DIREITO GV LAW REVIEW IN NUMBERS: ASSESSMENT OF 2018 AND PERSPECTIVES FOR 2019

We are pleased to present the first 2019 issue of Direito GV Law Review (v. 15, n. 1, Jan./Apr. 2019). As we have done in the past two years ( BARBIERI, 2017 ; BARBIERI, 2018a), we would like to use the first editorial of the year to include a review of 2018, as well as to announce some innovations that our journal will adopt in its editorial process throughout 2019.

We will start with an assessment of Direito GV Law Review in 2018. As Graph 1 shows, there was a slight decrease in the number of submissions in 2018 when compared to 2017. However, it remains close to the average of the last four years, which is 330 submissions per year. Graph 2 shows the number of submissions per month in 2018.

GRAPH 1
– NUMBER OF ARTICLES RECEIVED PER YEAR, FROM 2009 TO 2018

GRAPH 2
– NUMBER OF ARTICLES SUBMITTED PER MONTH IN 2018

Even though it is stable, the absolute number of submissions to Direito GV Law Review is high. This seems to be related with the increase of productivity goals for professors and researchers in post-graduation programs (Capes standards¹ ), combined with the fact that the journal has consistently been ranked at the highest stratum (Qualis/CAPES stratum A1). In this context, the use of the online manuscript management system ( ScholarOne ), implemented in 2016, has become essential.

With the support of SciELO, the novelty for 2019 is ScholarOne interfaces in three languages. In addition to the original English version, it will have options in Portuguese and Spanish. We believe that the multi-language system will simplify article submissions and the access to the manuscript progress, as well as the elaboration of reviews.

Another innovation for 2019 is the adoption of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy ( CRediT ) integrated at ScholarOne. It is a classification mechanism that is already used in more than 120 journals worldwide (ALLEN, O’CONNEL, KIERMER, 2019), through which authors are able to describe the nature and the extent of their contributions in manuscripts submitted in co-authorship .

The definition of how much each co-author contributed individually, i. e. , the extend of each co-author contribution, is already a standard adopted by Brazilian and international research institutions, whose recommendations guide Direito GV Law Review Editorial Policy. As stated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), all co-authors must agree to the version submitted for evaluation (COPE, 2000). The Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) directives² mandate that all authors are responsible for the veracity and the suitability of the work, with the first author and the corresponding author³ having full responsibility for the article, and the other co-authors the responsibility for their individual contributions.

Also, according to the FAPESP Code of Good Scientific Practices⁴ , only researchers who have explicitly agreed to be listed as co-authors should be so. All authors listed should have made direct and substantial intellectual contributions to the design or to the execution of research ( FAPESP, 2014 ). Moreover, according to SciELO guidelines, articles published with two or more authors must specify the contribution of each author to the final version of the manuscript, and all authors must have participated in the discussion of the article’s final results (SCIELO, 2018a).

Following these recommendations, Direito GV Law Review has been requesting that authors provide their complete identification and state clearly how much each author individually contributed to the research and manuscript in the cover letter that must be attached to the submission. Until now, however, such information was not organized as usable metadata and could not be searched or indexed. This will be possible now with the adoption of the CrediT taxonomy.

This information will be available at ScholarOne online submission form, with 14 (fourteen) types of contribution – conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, writing (original draft), writing (review & editing), visualization, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition – and 3 (three) degrees of involvement – equal, lead or supporting. Its completion will be required for co-authored submissions.

This method of classification will contribute to increasing transparency regarding the role of each person involved in the research. It will also facilitate the identification of individual responsibilities. On the one hand, it will avoid that supervisors receive credit inappropriately. On the other hand, it will highlight the contributions of early-career researchers or those working in large teams where individual contributions might get lost in extensive lists of authors (ALLEN, CONNEL, KIERMER, 2019).

It is important to remember, in this case, that our Editorial Policy already requests that authors submit only one article at a time. Therefore, it is essential to check with co-authors for prior submissions beforehand to avoid immediate rejections.

Regarding the statistics of 2018, it is worth mentioning – Table 1 – the origin of the authors that submitted articles to Direito GV Law Review . The results remain similar to previous years. The Brazilian state with the highest number of authors in 2018 – around 20% – was São Paulo, followed by Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, representing, together, 53.3% of the total number of articles received.

