About the Journal

Brief History

Pesquisa Agropecuária Tropical (PAT) [Agricultural Research in the Tropics], e-ISSN 1983-4063, is a continuous-flow scientific journal published in a single annual volume, without numbering, by the Escola de Agronomia/Universidade Federal de Goiás, in Goiânia, Goiás state, Brazil. It was created to register and share results originating from pioneer researches, especially those about Agricultural Sciences, carried out in the central region of Brazil. Since 1971, when it was called Anais da Escola de Agronomia e Veterinária, it has played a relevant role in the dissemination of scientific experiments, which show an evolution in the agricultural activities developed in the region. For that reason, the PAT's mission is “to disseminate the development of agronomic research”, aiming at publishing manuscripts directly related to the context of agriculture.

 

Open Access Policy

This journal follows the Open Access model, allowing unrestricted virtual access (including financial restrictions) to all scientific texts published by the journal.

Open access is the condition in which the copyright holder of an academic study grants usage rights to third parties using an open license (Creative Commons Attribution, CC-BY), allowing immediate free access to the study and authorizing any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles, track them for indexing, pass them as data to software or use them for any other lawful purpose.

 

Compliance with Open Science

This journal follows the Gold Open Access model.

Open Science Compliance Form

 

Ethics in Publishing

Before submitting a manuscript, authors must ensure that they have followed all ethical guidelines regarding scientific integrity. They must also disclose any funding sources, such as research agencies. If applicable, the authors must state that the ethical principles have been submitted to and approved by the institution's ethics committee. The author is solely responsible for complying with good ethical practices in research.

The PAT journal supports and follows the principles and standards recommended by the Guide of Good Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication, Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

 

Focus and Scope

The journal aims to publish manuscripts directly related to the context of agriculture (except for special supplements, where the normal scope of the journal may be made more flexible):

  • Agronomy
  • Phytotechnics (plant cultivation)
  • Soils and plant nutrition
  • Plant health (pest and disease control)
  • Plant breeding
  • Irrigation and drainage
  • Agricultural technology

 

Digital Preservation

This journal follows the standards defined in the LOCKSS program.

 

Indexing Sources

 

Bibliographic Record

  • Journal title: Pesquisa Agropecuária Tropical
  • Abbreviated title: Agropecu. Trop.
  • Published by: Universidade Federal de Goiás, Escola de Agronomia
  • Periodicity: Annual
  • Publication model: Continuous Publication (CP)
  • Year the journal was created: 1971

 

Websites and Social Media

 

 

EDITORIAL POLICY

Preprints

Preprints are accepted from the following servers: SciELO Preprints, arXiv, bioRxiv, and medRxiv. Acceptance of preprints from other servers will be reviewed by the journal editors.

 

Peer Review Process

In the submission process, initially, the system sends an e-mail to all authors, acknowledging the submission of the manuscript and generating a protocol number. This editorial review process can only begin if the manuscript follows all the established norms. Otherwise, papers may be returned for corrections.

Papers in accordance with the Instructions to Authors section will be submitted to a similarity detection software and analyzed by the Editorial Board, which will decide if the editorial process will continue or not, considering the following: i) specific adequacy to the scope of the journal; ii) novelty and clarity in title, objectives and conclusions (evaluation of potential impact or interest that the study may arouse in the scientific community); iii) methodological robustness (assessment of the adequacy of the research design and data analysis); iv) evidence of results supporting conclusions; and v) quality of textual composition. Manuscripts that do not adhere to the editorial policy will be returned to authors, even before going through technical-scientific analysis. Papers refused due to textual composition structure can be re-structured and submitted again.

Papers approved by the Editorial Board will have their scientific value assessed by two or three peer reviewers specialized in the subject, here named ad hoc consultants or referees, who, at this stage, will work without knowing the names of the authors and vice versa. These referees are chosen by the Editor or Editorial Board among recognized researchers in the specific area of each paper, preferably not affiliated with the authors' institutions.

Each referee can choose one of the following options: i) Recommended; ii) Recommended with mandatory changes/corrections; or iii) Not recommended. In his/her report, or in the manuscript itself, the reviewer has total freedom to suggest changes, corrections, omit or add text and sections, point out ambiguous, redundant, incoherent descriptions, inappropriate use of terminology or request more detailed explanations, etc. The PAT Editorial Board always encourages its reviewers to provide constructive criticism, concerning the analyzed papers. Reviewers are also requested to maintain a respectful tone in their criticisms and suggestions, as well as to give feedback within three weeks, or other deadline accorded with the Editors, in respect to authors and their unpublished scientific discoveries.

In order to preserve credibility and, at the same time, avoid any embarrassment, the PAT Editorial Board requests that referees, before beginning their analysis of a manuscript, consider the possibility of a conflict of interest. This may include, for example, a regular research collaboration with the possible authors (e.g.: publications), an adviser/advisee relationship; a commercial interest in the publication; family ties; involvement in the study; or any impediment to an unbiased evaluation. In this case, the referee is requested to return the manuscript to the Editor immediately, expressing the impossibility of analyzing it.

