Focus and Scope
Eclética Química (Eclét. Quím.) is a peer-reviewed and continuous publication maintained by the Institute of Chemistry of Sao Paulo State University (IQ- UNESP). It publishes original research articles, reviews, and short reviews in all areas of Chemistry, as well as Educational Articles in Chemistry for various educational levels, and Technical Notes of interest to chemists.
Eclética Química's editorial policy is based on the responsibility of providing quality scientific communication in the field of Chemistry. Thus, Eclét. Quím. requires its editorial board, reviewers, and authors to adhere to ethical principles and maintain integrity, and is committed to Open Science, strongly supporting and encouraging its practice in publishing research results. Eclética Química is committed to following the trends in scientific publications.
Types of papers
a. Original articles
b. Reviews
c. Short reviews
d. Communications
e. Technical notes
f. Articles in education in chemistry and chemistry-related areas
g. Letters
h. Thematic sections dedicated to specific subjects inside the journal's scope, and articles from Symposia and Congresses.
Manuscripts submitted for publication as full articles and communications must contain original and unpublished results and should not have been submitted either partially or whole elsewhere. Manuscripts originating from scientific initiation, course completion monographs, Dissertations or PhD Thesis already deposited in Universities' repositories are accepted without considering it a violation of the journal's rules. Eclética Química also accepts preprints, provided they include the corresponding DOI and repository information.
a. Original articles
The manuscript must be organized into sections as follows:
- Introduction
- Experimental
- Results and Discussion
- Conclusions
References
Section titles must be written in bold and sequentially numbered; only the first letter should be in uppercase letter. Subsections, numbered as exemplified, should be written in bold and italic letters; sub-subsections, numbered as exemplified, should be written in normal and italic letters; only the first letter should be in uppercase letters.
Example:
1. Introduction
1.1. History
2. Experimental
2.1. Surface characterization
2.1.1. Morphological analysis
b. Reviews
Review articles should be original and present state-of-the-art overviews in a coherent and concise form, covering the most relevant aspects of the topic being revised and indicating the likely future directions of the field. The addition of an Outline and the criteria used to make the bibliography review are highly recommended. Therefore, before beginning the preparation of a Review manuscript, send a letter (one-page maximum) to the Editor with the subject of interest and the main topics that would be covered in the Review manuscript. The Editor will communicate his decision in two weeks. Receiving this type of manuscript does not imply acceptance to be published in Eclét. Quím. It will be peer-reviewed.
c. Short reviews
Short reviews should present an overview of the state-of-the-art in a specific topic within the scope of the journal and be limited to 5,000 words. Consider a table or image corresponding to 100 words. Before beginning the preparation of a Short Review manuscript, send a letter (one-page maximum) to the Editor with the subject of interest and the main topics that would be covered in the Short Review manuscript.
d. Communications
Communication should cover relevant scientific results and be limited to 1,500 words or three pages of the journal, not including the title, authors’ names, figures, tables, and references. However, communications suggesting fragmentation of complete contributions are strongly discouraged by Editors.
e. Technical notes
Descriptions of methods, techniques, equipment, or accessories developed in the authors’ laboratory, if they present chemical content of interest, are taken into consideration, and Eclética Química stimulates their submission. They should follow the usual form of presentation, according to the peculiarities of each work. They should have a maximum of 25 pages, including figures, tables, diagrams, and other relevant content.
f. Articles in education in chemistry and chemistry-correlated areas
Research manuscripts related to teaching in Chemistry and innovative experiences for different educational levels, primarily in undergraduate and graduate education, are welcome. They should have a maximum of 25 pages, including figures, tables, diagrams, and other supplementary elements.
g. Letters
This section publishes obituaries of important scientists in chemistry or related areas, letters for the Editor or comments about published articles. Letters must be uploaded to the system in the Letters section. A paragraph informing the main reason for sending the letter is recommended. The corresponding author should provide the institution and ORCID of all authors, a Phone number, and an email. (This information should be uploaded as a supplementary file or added to the discussion topics in the OJS system).