TABLE 1
– THE ORIGIN OF THE AUTHORS THAT SUBMITTED ARTICLES TO DIREITO GV LAW REVIEW BY BRAZILIAN STATE IN 2018

BRAZILIAN STATE	NUMBER OF AUTHORS	RATE
ACRE	1	0.24%
ALAGOAS	1	0.24%
AMAZONAS	2	0.47%
BAHIA	12	2.83%
CEARÁ	17	4.01%
DISTRITO FEDERAL	38	8.96%
ESPÍRITO SANTO	8	1.89%
GOIÁS	11	2.59%
MARANHÃO	6	1.42%
MATO GROSSO	2	0.47%
MATO GROSSO DO SUL	3	0.71%
MINAS GERAIS	40	9.43%
PARÁ	14	3.30%
PARAÍBA	10	2.36%
PARANÁ	36	8.49%
PERNAMBUCO	13	3.07%
PIAUÍ	2	0.47%
RIO DE JANEIRO	27	6.37%
RIO GRANDE DO NORTE	10	2.36%
RIO GRANDE DO SUL	36	8.49%
RONDÔNIA	1	0.24%
RORAIMA	2	0.47%
SANTA CATARINA	18	4.25%
SÃO PAULO	76	17.92%
SERGIPE	1	0.24%
TOCANTINS	4	0.94%
FOREIGNERS	33	7.78%
TOTAL	424	100.00%

Source: Authors’ own elaboration with data from ScholarOne Manuscripts.

As for foreign articles, there was an increase in the percentage of submissions in 2018, when compared to 2017. In 2017, foreign submissions were 5.08% (BARBIERI, 2018a, p. 11). In 2018, as Table 2 shows, they represented 9.06% of the total. In Table 2 we can see in detail the origin of the authors that submitted articles to Direito GV Law Review by country in 2018.

TABLE 2
– NUMBER OF ARTICLES SUBMITTED BY COUNTRY IN 2018

COUNTRY OF THE AUTHOR	NUMBER OF ARTICLES	RATE
ARGENTINA	4	1.21%
BRAZIL	301	90.94%
CHILE	4	1.21%
CHINA	1	0.30%
FRANCE	1	0.30%
GERMANY	2	0.60%
ITALY	2	0.60%
PORTUGAL	12	3.63%
SOUTH AFRICA	2	0.60%
UNITED KINGDOM	2	0.60%
TOTAL	331	100.00%

Source: Authors’ own elaboration with data from ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Despite that, Direito GV Law Review ’s efforts continue towards internationalization. As previously stated ( BARBIERI, 2016 , 2017 , 2018a ), although the journal’s priority is to publish researches that focus on innovative ways to solve Brazilian legal problems, we increasingly seek to attract foreign articles, in English and Spanish, that relate these concerns and other relevant issues for our academic community⁵ .

As Graph 3 shows, the relationship between the number of articles published and those received in 2018 remained similar to previous years. This stability is largely due to the maintenance of the average number of published articles, which tends to be between 36 and 40 articles per year: 39 in 2017 (10.4%), and 36 in 2018 (10.9%).

GRAPH 3
– RATE OF ARTICLES RECEIVED VERSUS ARTICLES PUBLISHED PER YEAR, BETWEEN 2009 AND 2018

Finally, one last new announcement for 2019. SciELO indicates that the average interval between submission and evaluation of manuscripts should be 180 days (SCIELO, 2017). In 2017, our average was 177 days, but in 2018 we achieved a reduction to 170 days.

Nevertheless, as pointed out in previous editorials ( Barbieri, 2017 ), one of the major bottlenecks of the journal has been the average time between submission and publication of articles. SciELO suggests that it should be up to 12 (twelve) months (SCIELO, 2017). However, our average is around 16 (sixteen) months.

Therefore, our main priority of action in 2019 will be to address this problem. To do so, we will adopt the rolling publication system. In this system, the articles are published as soon as they are approved, without the need to wait for the approval of other articles to finish an issue.

Instead of placing the article by page intervals inside an issue, with the adoption of the rolling publication, articles will be located with a unique article identifier number, known as eLocation (Electronic Location Identifier), following the NISO Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS) standards adopted by SciELO (SCIELO, 2018b).

The adoption of the rolling publication system will avoid the accumulation of approved articles that are pending publication, due to the need to wait for other articles to finish an edition or an issue. We expect this innovation will reduce the time between submission and publication, adapting our editorial process to the demands of the academic community and to the guidelines and recommendations of SciELO (PACKER et al. , 2016).

The ultimate goal with the publication of individual articles is to fast-track the communication of research, ensuring authors that their research outcomes are available for discussion as quickly as possible.

Lastly, we would like to thank the community of authors, reviewers, editorial board members and the editorial team of Direito GV Law Review . The strengthening of this community, which begins with the backstage work of reviewers, editorial board members and editorial team, and culminates in the articles publication, is the reason of a scientific journal's existence.

We wish you all a good reading!

