Focus and Scope

Guaju - Brazilian Journal of Sustainable Territorial Development is edited by the Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Territorial Development (PPGDTS) of the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), published continuously since 2015. The central objective is to be a channel in the debate on development in its different dimensions (environmental, social, human, economic, cultural and political-institutional), prioritizing the territorial approach and having as reference the principles of sustainability. As a scientific journal, its mission is to be a national and international reference in the dissemination of the territorial approach to development and sustainability.

The works to be published in Guaju, whether theoretical or empirical and whether in the form of articles, essays, reports of practices and reviews, should be based on an interdisciplinary and innovative perspective and discuss territorial problems that are embedded in the society and nature interface. All contributions to Guaju must be unpublished and present potential for debate on territorial development and sustainability, considering different scales of action and analysis. 

Preferred topics to be addressed in Guaju are sustainability in its different expressions (environmental, social, economic and cultural); eco-socioeconomics, associativism and local knowledge; social networks and public policies; ecology and environmental, socioeconomic and historical-cultural biodiversity; region and regionalization; urban and rural space interface in contemporaneity, highlighting social inclusion, intersectoriality, multidiversity, multifunctionality; agroecology; food and nutritional sovereignty and security; social and institutional processes of territory planning and management; global dynamics and their territorial impacts; productive dynamics and their territorial impacts; social conflicts and/or socio-territorial cooperation; related fields between health and education in the territorial context; socio-environmental determinants of health and territory; governance, heritage and territorial development.

Peer Review Process

The evaluation process of articles, essays, practice reports and reviews contemplates several steps. The first step is a first check by the editors to assess whether the content of the article is aligned with the thematic focus of Guaju and whether the manuscript has been prepared in accordance with the instructions to authors and the principles of ethical conduct. The editors may reject the article if they detect:

(i) failure to meet the focus and scope of Guaju;

(ii) errors regarding instructions to authors or ethical conduct;

(iii) inadequate writing and/or textual structure, or if the work does not contain sufficient scientific or technological merit.

In this first stage, the articles, essays, practice reports and reviews are checked to ensure that there are no plagiarism issues.

The articles approved in this initial phase will be sent by the editors to two ad hoc reviewers, who demonstrate mastery of the theme addressed by the submitted work. 

The evaluators will receive the manuscript without any identification of the authors besides the evaluation form. Those invited to perform this role must meet the journal's evaluation guidelines. At no stage of the process will the evaluators know the identity of the authors, nor will the authors know the identity of the evaluators. The average evaluation time (for each designated reviewer) should be around 30 days from the date of submission.

The ad hoc reviewers must observe the following criteria when conducting the evaluation:

(i) the contribution and timeliness of the technical-scientific content to its field;

(ii) coherence between objectives, theoretical aspects, analyzed material (if applicable), and final considerations;

(iii) clarity and quality of the writing;

(iv) adequacy to the journal's publication norms.

The result of the reviewers' evaluation may be one of four:

(i) full approval;

(ii) approval subject to required revisions;

(iii) approval subject to a second round of reviews;

(iv) rejection.

If there are contrary opinions, the articles will be forwarded to a third reviewer.

Finally, once these first two stages have been completed, and in case of approval, the article undergoes a final review by the editors, for subsequent forwarding to the formatting, editing and publication process. Thus, if there are no specific issues to be solved in the manuscripts submitted to Guaju, the evaluation can be done within a period ranging from one to four months.

Submissions will be made exclusively through the journal’s digital platform.

Note: The reviewer must disclose to the editors any conflicts of interest that could influence his/her opinion on the manuscript, and, when appropriate, declare him/herself unqualified to review it.

It is recommended that reviewers register on Publons to obtain international recognition of their reviews on the Publons link.

Publication Frequency

Publication in continuous flow, in electronic format.

Open Access Policy

This journal offers immediate free access to its contents, following the principle that making scientific knowledge freely available to the public provides greater worldwide democratization of knowledge.

Guaju does not charge any processing fees for submitted manuscripts.

Ethical Conduct Guidelines

Guaju follows the norms and guidelines of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

We highlight some aspects related to ethical conduct, directed to authors and, in special cases, to all those involved in the process of reviewing or editing texts to be published in Guaju.

Authorship

Citing the authors of a scientific article ensures that they receive authorship credit. Intentionally failing to mention an author with his/her work is considered an ethical misconduct, which compromises the quality of the article submitted to Guaju. It is also prohibited to include authors in articles who have not contributed to their construction, including invited authors, in order to increase the chances of publication. Likewise, it is forbidden to include authors in articles without their permission.

Collaborators who have partially participated in the construction of the article, for example, in the review of the writing or data collection, should be mentioned in a specific section of the article, thus avoiding pseudo-authorship.

Plagiarism

One of the most common types of ethical misconduct is plagiarism, that is, when an author intentionally uses another author's work without permission, credit, or knowledge. Plagiarism can take many different forms, from verbatim copying to paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is only allowed as long as the source is mentioned and the meaning intended by the original author is not changed. To avoid deviations of this nature, Guaju uses electronic means of scanning. If any kind of plagiarism is found, the article is rejected and the authors are informed.

Research fraud

Publishing data or conclusions that have not been generated by experiments or observations, but by fabrication or manipulation of data, is considered to be research fraud. To prevent fraud of this nature, authors may be required to submit raw data that have been used in the research, so it is recommended that authors of articles store the data used.

The same applies to cases of manipulation of images or pictures, which imply the alteration of specific characteristics of the original. If necessary, the author's consent must be obtained, except when it is only a matter of improving its clarity.

Conflict of interests

Conflicting interests or loyalties, related to financial issues or beliefs, that may affect objectivity or unduly influence actions of people involved in the publication process, interfering in the integrity of scientific publications, and may involve authors, reviewers or agencies that contribute resources for the research. If any, they should be informed at the time of article submission and, in special cases, the editors may require supporting documentation.

Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how conflicts of interest are managed during writing, peer review, and decision making by editors.

Conflicts of interest can arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that, apparent or not, may influence the drafting or evaluation of manuscripts. The conflict of interest may be personal, cultural, commercial, political, academic, or financial in nature.

When authors submit a manuscript, they are responsible for acknowledging and disclosing financial or other conflicts that may have influenced their work. Authors must disclose in the manuscript all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections related to the research.

The reviewer should disclose to the editors any conflicts of interest that might influence their opinion of the manuscript and, where appropriate, disqualify themselves from reviewing it.

If authors are unsure of what might constitute a potential conflict of interest, they should contact the Journal's editorial office.

Simultaneous submissions, multiple and/or duplicate publications

Authors of articles, essays, practice reports or reviews have the duty to certify that the work submitted to Guaju is based on original reflection or research and has never been published before, which, if done intentionally, is considered a breach of ethics.

This implies the prohibition of submitting an article to more than one journal simultaneously, just as one should avoid submitting articles that essentially describe the same research in different journals, even if they have different titles or parts of the text. In case the author intends to publish the article in a different language, it is necessary to contact the editorial team of the journal to evaluate the situation and authorize or not such procedure.

Sponsors

• Programa de Pós-graduação em Desenvolvimento Territorial Sustentável