The Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia now and discussion on the new classification of brazilian journals

EDITORIAL

The Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia now and discussion on the new classification of brazilian journals

Milton Artur Ruiz

Editor in Chief, Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia

^{Corresponding author}

The Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia (RBHH) is now the official organ of the Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Pediátrica (Brazilian Society of Pediatric Oncology - SOBOPE). With this, SOBOPE will assist us to achieve our objectives to develop and internationalize the journal.

The question regarding the Qualis classification of CAPES remains a matter of widespread debate and controversy. A recent event of FAPESP/SciELO, highlighted the progress of Brazil in respect to global scientific production as we had already discussed in issue nº 3 of the RBHH this year.⁽¹⁾ In an atmosphere of jingoism, several editors presented measures they adopted for their journals to be included in the Thomson Reuters/ISI/JCR database, the most prestigious among all existing databases and the one responsible for calculating the famous Impact Factor. The measures used are all basically the same and already known to most participants. They include professionalization of the journal, publishing in English to increase international visibility and massive investment to improve the quality of content, in addition to trivial details, such as care with the frequency and quality of printing. With this, in few years, Brazil now has 89 scientific journals in all fields of the Thomson Reuters/ISI/JCR database. Several aspects were mentioned and a presentation by the representative of the University of Granada, Spain responsible for SCImago, emphasized the importance of Brazil and suggested adopting different approaches within the editorial market such as partnerships especially between scientific groups in Brazil and other countries in order to produce material with greater appeal and international impact. Examples of the influence of international publishers as well as criticism of the current Qualis classification were presented by another speaker^(2-4) (Table 1).

With the approach of the publication of the new Qualis classification, representatives of SciELO and FAPESP suggested that some journals will be reclassified in higher positions than the old classification; those chosen would receive good financial support over a fiveyear period but this was not explained well. They mentioned that three journals from each of the three medical categories (Medicine 1, 2 and 3) would be indicated. Others suggested that it would only be two in each area. The criteria would be the existing parameters such as the impact factor, possibly using SCImago and the inclusion in SciELO which are criteria of the old classification system.

Thus, the discussion is on the agenda. For this reason the Brazilian Medical Association met with all medical journal editors to discuss the new classification and the parameters that will be employed.

Without much information, one of the area coordinators reported that Capes had asked him to indicate three journals, pure and simply. He also informed us that the nominees may even be promoted to classification A1 even with an impact factor lower than that stipulated by the old classification.

At this point the meeting came to an end as the discussion became general with different opinions on various aspects; one conclusion was reached that if this measure were adopted there would be major discouragement for all the excluded journals.

The RBHH, since the new classification was established, has been feeling the impact and thus has been trying to adapt to the new situation with much effort to improve.⁽⁵⁾

The journal has invested in human resources and professionalism, which can be seen from the first edition of this volume.

At this moment the RBHH advocates a comprehensive policy to stimulate national journals and does not agree with the support by sector for a few journals.

However, we also know of the distinctive position of the RBHH in the world in relation to the other journals of this specialty and of course with evolution, our journal will become an even stronger representative of South America and of Latin countries as an alternative for developing countries to publish their scientific production.

Submitted: 9/29/2011

Accepted: 10/29/2011

Conflict-of-interest disclosure: The authors declare no competing financial interest

www.rbhh.org or www.scielo.br/rbhh

• 1. Ruiz MA. Countries emerging as major scientific powers. Rev Bras Hematol Hemoter. 2011;33(3):169-71.
• 2. Brazilian Editors of Scientific Magazine. Changes in the criteria of Qualis. Rev Bras Hematol Hemoter. 2010;32(3):189-91.
• 3. Brazilian Editors of Scientific Magazine. Journal classification in the Qualis/Capes System - a change is urgently required. Rev Bras Hematol Hemoter. 2010;32(1):1-3.
• 4. Ruiz MA, Greco OT, Braile DM. Journal impact factor: this editorial, academic and scientific influence. Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc. 2009;24(3):273-8.
• ⁵
  Scimago (2007). Scimago Journal & Country Rank. [cited 2011 Jun 08]. Available at: http://www.scimagojr.com
  » link

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Nov 2011
• Date of issue
  Oct 2011