About the Journal

II Colombian Congress on Natural Products · 2027

I Colombian Congress on Natural Products · 2025

Revista Productos Naturales (RPN) (ISSN 1916-2413) is an open-access electronic journal dedicated to specialized scientific communication. It publishes fundamental and applied research contributions related to the science, technology, and applications of natural products of plant, fungal, microbial, animal, and marine origin.

RPN is completely free of charge for authors and readers. There are no submission, processing, publication, or access fees. The journal is managed through Open Journal Systems and hosted by Nozomi Science, a nonprofit academic portal dedicated to promoting open scientific communication and the preservation of knowledge.

Aims and Scope

Revista Productos Naturales (RPN) is an open-access scientific journal dedicated to fundamental and applied research in the broad field of natural products.

RPN publishes original and rigorous contributions related to the discovery, isolation, identification, characterization, synthesis, transformation, biosynthesis, biological activity, ecological functions, applications, and sustainable use of natural products and specialized metabolites.

The journal considers products and molecules of plant, fungal, microbial, animal, and marine origin, as well as derived, semisynthetic, and natural-product-inspired compounds when there is a clear scientific relationship with their origin, structure, function, or application.

RPN particularly promotes interdisciplinary research connecting chemistry, biology, pharmacology, biotechnology, food science, environmental science, informatics, and technological development in the context of natural products.

The journal seeks to strengthen the connection between scientific research, biodiversity, and its responsible applications for the benefit of society, including the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, food, agricultural, biotechnology, and other sectors related to the sustainable use of natural resources.

Subject Areas

The scope of RPN includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:

1. Natural product discovery and characterization

• Isolation, purification, and identification of natural products.
• Structure elucidation and spectroscopic analysis.
• Phytochemistry and pharmacognosy.
• Natural products from plants, fungi, microorganisms, and animals.
• Marine natural products.
• Chromatographic, spectroscopic, spectrometric, and other analytical methodologies.
• Quality control and quality assurance.
• Standardization and chemical characterization of natural materials.

2. Biological activity, pharmacology, and toxicology

• Evaluation of the biological activities of natural products and their derivatives.
• Pharmacology and mechanisms of action.
• Toxicology and safety assessment.
• Medicinal chemistry of natural products.
• Structure-activity relationships.
• Natural products and discovery of bioactive candidates.
• In vitro, in vivo, and other relevant experimental models.

When new compounds are reported, their chemical characterization should, when scientifically and technically appropriate, be accompanied by information on their biological activity, ecological function, or potential application.

3. Ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, and traditional knowledge

• Ethnobotany.
• Ethnopharmacology.
• Ethnoveterinary research.
• Traditional uses of natural resources.
• Pharmacognosy.
• Relationships among traditional knowledge, chemical composition, and biological activity.
• Scientific validation of traditional uses.
• Interdisciplinary research related to biodiversity, communities, and natural products.

4. Biosynthesis, biotechnology, and molecular biology

• Biosynthesis of specialized metabolites.
• Biosynthetic enzymology.
• Biocatalysis.
• Fermentation.
• Cell and tissue culture.
• Biotransformations.
• Natural products biotechnology.
• Molecular biology.
• Metabolic engineering.
• Bioengineering and sustainable production of natural products.

5. Synthesis and transformation of natural products

• Total synthesis.
• Semisynthesis.
• Derivatization and chemical modification.
• Natural product analogues.
• Natural-product-inspired compounds.
• Chemical and biocatalytic transformations.
• Relationships among structural modification, physicochemical properties, and biological activity.

6. Natural products and metals

RPN includes research at the interface between natural products and coordination chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and organometallic chemistry, provided that there is a scientifically substantive relationship with natural products, specialized metabolites, bioactive compounds of natural origin, or structures inspired by them.

This area includes, among others:

• Metal complexes of natural products or their derivatives.
• Interactions and coordination of specialized metabolites with metals.
• Modification of natural products through coordination or organometallic chemistry.
• Metallodrugs derived from, conjugated with, or inspired by natural products.
• Organic-metal hybrid systems of biological or medicinal interest.
• Catalytic, analytical, biological, or medicinal applications related to natural products.
• Relationships among metal coordination, structure, and bioactivity.

Studies in inorganic, coordination, or organometallic chemistry without a scientifically substantive relationship with natural products are outside the scope of RPN.

7. Omics, informatics, and emerging technologies applied to natural products

• Metabolomics.
• Genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics related to natural products.
• Integrative omics.
• Genome mining and discovery of biosynthetic gene clusters.
• Bioinformatics.
• Cheminformatics.
• Molecular networking and data analysis.
• Computational modeling.
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence applied to natural product discovery, characterization, or evaluation.

