Editor's Note

On June 6, História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos launched its new social networking 'personas' with the goal of spreading its content to new frontiers. Our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/revistahcsm), Twitter profile (www.twitter.com/revistahcsm), and blog (www.revistahcsm.coc.fiocruz.br) - in Portuguese for the time being but soon to appear in English as well - will not only extend the potential reach of the articles and texts published in the journal's print and online versions but will also address this material from different perspectives and viewpoints - for example, through interviews with contributors and an exchange of ideas with readers. The production of content will be boosted by the journal's enhanced ability to attract contributors and likewise through feedback from the information placed in circulation via these social media. Written in more informal, succinct language, it is our hope that these new communication spaces will attract researchers, students, professors, and the many others who are interested in the history of science and health. In addition to reinforcing HCSM's presence in more regions of Brazil and abroad as well, these online tools will foster access to our articles and augment their impact in international indexers, as we trust that the journal's content will now enjoy greater visibility and reach researchers faster, thus increasing the likelihood that it is used, cited, and therefore indexed.

All issues of HCSM released since 1994 can be accessed through our blog, where readers will also find tips on where to source research information, links to articles approved for release ahead of print, and a wealth of other news about the realm of history, health, and science.

The journal's new venture into the virtual world was encouraged by Scielo, which wants to turn this initiative into an example for other periodicals in its digital library, especially those in the humanities, with which our journal has closer ties. HCSM has tallied over six million hits since its inclusion on the Scielo portal in 2000. As we showed in a 2007 assessment of the journal's then twelve-year history1, this has had a striking impact, and the potential generated by our participation in this worldwide conglomerate of computers and networking devices has prompted a number of innovations, including the translation of articles and other content into English for our online version, now in good part bilingual. We are hopeful that our entrance into the universe of social networking will have a similar effect. Only time will tell.

We have some other good news for our readers. According to the latest Qualis-Capes classification, HCSM has achieved an A1 ranking in history, education, sociology, the environmental sciences, and interdisciplinary areas, and A2 in the applied social sciences, literature and linguistics, and social work.

Last but certainly not least, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Nara Azevedo, who for eight years served as the director of the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz at the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. We enjoyed immeasurable support during her administration. The journal would not be what it is today were it not for this feisty veteran, a dear friend of the author who scribbles these lines and who, like her, is a veteran. Nara never wavers - and she leaves us with the same grace and dignity with which she arrived.

Paulo Elian, Nara's elected successor, was a member of her team, and so our relationship will continue strong.

To everyone, all the very best.

Jaime L. Benchimol Science editor

• BENCHIMOL, Jaime L.; CERQUEIRA, Roberta C.; MARTINS, Ruth B.; MENDONÇA, Amanda. História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos: um balanço de 12 anos de circulação ininterrupta. História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v.14, n.1, p.221-257. 2007.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  abr-jun 2013