. Proofs of accepted articles will be sent to authors for verification prior to publication. Digital Assets Tables, charts, figures, illustrations, maps, diagrams, and other digital assets should be presented within the body of the manuscript. Figures must have high resolution and be uploaded as separate files during submission. Citations and References Full references must be provided at the end of the article, in the order of their appearance in the text. The authors’ names must be clearly provided (use et al. only after the tenth author), along with the full name of the journal, the volume number (in bold), page number, and year of publication (in parentheses). For books references, the title should appear in italics, followed by the publisher, city, and year. Examples: Journal Article: J.A. Silva, Phys. Rev. B 26, 15 (1982). Book: J.A. Silva, Book Title (Publisher, City, Year), v. 2. Book Chapter: J.A. Silva, in: Book Title, edited by C. Brown (Publisher, City, Year). Proceedings: J.A. Silva, in: Anais do XXXIV Simpósio Nacional de Ensino de Física (City, Year). Thesis: J.A. Silva, Thesis Title. Doctoral Thesis, University, City (Year). Preprint: P.J. Miranda, M.S. Baptista and S.E.S. Pinto, arXiv:1306.2537 (2013). |
Funding Declaration
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Authors must disclose funding sources for the research, including the names of sponsors and grant or contract numbers (if applicable), along with a description of the role of these funding sources. |
Additional Information
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RBEF is classified in Qualis Capes stratum A1 and has a JCR impact factor of 0.099. |
Contact Information
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Sociedade Brasileira de Física - SBF |
Read our Open Access Statement