Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais
Brief Background
Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais (Rev. Bras. Ci. Soc., or RBCS) is one of the leading interdisciplinary journals in the social sciences in Brazil. Its mission is to disseminate cutting-edge academic production in the three large areas that make up both the National Association for Graduate Studies and Research in the Social Sciences (ANPOCS) and the Social Sciences tradition itself: Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science (including International Relations, Defense Studies, and Public Policy). The Journal covers the characteristically broad thematic diversity of these areas, as well as their methodological and theoretical-conceptual plurality. Occasionally, Rev. Bras. Ci. Soc. welcomes articles from other areas, when they are clearly dedicated to establishing dialogue with knowledge production in the social sciences. We publish original articles, reviews, and bibliographical essays. Articles must be original and unpublished in books, magazines, or journals, and must present explicit and substantive contributions on issues relevant to the fields and subfields that empirically and theoretically inform the corresponding article. Reviews must address recent books published within the last 24 months and may be commissioned by the editorial board or submitted spontaneously by the authors. The Rev. Bras. Ci. Soc. (RBCS) also publishes bibliographical essays, but only when specifically commissioned. RBCS accepts submissions of articles, reviews, and bibliographical essays in Portuguese, Spanish and English, which will be published in their original language. The journal does not publish dossiers in its regular issues, nor does it welcome translations of original articles. Bibliographical essays will only be published when specifically commissioned by the Editorial Board. |
Open Science Compliance
RBCS is aligned with the modus operandi of open science. The journal expresses its alignment with open science in its editorial policy; it accepts the evaluation of manuscripts deposited on known preprint servers; it requires citation, referencing and declaration of research data; and it promotes informed peer review. The journal makes all its publications available for free access on its website. |
Ethics in Publication
In line with advances in the field of ethics and good scientific practice, all articles approved in the first stage will be tested for plagiarism and “self-plagiarism” or republication (submission of previously published texts as original material) through CrossRef with the Turnitin system. Any cases of malpractice will be examined and decided by the Editorial Board in accordance with the Basic Guidelines for Integrity in Scientific Activity of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq and the Code of Good Practice of the São Paulo Research Foundation -FAPESP. Furthermore, RBCS observes due ethical procedures in research conducted with human beings and in the safe treatment of their data. Anonymization is preferred, and any issues that may raise ethical dilemmas must be highlighted in the cover letter. In case of approval by an ethics committee, the protocol must be communicated in the letter and in the article. Reference to CNS Resolutions 466/2012 and 510/2016 are recommended. The opinions expressed in signed articles and the integrity of articles’ content are the absolute responsibility of their authors. |
Focus and Scope
The Journal covers the characteristically broad thematic diversity of the Social Sciences tradition (Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science, including International Relations, Defense Studies, and Public Policy), as well as their methodological and theoretical-conceptual plurality. It focuses mainly on current debates, in addition to fundamental themes for the development of these areas in Brazil and their impact on policies of relevance to the country. |
Digital Preservation
This journal follows the standards defined in the SciELO Program's Digital Preservation Policy program. |
Indexing Sources
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Bibliographic Journal Information
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Websites and Social Media
Preprints
The Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais allows the submission of manuscripts that have already been previously published in PrePrint repositories. It is mandatory to present, along with the article, a cover letter at the time of submission signaling cases of preprint, containing the name of the server, the URL or the DOI. After eventual publication, authors whose manuscripts are in preprint repositories must communicate the server that the work has been published and inform its DOI. In cases of preprints, referees are aware of the authorship of the manuscript (single-blind). By submitting an article deposited in preprint servers, the authors agree to this evaluation format. |
Peer Review Process
The deadline for desk review, a preliminary evaluation of articles’ profile and their adherence to the scope of the journal, is 60 days, if all submission requirements have been met. Manuscripts that are rejected, whether at the desk-review stage or following peer review, may not be resubmitted for a period of one year from the date on which the rejection is communicated, even if they have been revised. The RBCS editorial board reserves the right to determine whether a manuscript submitted by the same author(s) falls within the definition of a “resubmitted manuscript.” Once the article has passed the desk review stage, the area editors will seek peer reviewers for a period of four months, after which the author will receive communication about this search. If it has not been possible to obtain two peer reviews, the author will have the opportunity to choose to continue waiting or to withdraw his/her submission. If the author decides to continue, subsequent four-month rounds will follow the same routine. The difficulty in obtaining peer reviews has unfortunately become increasingly present in the