About RBSO

Revista Brasileira de Saúde OcupacionalRBSO [Brazilian Journal of Occupational Health], consolidated as a vehicle for scientific communication in Occupational Health in the last 43 years, has been once more going through big changes, driven mainly by the demands of indexing bases, notably from SciELO¹.

From 2016 onwards, the journal has adopted definitively the online format and is no longer published in the form of serial issues (numbers). It has also abolished its periodic printed editions. Thus, it starts to keep only one annual volume, without fascicles, with manuscripts being published sequentially. This model is one of the options of the so-called rolling pass system, in which the approved manuscripts are published online as soon as the editing process is completed. This format has been used in scientific communication as it enables information to be available faster to the public. It is an international trend, which has been stimulated by SciELO and by other indexing bases. In addition to the benefit of speeding the process, rolling pass publication does not prevent the online publication of thematic editions, nor the eventual printing of special editions with a selection of published manuscripts, when, for some particular purpose, printed copies are needed.

Another key measure implemented earlier this year by the journal was the online manuscript management system, ScholarOne, provided by SciELO. This kind of system has become mandatory for the journals indexed in the base. It helps organizing and speeding the flow of submitted manuscripts. A positive impact is expected with a shorter processes to the assessment and publication of the manuscripts.

Four other impact measures have been introduced. Two aimed at the journal internationalization: following Vancouver standards for citations and references, as well as the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the bilingual publication, Portuguese or Spanish and English, of approved manuscripts considered adequate for this purpose. The last one also aims to meet SciELO requirement of publishing at least 80% of the articles in English.

The other two measures concern the quality and scientific integrity of the assessed manuscripts. The first, which has already been carried out for some time, is to have the manuscripts with statistic methodologies assessed independently by two statistical advisors, before they are sent to peer reviewers. The second measure, at an early stage, is the adoption of a software to identify plagiarism.

The editorial board was also redesigned. All its members became associate editors. These well known researchers in the Occupational Health field have now a more active participation in the journal editorial process. Following these changes, one more editor-in-chief joined the editorial board: Ada Ávila Assunção, a recognized researcher in the field of Occupational Health, Associate Professor at the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais [Medical School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais], a permanent lecturer on Occupational Health and sub-coordinator of the Public Health Graduate Program from the same university. The inclusion of Dr. Ada in the team of editors-in-chief of the journal, joining Dr. Eduardo Algranti and Dr. José Marçal Jackson Filho, both from Fundacentro, increases and strengthens the participation of editors coming from other institutions viewing a closer articulation with other Occupational Health institutions.

The triad professionalism, internationalization and sustainability proposed by SciELO and Fapesp as a policy for improving quality and increasing visibility of the Brazilian scientific communication, has posed enormous challenges for Brazilian journals. RBSO intends to face these challenges, in spite of being aware of its limitations, particularly with regard to meeting some of the requirements, such as the minimum number of articles published per year². However, it also knows that the Occupational Health field particularities and needs may be different from other communities. As stated by Angela Cochran³, Past-president of the Council of Science Editors, "there is no 'one size, fits all' approach to this" in academic publishing. RBSO recognizes its role in this community as the only Brazilian exclusive locus for the publication of research results in the field of Occupational Health⁴.

Referências

• ¹
  Packer A, Montanari, F. SciELO Brasil revisa os critérios de indexação. SciELO em Perspectiva [Internet]. 2014 maio [citado em 2016 out 3]. Disponível em: http://blog.scielo.org/blog/2014/05/09/scielo-brasil-revisa-os-criterios-de-indexacao/
  » http://blog.scielo.org/blog/2014/05/09/scielo-brasil-revisa-os-criterios-de-indexacao/
• ²
  Jackson Filho JM, Algranti E, Saito CA, Garcia EG. Da segurança e medicina do trabalho à Saúde do Trabalhador: história e desafios da Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional. Ciênc. saúde coletiva [Internet]. 2015 jul [citado em 2016 out 24];20(7):2041-51. Disponível em: http://bit.ly/2fy2wtC
  » http://bit.ly/2fy2wtC
• ³
  Michael A. Ask the chefs: what's your favorite 'dirty little secret' about scholarly publishing? [Internet]. 2016 out 18 [citado em 2016 out 24]. Disponível em: http://bit.ly/2g3ONys
  » http://bit.ly/2g3ONys
• ⁴
  Wünsch Filho V. A RBSO em perspectiva. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup [Internet]. 2011 jun [citado 2016 out 24];36(123):6-7. Disponível em: http://bit.ly/2fotAMb
  » http://bit.ly/2fotAMb

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  01 Dec 2016
• Date of issue
  2016