Brief Background
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is the official publication of Brazilian Psychiatric Association (Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria - ABP) The journal has been published uninterruptedly since 1979, under different titles. It was published quarterly until 2018 (volume 40), then bimonthly from 2019 to 2023 (volumes 41 to 45), and switched to the online-only continuous publication format in 2024 (volume 46). The abbreviated title of the journal is Braz J Psychiatry. |
Open Science Compliance
Articles submitted to the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry undergo a rigorous peer-review process, and the journal complies with the principles of open science. This commitment is reflected in our editorial policy, which promotes transparency and free access to knowledge. We accept submissions of articles already available as preprints, and all our articles are fully open access, ensuring that discoveries and innovations in the field of psychiatry are accessible to researchers, clinicians, and the general public without barriers. All journal content (except where identified otherwise) is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY (CC-BY).
Other initiatives include requesting a detailed description of each author’s contributions (as of 2024), encouraging original datasets and supplementary materials to be shared as frequently as possible, and having to agree to open access publication in the submission process (in-built question). |
Ethics in Publication
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry observes the ethics in publication values set forth in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as well as the publication ethics principles described by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
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Focus and Scope
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry aims to publish original manuscripts in all areas of psychiatry, e.g., basic and clinical neuroscience, translational psychiatry, clinical studies (including clinical trials) and epidemiological studies. |
Digital Preservation
This journal is indexed cover to cover by SciELO and PMC, and therefore meets digital preservation criteria. |
Indexing Sources
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is indexed in the following databases and platforms: |
Bibliographic Journal Information
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Websites and Social Media
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Editorial Policy
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original manuscripts in all areas of psychiatry.
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Preprints
The journal encourages and accepts submission of articles already available in preprint platforms, e.g., Preprints and SciELO Preprints. Previous publication as a preprint should be clearly indicated in the submission. |
Peer Review Process
The manuscript submission and editorial review process is as follows:
In line with open science principles, starting in 2024, accepted articles will be published along with the name of the editor responsible for handling and accepting the study. Whenever an editor or other person involved in the editorial process decides to submit a manuscript to the journal, or has any conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript (e.g., with respect to the authors or their work, or a manuscript from their own department or institution, etc.), they will not participate in the decision-making process. In these cases, a colleague in the editorial office will manage the manuscript and handle the peer review independently of the author/editor. |
Open Data
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry encourages authors to make their data publicly available. The original/source data can be added as part of the submission (e.g., as supplementary material), or be available on a public data repository (e.g., https://data.scielo.org/), or be provided directly from the authors upon reasonable request.
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Fees
The journal is fully open access, and there are no article processing or publication fees. |
Ethics and Misconduct, Correction and Retraction Policy
Errors of fact detected after publication will be handled as recommended by the ICMJE. Briefly, a corrigendum will be published, along with a corrected version of the article detailing the corrections made. Articles containing errors serious enough to invalidate a paper's results and conclusions will be retracted.
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Policy on Conflict of Interest
Conflicts of interest may result from different types of relationship, e.g., personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial, and they may affect authors, reviewers, or journal editors and staff. Conflict of interest information for each author needs to be part of the manuscript. A general statement should be included before the references, attesting to the existence (or non-existence) of any conflicts of interest concerning the publication of the article. |
Adoption of similarity software
All manuscripts are screened for similarity with the published literature upon submission. The tool used for this purpose is iThenticate 2, which is built-in/integrated in our submission system (as offered by SciELO). |
Gender and Sex Issues
Gender and sex equality is taken into consideration when members are invited to join the Editorial Team and Board and also during peer review. We recommend our team members, editors, reviewers, and authors to observe the SAGER guidelines.
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Ethics Committee
Approval of original studies by a research ethics institution or committee should be clearly described in the manuscript. Whenever considered appropriate or necessary, the editors may request to see the original approval statement form. |
Copyright
All content of the journal, except where identified otherwise, is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY (CC-BY) Attribution 4.0 International . This means that authors retain copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, even though they grant the journal the right of first publication. In other words, authors and any users can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format. Please note that the original source should be cited, i.e., attribution should be given to the creator.
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Intellectual Property and Terms of Use
The author is responsible for obtaining copyright authorization (from individuals, institutions, other authors and/or editors) for the use of tables, methods, or other elements used in the manuscript to be published. Illustrations extracted from previously published works should be accompanied by written permission for reproduction from the current copyright holder at the time of submission.
