rev bras ortop.2014;49(1):1–2
w w w . r b o . o r g . b r
Editorial
The
path
toward
editorial
quality
夽
O
caminho
da
qualidade
editorial
SinceIbeganmyfunctionsaseditorofRBO,Iproposedmyself todrawtheattentionofreadersandauthorstowhat,inmy pointofview,amedicaljournalshouldinform;inaddition, ouraimisthatRBOberead.
The other qualities that may be added to the journal (for instance,impact factors and quoteson specificsearch engines)arevaluesthatmustbeconsideredsecondary.Inour view,agoodmedicaljournalisreliableintheanalysisofissues publishedand,besides,shouldbereadbymostpeople inter-estedinthearea.Thequalityindicatorswillresultnaturally.
Inanywayourpointofviewruleouttheimportanceofthe indicesthatareusedtoqualifyjournalsofascientificnature, andthe goalofachievingthemremainsoneofthe corner-stonesofoureditorialmanagement.Tobelinkedtoamajor publisherisanimportantfactor toachieveoneofthe vali-dationindicesconsideredimportant,i.e.,indexationfactors. Undoubtedly,afterayearofcoexistencewithourgreat pub-lishinghouse,wecouldperceivetheenormousdifferencein logisticsandsupport,andthatthisshouldbeconsideredasa positivefactorintheanalysisofajournal.
Overtheyears,wenoticedthatthedeteriorationofthe fun-damentalgoalsofmedicaljournalsbegantooccur,initiallyin asporadicandlimitedbasis,untilreachinglevelsthat,inour view,deserveconsideration.
Theindexation,whichshouldbeseenasarecognitionof thequality,sufferedsomedistortions.
Topublishinindexedjournalshasbecomeabargaining chip for academic competitions and even for professional development.Inouruniversityenvironment,theCoordenac¸ão de Aperfeic¸oamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), which regulates postgraduate programs, considers that a paperpublishedinajournalwithimpactindex4oraboveis worth10timesmorethanapaperpublishedinRBO;anarticle withindex1.6isworthsixtimesmore.Itisworthnotingthat thereisnoorthopedicjournalwithimpact4worldwide.This
夽
Pleasecitethisarticleas:CamanhoGL.Ocaminhodaqualidadeeditorial.RevBrasOrtop.2014;49:1–2.
misplaced appreciationof indexationcaused somestrange attitudesintheeducationalandscientificpublicationmilieu. Someindexedjournalschargefortheanalysisandpublication oforiginalworks.Weemphaticallydisagreewiththiscustom, ascertainlyitcangeneratehiddenintereststhatresemblethe highlycriticized“conflictofinterest”.NowIwishtoexplain whythisismyinterpretation:
- Thefactthataphysicianisservingasconsultantfora partic-ularcompanygivesustherighttoimaginethathe(she)will demonstratebiasonthepublicationoftheresultofusage ofmaterialproducedbythecompanyinquestion.
- Thefactthatanauthorispayingforhis(her)paperreview and approvalalso givesusthe right toimaginethat the acceptanceoftheworkwillbefacilitated.
Agoodstrategyistoholdahighimpactfactor.
Lately,severalnewjournalshavebeencreated.To demon-stratetheconsequencesofthisexpedient,thejournalScience, ofunquestionabletraditionandquality,publishedinits lat-estissue(2013;342:60–5)aninterestingtextfromanauthor whohasforgedajobonaforgedproduct,madeinaforged institutionandwithforgedauthors,entitled“Who’safraidof peerreviewinstitution?”Thisauthorcreatedthisfalsepaper aboutachemotherapicagentandsentitto400journals.At thetimeofpublicationofhisinterestingexperiencein Sci-ence,theworkhadalreadybeenacceptedinmorethan150 journalsintheworld!
Anothergoodbusiness:tohaveascientificjournalfor pub-lication.
2
r e v b r a s o r t o p . 2 0 1 4;49(1):1–2ofthemethodologyrequiredfortheproductionofscientific papers.
Webelievethat a work ofgood quality, carefully evalu-atedandcriteriouslycorrectedservesasanexampleforbetter worksinthefuture.Certainly,toteachbyexampleisalong, butsafe,task.
TheindexationofRBO,nowininternationalsystems, con-tinuestobeoneofourgoals,butalwayswithinourlimits.
ToSBOTandRBO,tobereadbytheBrazilianorthopedic communityisourbetterbusinessidea.
GilbertoLuisCamanho
RevistaBrasileiradeOrtopedia
E-mail:gilbertocamanho@uol.com.br
