About the Journal

Terra Latinoamericana is a continuous publication journal. The main objective is to publish original scientific articles conducted by specialists in the Soil and Water Science community around the world. All sections are subject to a peer evaluation process, in the double-blind mode. It is available digitally for consultation in open access files.

Terra Latinoamericana is the dissemination mean of the Mexican Society of Soil Science, A.C. (SMCS) since September 1983; however, it is not limited to publishing the results of the research conducted in Mexico, but goes beyond, including all Latin American and countries around the world. Terra Latinoamericana publish articles, research notes, reviews, essays, reviews, memoirs and letters to the editor, in order to disseminate the results of unpublished scientific and technological research, carried out by specialists in soil and water science, coupled with a holistic approach that lies in the understanding of agrosystems, which is why fields related to edaphology are considered in order to understand the soil and water systems.

Contributions associated with soil and water sciences will be accepted for review and possible publication if they consider any of the following topics, 1) Soil Ecology, a broad and multidisciplinary field that includes the physical, chemical, biological, and ecological aspects of soil as a living system. This main topic includes, among others, a) Soil biodiversity (microbial diversity - bacteria, fungi, archaea - and their functionality; soil fauna - earthworms, arthropods, nematodes - and their interactions; genomics and metagenomics of soil microorganisms; native soil species in tropical and subtropical systems); b) Ecological processes in soil (biogeochemical cycles - carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus - decomposition processes, and organic matter formation; plant-microorganism interactions - rhizosphere; carbon dynamics in agricultural and forest systems); c) Climate change impacts (carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation; resilience of soil ecosystems to environmental changes; effects of climate change on soil biodiversity; adaptation of agricultural systems to climate change); d) Soil management and conservation practices (sustainable and regenerative agriculture; impact of tillage and fertilization practices on soil ecology; crop rotation and cover crops; restoration of degraded soils - mining, erosion, salinity); e) Soils in natural and urban ecosystems (soil as a habitat in tropical forests, deserts, and wetlands; soil fragmentation and biodiversity loss in urban areas; evaluation of soil ecosystem services; soil restoration in altered ecosystems); f) Soil contamination and health (impacts of heavy metals, pesticides, and emerging contaminants; bioremediation and phytoremediation of contaminated soils; soil health as a foundation for food security; evaluation of ecological and toxicological risks); g) Methodologies and technologies for soil study (molecular analysis techniques for studying microbial communities; innovations in sensors and remote sensing for soil monitoring; soil ecological models and simulations; applications of artificial intelligence in soil studies); and h) Policy and education in soil ecology (sustainable soil management strategies in public policies; integration of soil ecology into educational programs; valuation of traditional knowledge and culture in soil management). 2) Immersive Technologies, which include tools such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), specialized topics like artificial intelligence (AI), mathematical modeling, tools and applications for web and mobile devices, and multimedia creation tools focused on soil sciences. Given the journal's focus on agricultural, environmental, and social sciences, immersive technologies are centered on relevant topics such as, a) Immersive technologies in agriculture and soil management (simulation of agricultural scenarios with VR for farmer training, use of AR for in situ soil analysis and detection of nutrients or contaminants, immersive visualization of remote sensing data and crop monitoring in real time, virtual models of integrated pest management and agroecological systems); b) Environmental education and training with immersive technologies (creation of virtual environments to teach about soil biodiversity and ecosystems, immersive experiences in natural parks or reserves to promote conservation, AR as a tool to convey indigenous and traditional knowledge about resource management, development of immersive simulators for sustainable agriculture training); c) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and augmented reality (integration of GIS and AR for interactive visualization of soil, water, and vegetation maps; AR applications for land-use planning in rural and urban areas; immersive models for decision-making in natural resource management); d) Ecosystem restoration and virtual modeling (simulation of ecological processes in virtual environments to plan soil restoration, immersive recreation of degraded landscapes and projections of their recovery, immersive VR visualization of future climate scenarios to raise awareness about desertification and climate change); e) Immersive technologies in community participation (use of VR/AR to engage communities in soil and resource management projects, immersive experiences to raise societal awareness about environmental and agroecological issues, interactive simulations for conflict resolution regarding land use); f) Climate change and agricultural resilience (immersive models to demonstrate the impact of climate change on agriculture and ecosystems, AR for optimizing agricultural resilience to extreme events - droughts, floods - and immersive tools to communicate climate risks to farmers and decision-makers); g) Landscape architecture and territorial planning (design of sustainable landscapes using VR/AR to model interactions between natural and human elements, interactive visualization of biological corridors or conservation areas, immersive evaluation of infrastructure projects and their environmental impact); h) Technological innovations and local development (accessibility and adaptation of immersive technologies for rural contexts in Latin America, use of low-cost devices to promote the adoption of VR and AR in agricultural communities, immersive technologies as tools to preserve and disseminate traditional agricultural practices); i) Social sciences and environmental perception (study of how immersive experiences influence environmental perception and sustainable management decisions, AR applications to map and resolve social conflicts related to land use, use of immersive simulations to evaluate public policies in territorial management); and j) Ethical and technological challenges (ethical implications of immersive technology use in rural contexts and vulnerable communities, technological gaps and strategies to overcome adoption barriers, evaluation of social and environmental impacts of immersive technology implementation). 