Journals evaluation policy in the medical fields: impacts on brazilian editorial production

ABSTRACT

This research analyzes the characteristics of Qualis A1 medical journals in order to set up a critical reflection on the impact of journal evaluation policies on Brazilian scientific production. Identifies editorial characteristics of the A1 journals in the areas of Medicina I, Medicina II and Medicina III through a qualitative-quantitative analysis, in order to draw a profile of these journals. The information was extracted from the following systems: Sucupira, Ulrichsweb, DOAJ, Scimago Journal Rank and Journal Citation Reports. The results for the profile of the journals were homogeneous among the three medical areas, and demonstrated that they are mainly published by commercial entities with the predominance of the publisher Elsevier; the median of the unified factor (Journal Impact Factor or Cites per Doc) is 5,365; the frequency of publishing is monthly; they are 45 years old; 13% are Open Access; the predominant country is the United States and that the English language is almost unanimous. It concludes that the observed editorial characteristics reflect the hegemony of commercial conglomerates in the academic publishing market, and that the Brazilian journals, mostly of Open Access and financed by public resources, are unable to compete with the journals of these companies.

Keywords:
Scholarly publishing; Scholarly journals; Qualis; Journal Impact Factor