Referências

• ALLEN, Liz; O’CONNEL, Alison; KIERMER, Veronique. How can we ensure visibility and diversity in research contributions? How the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) is helping the shift from authorship to contributorship. Learned Publishing , v. 32, n. 1. p. 71-74, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1210.
  » https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1210
• BARBIERI, Catarina Helena Cortada. Editorial. Revista Direito GV , São Paulo, v. 12, n. 1, p. 7-9, abr. 2016 . Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322016000100007&lng=pt&nrm=iso Acesso em: 18 fev. 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6172201601.
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• BARBIERI, Catarina Helena Cortada. Editorial. Revista Direito GV , São Paulo, v. 13, n. 1, p. 7-13, abr. 2017. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322017000100007&lng=pt&nrm=iso Acesso em: 18 fev. 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6172201701.
  » https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6172201701» http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322017000100007&lng=pt&nrm=iso
• BARBIERI, Catarina Helena Cortada. Revista Direito GV em números: balanço de 2017 e perspectivas para 2018. Revista Direito GV , São Paulo, v. 14, n. 1, p. 7-16, abr. 2018a. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rdgv/v14n1/1808-2432-rdgv-14-01-0007.pdf . Acesso em: 18 fev. 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6172201801.
  » https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6172201801» http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rdgv/v14n1/1808-2432-rdgv-14-01-0007.pdf
• BARBIERI, Catarina Helena Cortada; PASQUA, Juliana Silva. O que buscamos em um artigo científico? Revista Direito GV , São Paulo, v. 14, n. 3, p. 810-813, set. 2018b. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rdgv/v14n3/2317-6172-rdgv-14-03-0810.pdf Acesso em: 18 fev. 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/ 2317-6172201830.
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• COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION ETHICS (COPE). The COPE Report 1999. Guidelines on good publication practice. Family Practice , v. 17, n. 3, jun. 2000, p. 218–221. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/17.3.218.
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• FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO (FAPESP). Código de boas práticas científicas. São Paulo, 2014. Disponível em: http://www.fapesp.br/boaspraticas/FAPESP-Codigo_de_Boas_Praticas_Cientificas_2014.pdf Acesso em: 11 mar. 2019.
  » http://www.fapesp.br/boaspraticas/FAPESP-Codigo_de_Boas_Praticas_Cientificas_2014.pdf
• PACKER, Abel L.; SANTOS, Solange; SALES, Denise Peres; SALGADO, Eliana. Acelerando a comunicação das pesquisas: as ações do SciELO [ on-line ]. SciELO em Perspectiva , 2016. Disponível em: https://blog.scielo.org/blog/2016/03/10/acelerando-a-comunicacao-das-pesquisas-as-acoes-do-scielo/ Acesso em: 11 mar. 2019.
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• SCIENTIFIC ELECTRONIC LIBRARY ONLINE (SCIELO). Critérios, política e procedimentos para a admissão e a permanência de periódicos científicos na Coleção SciELO Brasil . São Paulo, out. 2017. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.br/avaliacao/Criterios_SciELO_Brasil_versao_revisada_atualizada_outubro_20171206.pdf Acesso em: 11 mar. 2019.
  » http://www.scielo.br/avaliacao/Criterios_SciELO_Brasil_versao_revisada_atualizada_outubro_20171206.pdf
• SCIENTIFIC ELECTRONIC LIBRARY ONLINE (SCIELO). SciELO – Linhas prioritárias de ação 2019-2023 . São Paulo, 2018a. Disponível em: https://www.scielo20.org/redescielo/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/L%C3%ADneas-prioritaris-de-acci%C3%B3n-2019-2023_pt.pdf Acesso em: 11 mar. 2019.
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• 1
  The Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) is a public foundation under the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC). It is responsible for overseeing the expansion and consolidation of Brazilian stricto sensu (master’s and doctorate) postgraduate programs. Document available at: https://www.capes.gov.br/historia-e-missao . Accessed: 16 Apr. 2019.
• 2
  CNPq – National Council for Scientific Development. Document available at: http://memoria.cnpq.br/ diretrizes. Accessed: 18 Feb. 2019.
• 3
  The co-author who performs an eventual submission will act as the corresponding author, that is, he or she will be the main contact between the editorial team of Direito GV Law Review and the other co-authors. The corresponding author must keep the other co-authors informed about the article evaluation process.
• 4
  FAPESP – Sao Paulo Research Foundation. Document available at: http://www.fapesp.br/en/ . Accessed: 16 Apr. 2019.
• 5
  For further information, refer to the editorial “What Direito GV Law Review expects from a scientific article” (BARBIERI, 2018b).

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  02 May 2019
• Date of issue
  2019