3) Territorial, Sociocultural, and Rural Studies and Soil Management combines multiple disciplines to address the challenges of interactions between land use, communities, and ecosystems. These focus on theoretical and applied research integrating environmental, social, economic, and political perspectives, with potential topics such as, a) Soil governance and management (governance strategies for sustainable soil management, public policies and their impact on soil use and conservation, territorial conflicts related to land access and use, land tenure and social equity in rural areas); b) Agrarian systems and rural development (transformation of traditional agrarian systems in response to modernization, analysis of sustainable agricultural practices in rural communities, studies on agrobiodiversity and its relationship with soil management, impact of agribusiness on rural landscapes and social structures); c) Indigenous territories and traditional knowledge (traditional soil management in indigenous communities, rescue of ancestral practices for soil and water conservation, territorial dynamics in contexts of indigenous autonomy, effects of state policies on indigenous territories and their soils); d) Climate change challenges (adaptation of rural communities to soil degradation caused by climate change, territorial resilience to droughts, floods, and other climatic phenomena, carbon sequestration in rural systems and its relationship with global policies, impact of climate change on food security and land use); e) Desertification and soil restoration (desertification processes in rural territories and mitigation strategies, ecological restoration in degraded areas: integration of local communities, participatory models for soil management and recovery, use of technologies for evaluating and monitoring soil degradation); f) Urban-rural and peri-urban studies (changes in land use in peri-urban areas, impacts of urbanization on agricultural soils and ecosystems, rural-urban connectivity in territorial systems, urban pressure on rural territories: loss of fertile soils); g) Sociocultural impacts of land use (sociocultural changes stemming from territorial transformation, relationship between cultural identity and soil management practices, rural migration and its effects on land use and landscapes, rural tourism and its impact on territory conservation); h) Rural economy and sustainability (impact of global markets on soil management in rural regions, peasant economy and its contribution to sustainable soil management, models of agroecological production and their economic viability, payment for ecosystem services in rural areas); i) Education and community participation (strategies for rural education on sustainable soil management, community participation in soil conservation and management projects, social innovations for sustainable territorial management, participatory methods for land-use evaluation); j) Landscape conservation and ecosystem services (analysis of ecosystem services associated with soil management, integration of local communities in rural landscape conservation, ecological connectivity and functionality of rural landscapes, territorial models for the conservation of productive areas); k) Geopolitics and territorial conflicts (expansion of the agricultural frontier and its socio-environmental implications, impact of extractive activities (mining, oil) on soil management, analysis of land conflicts in rural and indigenous territories, geopolitics of natural resources and soil as a strategic resource); and l) Technologies and territorial monitoring (use of GIS and remote sensing systems for soil use analysis, spatial models for sustainable territorial planning, integration of immersive technologies in rural and sociocultural studies, technological innovations for participatory soil monitoring). 4) Hydrology and Water Resources (hydrological cycle and its relationship with soil, recharge and management of aquifers, dynamics of surface runoff and infiltration, water erosion and its impact on soil quality). 5) Hydraulics Applied to Soils and Agriculture (design and management of irrigation systems - traditional and modernized -, water use efficiency in agricultural soils, interactions between hydraulic structures and soil). 6) Water Quality and its Interaction with Soil (water contaminants and their impact on soils, physicochemical and biological analysis of water for agricultural use, natural soil filtration as a purification system). 7) Treatment and Reuse of Wastewater (decentralized treatment systems for agricultural use, reuse of treated water in agricultural production and degraded soils, impact of treated wastewater on soil quality). 8) Water Footprint and Sustainability (evaluation of water footprint in crops and its relationship with soil, strategies to reduce water consumption in agricultural systems, sustainable water and soil management in the face of climate change). 9) Innovative Agricultural Production Systems Related to Water and Soil (hydroponics: water and nutrient management in the absence of soil, aquaponics: integration of soils in filtration systems, agroforestry systems and their water management). 10) Water-Soil Interactions in Natural Ecosystems (regulation of water flow in forest soils and wetlands, the role of soil in carbon sequestration and water storage, the impact of soil degradation on water availability). 11) Social and Economic Impacts Related to Water and Soil (water governance in agricultural and rural areas, equitable access to water resources for soil management, economic valuation of water-soil ecosystem services). 12) Emerging Technologies and Digital Tools (computational models to simulate water-soil dynamics, use of sensors to monitor soil moisture and water consumption, artificial intelligence and big data in integrated water-soil management).