work of all academic journals in the area. Approved articles in desk review will be submitted to at least two double-blind peer reviews. In cases of preprints, referees are aware of the authorship of the manuscript. By submitting an article deposited in preprint servers, the authors agree to this evaluation format. This second stage can have four possible outcomes: a) accepted for publication without changes; b) conditionally accepted for publication, provided the authors make requested changes; c) revise and resubmit the article and d) rejected. Articles that require revision (b) must meet the deadline set by the Editorial Board. Once this deadline has passed, the editorial team reserves the right to remove the article from the agenda. In the event of final approval by referees, the Editorial Board still reserves the right to suggest new specific changes in content or form in order to adapt the article to the editorial or graphic profile of Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais. The editorial team will make use of its editorial autonomy when the revised version, as well as the justification presented, indicate adequate compliance with the reviewers’ requests, to optimize publication time. Resubmission (c) entails a new evaluation process based on double-blind peer reviews, and authors must indicate in the system that it is a resubmission. Rejected articles (d) cannot be resubmitted. The average duration for the second stage is six months. All authors must comply with a minimum 24-month interval before sending a new submission. This period is counted from the date of publication of the article. |
Open Data
RBCS is part of SciELO Data, a multidisciplinary repository dedicated to the deposit, preservation, and dissemination of research data, hosted on the Dataverse platform (https://data.scielo.org/dataverse/brrbcsoc). Within this framework, the journal established the “Methodological Notes” editorial section, which invites authors of articles that have already been accepted for publication to share aspects of the research process that are not ordinarily visible in the published article, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative studies. The initiative seeks to enhance transparency regarding the stages involved in the production of scholarly work, while also fostering debate on data-analysis techniques. Authors are expected to prepare a dedicated document addressing the methodological choices, procedures, and challenges underlying their research, going beyond the mere sharing of raw data. The initiative is based on the premise that making these stages of observation and data construction and analysis explicit contributes to the scientific field in at least three respects: (1) it influences new research by promoting direct dialogue with methodological tools, data, documents and research sources; Since May 2023, the Journal makes it compulsory to share research databases in the case of quantitative research, and strongly suggests sharing in the case of qualitative research. Sharing must take place if the article is approved. Still in terms of transparency policy, RBCS encourages authors to make the empirical ground and methodological design of research that draws on qualitative and quantitative data as accessible as possible, as well as to ensure access to cited data (whenever these are not restricted from disclosure, respecting confidentiality protections in accordance with current legislation). This is in line with the recommendations of Data Access and Research Transparency (DA-RT) (https://www.dartstatement.org/). List of repositories for depositing research data: https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/Lista-de-Repositorios-Recomendados_pt.pdf |
Fees
There is no fee. |
Ethics and Misconduct, Correction and Retraction Policy
Any cases of malpractice will be examined and decided by the Editorial Board in accordance with the Basic Guidelines for Integrity in Scientific Activity of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (http://www.cnpq.br/web/guest/diretrizes) and the Code of Good Practice of the São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP (http://www.fapesp.br/boaspraticas/). |
Policy on Conflict of Interest
Conflicts of interest can be of a personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial nature. Conflicts of interest can occur when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that could influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. When submitting the manuscript, authors are responsible for acknowledging and disclosing financial or other types of conflicts that may have influenced the work. If there is, even potentially, a conflict of interest, the author(s) must inform it in a signed document attached to the submission platform. For more information see: Disclosure of Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities, and Conflicts of Interest. |
Adoption of Similarity Software
All articles approved in the first stage will be tested for plagiarism and “self-plagiarism” or republication (submission of previously published texts as original material) through CrossRef with the Turnitin system. |
Adoption of Software Using Artificial Intelligence Resources
Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Models This document sets forth guidelines for the ethical use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models within the RBCS. GenAI refers to artificial intelligence models or tools capable of generating new content, including text, videos, empirical data resulting from analyses, and other forms of content. GenAI models may not be listed as authors, as authorship entails legal and ethical responsibility for the content of a manuscript. Accordingly, authors of manuscripts submitted to the RBCS are responsible for all information and data contained in their submissions and must verify any inappropriate or inaccurate citations that may constitute plagiarism. The use of AI-generated images and other audiovisual materials is not permitted, except where the article specifically addresses these issues, given the ongoing copyright concerns surrounding the production of such content. Researchers who use GenAI models must include, in the cover letter accompanying their manuscripts (a mandatory requirement for all submissions), a statement disclosing how such models were used. The same statement must be reproduced at the end of the original manuscript, immediately before the reference list.” During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [name of tool/model or service], version [number and/or date], for [state the purpose/reason]. Following the use of this tool/model/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content in accordance with the principles of the scientific method and assume(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication. (SUGGESTED FORMAT BASED ON Sampaio, Sabbatini, and Limongi, 2024, p. 20.) Reviewers are strongly advised not to upload manuscripts or other files under review to AI tools, as doing so may compromise the confidentiality of the material and, any sensitive data contained therein. |
Gender and Sex Issues
The editorial team of the Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, in addition to the authors who publish in the magazine, must always observe the guidelines on Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER. The SAGER guidelines comprise a set of guidelines that guide the reporting of information about sex and gender in study design, data analysis, and results and interpretation of findings. Furthermore, the Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais observes the gender equity policy in the formation of its editorial board. |
Ethics Committee
If approved by the Ethics Committee, the approval statement must be attached. |
Copyright
The author retains the copyright to the published article and RBCS/ANPOCS retains the right of first publication. The Journal adopts the CC-BY license used internationally by the main open access journals and publishers, in accordance with SciELO. This license aims to maximize articles’ dissemination. Every author of an article published in RBCS is understood to agree to the use of this type of license. |
Intellectual Property and Terms of Use
All the content of the journal and the articles published by Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, except where otherwise specified, are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license. Authors of articles published by the Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais retain the copyright of their work, licensing it under the Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited. Reproductions of articles should refer to the original source (Rev. bras. ci. soc.), volume, issue (if any) and year of publication. The author is responsible for obtaining authorizations (from people, institutions, other authors and/or publishers) regarding copyright for the use of images, tables, figures, methods, or other elements used in the manuscript to be published. The data, opinions and concepts expressed in the articles, as well as the accuracy of the bibliographical references, are the sole responsibility of the author(s). By submitting an article or bibliographical essay, authors undertake not to send the same text to another journal during the evaluation process. Conversely, the Journal does not accept articles that are still under evaluation in other journals. Nor will the Journal accept two simultaneous submissions from the same author: it is understood that simultaneity is the submission of a new article while another has not yet been published or rejected. The Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais encourages Authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts, publishing them on personal blogs, institutional repositories, and academic social media, as well as posting them on their personal social media, as long as the full citation to the journal's website version is included. |
Sponsors and Promotion Agencies
The journal receives funding from the Support Program for Editing and Publishing Scientific Journals of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and occasionally from the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp). |
Editor-in-Chief
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Editorial Assistant
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Editorial Commission
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Science communication
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Editorial Council
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Types of Documents Accepted
Publication and evaluation criteria Articles: Approved articles will be submitted to at least two double-blind peer reviews. In cases of preprints, referees are aware of the authorship of the manuscript (single-blind). By submitting an article deposited in preprint servers, the authors agree to this evaluation format. Reviews RBCS has a Book Review Section that accepts submissions in the following format: a review of a recent book (published within the last 24 months), with a limit of 1,600 words. Texts may also be commissioned by the editorial board. Reviews are evaluated by the Editorial Board itself according to criteria of consistency with RBCS editorial policy and scope, as well as their relevance to ongoing debates in the three major fields of social sciences in Brazil. The Editorial Board may request a specific peer review if deemed appropriate. Reviews may be “accepted,” “accepted with modifications,” or “rejected,” with no possibility of resubmission. In the latter two cases, a brief review report will be issued. Bibliographical Essays RBCS has an editorial section that will make proposals for broader bibliographical essays. These reviews must necessarily include a recent book (published within the last 24 months), necessarily in dialogue with an artistic reference (cinematographic works, art exhibitions, photographic essays, sound essays, musical works, among other forms of artistic production), with a limit of 3,000 words. Texts may also be commissioned by the editorial board. All bibliographical essays are evaluated by the Editorial Board itself based on the criteria of adherence to RBCS editorial policy and scope and the relevance to ongoing debates in the three major areas of the social sciences in Brazil. The Editorial Board may request a specific peer review if deemed appropriate. Bibliographical essays can be “accepted”, “accepted with changes” or “rejected” and there is no possibility of resubmission. In the case of the last two results, a brief review will be issued to the author. |
