CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL IN THE NURSING AND HEALTH FIELD

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to report the experience of creating and implementing a scientific journal in the field of nursing and health.

Method:

experience report of the creation and implementation of a scientific journal in the nursing and health field, in northern Paraná, Brazil, from October 2018 to September 2019.

Discussion:

by outlining the journal’s mission, editorial policy, and scope, besides the creation of the Founding Board and the internal rules, standards, editorial board, implementation of the electronic version, on the university’s journal portal, social networks, and its launching in a scientific event with the participation of the internal and external community at the university, the seriousness and rigor required in this process are presented.

Conclusion:

the creation and implementation took place systematically, considering quality standards. The report helps other researchers to develop new journals, by portraying all the steps taken from planning to the first volume’s publication.

DESCRIPTORS:
Publishing; Periodical; Publications for Science Diffusion; Scientific Communication and Diffusion; Nursing

RESUMO

Objetivo:

relatar a experiência de criação e implementação de um periódico científico na área de enfermagem e saúde.

Método:

relato de experiência da criação e implementação de um periódico científico na área de enfermagem e saúde, no norte do Paraná, Brasil, entre outubro de 2018 e setembro de 2019.

Discussão:

ao delinear missão, política editorial e escopo do periódico, além da formação do Conselho Fundador e o regimento interno, normas, corpo editorial, implementação da versão eletrônica, no portal de periódicos da universidade, redes sociais e o lançamento em evento científico com participação da comunidade interna e externa à universidade, deixa-se explícita a seriedade e rigor necessários nesse processo.

Conclusão:

a criação e implementação ocorreu de forma sistemática, levando em consideração padrões de qualidade. O relato contribui para que outros pesquisadores possam estruturar novos periódicos, ao retratar todas as etapas percorridas desde o planejamento até a publicação do primeiro volume.

DESCRITORES:
Editoração; Publicação Periódica; Publicações de Divulgação Científica; Comunicação e Divulgação Científica; Enfermagem

RESUMEN:

Objetivo:

relatar la experiencia de creación e implementación de un periódico científico en el área de enfermería y salud.

Método:

relato de experiencia de la creación e implementación de un periódico científico en el área de enfermería y salud, en el norte de Paraná, Brasil, entre octubre de 2018 y septiembre de 2019.

Discusión:

al delinear la misión, política editorial y alcance del periódico, además de la formación del Consejo Fundador y el reglamento interno, las normas, el cuerpo editorial, implementación de la versión electrónica, en el portal de periódicos de la universidad, redes sociales y el lanzamiento en un evento científico con la participación de la comunidad interna y externa de la universidad, se explícita la seriedad y rigor necesarios en este proceso.

Conclusión:

la creación e implementación ocurrió de manera sistemática, teniendo en cuenta padrones de calidad. El relato contribuye a que otros investigadores puedan estructurar nuevos periódicos, al retratar todos los pasos dados desde la planificación hasta la publicación del primer volumen.

DESCRIPTORES:
Edición; Publicación Periódica; Publicaciones de Divulgación Científica; Comunicación e Divulgación Científica; Enfermería

INTRODUCTION

The advancement of science has added considerable value to health systems over the years since it has allowed to continuously improve professional practice based on research results⁽¹⁾. Among the factors that contributed to this progress, as well as the prominence of different professions and the creation of a robust theoretical body, is the creation of scientific journals.

Concerning the beginning of scientific publications, despite the existence of philosophical thoughts listed since Greek mythology, scientific journals appeared more recently, in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, with significant growth since then. The importance of scientific diffusion is included in all academic and professional settings. Currently, the journal must seek the quality of its publications to increase its visibility and quality in the editorial environment⁽²⁾.

In recent years, there has been an expansion of stricto sensu graduate courses and programs in Brazil, which are responsible for promoting the development of science, technology, and information. Thus, the availability of quality scientific journals can also promote the diffusion of robust scientific publications, with direct impacts for the improvement of professional practice⁽³⁾.

Internationally, different bibliometric indicators have been adopted to assess the quality of journals and published research, concerning their impact and meaning in the academic environment⁽⁴⁾. The first and most widely used index to rank institutions, journals and publications was the Impact Factor (IF), created in 1975, having since 2004 other competitors such as the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) implemented by Elsevier⁽⁵⁾.

In Brazil, among the strategies used to assess the quality of scientific production in graduate programs, the Qualis-Capes stratification stands out, which has undergone a restructuring, still under evaluation in the areas of knowledge, aimed at balancing the assessment between the areas and associate the criteria with becoming international⁽⁶⁾.

The adoption of assessment criteria must be present from the initial outline of the proposal for a new journal. The editorial team must also analyze the complicating factors and the potential of a new means of diffusion for the area. Therefore, the creation and implementation of a scientific journal focused on the nursing and health field represents the product of a detailed assessment that, combined with the concern to meet quality indicators, reinforces the possibility of achieving recognition and visibility in the academic environment.

Given this context, the objective was to report the experience of creating and implementing a scientific journal in the nursing and health field.

