About the Journal
Approach and Scope
Biocenosis is a biannual publication (January-June/July-December) managed by the Center for Environmental Education (CEA) of the Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica (publishing entity).
The aim of the magazine is to contribute to the process of raising awareness towards action through environmental education, with the goal of reversing the impact our actions have had on the environment. Additionally, it serves as an international communication medium between the scientific community and the general public interested in the published thematic areas. It is a magazine of scientific and cultural dissemination that provides free and open access, under the principle of facilitating research on environmental topics, sharing successful experiences in environmental education, and promoting the exchange of knowledge.
Type of language: When writing articles, authors are asked to use non-technical language that facilitates the understanding of the concepts to be conveyed to the target reader, without losing scientific rigor in terms of the clear and concise presentation of information and the verification of the sources used. These guidelines contribute to the scientific dissemination of the environmental topics published by the journal to a wider audience.
Target audience: The journal is aimed at natural resource managers, environmental educators, environmental managers, and non-specialized audiences interested in the journal's thematic areas: educators, high school students, university students, and multidisciplinary audiences.
Frequency: Biocenosis is a biannual publication. It is published online (ISSN 1659-4991) from January to June and from July to December. On special occasions, special issues on relevant topics are edited and published in print (ISSN: 0250-6963).
Thematic areas: Articles submitted to Biocenosis magazine should fall within one of the following general thematic areas: environmental education, environmental management, sustainability, environmental issues, natural resource management, health, and the environment.
It is important to note that articles related to all of the above topics will be accepted, provided that they respect the journal's target audience, i.e., by using non-technical language and the informative and educational approach that characterizes Biocenosis' editorial line.
Examples of types of articles published in the journal Biocenosis (see description of each format in the Submissions section):
- Scientific dissemination articles (peer-reviewed)
Examples:
El pez león del Indo-Pacífico: nueva especie invasora en Costa Rica https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/biocenosis/article/view/1252/1319
Propuesta didáctica para el desarrollo de habilidades de liderazgo en personas parataxónomas https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v35i1.5355
Aspectos básicos para la sostenibilidad del proceso de educación ambiental en ASADAS https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v33i1.4284
Desarrollo de habilidades para el aprendizaje a partir de la creación de un mesocosmos https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v32i2.3911
Amenazas que enfrentan los monos congo (Alouatta palliata) en Costa Rica e iniciativas de conservación para el bienestar y una coexistencia sana con la especie https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v32i1.3522
- Teaching guide (peer review)
Examples:
De la siembra a la restauración: protocolo para la plantación de árboles nativos y la mejora de los servicios ecosistémicos en el contexto de la adaptación climática https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v35i2.5734
Guía metodológica para el desarrollo de jardines de observación de colibríes para la zona de Los Santos, San José, Costa Rica, 2024 https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v35i2.5601
- Systematization of experience (peer review)
Example:
Implicaciones y desafíos del desarrollo del cultivo de mejillón (Mytella guyanensis: Mytilidae) en la comunidad de Isla Venado, Golfo de Nicoya https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v33i2.4550
- Informative essay (peer review)
Example:
Retos para el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) en Costa Rica en retrospectiva a la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v34i2.5069
- Bibliographic review
Example:
Nuevo libro nos invita a conocer las múltiples facetas de la avifauna neotropical https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v34i1.4829
- Reproductions
Example:
A cinco años de la adopción del Acuerdo de Escazú. A propósito del reciente archivo de este emblemático instrumento regional por parte de la Asamblea Legislativa https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v34i1.4830
- Biographical sketch
Example:
Fundador del movimiento ecologista en Costa Rica: Ricardo Quesada López – Calleja https://doi.org/10.22458/rb.v33i1.4286
Language: articles can be received and published in English or Spanish.
Publication formats: PDF, HTML, EPUB.
Journal funding (Sponsor): Biocenosis Journal does not charge for articles’ information process. In order to guaranty “free charge policy”, UNED and CINED finance editing time, assistance people, language and style revision, and publication formats.
Peer review process
The article that meets the thematic and formatting requirements, reviewed by the director and editor, is sent to two external evaluators (specialists in various areas), who make the necessary recommendations for its approval, acceptance with modifications, or rejection. Preferably, it will be the Editorial Board or the Advisory Board that proposes several possible evaluators to review the article. Evaluators are provided with an evaluation guideline once they agree to review the document.