Data, opinions, and concepts manifested in articles, as well as the accuracy of the bibliographic references cited, are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry encourages authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts, publish them on personal blogs, institutional repositories, and academic social media, as well as post them in their personal social media, provided the original version published in the journal is cited. |
Sponsors and Promotion Agencies
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EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
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ASSOCIATE EDITORS
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
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ASSISTANT EDITORS
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EDITORIAL BOARD
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EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT
Osler Médicos Associados |
PRODUCTION AND COPYEDITING
Scientific Linguagem |
TYPESETTING
Charlesworth Group |
GRAPHIC PRODUCTION
Marcos Silva Matte |
FORMER EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
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Aims and editorial policy
The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry aims to publish original manuscripts in all areas of psychiatry, e.g., basic and clinical neuroscience, translational psychiatry, clinical studies (including clinical trials) and epidemiological studies. The journal is fully open access, and there are no article processing or publication fees. Submitted articles must be written in English.
These instructions are based on the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, edited by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). |
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts are accepted for consideration by the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry based on the understanding that they are original, are not being considered for publication elsewhere, and have not been published previously. The final version of the submitted manuscript should have been approved by all authors. Contents published represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editorial Board. The manuscript file (main document) must be written in English, double-spaced throughout, and should contain the following sections in this order: title page, abstract, main manuscript text, acknowledgments, disclosure, data availability, author contributions, references, figure legends, and tables. Use 10-, 11-, or 12-point font size. Abbreviations should be avoided and limited to those considered "standard." All abbreviations should be spelled out at first mention in the text and also in table/figure legends. All units should be metric. Avoid Roman numerals. Generic names of drugs should be used. |
Manuscript types and word limits
The table below shows the types of manuscript accepted for evaluation and the maximum number of words (from Introduction to end of Discussion), references and tables/figures allowed for each category.
Title page Page 1 should contain a full title (max. 150 characters, specific, informative, attractive, no abbreviations), authors' names in the form that is wished for publication (first name + middle initials or names + last name), and authors' departments and institutions, including city and country. Please also include a running title with a maximum of 50 characters (letters and spaces) and inform of any previous presentations of the manuscript, if applicable (e.g., in abstract or preprint form). The full name, telephone number, e-mail address and full postal address of the corresponding author should be stated.
Abstract Page 2 should present a 250-word abstract where applicable (check table above with requirements for each manuscript type). To ensure the quality and clarity of submissions, authors are required to follow these detailed instructions when preparing their abstracts. Ensure that the abstract is clear, concise, and jargon-free. Each section should be seamlessly connected to provide a coherent narrative. Structured abstracts should have the sections outlined below:
1. Objective: Start with 1-2 sentences that provide the background or context of the study, highlighting the problem being addressed. Then, clearly state the objective or hypothesis that the study intends to test or explore. 2. Methods: Briefly describe the study design (e.g., randomized controlled trial, cohort study, case-control study, etc.), including the setting and timeframe of the study. Subsequently, mention the study population, including how participants were selected or recruited. If applicable, succinctly describe the interventions used and the primary measurements or variables analyzed. Finally, provide a brief overview of the main statistical tests or methods used for data analysis. 3. Results: Summarize the main results of the study, including relevant data and statistical significance (e.g., p-values, confidence intervals). While detailed data cannot be included due to word limit constraints, ensure that the presented data supports the study's conclusions. 4. Conclusions: Clearly interpret the results, emphasizing their relevance and implications for the field. Also, briefly acknowledge any significant limitations of the study. Optionally, suggest areas for future research or how the findings could impact practice or policy. After the abstract, please indicate three to five keywords that reflect the core themes of the study and are in accordance with the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Avoid repeating words from the title. If submitting a randomized clinical trial, inform the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract.
Main text The main text of the manuscript should follow the specific instructions for each manuscript type as described above. For Original Articles, the Methods section must include information on ethics committee approval. Studies involving humans must provide details about informed consent procedures, and studies involving animals must describe compliance with institutional and national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals. Patient anonymity should be guaranteed.
Acknowledgments Funding originating from non-commercial institutions (e.g., foundation or government grants), as well as individuals who have contributed to the study but do not qualify as authors, should be cited in the Acknowledgments section.
Disclosure
Potential conflicts of interest of any type (e.g., financial, commercial, political, academic, personal) covering the last 3 years should be disclosed for each author. A general statement should be included before the references, attesting to the existence (or non-existence) of any conflicts of interest concerning the publication of the article. Author contributions Just before the References, please describe the specific contributions of each author using author initials and the terms proposed by the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT; short definitions to each role are available here).