Letters are published only by the Editor-in-Chief decision.
h. Thematic sections dedicated to specific subjects inside the journal's scope, and articles from Symposia and Congresses
Thematic sections with complete articles dedicated to Symposia and Congresses, as well as specific themes in chemistry and related areas, can be published by Eclét. Quím. under the condition that a previous agreement with the Editor-in-Chief is established. Authors can submit manuscripts to the open Thematic Section, and the Editor-in-Chief decides on the suitability of the manuscript to the theme of the respective Thematic Section. The authors must adhere to all the journal's guidelines.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Manuscripts submitted for publication as full articles and communications must contain original and unpublished results and should not have been submitted elsewhere either partially or whole. Manuscript originating from scientific initiation, course completion monographs, Dissertations or PhD Thesis already deposited in Universities' repositories is accepted without considering it a violation of the journal's rules. Eclética Química accepts manuscripts already published in the preprint (SciELO Preprints, EmeRI, ChemRxiv, …). Since it is considered reliable by the editorial committee, the corresponding preprint DOI and the name of the repository should be informed upon submission.
Research involving human beings and animals must present an approval opinion from an institutional ethics committee upon submission.
All articles published in Eclética Química receive the Digital Object Identification (DOI).
Eclética Química has no article submission nor processing charges. All articles are available with open access to readers.
Eclética Química is an open-access journal, meaning that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles or use them for any lawful purpose without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative) definition of open access.
The name of the Associate or Section Editor appears on the first page of the published article. The ROR (Research Organization Registry) of the University appears in the affiliation.
The editor-in-chief should apply projects to financial agencies and the university in response to specific notices to raise funds for Eclética Química.
The history of Eclét. Quím. is updated by the Editor-in-Chief.
LICENSE CREATIVE COMMONS
Eclética Química adopts the Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0. This means that authors retain the copyright to the article, and the journal retains priority of first publication, being permitted to distribute, remix, adapt, and create derivative works, provided due credit is given to the authors and the journal.
PUBLICATION ETHICS POLICY
The journal adheres to all recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding plagiarism, multiple publications, conflicts of interest, and any other forms of misconduct. Details on Ethical conduct are in the Guide for Authors.
Corrections and retractions
No additions or changes of authorship are permitted after accepting the manuscript.
After publishing a manuscript, mistakes, or errors, independent of their nature or origin, which do not constitute misconduct, are corrected using an erratum. The Eclética Química publishes errata, corrections, or retractions as soon as possible.
Any additions or modifications to the accepted text should only be made before the manuscript is published and only if approved by the Associated Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal.
After the manuscript has been accepted, the Editor will only consider additions and changes to the text in exceptional circumstances. The publication will be suspended until the changes are processed.
The published article in which the misconduct is identified remains indexed in the Eclética Química database as retracted. It cannot be unpublished.
Retracting articles and issuing an expression of concern
(COPE’s retraction guidelines, Comment, vol. 374 (2009) 1876-1877).
Institutions, publishers, editors, authors, reviewers, and the broader scientific community must be committed to upholding good research practices, transparent publication processes, and scientific integrity, and to ensuring transparency in all actions related to the production, dissemination, and application of knowledge. This presupposes the investigation of any misconduct, the immediate correction of honest errors, and a deeper investigation by legally constituted committees to ensure the correct decision is made with serenity and respect for those involved, as well as adherence to ethical precepts.
The decision must be disclosed calmly, transparently, and clearly, explaining the reasons behind it and its consequences.
Retracting publications
If it is recognized that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement, or distorted narrative has been published, it must promptly be corrected with due prominence. If, after proper investigation, an item is revealed to be fraudulent, the publication must be retracted.
An article can be retracted in one or more of the following situations:
- When there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either because of a major error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error) or because of fabrication (e.g., of data) or falsification (e.g., image manipulation).
- When the article constitutes plagiarism.
- The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources or disclosure to the editor, permission to republish, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication).
- When it contains material or data without authorization for use.
- Copyright has been infringed, or there is some other serious legal issue (e.g., libel, privacy).
- With reports on unethical research.
- It has been published solely based on a compromised or manipulated peer review process.
- The authors did not disclose a conflict of interest that, according to the Editor-in-Chief's viewpoint, would have unduly affected the work interpretation or infringed the journal and peer review rules.
A publication will be retracted after an investigation by the Eclética Química Committee with knowledge/participation of the Editorial Board of Scientific Journals (EBSJ – Conselho Editorial de Publicações Científicas – CEPC) of UNESP and with the legal support of the university concludes that it is a case of misconduct. The Eclética Química Committee will be composed of 5 members: the Editor-in-Chief, an Associate Editor, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, a member of EBSJ and a lawyer from the university's legal team.
Issuing an expression of concern
An expression of concern can evolve into a retracting publication analysis.