If a contribution is submitted with another topic related to soil and water sciences, the editorial committee will evaluate its content and determine whether is accepted for its peer review process.

Terra Latinoamericana publishes in Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. All articles that are not published in English, include the title, abstract, keywords, table titles and figures in English. Published contributions are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Terra Latinoamericana publishes original academic material. The academic level of informed research is appropriate for a technical, professional, postgraduate, and postdoctoral research audience.

The partial or total reproduction of this journal is authorized, citing it as a source of information.

Content significance

The content of Terra Latinoamericana is of interest, importance, and value for its readers, since the main topic it addresses on soil and water issues is raised by only 0.15 and 0.44 %, respectively of the international journals included in InCites Journal Citation Reports of Clarivate^TM. The content of the journal is displayed on specialized topics, with a new perspective, regional, national, and international focus that undoubtedly enriches the breadth of coverage.

Authors distribution

In Terra Latinoamericana is sought that the authors of the publications have affiliations whose geographic diversity and publication record validate their participation in the academic community associated with the scope of the journal.

Authors roles

Terra Latinoamericana, for the sake of clarity, transparency, and to give authors the credit they deserve, is now including an Author Contributions section in all primary research paper issued. We endorse the Project CRediT taxonomy of contributor roles which is available at https://casrai.org/credit/.

The Terra Latinoamericana Editorial Committee will require that the corresponding author disclose the statement at the time of manuscript submission describing the roles exerted by each contributor as follows:

#	Role	Definition
1	Conceptualization	Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aim.
2	Data curation	Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later re-use.
3	Formal analysis	Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyses or synthesize study data.
4	Funding acquisition	Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication.
5	Investigation	Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.
6	Methodology	Development or design of methodology; creation of models.
7	Project administration	Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.
8	Resources	Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.
9	Software	Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.
10	Supervision	Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.
11	Validation	Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.
12	Visualization	Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.
13	Writing – original draft	Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation).
14	Writing – review & editing	Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary, or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages.

Timeliness/Publication Volume

From January 2021, Terra Latinoamericana changes to the Continuous Publication system. Continuous Publication consists of abandoning the idea of gathering articles in numbers and volumes of a journal that is published at regular intervals and moving to one in which each approved article is published individually online so that the scientific community has access to it. as soon as possible. In general terms, with continuous publication, it is possible to eliminate periodicities by adopting as the only publication period the year of publication corresponding to the volume. The main advantage is the speed in the process of arbitration and publication of the articles in the journal. All papers published annually are within ranges appropriate to the subject area of Terra Latinoamericana.

Authors Affiliation Details

All publications in Terra Latinoamericana are accurately identified. Publications include full names and institutional affiliations, including country / region, of all contributing authors. Additionally, the ORCID number of the authors is provided as a digital identifier or the links to institutional profiles that specify the identity and affiliation of the authors is included.

Editorial Committee

The Editor-in-Chief, the Deputy Editor and the Editorial Committee of Terra Latinoamericana has the following commitments:

• Work to maintain the good reputation of the journal, promoting only publication of original, relevant scientific and technological papers concerning the field of Soil Science and Water.
• Rule on the publication of historical and educational material related to Soil Science and Water.
• Publish on time and in proper form the four numbers that compose the annual volume of the journal.
• Determine whether it is feasible, in terms of their relevance and adherence to the journal’s format, for the received manuscripts to continue in the process of arbitration.
• Ensure that national and international researchers directly related to the subject of the manuscript will conduct the arbitration process.
• Review the decisions of the referees and make the final decision and, when the manuscript is rejected, communicate the reasons to the author(s).
• Preserve the anonymity of both the author(s) and reviewers as well as the editors.
• Respect authors’ right of reply concerning the arbitration process and the opinions of the submitted manuscript.
• Provide the authors timely information about the state of their contribution, from reception until acceptance or rejection.
• Transparency and respect toward the authors, with an open attitude in terms of hearing their questions and answering accurately.

Reviewers

The reviewers of Terra Latinoamericana have the following commitments:

• Maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscript received for evaluation, in terms of divulging by any means its content, the authors' names, as well as the reviewer’s resolution.
• Review and rule on only those contributions related to their research area(s).
• Read the manuscript meticulously and express objective observations and constructive criticism.
• Avoid use of disrespectful language.
• Issue a ruling, pointing out in the revised text or attached document (no name or signature) where the manuscript can be improved, or the reasons the reviewed contribution should not be published.
• Comply with the peer-review time (two weeks) permitted for delivery to the Associate Editor of observations, the attached document (if applicable) and the decision format, properly completed.
• Be available to the Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Format Editor, Administrative Executive to clarify or explain any doubt.