Example: “ABC was responsible for conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, and writing – original draft and review & editing. DEF and GHI participated in investigation, resources, and writing – review & editing. [...] All authors have read and approved the final version submitted and take public responsibility for all aspects of the work.” Please note that the underlined segment should be true/confirmed and added after the individual contributions.
References Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct in-text citation. An EndNote style file can be downloaded here. Number references consecutively in the order that they appear in the text using superscript Arabic numerals; do not alphabetize. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the first citation of the relevant table/figure in the text, i.e., as though they were inserted where cited.
Please observe the style of the reference examples below. To include manuscripts accepted, but not yet published, inform the abbreviated title of the journal followed by “Forthcoming” and the expected year of publication. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the NLM style. Personal communications, unpublished materials, manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted, and similar unpublished items should not be cited; if absolutely essential, bibliographic details should be described in the text in parentheses. Examples:
List all authors when six or fewer. When there are seven or more, list only the first six authors and add “et al.”
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Illustrations (figures, tables, boxes)
Illustrations (figures, tables, or boxes) should clarify/complement rather than repeat the text; their number should be kept to a minimum. All illustrations should be submitted on separate pages at the end of the manuscript, following the order in which they appear in the text and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Descriptive legends should be included for each illustration in the main text file, and any abbreviations or symbols used should be explained using these footnotes: † ‡ § || ¶ †† ‡‡ etc. Asterisks should be reserved for the expression of significance levels: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Illustrations extracted from previously published works should be accompanied by written permission for reproduction from the current copyright holder at the time of submission. Tables and boxes should preferably be submitted in Word format, appended to the end of the manuscript text file (after any figure legends), rather than uploaded as separate files. However, Excel files are also accepted. If using Excel, do not place tables on individual spreadsheets within the same file because only the first sheet will be visible in the converted PDF. In tables, each cell should contain only one item of data; subcategories should be in separate rows and cells (i.e., do not use Enter or spaces inside a cell). Tables containing data that could be described succinctly in 1-2 sentences should be converted to text. Large or detailed tables may be submitted separately as supplementary material (see details below). Figures should be submitted in one of the following acceptable file formats: AI, BMP, DOC, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, PPT, PSD, TIF, WMF, and XLS. Figures can be included in the manuscript, but preferably should be uploaded as separate files, with legends in the main file. If your manuscript is accepted, you may be asked to provide high-resolution, uncompressed TIF files for images, as well as open/editable versions of figures containing text, to facilitate copyediting (e.g., flowcharts made in Word or PowerPoint). Supporting figures may be submitted separately as supplementary material.
Supplementary material Supporting materials (text, tables, figures) should preferably be submitted as a single Word document with pages numbered consecutively. Each element included in the supplementary material should be cited in the main text and numbered in order of citation (e.g., Supplementary Material S1, Table S1, Table S2, Figure S1, Figure S2, etc.). The first page of the document should list the number and title of each element included in the document. The editors may select material submitted for publication in the main body to be posted as supplementary material. |
Submitting your manuscript
The first time you use the manuscript submission site of the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, you will be asked to create an account. You will use the same username and password for author and reviewer functions. You may log into the system at any time to submit a manuscript or to check the status of previously submitted manuscripts. To submit a manuscript, select Author and click on Start New Submission/Begin Submission.
The manuscript submission process includes 7 steps that gather information about your manuscript and allow you to upload the pertinent files (cover letter, manuscript main text, tables [if separate], figures [if separate], and related material). Once you click on Begin Submission, the system will suggest that you upload your manuscript file so that the submission fields can be pre-filled. If you agree with this suggestion, please follow the instructions on screen to upload your file and then go on revising the pre-filled information. If you prefer to fill the fields manually, click on “continue without pre-filling submission fields,” at the lower left corner of the screen. Each of the 7 submission steps are briefly explained below.
