About the Journal

Background

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics was founded in 1983 at São Paulo State University (UNESP) Campus Jaboticabal under the name of Revista de Matemática e Estatística (Journal of Mathematics and Statistics; ISSN: 0102-0811), with annual periodicity until 2002, with 20 issues in 20 years. In 2003, aiming at a faster circulation of articles, it became a quarterly publication.

Between 1983 and 2004, the journal was published in print only (ISSN: 0102-0811), and in 2005 it became an electronic journal (ISSN: 1980-4245). In 2007, the journal changed the name to Revista Brasileira de Biometria (Biometric Brazilian Journal; ISSN: 1983-0823) to meet a growing demand for the development and application of statistical methods in the field of biological sciences.

At the beginning of 2016, the journal’s headquarters moved from the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil, to the Department of Statistics, at the Federal University of Lavras, MG, Brazil. At this time, the Journal began a new phase in its history with a new submission system, monitoring, and publication of articles using the Open Journal Systems.

In 2021, the Journal became the official Journal of the Brazilian Region of the International Biometric Society (RBras), representing the third Era of the Journal. Specific rules and duties were created for the editorial board members, and a plan for marketing and internationalization was set up. In March 2022, the name of the Journal became Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (ISSN: 2764-5290), and after 2022 only accepts submissions written in English.

From 1983 to 2015, the journal was financially supported by UNESP through its Central Coordination for Graduate Education as regards its editorial production, printing, and distribution. Since 2016, the Federal University of Lavras has partially financed the Journal. In 2021, a large part of the financial support for the Brazilian Journal of Biometrics came from the Brazilian Region of the International Biometric Society.

For forty years, BJB has been published without interruption, without charging any fees to authors and readers, thanks to the voluntary work of its Editors, Associate Editors, and Reviewers.

In particular, we acknowledge the contribution of the Editors-in-Chief of the Brazilian Journal of Biometrics: Euclides Braga Malheiros (1983 – 2015), João Domingos Scalon (2016-2020), and Tales Fernandes (since 2021) for keeping the Journal alive and always very active.

Open Science Compliance

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics follows the open science. The journal is published under the Open Access model and therefore, articles are free for anyone to read, download, copy, and disseminate for educational purposes. We accept 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, using the CRediT Taxonomy. 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 to 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 editors responsible will be published in each article.

Focus and Publication

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (BJB) is a scientific journal published by the Federal University of Lavras Press. Until 2024, four issues were published per year. However, starting in 2025, the Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (BJB) has adopted a continuous publication model, where articles are added to a single issue per year. As the official journal of the Brazilian Region of the International Biometric Society, BJB serves as a platform for the dissemination of original research papers that explore, promote, and extend statistical, mathematical, and data science methods in applied biological sciences.

With a focus on fostering collaboration between statisticians and scientists, BJB welcomes submissions from diverse fields within biology, including agriculture, animal sciences, ecology, forestry, food science, genetics, plant breeding, livestock, medicine, public health, soil science, veterinary science, and wood science, among others. The journal serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners who utilize statistical methods to address key challenges and advance knowledge in these fields.

Ethics

Please check out our publication ethics statement. ( Publication ethics statement.)

Conflicts of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the research or interpretation of the results. Editors and reviewers are also expected to declare any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts that may lead to bias.

SAGER Guidelines

As part of the evaluation process, we encourage the authors to be aware of and follow the ‘Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER – guidelines', to include the considerations of sex and gender when necessary and relevant to the research. The use of therms sex and gender should be used carrefully and with distinction in order to avoid confusion. Before submission, we sugest to authors the reading of the full guidelines.

Journal Indexing

Review process

The review process for the manuscript follows a double-blind approach, ensuring anonymity for both the authors and reviewers. The editor-in-chief appoints a section editor who selects at least two reviewers with expertise in the field. The review consists of the assessment of the scientific quality of the manuscript. Reviewers are instructed to evaluate the manuscript for scientific rigor, clarity, and relevance. Reproducibility is emphasized, and reviewers verify that results can be replicated before recommending conditional acceptance. This rigorous double-blind review process maintains the integrity and quality of the Brazilian Journal of Biometrics' publications.

The editors will evaluate the manuscripts using the CrossCheck system as soon as they are submitted. Firstly, the textual content of the scientific articles will be assessed, looking for plagiarism, duplicate submissions, already published manuscripts and possible research fraud;

The referees are allotted a period of 21 calendar days from the acceptance of the review invitation to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the article. The editor may exercise discretion to extend this period, but any extension granted will not exceed an additional 21 calendar days. This timeframe ensures that the referees have sufficient time to conduct a thorough analysis and provide valuable feedback on the article. It also allows for efficient editorial decision-making while maintaining the rigor and quality of the review process.

Types of papers

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (BJB) accepts various types of papers that contribute to the advancement of statistical and data science methods in applied biological sciences. The following are the types of papers considered for publication:

  • Research Articles: These are original research papers that present novel findings, methodologies, or advancements in statistical and data science methods applied to biological sciences. Research articles should include clear objectives, rigorous data analysis, and insightful interpretation of results.
  • Review Articles: Review articles provide comprehensive and critical evaluations of existing literature on specific topics within the scope of biometrics. They summarize current knowledge, identify gaps, and propose future research directions. Review articles offer valuable insights and guidance for researchers and practitioners in the field.
  • Software Articles: BJB welcomes articles introducing new statistical software or significant updates to existing software that facilitate data analysis and modeling in biological sciences. Software articles should include detailed descriptions of the software functionalities, user guides, and examples of its application.

Authors are encouraged to consult the journal's submission guidelines for specific formatting and requirements for each type of paper. By accepting diverse types of papers, BJB aims to foster a broad range of scientific contributions and promote interdisciplinary collaboration within the field of biometrics.

Copyright

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (BJB) is committed to open-access publishing and the dissemination of scientific knowledge without imposing copyright restrictions on authors or readers. BJB applies the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0 ) to all published articles. This means that authors retain ownership of the copyright for their work while granting others the right to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and copy the articles as long as the original authors and source are properly credited. This open license promotes the free and open availability of original works and encourages collaboration and innovation within the scientific community.

Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

In order to guarantee excellence in the scientific production published, our editorial practice aims to strengthen the integrity of the articles published by this journal. In accordance with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines, which aim to encourage the identification of plagiarism, malpractice, fraud, possible breaches of ethics and the initiation of proceedings, we recommend that authors visit the COPE website http://publicationethics.org, which contains information for authors and editors on research ethics.

The Brazilian Journal of Biometrics (BJB) might use similarity software to detect article plagiarism (Copyspider, https://copyspider.com.br/main/), when the manuscript is submitted for evaluation. If detected, the manuscript is automatically rejected without further review.

Fees

Since the BJB operates on an open-access and non-APC model, the authors are not required to pay any fees for the publication of their articles. The journal aims to promote open access to scientific knowledge without imposing financial burdens on authors. By waiving the APC, BJB ensures that authors can freely disseminate their research findings and encourages the broad accessibility of published articles to researchers, practitioners, and the public. The commitment to a no-APC policy reflects the journal's dedication to fostering academic exchange, supporting authors, and advancing scientific progress in the field of biometrics.