EDITORIAL
Looking back at the 2007 JBCS, Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, we notice that there were issues quite similar to those of the previous year (2006), indicating a certain stability in the scenario which has been showing a considerable increase: approximately 700 manuscripts were submitted and 206 articles were published in the eight issues of 2007, over a total of 1592 pages (averaging 199 per issue). These numbers represent an increase of over 100% upon the year 2004.
It can be seen that the periodical has extended its reach in every sense, most visibly by the participation of foreign authors (accounting for 55% of all submissions) predominantly from Iran, India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Chile, Egypt, Iraq, Mexico, the USA, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Serbia, Venezuela, Malaysia and Argentina (in this order). This participation is important to the JBCS, although its predominance might indicate that we should continue encouraging the participation of the Brazilian community. After all, one of the goals of our periodical is to publish the Chemistry made in Brazil.
We can also point out that the quality of articles published has maintained itself, considering the Impact Factor (IF) of the ISI, Institute for Scientific Information. It seems that once again it will be maintained above 1, with the possibility of a small increase. It is important to point out that the maintainance or the increase of the IF has occurred even with the significant increase in the number of published articles, which confirms that the decision to increase the JBCS periodicity in view of a repressed qualified demand had been correct.
The rate of rejected articles remains at 60% for we have still been receiving articles clearly not thought out or revised well enough for being submitted to an international-standard periodical.
The great volume of articles to be processed (including those refused or returned to the authors) has required a tremendous effort on the part of our editorial office staff, the editors and the referees. This cannot be said to be positive, especially when we consider that our submission-to-publication- time interval is quite long. In spite of the expectations at the start of 2007, this time has not been reduced; on the contrary, it has increased, as may be seen by the statistics available on the JBCS site: www.http://jbcs.sbq.org.br/stats/08/index.php.
The process for evaluating a manuscript is complex and involves a series of steps as well as the participation of different players, as the editorial staff and the responsible editor, who carry out a pre-evaluation of the manuscript (occasionally already suggesting corrections) and who are in charge of sending it to at least two specialists in the area for analysis. In this case, we have relied on foreign colleagues (30% of the participating referees in 2007 are in foreign countries) as well as on those from our own community. However, since many colleagues are not able to accept or sometimes do not even reply, we end up overloading those who are so generous to the JBCS. Thus, we must often wait longer than the established 21-day period for the evaluation of a manuscript. Then, depending on the questions raised by the referees, we find ourselves obligated to request a new evaluation and, at times, this even implies that one more revision by the authors is needed.
Once accepted, we depend on the authors agility in submitting the final documents, especially with care to the quality and elaboration of the graphics, diagrams and figures, a step which most usually overloads our staff. When necessary, a final review of the presentation and language is carried out by our editorial staff, and the manuscript goes to layout. Before being posted online and finally published, we need to receive final approval by the authors. We continue to exert every possible effort to shorten manuscript processing time, but with the brief description outlined above, we have tried to convey the fact that steps exist in which we depend upon the availability of others and that we find no advantage in increasing the pressure placed upon our collaborators, inasmuch as quality is our main objective.
The strategies for making articles available as forthcoming papers as soon as they are ready continue strong. We will work hard this year to publish the first edition of 2009 by the end of 2008.
2008 has begun with a positive perspective. We will be publishing two special issues, one a special tribute celebrating Prof. Ricardo Ferreiras 80th birthday, and the other with contributions presented during the 16th Brazilian Symposium of Electrochemistry and Electroanalysis (XVI Simpósio Brasileiro de Eletroquímica e Eletroanalítica -SIBEE, 2007).
More good news is that the DOI numbers (Digital Object Identifier) of articles published in the JBCS and Química Nova and available on the SciELO portal, are active and it is possible to register them in the CNPq CV Lattes. The next step will be the implementation of these DOI numbers directly on the sites of the JBCS and Química Nova, as well as in the forthcoming papers and articles still at press, respectively.
Finally, we wish to take this opportunity to once again thank the authors and over 700 referees (500 within Brazil and 200 abroad) who aided us in 2007 for the indispensable support received by our periodical.
We wish you all an excellent 2008!
Luiz Carlos Dias and Watson Loh
Editors
- 1. Loh, W.; Dias, L. C.; J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 2007, 18, 3.
- 2. de Torresi, S. I. C.; Pardini, V. L.; Dias, L. C.; Pinto, A. C.; Andrade, J. B.; Magalhães, M. E. A.; Gil, P. E. A.; Quim. Nova 2007, 30, 1491.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
10 Mar 2008 -
Date of issue
2008