Authors' Contribution
Aiming to provide transparency regarding the contribution of each author in the production of scientific work, the Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais requests that co-authored works implement the CRediT taxonomy. The purpose is to indicate the individual contribution of each author, following the SciELO specification. For more information visit https://casrai.org/credit/. |
Manuscript Preparation
Online submission process and required files Articles, reviews, and bibliographical essays must be sent exclusively through the website of Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, via Open Journal System – OJS platform, at the following address: www.scielo.br/rbcsoc. All the steps indicated for online submission must be followed. Two files (in .doc or .docx format) must be attached for online submission:
If mandatory: the letter must contain a link to the publication on the preprint platform (only for manuscripts published in preprint). The cover letter can also include comments and justifications to the Editor-in-Chief on any aspect related to the processing of the article. Information revealing the authorship of the text and acknowledgments can also be included here, preserving the anonymity of the main file. When resubmitting an article, the following are required:
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Article Submission Format
By the author The name(s) of the author(s) must be accompanied by their institutional affiliation, city, state, country, and institutional email address. All authors are asked to provide their Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) numbers. Collectively authored texts must include a cover letter specifying the contributions of each author in the construction of the text. The journal reserves the right to evaluate this letter in accordance with the ethical principles and good scientific practices of RBCS. Co-authors may not be added after the article has been submitted. The same author may not submit more than one article, even if co-authored, simultaneously to RBCS. Articles Submitted articles must be original and exclusive during the evaluation process at RBCS (see editorial policy). Manuscripts published in the proceedings of scientific events and on preprint platforms are considered original. The manuscript must be submitted in its final version, with spelling and grammar corrected in the corresponding language and without proofreading marks. The editorial team may reject articles at the desk review stage if they do not reveal proper command of the language. The article should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words long, including the bibliography section, tables, and diagrams. Articles that exceed this limit will be returned to the authors for adjustment. Articles should be submitted in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 spacing. The abstract should be up to 200 words long, in the same format as the article. The abstracts should specify the problem, the central argument of the article, the substantive contribution to the field of scholarship in which it is inscribed, the instruments of empirical analysis and other methodological choices. They must be accompanied by five keywords, separated by semicolons, of strategic choice. Reviews Reviews must have a title with up to 50 characters with spaces, must contain references and must respect the limit of 1,600 words. The manuscript must be submitted in its final version, with spelling and grammar corrected in the corresponding language and without proofreading marks, in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 spacing, to the bibliographical essays editor. Regarding selected books: reviews can cover books published within a period of up to 24 months.
Bibliographical essays must have a title with up to 50 characters with spaces, must contain references and must respect the limit of 3,000 words. The manuscript must be submitted in its final version, with spelling and grammar corrected in the corresponding language and without proofreading marks, in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 spacing, to the bibliographical essays editor. Regarding selected books: reviews can cover books published within a period of up to 24 months.
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Digital Assets
Tables, charts, graphs, and figures should be cited in the text and inserted just below the citation. This is a SciELO standard. In the case of articles with tables, charts, graphs and figures, state below each one the source used, including when it is created by the author (e.g.: elaborated by the author, based on IBGE, 2005; or: elaborated by the author, based on Santos, 2002). Even when the data originates from a project coordinated by the author, the name of the project must be provided as the source. The internal content of figures and illustrations must be in Times New Roman font, size 11. |
Citations and References
The references standardization is adapted from ABNT. Citations Citation is the mention in the text of information taken from another source, to clarify the subject under discussion or to illustrate or support what is said. Citations in the body of the text should follow the format: (Author, date) or (Author, date, page), as in the examples: (Jaguaribe, 1962) or (Jaguaribe, 1962, p. 35). If there is more than one title by the same author, published in the same year, differentiate them by adding a letter after the date. For example: (Adorno, 1975a), (Adorno, 1975b). Textual citations must appear in quotation marks in the body of the text when they are up to three lines long, and in a new paragraph when they are longer than three lines. Citations must be translated into the language used in the article and include the information “our translation” at the end of the citation. It is advisable to include the original quote in a footnote. In the body of the text, in references to up to three authors, use only the surnames, separated by “and” and/or “comma” (e.g., Almeida and Rosa, 2018; Jesus, Duarte and Silvestre, 2023); from three authors onwards, indicate only the surname of the first author, followed by “et al.” in italics (e.g., Reis et al., 2016). Interviews should be cited in the body of the text as follows: (Name of interviewee, year of the interview). E.g.: (Júlia, 2018). Note: whenever necessary, the name of the interviewee may be fictitious. References All references cited in the text (books, articles, newspaper articles, interviews, documents etc.) must appear in the References' section which should appear at the end of the paper, with references to the authors' surnames in alphabetical and temporal order. Publications with several authors: in the References section, all authors must be referenced. When there are two or more authors, separate each surname (followed by the first name) with a semicolon, and do not use “and”. 1st example: ZHOURI, Andréa; OLIVEIRA, Raquel. 2nd example: ZHOURI, Andréa; LASCHEFSKI, Klemens; PAIVA, Angela. In the References, do not use the continuous line ( ______ ) before indicating another work by the same author cited above, but repeat the surname, followed by the name, on the next line. The References’ section must be aligned to the left. In the References’ section, the full names of the authors must be written in all the references cited. In this section, references should follow different rules, depending on the type of material cited (see below). BOOK: SURNAME, Name. Title in bold: subtitle (if any). Translated by (if any). Edition (if any). City of the Publisher: Publisher, Year of publication. DOI number (if any). I.e., SACHS, Ignacy. Ecodesenvolvimento, crescer sem destruir. Translated by: Eneida Cidade Araújo. 2nd edition. São Paulo: Vértice, 1986. DOI: xxxxx. I.e., CHALHOUB, Sidney. Visões da liberdade: uma história das últimas décadas da escravidão na corte. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1990. ARTICLE: SURNAME, Name. Title: subtitle (if any). Name of the journal in bold, city of publication, volume, issue, pages number, month (if any), year of publication. DOI number (if any). I.e., MACHADO, Marta; LIMA, Márcia; NERIS, Natália. Racismo e insulto racial na sociedade Brasileira: dinâmicas de reconhecimento e invisibilização a partir do direito. Novos estudos CEBRAP, São Paulo, v. 35, n. 3, p. 11–28, nov., 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25091/S0101-3300201600030001. CHAPTER IN EDITED VOLUME: SURNAME, Name. Title: subtitle (if any). In: SURNAME, Name. Title in bold: subtitle (if any). Translated by (if any). Edition (if any). City of the Publisher: Publisher, Year of publication. DOI number (if any). Number of chapter, pages. I.e., ROSANVALLON, Pierre. El Poder Ejecutivo: una historia problemática. In: ROSANVALLON, Pierre. El buen gobierno. Translated by Horacio Pons. 1st edition. Buenos Aires: Manantial, 2021. Chapter 1, 39-106. ACADEMIC THESES AND DISSERTATIONS: SURNAME, Name. Title of thesis in bold: subtitle (if any). Dissertation/Thesis (Master/PhD in…), Institution at which it was presented, City of the Institution, Year. I.e., KOHLER, Rafaela Felipe. "A casa da discórdia": etnografia da implementação de uma política de atendimento a pessoas em situação de rua em Brusque/SC. Dissertation (Master Degree in Anthropology), Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, 2015. AUTHORED NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: SURNAME, Name. Title of the article: subtitle (if any). Name of the newspaper in bold, City, day, month and Year of publication. Available at: <endereço eletrônico>. Access in: day month, year. I.e., AMORIM, Celso. Guerra contra o Iraque é evitável. Folha de S. Paulo, São Paulo, 25 set., 2002. Available at: www.abc.cmo/ccc. Accessed in: 04 jul. 2011. PAPERS PUBLISHED IN EVENT PROCEEDINGS: SURNAME, Name. Title of the article: subtitle (if any). In: (italics) Proceedings of the Event, City of the Event, days and month of the event, Year. Available at: <endereço eletrônico>. Accessed in: day month, Year. I.e., SAINZ, Nilton; GABRIEL, Gabryela. Carreira e ambição política das Deputadas Federais da 55a legislatura (2015-2018). In: Anais do Encontro Anual da Anpocs, Campinas, 12 a 19 de outubro, 2022. Available at: <endereço eletrônico>. Accessed in: 31 jul. 2024. INTERVIEWS: SURNAME, Name of interviewee. Title of interview: subtitle (if any). [day of month, Year]. City: Title of the document (if any). Interview with Name Surname. |
Supplementary Documents
It is necessary to present a letter to the editor and a declaration of originality in the case of an approved article. Articles accepted for publication must be accompanied by the finalized datasets used to conduct the research, as well as a document summarizing the methodological process undertaken. The datasets may include codebooks, programming scripts, interview guides, and any other empirical materials that can be traced and independently verified. These materials, together with the methodological document, will be published in the “Methodological Notes” section and assigned their own digital identifier. |
Financing Statement
Provide sources of support for the work, including names of sponsors, contract number (if any), along with explanations of the role of these sources in a footnote in the article's introduction. |
Additional Information
The RBCS editorial team is made up of ‘area editors’ - CP&RI (including PP), Sociology and Anthropology - and the role of editor-in-chief, so that all evaluations are conducted in interdisciplinary dialogue, as is the nature of the magazine. |
Contact
Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Ciências Sociais – ANPOCS |
Read our Open Access Statement