Letter from the editor

As we are sure you've noticed, the Earth Sciences Research Journal has undergone some substantial changes this year. The hard work of the last few years has resulted in a some major steps forward for this journal, and now we want to announce our four volumes to be published since 2016 every year. Our goal is to become a premier journal, and it is to this end that we work day in and day out.

Recently several conferences have turned to us for special issues, and we expect this to be an ongoing relationship where we are able to provide readers with novel articles. By supplying conferences, we are able to broaden the pool of scientific papers by giving those who might otherwise have been denied it the opportunity of publishing to a worldwide audience.

It is not just Earth Sciences Research Journal that is changing, so too is the global petroleum market. The fluctuating price of oil and technological advancements have played a role in upturning the previous status quo. Many previously unknown actors are now operating on the global stage in this new emerging situation. Management of resources is in the political spotlight; energy and water use, as well as environmental concerns, have been thrust to the forefront of discussion. Fracking and shale extraction, as well as well as the stretching of exploration into more and more delicate environments have caused substantial damage, and pose the risk of causing immeasurable destruction in the future. This new reality has brought a whole new focus to a segment of the scientific community, and our journal is poised to accept these new articles.

We want to encourage everyone involved in the scientific research on earth sciences to submit their papers. We have substantially modernized our processing, revising all submitted works, and otherwise improving the experience for the authors involved. The review process has undergone marked update, reducing wait times while improving quality. In the future, we intend to collaborate with other organizations in the earth sciences field. In us, you will find a friendly partner with whom to collaborate and bring our field into a new age. For the volume 20, we are presenting 17 selected papers in different areas of study; original contents we hope will be of interest and use. Comments, reviews, and suggestions are always welcomed in Earth Sciences Research Journal through the mail account earthjour_fcbog@unal.edu.co.

Thanks for reading and submitting your valuable scientific papers!

Carlos Alberto Vargas Jiménez.
Editor in Chief,
Earth Sciences Research Journal, Bogotá, Colombia.