The Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office No. XIII took part in the 2018 Sylvatrop Writing Workshop on June 19-22, 2018 at the Orchid Garden Suites in Malate, Manila. The workshop was organized by the DENR-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB).
Sylvatrop is the technical journal of Philippine Ecosystems and Natural Resources. It is a medium of information exchange on scientific, technological and descriptive articles, research notes and reviews of technical literatures on ecosystems and natural resources topics. The journal is published once a year and has produced more than 480 articles on environment and natural resources since 1976.
It is noteworthy that Sylvatrop is an Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)-indexed journal that is being abstracted by Abstract Bibliography of Tropical Forestry (Philippines); Documentation Centre on Tropical Forestry (Philippines); Forestry Abstract (Oxford, UK); Chemical Abstracts (Ohio, USA) and Asia Science Research Reference (India). On the same note, it is accredited by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education and is one of the 28 out of the 777 Philippine journals that are listed in the Thomson Reuters Master List.
The writing workshop aimed to train authors of 35 potential articles from all DENR bureaus and offices across the country. Ms. Kate A. Boquilon, MGB RXIII Senior Geologist, is one of the privileged participants in the said workshop.
The event started with a program wherein Dr. Sofio B. Quintana, ERDB Director and Executive Adviser of Sylvatrop Editorial Board (SEB), delivered the opening remarks. It was followed by the Presentation of Workshop Mechanics as well as introduction of SEB, participants and resource speakers by Ms. Liberty E. Asis, ERDB Technology Transfer OIC-Chief and Alternate Representative of SEB.
Speakers for the 1st day of the workshop were Dr. Maybellyn Zepeda, MGB Alternate Representative of SEB, who discussed the importance of scientific publishing; Dr. Bighani M. Manipula, SEB Chair and ERDB Assistant Director, who talked about the history of Sylvatrop and its publication process; and Dr. Jose Alan A. Castillo, Senior Science Research Specialist and ERDB Permanent SEB Representative, who discussed about different types of journal articles, writing and developing the Introduction and Review of Literature. For the workshop proper, the participants took a pretest and proceeded to writing the Introduction and Review of Literature for the manuscript of their respective studies.
On the 2nd day of the workshop, Dr. Castillo discussed the important points in writing the Methods and Results and Discussion. While on the 3rd day, he discussed about writing the Abstract. The writing of manuscripts was done after every discussion of the speaker. Ms. Melanie N. Ojeda, Sylvatrop Editorial Assistant and Secretariat, presented the Sylvatrop style and format. On the other hand, Ms. Adreana Santos-Remo shared quick tips and techniques for p
ublishing the journal article. The participants’ draft manuscripts were submitted at the end of the 3rd day.
On the last day of the workshop, the participants and the organizers gave their impressions on the activity and shared the lessons and experiences they have gained from it. There was also an awarding of certificates and special awards. Dr. Manipula officially concluded the workshop with closing remarks in which he expressed his gratitude for the keen involvement of the participants. He also commended the participants for having completed the 2018 DENR Sylvatrop Writing Workshop.