The Editor-in-Chief should consider issuing an expression of concern if:
- Some denouncements or suspicion of misconduct are received about the manuscript or authors from Associate Editors, Reviewers, or anybody.
- There is inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors.
- There is evidence that the results are unreliable, and the authors’ institution will not investigate the case.
- The Editor believes that an investigation into alleged misconduct related to the publication either has not been, or would not be, fair and impartial, or conclusive.
- An investigation is underway, but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
Authors
Authors or the Corresponding authors (on behalf of all authors) are obliged to disclose any potential conflict of interest, which can be of a personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial nature. It can occur when authors, reviewers or editors have interests that may influence the preparation or evaluation of a manuscript.
The author(s) should declare in a signed document any potential conflict of interest that may have influenced the work. This document must be uploaded as a supplementary file upon submission or declared in the proper cover letter template.
Example of declaration when there is no conflict of interest:
"On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author declares and signs there is no conflict of interest involving this work."
Example of declaration of conflict of interest:
"This study was financed by a grant from (name, city, and country of Corporation). Dr. (surname) is on the scientific advisory board of (name, city, and country of Corporation). Dr. (surname) is a consultant and shareholder of (name, city, and country of Corporation). Drs. (surnames) declared no conflicts of interest associated with this study."
Editors and Reviewers
Editors should avoid making decisions on manuscripts that conflict with their interests, such as those submitted by authors from their department, research collaborators or relatives.
The reviewer should inform the editors of any conflicts of interest which may influence the evaluation of the manuscript and must declare themselves unqualified to review it, before beginning the review. Examples of relationships with the author(s): participating or having participated in a research project; maintaining or having maintained scientific collaboration with research groups; having a mentoring relationship with the author; having a financial interest in the project involved in the manuscript, being related to the author(s).
ABOUT THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are accepted since the authors declare and explicitly inform if they have been used to revise the grammar or improve the quality of English in the written process. If any AI tool is used to write one or more paragraphs of the manuscript or to make improvements to the English text, other than minor corrections, its use must be declared in the Methodology of the manuscript. The information should describe in detail what, how and where AI was used. The lack of clear and complete information can lead to requirements from the editor to the authors or result in article rejection.
Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
The following guidance applies solely to the writing process and does not extend to the use of AI tools for data analysis or drawing insights as part of the research process.
Authors are advised to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., ChatGPT-3. ChatGTP-4), exclusively to enhance readability and language quality during the writing process. The use of these technologies should be accompanied by human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the generated output, as AI has the potential to produce content that may appear authoritative but could be incorrect, incomplete, or biased.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in policy for authors.
When the use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors must include a statement about it in the Ethics section with the following content:
Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process: during the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and are fully responsible for the publication content.
The following guidance applies solely to the writing process and does not extend to the use of AI tools for data analysis or drawing insights as part of the research process. If no AI tools were used, report "AI tools were not used."
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data availability statement informs the reader where the data associated with your work is available and under what conditions they can be accessed. They also include links (where applicable) to the data set.
- The data are available in a data repository (cite repository and the DOI of the deposited data).
- The data will be available upon request.
- All data sets were generated or analyzed in the current study.
- Data sharing is not applicable (in cases where no data sets have been generated or analyzed during the current study, it should be declared).
PRIVACY DECLARATION
The names and addresses provided in Eclética Química will be used exclusively for the services provided by this publication. They will not be made available for other purposes or to third parties.
ARCHIVING
The digital archives of Eclética Química are preserved on a server located at São Paulo State University-UNESP but managed by the DTI of the Institute of Chemistry. The Server is in the data center infrastructure of the Institution and is operated and maintained by its Informatic Team, and the backup is done daily. Additionally, the journal's staff performs a weekly backup of the digital archives to an external hard disk. The digital archives of Eclética Química are also preserved in Redalyc, DOAJ, and the Brazilian publications preservation service of the Cariniana Network, operated by the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT).
SPONSORS
The Institute of Chemistry/UNESP supports the Eclética Química, and publication is free of charge for authors. Public Institutions such as CNPq and FAPESP may contribute to the journal if the Journal’s projects are applied to CNPq and/or FAPESP Public Notices.
FLOWCHART FOR THE EDITORIAL PROCESS
To ensure transparency in the editorial process for authors, readers, members of the Editorial Team, and the broader community, the flowchart is published on the journal's website.
PEER REVIEW PROCESS
To ensure transparency in the editorial process for authors, readers, members of the Editorial Team, and the broader community, the peer review process is publicly available on the journal's webpage.