EDITORIAL

It is with great satisfaction that the Medical Directors of the Brazilian Annals of Dermatology announce certain decisions relevant to our readership. These innovations and alterations seek, solely and exclusively, to improve our Journal and to recognize the effort and the merit of those that give prestige to it through their publications.

Supplements
The present edition offers as a supplement the exam for the Specialist in Dermatology for 2004. The next edition will come with a CD containing as a supplement the works presented at the Forum of Residents of the Brazilian Congress of Dermatology in 1999 (Belo Horizonte) and 2001 (Goiânia), besides the clinical cases approved by our judging reviewers and editors and that have been awaiting publication for some time. It should be emphasized that the cases published in the CD accompanying this supplement have the same curricular value as those in the printed media. It is in this manner, albeit belatedly, that the SBD and the Annals fulfills its commitment with the residents and authors.

Advisory Council
The Advisory Council (board of judging reviewers) has been significantly extended with the inclusion of names of recognized scientific merit. The number of peer reviews per article has been reduced from three to two, to adapt to current needs and to hasten the process.

Reviewer anonymity
The list of members on the Advisory Council that gave opinions on the articles will be published only once a year, in the November/December edition, and no longer in each volume, in order to safeguard the anonymity of the judging reviewers.

Consultancy on methodology and statistics
In view of the natural difficulty experienced by most of the reviewers in evaluating statistical calculations, all of the investigative works will be firstly submitted to technical, statistical and methodological analysis and then sent to the Advisory Council members.

Incentives for publication
With the total support of the current management of the SBD, we are instituting an award system for the best investigative works and clinical cases. At the end of each year, the top two placed in each category will receive the following prizes:

Investigation
First place: travel expenses, lodging and inscription for the Brazilian Congress of Dermatology in the following year.
Second place: travel expenses and lodging for the Brazilian Congress of Dermatology in the following year.

Clinical case
First place: travel expenses to the Brazilian Congress of Dermatology in the following year.
Second place: travel expenses to the Brazilian Congress of Dermatology in the following year.

In the next edition of the Brazilian Annals of Dermatology the reader can become acquainted with the new "Norms for publication". These alterations should be considered as a united effort by the editors, judging reviewers and authors with the main objective of valorizing, more and more, the Journal that represents our dermatological scientific community.

Bernardo Gontijo
Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology

Sílvio Alencar Marques
Associated Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology

Evérton Siviero do Vale
Associated Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology