Brief Background
CERNE is a journal edited by Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) which publishes original articles and reviews that represent relevant contributions to Forest Science development (Forest Ecology, Forest Management, Silviculture, and Technology of Forest Products). Since its start in 1994, the journal has promoted forest science globally by disseminating researchers' and scientists' findings and knowledge from all regions worldwide. Its abbreviated title is CERNE, which should be used in bibliographies, footnotes, and bibliographical references and strips. The manuscripts are submitted electronically by Cerne's online submission system. |
Open Science Compliance
CERNE follows a series of open science practices. The journal publishes under the Open Access model and therefore, articles are free for anyone to read, download, copy, and disseminate for educational purposes. CERNE accepts manuscripts deposited on known preprint servers for evaluation. The Journal requires citation, referencing, and declaration of research data; and promotes peer review. The journal also requires an indication of the role of each of the authors in articles with multiple authorships. Upon previous acceptance by the reviewer and author(s), the content of the reviewer's suggestions might be open for access. All articles are assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and all authors must be registered with an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID) number. Finally, the names of the responsible editors will be published in each article. |
Ethics in Publication
The journal complies with the SciELO Guidelines Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication as well as the ethical principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Manuscript that involves experimentation with living animals, genetically modified organisms, human beings or LGPD-sensitive data must provide evidence that it was performed under local ethical guidelines. This evidence must be officially stated in the Material and Methods section, describing that the study was evaluated and approved by an appropriate ethical committee. |
Focus and Scope
Articles published in CERNE cover research areas of Forest Ecology, Forest Management, Silviculture, and Technology of Forest Products. Submission of a manuscript to the journal requires that it has neither been published nor is under consideration for publication elsewhere. Concepts and affirmations included in articles are the entire responsibility of the author(s). The journal is published online in a continuous flow mode. Original research articles and reviews (by invitation only) are the main publication formats. |
Digital Preservation
The journal follows the Digital Preservation Policy of the SciELO Program. |
Indexing Sources
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Bibliographic Journal Information
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Websites and Social Media
Received manuscripts are forwarded to the editorial board to be initially evaluated in terms of comparative relevance to other manuscripts of the same research area that were submitted for publication. If considered as relevant, the manuscript is submitted for peer review. If considered as not relevant, the manuscript is rejected without further review. |
Preprints
In accordance with the purposes of Open Science, the CERNE allows the corresponding author, when submitting the article or later, to submit the manuscript, preferably, to the SciELO Preprints server. The identification of whether the article submission is a preprint will be given by the authors at the time of submitting the article, attaching to the Journal's submission platform the form on compliance with Open Science provided by the link below. |
Peer Review Process
The review process of manuscripts submitted to CERNE follows two critical stages, each designed to ensure that only the highest quality research is published. Here's an overview of how it works and the underlying rationale behind each step. 1. Preliminary Evaluation by the Editor-in-Chief The first step begins with an initial assessment conducted by the Editor-in-Chief. This phase ensures that the manuscript aligns with the journal's standards and objectives. The Editor-in-Chief carefully examines several elements:
If the manuscript passes this initial screening and is deemed valuable by the editorial board, it moves to the second stage for a more in-depth evaluation. 2. Blind Peer Review by Scientific Experts Once the preliminary evaluation is complete, the manuscript is passed to the Field Area Editors. If the article does not meet the criteria for originality and relevance, the scientific editor has the authority to reject the manuscript. If the article has merit, the scientific editor, an expert in the field, assigns two or three independent reviewers. These experts in the relevant field conduct a blind peer review, meaning they review the manuscript without knowing the identity of the authors. The reviewers assess the manuscript based on several important factors:
In terms of scientific quality, the reviewers focus on the following aspects:
After peer review, the manuscript might be returned to the corresponding author with requests for revision (by e-mail). These revisions are essential to address any gaps, improve clarity, or refine the analysis. The author must submit the corrections within a specified deadline; otherwise, the publication process will be canceled. Additionally, if required, authors may need to have their manuscript reviewed by a professional English editor to ensure readability and polish before final acceptance. By ensuring rigorous evaluation in each stage, the CERNE review process maintains the integrity and scientific quality of the articles it publishes. |
Open Data
The CERNE encourages the sharing of the analysis datasets, instruments, statistical analysis scripts, roadmaps, and additional materials, made available at Open online repositories, such as Guia TOP (Guide to promoting the opening, transparency, and reproducibility of research published by SciELO Journals), if they cannot be published in the manuscript itself, and this information must be indicated in the manuscript. Reproducibility of research can be improved by increasing transparency of the research process and products. Also, in this context, research data may be made available by author(s) upon request. |
Fees
CERNE does not charge fees for submission, publication, or manuscript evaluation. |
Ethics and Misconduct, Correction and Retraction Policy
The CERNE is committed to defending the integrity of the literature and publishes Errata, Expressions of Concerns or Notices of Retraction dependent on the situation and in accordance with the COPE Guidelines for Retraction. The retraction mechanism follows the Publication Ethics Committee (COPE) Retraction Guidelines, which can be accessed at COPE - Retraction Guidelines. Please see the following guidelines: |
Policy on Conflict of Interest
If, for any reason, a conflict of interest is observed, the author(s) must inform the journal in a specific statement. Conflict of interest may occur when authors, reviewers, or editors show interests that may affect the preparation and evaluation of the manuscript. |
Adoption of Similarity Software
Ideas or writing from someone else must be properly cited. The journal might use similarity software to detect article plagiarism (Copyspider, https://copyspider.com.br/main/), at the time of manuscript submission. If detected, the submitted manuscript is automatically rejected without further review. |
Adoption of Software Using Artificial Intelligence Resources
The use of tools and resources that assist authors in preparing their manuscripts is recommended, if attribution standards are respected, and that ethics and scientific integrity are maintained. Authors have the right and freedom to utilize tools and resources that aid in the preparation, writing, reviewing, and translation of their articles, book chapters, or books. Many of these tools and resources are provided by AI applications. However, only humans can be considered authors, as outlined in the following standards and practices:
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Gender and Sex Issues
The journal encourages gender equity in publication authorship. If needed, gender equity may also be taken into consideration for technical staff and associate editor selections. |
Ethics Committee
The journal complies with the SciELO Guidelines Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication as well as the ethical principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Manuscript that involves experimentation with living animals, human beings or LGPD-sensitive data must provide evidence that it was performed under local ethical guidelines. This evidence must be officially stated in the Material and Methods section, describing that the study was evaluated and approved by an appropriate ethical committee. |
Copyright
Authors who publish in this Journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY), allowing the work to be shared with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this Journal. |
Intellectual Property and Terms of Use
Responsibility of the site:
Author's responsibility:
This manuscript is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC-BY. CERNE 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, if the full citation is included in the version of the Journal website. |
Sponsors and Promotion Agencies
Editora UFLA
CNPq
FAPEMIG
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Editor-in-Chief
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Executive Editor
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Scientific Editors
Area: Forest Management
Area: Silviculture
Area: Forest Ecology
Area: Technology of Forest Products
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Technical Team
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General instructions
The main objective of this section is guiding the authors to reach a fast and successful submission process. Before submitting your manuscript, we invite you to read carefully all rules, format style, and other instructions. The first one is about the themes, which include all Forest Science subjects: Forest Ecology, Forest Management, Silviculture, and Technology of Forest Products. We publish mainly Research Articles and Review Articles. The latter has more flexible rules, but both must be original work. The submitted manuscript must be typed in the Microsoft Word for Windows processor. The manuscripts are submitted electronically by Cerne's online submission system and only English. The authors should see also COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), guidelines in their endeavor to preserve and promote the integrity of the scholarly record through policies and practices that reflect the current best principles of transparency and integrity, by prevention of plagiarism, malpractice, fraud and possible ethical violations. Once a manuscript is accepted and published, under no circumstances will the authors' names be modified, added, or replaced. Warning: If any CERNE’s instruction is not followed by the Authors the manuscript will be denied immediately. |
Types of Documents Accepted
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Attaching Files
The files that must be uploaded to our system are described below:
a) Author's affiliation
c) Cover letter
d) Manuscript
e) Potential of 5 Reviewers Suggestion
f) Images and tables
g) Declaration stating that the research was approved by an institutional ethics committee |
Manuscript Preparation and Digital Assets
We summarized the rules about format and style to prepare your manuscript: b) Margins: 3 cm for the lateral, lower and upper margins. c) Indent of the first line of each paragraph: 12.5 mm. d) Paper: A4 format. e) Font: Arial, size 11. f) Number of pages: up to 25 pages for Research Articles and up to 30 pages for Review Articles, including figures and tables numbered consecutively. g) Tables: Tables should be part of the body of the paper and must be presented in Word or Excel. The title should be above the table. Vertical lines separating the columns should not appear. h) Graphs/Figures/Photographs: should be presented in black and white or in color inserted in the text after citation and in a separate file saved in “tif” or “jpg” extension, with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Graphs should also be presented in a separate Excel file. The title should be below the figure. The figure’s text must be clear and with contrast. i) Symbols and mathematical equations: must be presented using a word processor that permits formatting, and not inserted as a figure. We also suggest the MathType software to write all formulas. j) Units: Whenever possible, should follow as closely as possible the guidelines presented in: International Union of Forestry Research Organizations. The standardization of symbols in forest mensuration. Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 15. 1965. k) Review control: every line and page must be numbered consecutively. |
