Latin American and Caribbean Bulletin of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Encyclopedia
The Latin American and Caribbean Bulletin of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, or Boletin latinoamericano y del caribe de plantas medicinales y aromaticas (BLACPMA, ISSN-0717 7917) is a bimonthly scientific publication directed to diverse professionals and technicians linked to the field of medicinal and aromatic plants. It accepts papers related with the Bulletin's areas of interest, which are agronomy
, anthropology
and ethnobotany
-ethnopharmacology
, industrial applications, botany
, quality and normalization, ecology
and biodiversity
, economy and markets, pharmacology
and phytochemistry
-and therefore phytopharmacology
and pharmacognosy
, as well as legislation
, information and diffusion of events, courses, prizes, regulations, news, market questions, reports, bibliography, or any other material type that is important to publish.
The Bulletin publishes articles on original research, reviews, and short communications, written in Spanish, English, Portuguese or French language. It is now indexed by all major international and regional indexation systems, including SCIENCE CITATION INDEX
EXPANDED (SCISEARCH), JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS/SCIENCE EDITION, BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, BIOSIS Previews, Chemical Abstracts Service
(CAS) and CAB International
(Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, NAPRALERT, Index Copernicus (Impacto 5), IMBIOMED, LATINDEX, QUALIS, REDALYC, and Biblioteca. Virtual em Saúde – BVS.
The official launch of the bulletin took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the First Latin-American Congress of Phytochemistry, and it was backed by an Editing Board composed by Arnaldo Bandoni, Argentina; Patrick Moyna, Uruguay; Francisco Morón, Cuba, and Lionel Robineau, Guadalupe, recently replaced by María E. Medina de Nicaragua.
BLACPMA started to feature scientific contributions in its second year of life. Since then, the number of papers submitted to our bulletin has increased steadily as well as their quality, and some of them are signed by highly recognized authors. The Bulletin now receives papers from all over the world on a regular basis. This "step-up" was possible after the radical change that BLACPMA underwent under the impulse of José María Prieto (University of London, UK), who, after January 2004, became fundamental in raising the standards of the bulletin, and putting it in the international scientific arena. Proof of this is the fact that articles published in BLACPMA has started to be cited by other articles published by major journals in the field like Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Economic botany. In 2007 BLACPMA changed definitively from a newsletter format publishing occasional articles to a FULL FEATURED JOURNAL FORMAT, publishing more than 5 original papers per issue and programming the publication of special issues on important subjects about diverse aspects of medicinal plants research and production. As a result, in 2008 the journal was successfully accepted for indexation by all major Institutions.
. BLACPMA publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution License and access to its repository is free. Authors doe not have to pay publication fees but encouraged to donate a small sum to sustain the journal's activities.
During 2009 it is intended to publish not less than 8 original articles/reviews plus and a variable number of rapid cammunications. As the editorial team gets used to process a higher number of papers it is intended to publish - by 2010- issues containing more than 10 full papers. This will convert BLACPMA into one of the fastest growing, most dynamic journals in the Region, publishing more than 70 scientific works per year.
The increase in publications makes BLACPMA the most dynamic scientific journal in the region. To harness this potential the 3rd Editorial Committee took place in Chillan (Chile) under the patronage of the 1st International Congress of Pharmacobotany http://www.farmacobotanica.cl/.
During this important meeting the journal expanded his editorial team, approved new regulations and hosted the first Meeting of CLACPMA (Cooperacion Latinoamericana y Caribena de Plantas Medicinales y Aromaticas) which mission is to support the journal and to create network opportunities within the Region.
BLACPMA aims at boosting the career of young scientist dedicated to the study of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, and natural products in general. To do this BLACPMA awards the best scientific communications at the congresses hosting its Annual BLACPMA meetings. Past winners were:
2009 Name for her work "
2007 Diana Retta for her work "Normalización farmacopéica de la Marcela (Achyrocline satureioides LAM.DC): validación del método de cuantíficación" by Daiana Retta, Paula López, Martha Gattuso, Susana Gattuso, Graciela Ferraro y Arnaldo Bandoni (Buenos Aires, Argentina) presented at the X Simposio Argentino y XII Simposio Latinoamericano de Farmacobotánica (Tucuman, Argentina)
2006 Edison Osorio for his work "In vitro ANTIPROTOZOAL ACTIVITY OF ALKALOIDS FROM Phaedranassa dubia (AMARYLLIDACEAE)" byOsorio E, Brun R, Viladomat F, Codina C, Cabezas F and Bastida J (Colombia).
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
, anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and ethnobotany
Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the relationships that exist between people and plants....
-ethnopharmacology
Ethnopharmacology
Ethnopharmacology is the scientific study of ethnic groups and their use of drugs.Ethnopharmacology is distinctly linked to plant use, botany, as this is the main delivery of pharmaceuticals. It is also often associated with ethnopharmacy...
, industrial applications, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, quality and normalization, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, economy and markets, pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
and phytochemistry
Phytochemistry
Phytochemistry is in the strict sense of the word the study of phytochemicals. These are chemicals derived from plants. In a narrower sense the terms are often used to describe the large number of secondary metabolic compounds found in plants. Many of these are known to provide protection against...
-and therefore phytopharmacology
Phytopharmacology
Phytopharmacology was invented by the Russian scientist David Macht in the 1930s. The term has since changed its meaning to become an established field of drug research, where the active substances come from plants. There is at least one established journal, the Phytomedicine: International...
and pharmacognosy
Pharmacognosy
Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources. The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well...
, as well as legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
, information and diffusion of events, courses, prizes, regulations, news, market questions, reports, bibliography, or any other material type that is important to publish.