Associate Editors

• Protect the confidentiality of the arbitration process, ensuring the anonymity of the reviewers and authors.
• Continually improve quality standards in the selection of manuscripts, reviewers and the review process, always considering the scientific relevance of the manuscript, its originality, clarity and pertinence.
• Carry out the review process and opinion of the manuscripts and their content without distinction based on race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or political philosophy of the authors.
• The decision of the editor to accept or reject a manuscript for publication must be based on scientific relevance and originality.

Authors

The author(s) who submit articles for publication in Terra Latinoamericana have the following commitments:

• Send unreleased contributions, i.e. work that has not been published nor in the process of being published in another journal.
• Submit outstanding scientific and technological contributions in the field of soil science, properly drafted and with data (charts, graphics, images, etc.) that support the proposed hypotheses.
• Advise the Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor when a contribution is submitted with initial or partial data of a study, in order to treat it as a Technical Note.
• Advise the Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor when a contribution is a historical type or a review, in order to handle it as Letter to the Editor.
• Invariably, follow the Author’s Guide, which is available on the journal´s website.
• Always give credit to the sources consulted and avoid plagiarizing data or text contributions.
• Cite author’s own ideas published in previous papers, avoiding excess, to promote criticism and discussion when contrasting with ideas of other authors.
• Provide full and accurate information of the references consulted, following the format given in the Author’s Guide.
• Consider, in all seriousness, comments and recommendations from referees and Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor or Format Editor.
• Promptly send the information or clarifications requested by the Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor or Format Editor.
• Show respect for the Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board of the journal, even when the decision is not favorable.
• Promptly send the respective voucher of the deposit of publishing costs, when requested by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Administrative Executive or Format Editor of the journal.
• Always be available to answer any question put forth by the Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Format Editor or Administrative Executive.

All manuscripts received by the platform of Terra Latinoamericana are subject to evaluation based on their research originality and quality. The Editorial Committee of Terra Latinoamericana does not favor any potential authors nor do they discriminate against any potential authors regardless of nationality, race, sex, or any other reason or condition. Appropriate measures will be taken as indicated against any non-compliance with these principles declared by resolution of the competent authority.

The Editor-in-Chief of Terra Latinoamericana, together with the Editorial Committee, takes the principles of equity and non-discrimination seriously, taking particular care regarding gender equality.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

Articles published in Terra Latinoamericana are open access and are freely available online to all our readers, without any type of subscription, immediately after publication. Given the high production costs of the journal (domain fee, web page and web maintaining fee, web page backup fee -every 24 hours-, SSL certified fee, DOI fee and other), Terra Latinoamericana asks the authors to provide, through their research grants or their institution a contribution of MX $3000.00 (three thousand MX pesos 00/100) or their equivalent to US dollars (aproximately US$150.00, dollars) per published paper as a fee of Article Processing Charge (APC). This shall not be in any way a requirement for acceptance and publication of the paper, which will be given by its merits.

Refund policy
Once an article has been accepted for publication, an Article Processing Charge is due. The submitting author assumes responsibility for the Article Processing Charge, and Terra Latinoamericana will not issue refunds of any kind. After acceptance, if anyone does not pay the fee, it will be considered as unethical act and can be proceeded accordingly.

Special issues

A special issue is a collection of peer-reviewed papers centered on a specific topic or focused research. It may also be a collection of papers from a scientific event such as Congresses associated with the linked journal or Association. Both can be used to promote the journal. Special issues can also be a retrospective collection of articles published over time. There are also special issues that are used to market the journal and related journal activities, such as international journal conferences.

In Terra Latinoamericana we recommend that special issues be proposed by at least two guest editors, who must have previous editing experience and will be responsible for soliciting contributions from their peers (although submissions are open to all), to select contributions based on submissions of abstracts or specific research topics, as well as to oversee the review process of submitted manuscripts by acting as commissioning editors. Manuscripts submitted as special issues go through Terra Latinoamericana's normal review process, but the special issue editor selected by the authors during the submission will be assigned instead of guest.

Associate Editors of Terra Latinoamericana may be asked to contribute to a particular special issue by acting as Consulting Editor (as deemed appropriate by the Editor-in-Chief) or by overseeing the review of the manuscript submission process for which Guest Editors of the special issue would have a conflict of interest.

All proposals for special issues submitted to Terra Latinoamericana are approved by the editor-in-chief of the journal.

ORCID unique identifier

Terra Latinoamericana encourages all authors and reviewers to register for an ORCiD. The ORCiD provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. Besides ensuring your research always remains identified with you for citations and usage statistics, an authenticated ORCiD account. For more information on ORCiD, please visit their website: https://orcid.org/