Botanica Complutensis

Introduction

Botanica Complutensis (ISSN: 0214-4565 / ISSN-e: 1988-2874) is a scientific periodical publication published by the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution (Botany Teaching Unit) in the Faculty of Biological Sciences. It is an annual journal, founded in 1968 by the Professor of Phytography Francisco Bellot Rodríguez. It was originally known as Trabajos de Botánica y Fisiología Vegetal but changed its name to Botanica Complutensis in volume 14 (1989). It includes papers in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese, on Botany. It includes articles on plant and fungal taxonomy and systematics and related fields such as biogeography, conservation, ecophysiology, phylogeny, phylogeography, floristics, functional morphology, nomenclature or plant-animal relations and also synthesis and review papers.

1. Management bodies

The management bodies responsible for the scientific coordination and publication of the journal are the Editorial Board and the Advisory Board. All members of these boards undertake to respect the principles of the Code of Ethics established for scientific journals by the Complutense University of Madrid.

1.1. Editorial Board: structure and composition

• The Editorial Board will be made up of the Director, the Secretary and the members. The position of Director must be filled by an active lecturer with a contractual relationship with the UCM who belongs to the Botany Teaching Unit in the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, At least one third of its members must belong to institutions other than the Complutense University of Madrid.
• The Editorial Board will assist the Director in all their functions and, especially, in the handling of the papers (receipt, review and acceptance) and in the definition of the contents and style of the journal (writing of guidelines for the submission of originals, creation and orientation of sections, etc.).
• The Director and members of the Editorial Board will be elected by the Botany Teaching Unit in the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. If there is only one applicant, and provided that there is no objection from the Departmental Board, they will be appointed without the need for a vote. If there is more than one candidate for the same position, a vote will be held. In the event of a tie, the option of sharing the position or holding a second vote will be considered. The position of Secretary will be directly appointed by the Director.
• All members will be elected for a period of four years and may only be re-elected to their position for a second period of four years.

1.1.1. Duties of the Director

• The Director will be responsible for the coordination and representation of the journal and for relations with the Editorial Board, Advisory Board and Ediciones Complutense. Similarly, they will be responsible for relations with other institutions for any matters related to the journal.
• The Director will appoint the Secretary.
• The Director will convene the meetings of the Editorial Board.
• The Director will be obliged to inform the Botany Teaching Unit and the Departmental Board about the operation of the journal, as well as its needs.
• The Director will be responsible for ensuring that the highest possible scientific quality of the journal is maintained, as well as for its recognition and inclusion in national and international databases and its evaluation to obtain quality seals, in which area they will have the support of the other members of the Editorial Board.
• The Director will have a casting vote in the event of a tie in the deliberations of the Editorial Board.

1.1.2. Duties of the Secretary

• The Secretary will be responsible for receiving the originals and managing them throughout the review and publication process.
• The Secretary will be responsible for communication with the authors, the members of the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board and Ediciones Complutense.
• The Secretary will confirm the receipt of all papers received with the authors.
• The Secretary will organise the process for checking the originals received by the Editorial Board so that a decision can be made on which papers to review and which to return, once compliance with the journal’s requirements has been verified.
• The Secretary will be responsible for sending the originals to the reviewers along with an instruction document and review template.
• Once the decision on whether to publish the originals has been made, the Secretary will be responsible for sending notification of the decision to the authors, justifying the decision.
• The Secretary will be responsible for monitoring the complete publishing process for the journal’s issues (preparation and delivery of originals, including the first pages and statistics, layout process, sending proofs to authors, reviewing the version prior to printing, notification to the authors of the publication).
• The Secretary will prepare the meetings with the Director and draw up the minutes of the meetings of the Editorial Board. Similarly, they will be responsible for the safeguarding of the minutes and will certify the work carried out by the members, scientific advisers and reviewers.
• The Secretary will collaborate with the Director in the publicising of the journal, institutional relations, exchanges, indexing and any other tasks that result in an improvement in the quality and recognition of the journal.

1.1.3. Duties of the Members of the Editorial Board

• The members of the Editorial Board will be obliged to attend any meetings that are convened. [If members are from other provinces or other countries, the Board may establish a procedure for their effective participation even if they are not present at the meetings.]
• The Members, under the coordination of the Secretary, will take part in the initial reading of the originals to allow a decision to be made about which will be reviewed and which will be returned to the authors.
• The Members will help with the search for external reviewers for the papers and will not under any circumstances be reviewers.
• The Members will advise and collaborate with the journal’s management in any tasks deemed necessary for the smooth running of the journal, including ensuring compliance with punctuality and timeliness.

1.2. Advisory Board

• The Advisory Board will be made up of professionals and researchers of recognised prestige and soundness, with no institutional ties to the journal. In addition to bringing rigour to the journal, it will help establish the editorial policy, make the journal attractive to both authors and readers and publicise it, as far as possible, in all forums. Similarly, it will support the evaluation and audit processes.
• The Advisory Board must have members who are professionals and researchers in foreign institutions.
• The process for electing its members will be as follows: when a member of the Advisory Board resigns or is due for re-election, it will be carried out at the request of any of the members of the Botany Teaching Unit in the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. Once the proposal has been accepted without objection, an invitation letter will be sent to the candidate, who must expressly accept it.
• The members of the Advisory Board may participate in the processes for reviewing originals as external peers, taking into account that at least one of the reviews must always be issued by a reviewer who is not a member of the Advisory Board.