Predominantly computational studies must maintain a clear relationship with natural products and provide a verifiable scientific contribution within the scope of RPN.

8. Chemical ecology, chemotaxonomy, and the environment

• Chemical ecology.
• Allelopathy.
• Chemotaxonomy.
• Ecological functions of specialized metabolites.
• Chemical interactions between organisms and between organisms and their environment.
• Chemical responses to stress and environmental factors.
• Ecology of natural products.
• Environmentally relevant transformations of natural metabolites.

9. Functional foods, natural ingredients, and nutraceuticals

• Natural products in foods.
• Functional foods
• Natural ingredients and food-derived bioactive compounds.
• Nutraceuticals.
• Nutritional and functional properties.
• Sensory evaluations related to chemical composition.
• Stability of bioactive compounds.
• Physical or chemical changes induced by processing, preservation, or storage.
• Development and characterization of functional products derived from biodiversity.

10. Applications, sustainability, and bioeconomy

RPN considers research on the development and application of natural products in:

• Pharmaceutical products.
• Cosmetics and cosmeceuticals.
• Nutraceuticals.
• Foods and functional ingredients.
• Veterinary products.
• Agrochemicals, bioinputs, and agricultural products.
• Extraction, separation, transformation, and utilization technologies.
• Valorization of waste and by-products as sources of natural products.
• Green and sustainable processes.
• Scientifically responsible bioprospecting.
• Sustainable use of biodiversity.
• Bioeconomy based on biological resources.

Interdisciplinarity

RPN promotes research that integrates two or more disciplines when natural products constitute a central scientific element of the research.

Contributions connecting the following areas are particularly welcome:

• Chemistry and biology.
• Chemistry and pharmacology.
• Natural products and biotechnology.
• Analytical chemistry and metabolomics.
• Medicinal chemistry and natural products.
• Natural products and coordination or organometallic chemistry.
• Natural products and food science.
• Biodiversity, sustainability, and technological development.
• Natural products, informatics, and advanced data analysis.

General relevance criteria

To be considered within the scope of RPN, a manuscript must present a clear and scientifically substantive relationship with natural products.

The use of an extract, organism, natural compound, or reference to biodiversity merely as an accessory element of research whose central scientific question belongs to another field is not sufficient.

Studies involving extracts, complex mixtures, essential oils, natural ingredients, or other multicomponent matrices are expected to provide chemical characterization appropriate to the objectives and conclusions of the study.

Computational, artificial intelligence, or modeling studies must be directly linked to scientific questions involving natural products. When their conclusions concern biological activity, chemical properties, or experimental mechanisms, evidence appropriate to the scope of those conclusions must be provided.

Biodiversity, traceability, and responsibility

RPN promotes responsible biodiversity research and scientific traceability of biological material.

When applicable, manuscripts must comply with requirements concerning:

• Verifiable taxonomic identification.
• Documentation of vouchers, strains, isolates, or reference materials.
• Collection or research permits.
• Applicable legislation on access to genetic resources.
• Prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms.
• Access and benefit-sharing requirements.
• Protection of sensitive information related to threatened species or vulnerable biological resources.

RPN Orientation

Revista Productos Naturales seeks to serve as a meeting point between fundamental research, technological innovation, and the responsible use of biodiversity.

The journal aims to strengthen communication among researchers in natural products chemistry, pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, biology, pharmacology, biotechnology, medicinal chemistry, food science, analytical chemistry, and related disciplines, promoting rigorous research that contributes to the knowledge, conservation, transformation, and responsible use of natural products.

Manuscript Submission

Revista Productos Naturales invites authors to submit their manuscripts at any time through our online submission system. Following peer review and acceptance, articles are published in the current issue. The journal uses similarity-detection tools, including iThenticate.

Peer Review Policy

1. Editorial review. All manuscripts undergo an initial evaluation to verify their relevance, quality, and compliance with the journal's guidelines.
2. Peer review. Manuscripts that pass the editorial review are submitted to a rigorous evaluation process by expert peer reviewers.
3. Anonymous peer review. The journal uses a peer-review system in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential.
4. Double-blind review. In some cases, a double-blind review process is used to strengthen impartiality and academic integrity.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must declare any financial, personal, or institutional relationship that could influence the interpretation or presentation of the results. This includes employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patents, and external funding.

Human and Animal Rights

Studies involving human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and have the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. For research involving animals, authors must follow applicable institutional and national guidelines for animal care and use and obtain the corresponding ethical approval.

Informed Consent

Authors must ensure that informed consent has been obtained from all human participants, including authorization to publish identifiable information or images when applicable. Privacy and confidentiality must be respected at all times.