Submissions

Author Guidelines

Scope

Original and unpublished scientific articles are accepted for publication.  Articles must be based on research, related to the area of knowledge called Technology for the Built Environment, which covers conceptual design, design, production, operation, maintenance, demolition and recycling or reuse of buildings and their immediate surroundings.

We do not accept texts that contain a simple bibliographic review, without the research method or approach being original. If part of the results presented have already been disclosed, the design of the text and its main conclusions must be original and unpublished.

Ambiente Construído encourages and allows the submission of articles deposited on a recognized preprint server.

Peer review

Articles submitted to the Ambiente Construído journal are evaluated using a double-blind peer review system. It is up to the editor-in-chief to carry out a prior assessment (first screen) to verify the relevance of the subject and compliance with the editorial guidelines of the Journal, presenting an original and unpublished scientific contribution, necessarily the result of  research work; theoretical-methodological discussion based on current national and international literature; detailed methodological procedures consistent with the study carried out; discussion of results based on consistent evidence; and contributions to the available scientific knowledge on the subject. If accepted at this stage, the editor-in-chief will distribute the article to at least two reviewers bearing no indication of the authorship. To ensure a standard in this evaluation process, the editorial board prepared a form  containing recommendations that guide reviewers in preparing their report on the article. After the reviewers have done this, the editor sends you your paper according to the recommendations provided by the peers without identifying them. To proceed with the evaluation process, the editor can decide to accept your article for publication in its present form or with minor corrections, to reject, through consistent and justified opinions, or  request reformulations for submission of a new version to be analyzed again by the reviwers. Whatever the editor-in-chief decides, the recommendations issued by the evaluators, without identifying them, are forwarded to the authors.

These recommendations cover the following items: the structure of the article, the writing quality, the technical and scientific quality of the work, the relevance of the topic and the originality of the subject, as well as the consistency of the presented results.

Regarding the structure, the reviewer should consider the quality of the logical structure of the article regarding the sequence of the topics. The paper must include a theoretical discussion, a description of the research method, and present relevant scientific results.

Concerning the writing, we suggest you check the clarity of the text, spelling and grammar.

The technical and scientific quality involves analysing the correct use of the concepts addressed, the depth of the contents, the scientific rigour of the work (analysed based on the description of the method adopted) and the citation of fundamental references for the subject and international scope, as well as clear contributions to scientific knowledge.

Regarding the relevance, the reviewer should analyse if the paper addresses relevant problems related to Built Environment Technology.

Concerning originality, we evaluate the novelty and level of innovation proposed. In addition, the Journal reserves the right to the reviewers to add criteria that may contribute to the quality of the publication.

Collection of fees

The approved papers will be subject to a publication fee, according to the authors' membership to ANTAC:

• 100% of the authors are members – fee exemption;
  • At least 50% of the authors are members – fee of R$ 350.00;
  • Less than 50% of the authors are members – fee of R$ 700.00.

Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ambiente Construído is committed to following ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. Thus, the author, editor, editorial committee and reviewers must maintain good ethical practices.

We always advocate good practices recommended by DORA (San Francisco Declaration on research evaluation).

The journal considers it an unethical practice to submit the article in more than one journal, as well as to publish it in more than one journal. Thus, the author must comply with the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Any questions should be sent to the email Ambienteconstruido@ufrgs.br.

Cases of suspected ethical violation:

Publication in another journal, non-existent data, authorship without effective participation, plagiarism or self-plagiarism, ethical issues related to the research, appropriation of ideas or data by the reviewers, among others, are considered cases of suspected ethical violation.

So, Ambiente Construído guidelines for dealing with these issues include:

- Cases of suspicion will be treated in accordance with COPE guidelines;

- Any person can inform the Editorial Commission about suspected ethical infraction;

- Any denouncement will be reported to the Editorial Committee and the complainant will be answered.

Authors are responsible for:

- Not having submitted the article to another journal;

- The article is not published in another journal;

- Inform, when submitting the article, the number of the CAAE referring to the approval of the research in the Research Ethics Council or the registration in Plataforma Brasil, in the case of articles derived from research whose data collection is regulated by Resolution 510 of 07 /04/2016, from the National Health Council;

- All authors of the article must have effectively collaborated with the development of the work, for the conception, execution or interpretation of the article. Any other contributions can be  acknowledged at the end of the article;

- Omit, at the time of submission, any data that identify authorship, origin, acknowledgements, information on funding, or any other reference that may identify authorship of the work;

- Notify the editorial team of any error or misunderstanding in your article so that an errata or retraction can be provided;

- Ensure that all sources used to produce the article were properly cited, guaranteeing the originality of the text and the absence of plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

The editorial committee is responsible for:

- The editor is responsible for the initial evaluation, indicating whether the article goes to peer review, verifying the pertinence of the subject and compliance with the journal's editorial guidelines. If accepted at this stage, verification is carried out regarding the existence of information on the authorship of the article in the text and the file to guarantee the double blind assessment, and regarding the originality of the text, to avoid publication of articles that violate ethics in academic production;

- Exclude articles that contain plagiarism, offend political or ideological positions, religious beliefs, gender or ethnic origin;

- Maintain the ethical aspects of the submission process for publication of the article.

Responsibilities of reviewers

The reviewers are responsible for:

- Do not copy or use the article, even in parts;

- Communicate the risk of plagiarism or similarity of the article with works already published without a proper reference;

- Communicate possible conflicts of interest in the assigned evaluation;

- Not to divulge information provided by the editor or author;

- Provide an opinion that does not offend and that help to the improvement of the paper.

Conflict of interests

The editorial board is responsible for investigating cases of negligence and misconduct. In case of conflict of interest, the editorial board will strictly monitor the submission. Therefore, any observation about conflict must be communicated to the Journal to resolve them quickly and transparently.

Editors, evaluators, reviewers and anyone involved in the editorial process must report cases of conflict of interest, even if not confirmed.

Plagiarism and editorial misconduct

Plagiarism is forbidden in Ambiente Construído.

All articles submitted to the Built Environment are checked for plagiarism on the Plagium and CopyspIder platforms before starting peer review operation.

When a plagiarism is detected, even if it is an excerpt from the author without proper reference, the editor notifies the author to make the necessary corrections and thus enable a new submission.

If any member of the editorial team becomes aware of possible misconduct related to an Ambiente Construído article, the responsible editor will follow COPE's guidelines for handling the allegations.

Sex and gender issues

Guidelines on Sex and Gender Equity in Research must be observed at all stages of the editorial process, from authors to publication. These guidelines (SAGER) instruct reporting information about sex and gender, both in the study and in the analysis of data and results, as well as in the interpretation of considerations.

Ambiente Construído takes gender equity into account in its editorial board.