The genesis and growth of a scientific journal are unique events to be observed and studied. Horticultura Brasileira (HB) is the official journal of the Brazilian Society for Vegetable Science, and in 2004 the journal accomplishes 22 years of uninterrupted publishing since the release of its first issue in 1983. The journal succeeded 'Olericultura' (later 'Revista de Olericultura'), the previous annual journal of the Brazilian Society for Vegetable Science, published between 1961 and 1980, which presented abstracts and full papers of the annual meetings. Back to 1983, HB was a semestrally journal, created to publish original research papers of horticultural sciences, with an editorial board of four members and the peer review system, all new for the Society members. HB differed from the previous journal by its new format (28 cm x 20.5 cm), the colorful cover changed at each issue and the modern graphic design. HB was divided in distinct sections to include all segments of the Society, such as vegetable growers, rural extensionists, researchers, professors and students. During the last 22 years, HB published a total of 1,083 papers in 5,207 pages, divided in different sections: 'Letters to the Editor', 24 articles; 'Invited Articles', 37; 'Research', 561; 'Grower's Page', 133; 'Pesticides and Fertilizers in Test', 131; 'Economy and Rural Extension', 31; 'New Cultivar', 43; 'Note', 153 (this last section was abolished in 1996). During the 1983-1995 period, the journal published 34.6 articles/year, 47.3 articles/year during 1996-2001 and 116.3 articles/year from 2002 to 2004. Presently, HB is quarterly issued and has an editorial board of 30 editors of different research areas and institutions. The challenges faced by HB today are the raise of publication costs and the constant improvement of the publishing processes.
publishing; scientific journal; scientific paper