Article Submission Format
The manuscript should be presented in the following sequence: Title: containing no more than 20 words, in capital letters and bold. Highlights: Highlights are short topics with the most relevant findings from your research. The structure of this announcement should cover only core results or conclusions with maximum of 90 characters (including spaces) per highlight. Each manuscript submission must be accompanied by four highlights, included before the abstract section. Highlights will be displayed in your online paper. Abstract: The text should be descriptive considers three sections: a) Background, b) Results, and c) Conclusion. They must be informative ONLY ENGLISH VERSION and a maximum of 250 words. Keywords: minimum of three and maximum of five. They should not repeat words that are already in the title. These may include short phrases as well as individual words, be separated by semicolon and be ordered alphabetically. Introduction: should present a concise vision of the current level of knowledge that has been achieved within the subject area that the paper will discuss. It should neither give an extensive review nor should it include details about the results and discussion. It should clearly indicate the objectives of the research that was carried out. This section may not be subdivided. Material and Methods: this section can contain subdivisions, with subtitles in bold print. Results: this section can be subdivided in sections with concise, descriptive titles in bold print. The text should be descriptive and associated only with the results without speculation. We expected a logical sequence of concise results and fundamental arguments. Discussion: this section can be subdivided in sections with concise, descriptive titles in bold print. We expect an excellent overview to define the answers to fill the hypothesis. Avoid mere speculation and irrelevant references. Conclusions: One paragraph written with logical structure and related to your findings. Acknowledgements: should be brief and concise and may highlight the funding agencies. References: they should follow the citation norms presented below. The items Abstract and keywords should be in the beginning of the left margin of the text and the other items must be centralized. The sub-items should initiate with capital letters and be positioned in the left margin of the text. |
Citations and References
Citations follow the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) citation style. All citations and their correct information in the text are the responsibility of the author(s). Author’s citations in the text should be made according to the following examples:
a) One author: Pereira (1995) or (Pereira, 1995) The references must be current and mainly from periodicals: at least 70% of the references must be 5 years old or newer and at least 70% must be from periodicals indexed on the database Scielo, Web of Science or Scopus. They should be presented in the following way:
a) Research papers:
Up to three authors: MORI, A. S.; LERTZMAN, K. P.; GUSTAFSSON, L. Biodiversity and ecosystem services in forest ecosystems: a research agenda for applied forest ecology. Journal of Applied Ecology, v.54, n.1, p. 12-27, 2017.
More than three authors: ZANUNCIO, A. J. V.; CARVALHO, A. G.; SILVA, M. G. D.; et al. Importance of wood drying to the forest transport and pulp mill supply. Cerne, v. 23, n.2, p. 147-152, 2017.
b) Book:
c) Book chapter:
d) Dissertation and Thesis:
f) Electronic documents (only from renowned institutions and organizations): |
Supplementary Documents
The authors can insert the supplementary documents, but this is a not required field. If the authors decided to insert the supplementary documents, as open science compliance form, author agreement form, ethics agreement approval form, or any described supplementary material that the authors wish to publish online alongside the manuscript (figure, tables, video, spreadsheets, etc.), please indicate the name and title of each element as follows: Figure S1: title, Table S1: title, etc., and see the instructions to insert the supplementary documents are at the platform. |
Financing Statement
The funding statement may include sources of support for the work, such as the names of sponsors and contract numbers (if applicable), along with brief explanations of their role in the research. This information should be included in the acknowledgements section of the manuscript. |
Additional Information
Review papers may have a more flexible structure, the sections material and methods, results and discussion and conclusions are not mandatory. Only Review papers must have numbered sections. To guarantee an anonymous peer review process for articles, do not insert author names or acknowledgments in the manuscript file. Please remove any authorship identification from the Word files before submission. We are publishing yearly only 60 papers. All papers received are analyzed and judged by the Editorial Board. Manuscripts approved in the first stage are sent to scientific referees for evaluation, at least two or three reviewers. Also, we only accept submissions in English. The review phase is essential to guarantee the quality of every published paper. If your manuscript is returned after the reviewer’s suggestions stage, we request you to answer every question pointed. This new document should be attached with the name “answer to reviewers” in our system. The revised version of the manuscript should be prepared using another document with every change properly documented. Please, use red color font or the review option “Track Changes” to mark all changes in the text. Only for research involving living animals, genetically modified organisms, human beings or LGPD-sensitive data, the authors need to declare the ethical control information. This document should be attached in “other” file section (see Ethics Committee, Ethics in Publication, and Attaching Files). CERNE does not charge fees for publication, submission nor the manuscript evaluation. Further information can be obtained by e-mail cerne.dcf@ufla.br or in our website: https://cerne.ufla.br/site/index.php/CERNE |
Contact
UFLA - Universidade Federal de Lavras |