From embryo to maturity

Normando, David

doi:10.1590/S2176-94512013000500001

EDITORIAL

In this issue, Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics (DPJO) celebrates 18 years of a meaningful existence. We are able to salute our readers with the deep conviction that we have come this far because we took strategically planned paths which could not be described on the 180 pages that comprise the theme of this volume: "Orthodontic treatment in adults."

When we celebrate dates, especially those that complete a cycle, we tend to relive the past and devise plans for the future. For a periodical that began its embryogenesis with the publication of translated articles, publishing original articles would already be a significant change. A rapid progress that makes us recall a new-born baby who ceases to express his desires by means of facial expressions - which are simulated by mothers and grandmothers - and begins saying his first words, emphasizing his first wishes by his own appropriate words.

The steps are firm and the run is inexorable for those who dream about flying even higher. At the age of 10, DPJO was indexed on SciELO¹ (a very renowned bibliographic database) which allowed us to become part of a select group of journals that are qualified according to the Brazilian Coordination for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). In fact, we are still the only Brazilian dental journal to be recognized with this merit. We would like to take the opportunity to express our desire for company.

On the verge of adolescence, at the age of 13, we stepped into computerization, gaining its organizational benefits. Articles begin to be submitted exclusively online,² which facilitates for authors, reviewers, editors and other staff members. At the peak of our growth, the number of submissions now bursts and the young periodical learns how to say no: the solicitous child now welcomes the adolescent who rejects things more than accepts them - a true adolescence. The expression of his needs is underlined by a high frequency of rejections, which arouses undesirable trouble. However, such trouble is extremely necessary for the adolescent to mature and focus on the objectives set since his intrauterine phase.

Growth takes a different turn when the scientific articles previously published in the language of Camões begin to be published in the universal language of science - the language of Shakespeare, who was contemporary with Camões.³ And that was an inherent change for those who wish to spread the magnitude of Brazilian Orthodontics to a larger number of ears and eyes. We did not change our language, we simply had to express ourselves in another one. DPJO, consolidated by its importance within clinical Orthodontics, has kept and shall keep a mirror of its publications in Brazilian Portuguese. It is all about thanking for the credibility given to us by those who believed in our potentiality when we were still scared of the uncertainties and fears of childhood.

Our speech is consolidated in two different languages - among stumbles that are common to effusive adolescent learners. Legs and arms are extended due to a physiological need to sustain a hebiatric skeleton. These extensions reach institutions that share similar purposes: to raise Brazilian Orthodontics to its incontestable prominent position. At the age of 17, Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics became the official publication in charge of disclosing news about the Brazilian Dental Association (ABOR)⁴ and the Brazilian Board of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. In 2013, it began to publish the abstracts of studies presented during the Meeting of the Brazilian Group of Professors of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry - a major achievement that contributes to improving the postgraduate scientific production in Brazil.

In 2012, on the verge of turning 18 years old, articles' citations, which were already going through a process of development, duplicated. In 2013, we gained the recognition of the most important international database on health sciences (PubMed),⁵ which shall significantly increase the scientific impact of this periodical. These last achievements reveal the dawn of maturity. Now, that we are able to follow our own path in a swifter manner, it becomes necessary to reassess our plans. For the next year, our aims include duplicating our scientific impact and improving our CAPES evaluation criteria. Additionally, we aim at reducing the time between submission and publication. However, we understand that our aims are only the reflection of a work strongly connected to the conviction that we have been able to achieve maturity at the age of 18 because the eyes of those who read these last words believed in the brave view of those who gave birth to this periodical. Yes, we do have a father and a mother.

David Normando - editor-in-chief

(davidnormando@hotmail.com)

1. Ramos AL. Conquista. Rev Dental Press Ortod Ortop Facial. 2006;11(1):1.
2. Faber J. Colóquio editorial. Rev Dental Press Ortod Ortop Facial. 2007;12(4):1.
3. Faber J. Adversities stimulating advances. Dental Press J Orthod. 2010;15(1):1.
4. Normando D. The following years. Dental Press J Orthod. 2013;18(1):1.
5. Normando D. MEDLINE: international recognition of Brazilian orthodontic science development. Dental Press J Orthod. 2013;18(4):1.