About the Journal -

Policies

Focus and Scope

The Journal of the Colombian Association of Biological Sciences (ACCB Journal) is an international scientific publication that publishes original and unpublished articles, topic reviews, case studies, and brief communications in the field of biological sciences, with a special focus on: animal biology, plant biology, environmental sciences and sustainable development, agricultural sciences, biomedical sciences, genomic sciences and biotechnology, and science education. Additionally, other topics of general interest, as determined by the Editorial Committee, are also considered.

The journal has been published continuously since 1988, with an annual periodicity.

ACCB Journal adheres to the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (http://publicationethics.org/), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (www.icmje.org), and Equator Network (http://www.equator-network.org/) to ensure the quality of scientific publications, their transparency, integrity, and the ethical principles governing research.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to ACCB Journal undergo a double-blind peer review to ensure compliance with the quality and impact criteria required for the scientific, professional, and academic communities targeted by this publication.

The review process consists of the following steps:

Editorial Committee Review: The Editorial Committee first evaluates the manuscript to determine its compliance with the journal’s editorial policies before proceeding to the next stage.
Peer Review: If the manuscript passes the initial evaluation, it is anonymously reviewed by two external reviewers. If one reviewer rejects the manuscript and the other accepts it, a third reviewer will be assigned.

All reviewers use publicly available evaluation criteria (Evaluation Format), which are provided on the journal’s platform. The acceptance or rejection of each manuscript is based on these evaluations, and the decision is communicated to the authors.

Confidentiality

All documents under review are considered confidential. Reviewers must refrain from disclosing any manuscript information or using its contents for personal or third-party benefit.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers have an ethical duty to decline the review of any manuscript with which they have collaborated directly or indirectly or that may be in competition with their work.

Additionally, reviewers involved in the editorial process must inform the Editorial Committee in the following cases:

Lack of expertise: If they lack sufficient knowledge or experience in the manuscript’s subject area or believe there are more qualified reviewers.
Plagiarism or fraud: If they suspect that a manuscript is a substantial copy of another work or that the data/results have been plagiarized, fabricated, or falsified.

Review Process Timeline

Communication between reviewers and the editorial team is carried out via the corresponding author’s email. Upon receiving an editorial invitation, each reviewer has a maximum of five days to accept or decline the review request.

Reviewers must submit their reports and recommendations within 20 days from the review request date. In addition to completing the evaluation format, reviewers may attach a separate document with relevant comments or observations.

Possible Review Outcomes

Accepted: A manuscript is approved if both blind peer reviews are positive. Acceptance may be with or without modifications.
Rejected: A manuscript is rejected if both blind peer reviews are negative.
Accepted with Modifications: The evaluation requires content revisions, which the author(s) must implement before final acceptance.

When submitting a revised version, authors must provide a detailed explanation of the changes made to address the reviewers’ recommendations. If they disagree with any suggestions, they must explain their reasons in detail.

All decisions regarding the manuscript are communicated to the corresponding author as quickly as possible. The timeline depends on the complexity of the topic and the availability of expert reviewers.

Once the review process is complete, the journal notifies the author of the article’s acceptance and begins processing it for publication. If the article is rejected, the author is informed of the reasons provided by the peer reviewers.

ACCB Journal reserves the right to accept or reject manuscripts based on the Editorial Committee’s recommendations and peer review reports. Additionally, the journal may propose editorial revisions and modifications as necessary. The submission of an article does not guarantee its publication.

Publication Frequency

Annual

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to its content, based on the principle that freely available research fosters greater global knowledge exchange. Articles may be distributed in pre-print, post-print, and official versions without prior permission from the author or editor, provided that:

The content is not used for commercial purposes.
No derivative works are created.
The original source and authorship are properly cited.

Ethical Statement and Best Practices

ACCB Journal believes that all journals have a responsibility to disseminate and transfer knowledge. Therefore, it is committed to ensuring the ethics and quality of the articles it publishes. The journal follows the Code of Conduct and Best Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Editorial Committee commits to publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary.

Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors must guarantee the originality of their articles and confirm that they have not been previously submitted or published in another journal.
Manuscripts must follow the journal’s formatting and submission guidelines.
All listed authors must have significantly contributed to the submitted research.
Authors must correct any errors or make necessary revisions upon request.

Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

All manuscripts are checked for plagiarism and self-plagiarism. Any detected dishonest practices will result in the article being removed from the journal, regardless of publication status, and the authors will be permanently banned.

By submitting their work, authors accept the journal’s terms and conditions and acknowledge that any penalties imposed by ACCB Journal are final and cannot be appealed.

Editors’ Responsibilities

The editors have full authority to accept or reject an article.
Editors confirm that they have no conflicts of interest regarding accepted or rejected articles.
If errors are found, the editors will encourage corrections or retractions while maintaining reviewer anonymity.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

ACCB Journal implements a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Therefore, all submitted manuscripts undergo plagiarism detection software analysis. The decision to reject a manuscript based on plagiarism lies with the editor.

Publication Fees

ACCB Journal does not charge submission or publication fees.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript, authors must ensure that their submission meets the following criteria. Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned to the authors.

Is the article original and authored by you?
Has it been submitted to another journal?
Are URLs or DOIs provided for references whenever possible?
The article is in Microsoft Word format, using Times New Roman font (size 12), single-spaced, without indentation, and in a single-column layout.
The submission follows the journal’s author guidelines.
References follow the Vancouver citation style.
Important: Submit your article along with the copyright transfer form, properly completed.