Step 1: Manuscript type, title, & abstract First choose the type of manuscript you wish to submit. As mentioned above, you may choose between Original Article, Brief Communication, Review Article, Special Article, Editorial or Letter to the Editors. Please remember to abide to the word limits and text structure specified for each manuscript type. Title: You can copy and paste this from your manuscript, but do not delete the title from the manuscript file. Make sure there are no line breaks in the title. Titles should be concise (max. 150 characters), specific, informative, attractive, with no abbreviations. Abstract: Please check the table specifying abstract requirements for each manuscript type. You can copy and paste the abstract from your manuscript, but do not delete it from the manuscript file. If submitting a structured abstract, add a line space between each section (Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusions). Step 2: File upload Click the Select File... button to view a directory of your computer. Navigate to where your files are stored. Submit the manuscript file (Main Document) preferably in Word format. Your manuscript will be converted to a PDF at the end of the submission process. Do not include line numbers to your Word file, as these will be added to your manuscript during the PDF conversion process. Step 3: Attributes You will be asked to list 1 to 5 keywords that describe the main topics of your manuscript. Please use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms only, and avoid repeating words from the title. Step 4: Authors & institutions All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, i.e., should have participated sufficiently in the study to take public responsibility for its contents. Check the ICMJE website for authorship criteria if in doubt. Other parties that have contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be cited in an Acknowledgments section.
The submitting agent should inform whether they are an author of the paper. Subsequently, all authors should be added, first by informing their e-mail address (to check if they already have an account in the system). If the email is not found in the database, click on “create a new co-author” and fill in all relevant fields (e-mail, prefix, first name, last name, institution, country, and city are mandatory; all others, especially author contributions, should be filled as appropriate). Please note that all communications concerning manuscript submissions and authorship forms are done through e-mail, so please make sure all e-mails informed are valid and correctly typed. In the manuscript file, please inform ORCID iDs for authors whenever possible (mandatory/required by the submission system for the submitting author). Review the list of authors as well as the order in which they are presented (it should be identical to the information presented in the title page). Postal/mail address and telephone number for the corresponding author should be included only in the title page. Articles accepted as of 2024 will have the specific contributions of each author described at the end of the article according to the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CrediT). Step 5: Reviewers You will be required to indicate 5 potential reviewers for your manuscript. This is a mandatory step, i.e., you will not be able to proceed before indicating the names and e-mails of five researchers who have a publication record, clinical or research experience in the topic of your manuscript. Inform first and last name, e-mail address and institution. Suggested reviewers should not be personal acquaintances, colleagues from the same institution or research group as the authors. Also, we advise against indicating collaborators from previous publications among suggested reviewers. Editors will consider your suggestions at their discretion. If you wish, you may also oppose specific reviewers for your manuscript. Step 6: Details & comments
Write a cover letter to the editors explaining the nature of your article and why the authors believe the manuscript should be published in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry. Make sure to include a statement on authorship and to inform whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study elsewhere. You may choose to upload a file or write the cover letter in the designated box. In this step, you will also be required to provide information on the following topics:
Step 7: Review & submit Carefully review each step of your submission. The system will point with a red X whether there are any incomplete parts. Once you are ready, click on the View Proof buttons to view the individual and/or merged HTML and PDF files created, as well as the MEDLINE proof. You will be asked to review and approve the PDF of your article files to ensure that you are satisfied with how your manuscript will be displayed for editors and reviewers. Confirm that your manuscript information is complete and correct any errors. When you are satisfied and consider the submission to be complete, click the Submit button. The editorial review process will not start until this final step is completed.
If you need help, you can click on the help signs that appear throughout the system. A help dialogue box will pop up with context-sensitive help. If you have questions or problems with your submission, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at editorial@abp.org.br. |
Checking manuscript status
After you approve your manuscript by clicking on Submit, you are finished with the submission process (you will receive a confirmation via e-mail). To check the status of your manuscript throughout the editorial review process:
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Review process
The manuscript submission and editorial review process is as follows:
In line with open science principles, starting in 2024, accepted articles will be published along with the name of the editor responsible for handling and accepting the study. Whenever an editor or other person involved in the editorial process decides to submit a manuscript to the journal, or has any conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript (e.g., with respect to the authors or their work, or a manuscript from their own department or institution, etc.), they will not participate in the decision-making process. In these cases, a colleague in the editorial office will manage the manuscript and handle the peer review independently of the author/editor. |
Corrections and retractions
Errors of fact detected after publication will be handled as recommended by the ICMJE. Briefly, a corrigendum will be published, along with a corrected version of the article detailing the corrections made. Articles containing errors serious enough to invalidate a paper's results and conclusions will be retracted.
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Advertising
Commercial advertisements are accepted for analysis but will not be juxtaposed with editorial content. The editors and the Brazilian Psychiatric Association reserve the right to refuse any online advertisements that are considered inappropriate or that do not comply with existing regulatory standards.
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Contact
BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE PSIQUIATRIA |