I was the editor of the Journal of Pulmonology from 1999 to 2002, a time during which the editor was also the Director of Communications of the Brazilian Thoracic Association (BTA), elected on a joint ticket in BTA elections. I worked in the administrations of Francisco Elmano Marques de Souza and Luiz Carlos Correia da Silva, both of whom lent me their full support. Both also accepted the fact that I chose not to encumber myself with other tasks related to the dissemination of information (the bulletins, the website, etc.) and opted to devote my time exclusively to the Journal of Pulmonology.
I was always a great admirer of the Journal of Pulmonology, which was the fruit of the labors of so many who came before me and one of the principal assets of the BTA-the "jewel in the crown". However, I noticed that authors working in our field of study in Brazil published their best work in journals with greater visibility, whereas they submitted their less important manuscripts, especially case reports, to the Journal of Pulmonology. The explanation for that is that our Journal was indexed only for LILACS, which encompasses only journals published in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Journal needed to be indexed for a database with greater international visibility. Envisioned and developed by Brazilians, the SciELO database was our target. For a journal to be included in SciELO, its editor has to apply, after which the journal is evaluated for a period of no less than two years. Once a journal has been indexed for SciELO, it is subject to ongoing evaluation. The evaluation process required rigorous attention to the timeliness of the publication of each issue of the Journal, a regular number of articles per issue, and a well-qualified editorial staff. To meet the challenge of organizing the editorial functions during that first year, I enlisted the aid of several researchers who were on the editorial staff and of various ad hoc reviewers. Some also volunteered to be responsible for series and review articles. To promote good interactions among the authors, the reviewers, and the editor, we took a pedagogical approach-the editor is not the "owner" of the journal; the authors and reviewers are not enemies. We are all researchers who want to show our work, our best work.
In 2001, the Journal of Pulmonology came to also be published online and, in September of 2002, was indexed for SciELO. By the end of my term as editor, we had published 24 issues, all of which were released promptly in the months listed on the cover, as well as 11 supplements. During that period, we evaluated 290 manuscripts and our rejection rate was approximately 30%.
I would like to thank the presidents of the BTA, as well as my colleagues, the reviewers, and the authors. In addition, I am especially grateful to Hugo Hyung Bok Yoo, the secretary of the Journal of Pulmonology, as well as to Enilze de Souza Nogueira Volpato and Rosemary Cristina da Silva, librarians at the Botucatu campus of São Paulo State University, for the technical consulting provided. I would also like to pay me respects to Priscilla de Cássia Bovolenta, the kind, efficient secretary who worked with me as well as with subsequent editors. Priscilla recently passed away at the age of 37, after a long battle against her disease. She will be missed.
The traits that are considered characteristic of a good editor are competence, integrity, impartiality, and the ability to withstand enormous pressure. I am quite grateful for those years as the editor of the Journal of Pulmonology, which provided me with an extensive education and allowed me to pursue those qualities. I am also very grateful to have achieved my objective of setting the Journal of Pulmonology on the path to greater visibility.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Sep-Oct 2015