The decision of accepting or not a paper for publishing is based, fundamentally, on the recommendations made by the peer reviewer system. Complete copies of all reports, with the referees' identities omitted, will be sent to the correspondent author. If the manuscript is submitted to only two referees, and one is favorable to publish it, whereas the other is not, then a third reviewer is invited to analyze it. If the majority of the reports are not favorable, the paper will be archived.

If there is a predominance of favorable reports, the decision is for publishing the paper. However, that will only happen provided the editorial or technical recommendations be accepted or properly justified. If authors disagree with any of them, they should prepare a written justification, scientifically based, to be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, along with the revised version. That will happen within the deadline agreed with the editors; otherwise, the paper will be archived. If there is any kind of justification, it will be analyzed by editors, which may send them to the respective referees.

After the analysis of the revised version, if the editorial and content suggestions have been properly incorporated or contested, the paper is definitely accepted for publishing, being the next step the graphic design or layout stage. Otherwise, it will be returned to authors for a new revision, and may be archived if the proposed changes are not fully met or properly justified within the stipulated period. Once more, the PAT Editorial Board assures authors the right to disagree with the presented suggestions; however, justifications without a solid technical and scientific basis will be rejected.

In the journal editorial process, the Editor may carry out small changes in the authors' texts to speed up the publication process. However, before making them available on-line, a copy is sent to authors, for proofreading. In this stage, major changes can no longer be incorporated. It is, thus, recommended that authors carefully read their texts, highlighting errors and corrections to be made.

The final version of the approved article will be published with the name of the editor or editors responsible for the manuscript evaluation process, as well as a data availability statement.

 

Open Data

Authors are encouraged to deposit and share their datasets, codes, methods, and materials used in the design and execution of their research. See the suggested List of repositories for depositing research data (Portuguese only).

 

Fee Policy

Article submission and publishing are free of charge.

 

Ethics, Misconduct, Errata, and Retraction Policy

The PAT journal emphasizes that the responsibility for ethics and integrity in research, as well as its consequences, rests entirely with the authors. If evidence of misconduct arises during the evaluation of articles, the editorial team will conduct an investigation following the procedures established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

After the facts have been ascertained, the authors will be informed and may be invited to provide clarifications. If the article has already been published, confirmation of inappropriate conduct may lead to the application of editorial measures proportionate to the seriousness of the event.

Proof of unethical practices may require the issuance of a retraction, whether partial or complete, resulting in the annulment of the article. All these situations will be handled according to the guidelines of the COPE flowcharts. The final decision, after the conclusion of the process, is the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief, together with the Associate Editors.

We also recommend reading the following material: Guide to good practices for strengthening ethics in scientific publication (Portuguese only).

 

Conflict of Interests Policy

Conflicts of interest can be personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial in nature, and may arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that may influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. When submitting a manuscript, authors are responsible for acknowledging and disclosing any financial or other conflicts of interest that may have influenced the study. If there is, even potentially, a conflict of interest, authors must disclose it in a separate, 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 Check Software

Immediately after the submission process is completed, even before the merit evaluation, all articles undergo a similarity check using the CopySpider software.

There is no minimum percentage of similarity, as the analysis is carried out on a case-by-case basis. However, if plagiarism is detected, the manuscript will be archived and the authors duly notified.

 

Adoption of Software and Use of Artificial Intelligence Resources

The PAT journal does not accept chatbots as authors of scientific articles. If Artificial Intelligence systems are used, this must be documented and included in the methodology or acknowledgments, or another similar form of citation. For more information, see the Guide to Using Artificial Intelligence Tools and Resources (Portuguese only).

The journal does not use Artificial Intelligence tools yet.

 

Sex and Gender Issues

The editorial team of the PAT journal encourages authors who publish in the journal to always observe the guidelines on Sex and Gender Equity in Research - SAGER, which comprise a set of guidelines that lead the reporting of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, and the results and interpretation of findings. Furthermore, the journal observes, whenever possible, a gender equity policy in the formation of its editorial board.

 

Ethics Committee

If animals or human beings were the subjects of the research, or if there is any other situation involving ethical issues, the authors must attach a statement of approval from the ethics committee of the institution responsible for approving the research.

 

Copyright

All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution BY 4.0 license, which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, provided the original work is properly cited. Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication.

 

Intellectual Property and Terms of Use

Website Responsibility:

The names and addresses informed in this journal will be used exclusively for the services provided by this publication, and will not be made available for other purposes or to third parties.

Author's Responsibility:

The published content is the sole and exclusive responsibility of its authors, although the editors reserve the right to make textual adjustments and adapt it to the publication's standards.

The PAT journal 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, provided that full citation to the journal's website version is included.

 

Sponsors and Funding Agencies