METHOD

It is an experience report developed from the creation and implementation of a scientific journal in the nursing and health field. The study was conducted at the Nursing Department of the Universidade Estadual de Londrina, located in the north of the state of Paraná, from October 2018 to September 2019.

The creation of the journal followed the systematic steps from the definition of the mission and the editorial board, to the implementation of the electronic version, as detailed below.

The criteria used by national and international databases for evaluating journals were considered, to ensure that the new journal was set in line with the standards necessary to claim such indexes. We chose to follow the requirements of the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO) and Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) scientific databases.

As for the periodicity, it was established that the journal would have a continuous flow of publication (rolling pass), besides an editorial body and national and international ad hoc consultants, with blind peer review.

The creation of the Founding Board, composed of professors and researchers from the study institution and from outside institutions, who worked in different lines of research and with experience in publishing in other scientific journals, was a central step to achieve a broader view in the construction of the mission and the journal’s design. Based on periodic meetings, the journal’s internal regulations, instructions to authors, the flow of acceptance and evaluation of articles, the mission and scope, besides the policy and editorial board, were defined.

The implementation proposal was submitted to the university and, upon approval by the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Health Sciences Center and Nursing Department, the journal was linked to the Nursing Department and the Nursing Graduate Program.

With the support of the Design Department, the layout, font styles and color chart were chosen, as well as the Portable Document Format (PDF) template for electronic articles, with the premise of making it attractive, intuitive, and simplifying the reading of the content by the user. After this stage, the electronic version was implemented, made available on the University’s journal portal, associated with the diffusion of social media for greater visibility.

The journal’s release took place in a scientific event, organized by the editorial board and support team, with more than 120 participants and live transmission and accesses in national and international territory, such as a live broadcast at a University in Portugal.

In the first volume, an editorial and ten scientific articles were published, all of which belonged to educational institutions external to the University to which the journal is linked.

DISCUSSION

The creation of a new scientific journal happens intending to contribute to the growth of communication and valuing of science, giving since the early project the concern to guarantee the accuracy and quality of publications. Despite the large number of scientific journals existing in specific areas, there was a need to provide a new space for the dissemination of studies, not only for the nursing field, but for others related to health.

The pursuit for indexing in databases has been sought by scientific journals in the field of health and nursing to increase visibility and become international. However, to achieve such standards, it is necessary to build up human and material resources, besides the requirement for the journal to have a minimum time of creation, periodicity and quality of published articles⁽⁷⁾.

Among the criteria for indexing journals is reaching standards for bibliometric indicators, which aim to assess the impact of scientific articles from the number of citations⁽⁸⁾. Currently, alternative metrics, such as access through social media, recommendations, shares and downloads, have also been adopted to measure the journal’s visibility in the academic community⁽⁹⁾.

The concern with establishing a quality editorial board is part of the actions of good scientific publishing practices adopted by the journal, to guarantee openness and consistency in the entire process of evaluating articles. Allied to this, the adoption of the rolling pass publication system allows greater readiness in the dissemination of approved articles, since there is no need to wait for the completion of a new volume, as they are available as soon as the layout is finished⁽¹⁰⁾.

The strategy of using social media for scientific journals has been strongly adopted nationally and internationally, as a tool to expand the reach and impact in the general community. These means are used as sources for obtaining altimetric data, added to bibliometric indicators(⁷,¹¹).

It is noteworthy that the editors may face difficulties in the creation of a new journal, such as the establishment of an editorial team with attraction and availability to participate in all stages of arranging and justify the need for creation and the outside community of a new journal, especially given the current scenario of financial restrictions.

To overcome these diffculties, internal and external articulations were sought, together with other national and international universities, to strengthen and consolidate the editorial board. Institutional support and acceptance from editors with expertise in scientific publishing were crucial to enable the implementation of the journal.

The search for external advising with editors who had experience in publishing scientific journals in the field of nursing and health was also an important tool for decisions such as the adoption of a rolling pass from the first volume. From this partnership, it became evident that, despite all the difficulties faced, “being an editor” brings satisfaction and allows the professional to contribute to the scientific advancement of his field.

CONCLUSION

The creation and implementation of a new scientific journal in the nursing and health field took place systematically, with evident concern for quality standards. The adoption of tools for the continuous monitoring of bibliometric and altimetry indicators may contribute to greater visibility and solidification in the scientific community.

The experiences involved in this process highlight the importance of planning, the search for partnerships and strategies to overcome the difficulties faced in the implementation.

The present report supports the creation of new scientific journals, by portraying the steps taken, from the initial planning to the publication of the first volume of the journal. Moreover, health and nursing professionals are encouraged to seek improvement and academic careers in graduate programs, and do not limit their contribution to the scientific community only to the submission of manuscripts but can advance their performance while reviewers and journal editors.

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Edited by

Associate editor: Luciana Puchalski Kalinke

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  29 Oct 2021
• Date of issue
  2021

History

• Received
  30 Nov 2019
• Accepted
  16 Aug 2020