The Bulletin publishes articles on original research, reviews, and short communications, written in Spanish, English, Portuguese or French language. It is now indexed by all major international and regional indexation systems, including SCIENCE CITATION INDEX
Science Citation Index
The Science Citation Index is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information and created by Eugene Garfield in 1960, which is now owned by Thomson Reuters. The larger version covers more than 6,500 notable and significant journals, across 150 disciplines, from ...
EXPANDED (SCISEARCH), JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS/SCIENCE EDITION, BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, BIOSIS Previews, Chemical Abstracts Service
Chemical Abstracts Service
Chemical Abstracts is a periodical index that provides summaries and indexes of disclosures in recently published scientific documents. Approximately 8,000 journals, technical reports, dissertations, conference proceedings, and new books, in any of 50 languages, are monitored yearly, as are patent...
(CAS) and CAB International
CAB International
CAB International is a not-for-profit inter-governmental organisation based in the United Kingdom....
(Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, NAPRALERT, Index Copernicus (Impacto 5), IMBIOMED, LATINDEX, QUALIS, REDALYC, and Biblioteca. Virtual em Saúde – BVS.
History
The first BLACPMA was issued five years ago, after a talk held by José L. Martínez (UNICIT, Chile) and Jorge Rodríguez Chanfreau (CIDEM, Cuba), as a communication tool to keep the Latin-American community informed on the many events related to medicinal and aromatic plants taking place around the world. This primary objective is still achieved by means of the so-called "supplements" issued in between each bulletin.The official launch of the bulletin took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the First Latin-American Congress of Phytochemistry, and it was backed by an Editing Board composed by Arnaldo Bandoni, Argentina; Patrick Moyna, Uruguay; Francisco Morón, Cuba, and Lionel Robineau, Guadalupe, recently replaced by María E. Medina de Nicaragua.
BLACPMA started to feature scientific contributions in its second year of life. Since then, the number of papers submitted to our bulletin has increased steadily as well as their quality, and some of them are signed by highly recognized authors. The Bulletin now receives papers from all over the world on a regular basis. This "step-up" was possible after the radical change that BLACPMA underwent under the impulse of José María Prieto (University of London, UK), who, after January 2004, became fundamental in raising the standards of the bulletin, and putting it in the international scientific arena. Proof of this is the fact that articles published in BLACPMA has started to be cited by other articles published by major journals in the field like Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Economic botany. In 2007 BLACPMA changed definitively from a newsletter format publishing occasional articles to a FULL FEATURED JOURNAL FORMAT, publishing more than 5 original papers per issue and programming the publication of special issues on important subjects about diverse aspects of medicinal plants research and production. As a result, in 2008 the journal was successfully accepted for indexation by all major Institutions.
New Horizons: into the second 21st century decade
Following the indexation by all major scientific information Institutions, the journal changed to a new web site blacpma.org with a built in online submission system based on the Open Journal SystemsOpen Journal Systems
Open Journal Systems is an open-source software for the management of peer-reviewer academic journals, created by the Public Knowledge Project, released under the GNU General Public License.-Design:...
. BLACPMA publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution License and access to its repository is free. Authors doe not have to pay publication fees but encouraged to donate a small sum to sustain the journal's activities.
During 2009 it is intended to publish not less than 8 original articles/reviews plus and a variable number of rapid cammunications. As the editorial team gets used to process a higher number of papers it is intended to publish - by 2010- issues containing more than 10 full papers. This will convert BLACPMA into one of the fastest growing, most dynamic journals in the Region, publishing more than 70 scientific works per year.
The increase in publications makes BLACPMA the most dynamic scientific journal in the region. To harness this potential the 3rd Editorial Committee took place in Chillan (Chile) under the patronage of the 1st International Congress of Pharmacobotany http://www.farmacobotanica.cl/.
During this important meeting the journal expanded his editorial team, approved new regulations and hosted the first Meeting of CLACPMA (Cooperacion Latinoamericana y Caribena de Plantas Medicinales y Aromaticas) which mission is to support the journal and to create network opportunities within the Region.
BLACPMA Annual Meetings and BLACPMA Young Scientist Awards
It has been a few years already that under the initiative of Lionel Robineau, we started to work on the idea of organizing our own Symposia. Thanks to the generodity of the Cuban Pharmacological Society and the support of Dr Rene Delgado and Dr Gabino Garrido, Our efforts have been fruitful and we are now the first Symposium BLACPMA was celebrated in Varadero, Cuba (Nov 2006). A second meeting was held in La Plata (Nov 2007) and a third was held in Chillan (Chile) in Jan 2009.BLACPMA aims at boosting the career of young scientist dedicated to the study of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, and natural products in general. To do this BLACPMA awards the best scientific communications at the congresses hosting its Annual BLACPMA meetings. Past winners were:
2009 Name for her work "
2007 Diana Retta for her work "Normalización farmacopéica de la Marcela (Achyrocline satureioides LAM.DC): validación del método de cuantíficación" by Daiana Retta, Paula López, Martha Gattuso, Susana Gattuso, Graciela Ferraro y Arnaldo Bandoni (Buenos Aires, Argentina) presented at the X Simposio Argentino y XII Simposio Latinoamericano de Farmacobotánica (Tucuman, Argentina)
2006 Edison Osorio for his work "In vitro ANTIPROTOZOAL ACTIVITY OF ALKALOIDS FROM Phaedranassa dubia (AMARYLLIDACEAE)" byOsorio E, Brun R, Viladomat F, Codina C, Cabezas F and Bastida J (Colombia).