Editorial work
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The article is submitted by the author. The submission must comply with all publication guidelines (originality, theme, format, authorship statement).
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Thematic, formatting, and accompanying documentation review by the director and editor. If the submission does not align with the thematic areas, it is rejected outright, and the author is notified. If the format, requested information, or documentation does not meet journal requirements, the author is asked to complete the submission appropriately (one week).
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If the formatting corrections made by the author are accepted, plagiarism detection tool (Turnitin) is applied (one week).
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Sent to two reviewers under the double-blind system (three weeks).
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The Editorial Board reviews the reviewers' comments (two weeks).
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If the evaluations are negative, and the Editorial Board agrees with the criteria, the manuscript is rejected. If there is no agreement with the reviewers' criteria, it is re-arbitrated.
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If the submission is accepted with modifications and the Editorial Board approves, the author must make the necessary changes (three weeks).
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The editor verifies that the reviewers' recommendations have been incorporated (one week).
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Writing style is reviewed (two weeks).
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Linguistic and style revisions (philological review) are sent to the author, who approves or rejects them (two weeks).
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The final decision of acceptance or rejection of the article lies with the director and the general editor of the journal, based on the opinions of the reviewers (peer review) and with the support of the Editorial Board and the Advisory Committee (one week).
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The article is formatted after two to three revisions by the layout designer and the editor, and each article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier -DOI- (three weeks).
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The collaboration is published in the corresponding volume and issue of the Biocenosis journal, in the OJS (Open Journal Systems) platform of the UNED Journals Portal at the Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica, and a publication notice is sent to the authors (one week).
Open access policy 
This journal provides free immediate access to its content under the free availability principle for all audiences, which promotes an increased global knowledge exchange. No charge is done for submitting or publishing texts on the scientific magazine. All of the published papers can be downloaded freely, and they can be used and re-used according to Creative Commons license, as it is indicated at UNED´s web portal. Creative Commons Attribution-NoComercial 4.0 International.
Authors who publish in the journal retain their respective moral rights of authorship. Upon acceptance of the work for publication in the journal, the economic rights to the work are transferred to the State Distance University, as expressed in Articles 16 and 39 of the General Law on Copyright and Related Rights No. 6683, according to Costa Rican regulations. The journal Biocenosis has the right to reproduce, distribute, and make the article available in any format and medium, including print and electronic versions.
The personal data of authors and reviewers will be managed in accordance with the data protection and privacy laws applicable in the country and in accordance with international guidelines for this type of publication.
Authors must declare any conflict of interest that may influence the study or interpretation of the data addressed. This includes any financial, personal, or professional relationship that may be related to the content of the manuscript.
Privacy Statement
Names and electronic emails included in this scientific magazine will be only used for the magazine´s stated goal, and there will not be available for any other purpose or person.
Code of Ethics
The Scientific Magazine Biocenosis is oriented by the rules and codes written on the document Scientific Magazine Biocenosis´ Ethics principles, which can be consulted by clicking here.
Plagiarism policy
The received manuscripts must achieve the originality requirement stablished in the author´s guidelines in the sending section. That is why, the received texts will be revised by using the electronic tool Turnitin, in order to make sure the text´s originality and the right source´s acknowledge of authorship, as well. It is author´s responsibility to respect all cited sources which will be used in the text by acknowledging appropriately the authorship in each of them, and by citing correctly according to APA format.
Digital preservation policy
The whole content available in Biocenosis´ website -from UNED- is backed up daily at UNED´s own servers, which is its Editor entity. The institutional unit in charge of this cycle of backups is the Dirección de Tecnología de Información y Comunicaciones (DTIC) (Information Technology and Communication Management), which performs this task by two kinds of saving: one is done in the hard disc in a system called SAN, and the other one is recorded on a backup robot´s tape drive. This journal uses the LOCKSS system to create a file which is distributed in the participant libraries to allow them to create magazine´s permanent files for preservation and restoration goals. Extend information.
Interoperability Protocol
This journal provides an OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) interface, allowing other portals and information services to access metadata of the published content. To view the interoperability protocol, please refer to the URL: https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/biocenosis/oai
Specifications:
OAI-PMH Protocol Version 2.0 Dublin Core Metadata
Author´ s guidelines
To visualize the author´ s guidelines, follow the link:
