EDITORIAL
From the origins of scientific journals to Jornal Vascular Brasileiro
Ivanésio Merlo
Full member of the Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery (SBACV) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil; Full member of Colégio Brasileiro de Cirurgiões (CBC) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil; Member of the Scientific Council of SBACV - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil; Publishing director at SBACV - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
The publication of scientific journals in the world started in the seventeenth century and, since then, has played a key role in the process of science communication. The first two journals were launched in 1665, with a two-month interval between them. First, the French periodical Journal des Sçavans started being published weekly in Paris on January 6th of that year. It was the first to bring regular information on science with reports and experiments in physics, chemistry, anatomy and meteorology. The Philosophical Transactions, from the Royal Society of London, came up a little later, being first published in March 6th, 1665. This publication is considered the prototype of today's scientific journals1. After obtaining an issue of Journal des Sçavans, the members of the Royal Society discussed the possibility of publishing something similar. However, they concluded that it could be done more scientifically, so they excluded some sections in their project and emphasized the case reports on experiments by scientists. The monthly periodicity soon reached 1200 copies, whose subscription was ten pounds1.
The two above-mentioned publications served as distinct models for the scientific literature. The first influenced the development of journals devoted to science; the latter became a model for publications of scientific societies, which emerged in large numbers in the Europe of the eighteenth century.
During the nineteenth century, the production of scientific journals increased significantly due to the increase in research and surveys, in addition to the technical advances related to printing and paper manufacturing with wood pulp at that time.
In the twentieth century, this segment kept growing continuously, once the journals started being published by commercial editors, by the Government, Universities, and Scientific Societies, including ours. In the second half of the century, the growth was substantial, which caused the bibliographic control of publications to be intensified2.
This is when our story begins. The publications on angiology and vascular surgery in Brazil started along with the foundation of the Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery (SBACV). We had journals such as Angiopatias, Revista Brasileira de Angiologia e Cirurgia Vascular, Cirurgia Vascular & Angiologia, and others. These projects came out and were maintained thanks to the personal effort of its leaders. They sure were extremely important and boosted the maturation of concepts that were joined in the creation of the Jornal Vascular Brasileiro (JVB).
In response to the demands of our time, the Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery (SBACV) puts into circulation a new official means of scientific communication - the Jornal Vascular Brasileiro, (J Vasc Br) [nowadays, J Vasc Bras]3.
Thus, the President of SBACV, Dr. Marcio Leal de Meirelles, opened the first edition of JVB, in 2002. In the same edition, the Professor Emil Buriham wrote why one needs to publish and listed some reasons: "the publication features a person, a group or a institution, and states a tradition"4.
At that time, the work Dr. Bonamigo Telmo, first Editor-in-Chief, undertook to implement and consolidate the JVB was outstanding. Since the beginning, he sought indexing, even though he knew the huge obstacles he would have to overcome: "we will pursue the indexing of the journal; it will be a difficult but not impossible task"5.
Thereafter, the JVB had not only a destination, but also a duty. A duty presumes that there is an order in life, that individuals have to play roles in the right order, and that there are issues that are more important than personal pleasure and fulfillment. The leaders must naturally have obligations and, speaking of an organized society, the welfare of many can only be achieved with the sacrifice of few.
We were indexed to the Scientific Electronic Library (SciELO) in 2004. The editors and colleagues arrived with a noble enthusiasm and have been offering their creativity in the performance of JVB's duties ever since. The journal will finally achieve "adulthood" with its indexing in the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System on Line (Medline) and Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
If for three centuries the format of the journal had changed little, in the recent decades technology changed the scenario. In the 1970s, computers provided revolutionary advances that enabled higher quality and more speed in the publishing process. In the 1990s, telecommunication networks made the electronic transmission a lot easier, and "home pages, sites, modems, internets" appeared1. The rest of the story is well-known: the world has changed and scientific publications got into a new age: "on line, on time, full time". Our JVB, in this context, celebrates ten years. All we want is to wish a happy anniversary to our journal! May it spread science worldwide for many years!
References
- 1. Stumpf IRC. Passado e futuro das revistas científicas. Ciência da Informação. 1996;25(3):383-6.
- 2. Muller SPM. O impacto das tecnologias da informação na geração do artigo científico: tópicos para estudo. Ciência da Informação. 1994;32(3):135-41.
- 3. Meirelles ML. Progresso e maturidade. J Vasc Bras. 2002;1(1):1.
- 4. Buriham E. A importância da publicação científica. J Vasc Bras. 2002;1(1):2.
- 5. Bonamigo TP. A dinâmica do jornal vascular brasileiro. J Vasc Bras. 2002;1(1):3-4.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
17 July 2012 -
Date of issue
June 2012
