Foreword
The journal Varia História created by UFMG's Department of History in 1986, and first launched with the name Revista do Departamento de História (Department of History Journal), changed its name to Varia História in 1993. In 1999, UFMG's Post-Graduation Program in History took over the publication of the journal, and on this occasion new editorial criteria were established while a steady adaptation to technical and academic demands applied to the scientific quality publications was set on course. Since then, Varia Historia has, on a regular basis, received the contribution of renowned professors and specialists from national and foreign institutions. In 2012, the Program defined more strict rules for the journal, in order to consolidate the journal's national excellence standards and expand its international reach. New members joined the editorial board, representing each of the three research lines that form the Post-Graduation Program, and professors of foreign institutions have now joined the consulting committee. An option was made for the development of thematic dossiers to be organized on a relay basis, while articles and book reviews received will be submitted to our partners for approval. The purpose of all this was to lend more visibility to the projects, seminars, themes and discussions that the different research lines include in the Post-Graduation Program, reflecting the academic interaction the program has consolidated over the last few years. Since then, the journal issues have brought only unpublished articles. Within this same period of time, great efforts have been made to increase the journal's national and international circulation, as well as increasing the number of subscribers. With the recognition to this policy, Varia Historia was rated, in 2010, as A1 by CAPES's Committee of the Area of History, the same rating was granted again in 2011 and 2012. Since 2007, the magazine has been made available in SciELO basis. In 2010, Varia Historia was included in the EBSCOHOST basis and we are now working for its inclusion in REDALYC.
The purpose of Varia Historia is to provide a plenty of space for the academic discussion of historical themes (History as Science), and for the dialogue with various fields of knowledge related to it, with the exception, however, of contributions in the field of History teaching, a theme which demands specific publications. The issues are divided in four sections: thematic dossiers, articles, book reviews and transcriptions of historical sources. The thematic dossiers are organized by invitation by the lines of research of UFMG's Post-Graduation Program in History, on a relay basis. As the articles, book reviews and transcriptions of historical sources are received they are submitted to peer-review evaluation.
The progressive international recognition of Varia Historia has enjoyed has been attracting internationally renowned researchers (from the USA, Portugal, France, Argentina and other countries) who have, of their free will, sent us their articles for appreciation. In 2013, the excellence standard of the journal is consolidated and because of this, time has come for us to make changes to its format. The main and first of these changes, which has started with this number, is the increase in the periodicity of the journal, which will from now on come out three times a year, for the reasons listed below.
The number of materials submitted has been growing very fast in the last few years and the quality of the articles received has improved. In 2010, 53 articles were submitted, 26 out of which were accepted and 27 rejected. In 2011, we received 46 articles, 24 were accepted and 22 rejected. In 2012, 61 articles were submitted, 25 were accepted, 30 were rejected and the remaining articles are under analysis. The increased volume of submissions has been followed by a reduction in the mean time span between the arrival of the article and its final acceptance for publication. In 2010, this mean time was of 182 days, while in 2011 it reached 146 days and in 2012, 137 days. We have been working in an attempt to reduce this pattern even more, since it is vital in the creation of a relationship of trust between editor and author, with consequential impact on the articles collected.
It is important to point out that the journal's presence in SciELO can be regarded as the main factor that caused the improvement of quality observed in the last few years. According to statistical data available in SciELO, between February 1998 and April 2013 the journal's main site received 41,186 accesses, while the articles had received 575,859. These figures are much higher than what could be obtained only with the printed issues, and this can be seen as the interlock between the increasing number of accesses to the magazine, its visibility and the incentive to authors to submit their articles.
The accumulation of accepted articles has increased the time span between the end of the analysis of the article and its publication. 2012 saw this: 37 articles were published, while in 2011 there were 30 and in 2010, 28. The deterioration of this picture could discourage qualified authors from publishing in the journal, causing a serious negative impact on its future quality. But, fortunately, the increased periodicity bears witness to the increasing maturity of the journal and knowledge area, placing it side by side with consolidated international publications.
Therefore, we hope that this new stage of the Magazine, started with this number, may go on deserving the trust and support of readers in its mission to spread cutting-edge knowledge of history, emanating from the academic world.
The Editors
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
11 July 2013 -
Date of issue
Apr 2013
