BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2015;81(4):343---344
www.bjorl.org
Brazilian
Journal
of
OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY
EDITORIAL
Brazilian
scientific
production
vs.
innovation
and
technology
夽
Produc
¸ão
científica
brasileira
vs.
inovac
¸ão
e
tecnologia
The assertionthatBrazilian scientificproduction isamong thefastestgrowingintheworldcanbesupportedby ana-lyzingthe datapublishedin severalplatforms.From2001 to2011,intheworldwidescenario,Brazilmovedfrom13th to7thplaceinthenumberofpublishedarticles.This fact shouldbesomethingtobeproudof;nonetheless,whenwe analyzethequalityofthesearticlesandtheircontributions withrespecttoinnovationandtechnology,theoppositeof prideisevident.
Let us firstconsider thequality. According toarecent article publishedin Nature, Brazilian publications occupy only1%ofthoseselectedbymorerenownedjournals.How canthisdiscrepancybeexplained?ThenumberofBrazilian journalsthatbecameintegratedintodatabasesduringthat timeperiodincreasedfrom62to270.Inotherwords, the increasewasnotduetothehigheracceptanceofour arti-clesbyjournalswithhigherimpact,i.e.,wegainedrankby takingshortcuts!
Whataboutinnovation?Innovationfromscientificstudies has a single measurable criterion: the number of resul-tingpatents.Brazilisoneofthecountrieswiththelowest numberofregisteredpatents,andaccordingtothePatent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), 2011, its participation in the globalmarketisonly0.2%.Consideringthis0.2%,shouldwe beproudofourBrazilian institutions?Anothersurprise! In themoreadvancedareasoftechnology,theforeign institu-tionpatentsaccountedfor90%ofthetotal!Thisisalarming; thereasonforthisdiscrepancyisthefactthatmostofour researchersbelongtopublicuniversities.
In a survey conducted in 2009 (UFPE), of the existing 85,000 PhDs, only 2% were employed in companies, and in2010alone,12,000newdoctorsobtainedtheirdegrees, whichisequaltothenumberfromcountriesthatareleaders
夽
Please cite this article as:Pontes P. Brazilianscientific pro-duction vs. innovation and technology. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2015;81:343---4.
ofinnovation.Theconclusionthatcanbedrawnfromthis paradox is that at Brazilian universities, researchers are pressedtopublishincreasinglymore,regardlessofquality! Inthepresentsituation,itismorerewardingforprofessors topublishmore, andobtain greater resources from fund-ing agenciesthan toproduce innovative ideas that could forwardthecountry’sprogress.
Itisessentialthatpublicuniversities,fundedbythe peo-ple,breakdownideologicalbarriersandturntotheprivate sector,withinaparadigmnowuniversallyknownas‘‘open innovation’’, where the partnership between universities andprivatecompaniesestablishescommonandsecuregoals andstrategies,withoutthepoliticalwranglingthatleadsto corruption.Inthatway,thebenefitswouldbereturnedto society:universitiescontributewithresearchersand compa-nieswithresources,logistics,anddistributionofproducts, withan ethical economic return for all and withmassive socialbenefits.
Then,hereinBrazil,theindustriesthatsellonlyimported technologiescouldproducemoreof themandthe univer-sities would no longer produce only researchers for their owninterests.Itisnecessarytounitethepartners.Inthe fieldofmedicine,themeansforbetterpublichealthhave beenintroduced,butnobody hasthoughtoftheproducts, mostofthemimported.Accordingtoofficialfigures,in2012 weexportedR$1.5billionofmedicationsandimportedR$ 7.4billion!Governmentpolicymustalsoattempttomatch researchtothemarket,butwearefarfromit.Thelegaland administrativesystemofouruniversitiesdoesnotallowthis practice;wemustgiveBrazilianpublicuniversitiestheright to establish free associations with enterprises or private institutionsforinnovationandtechnology,withthe auton-omytoraise,direct,andmanagebothhumanandfinancial resources.
Withthis,agreaternumberofinventionswouldbe pro-duced in Brazil and would obtain patents. Most of the researchersarefoundintheuniversitiesandbelongtothe systemofgrants,inwhichpublicationisthemostrelevant
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2015.05.001
344 EDITORIAL
aspect;whenapaperispublished,theaspectofnoveltyis
lost,anessentialconditionfor thepatenttobeobtained,
andtheinnovationbecomespublicdomain.Thecountrythat
fundedtheresearchdoes notobtain thedeserved return!
In the same sense, at our universities interest is lost in
scientificproduction, becausepublicuniversities are
pub-lic companies and their employees have the right of job
security,whethertheyhaveteachingoradministrativejobs,
andtheircareeradvancementisattainedaccordingtotime
ofemployment.Thus,thedecisionsoftheboard of
direc-tors,dominatedbyrepresentativesofclass-basedinterests,
depletetheresourcesthatshouldbedirectedtoresearch,
teaching,and continuing education, which should be the
purposeofuniversities.
What is the role of the Brazilian Journal of Otorhino-laryngologyinthisscenario?Medicineisthescientificarea
that has shown the greatest growth in Brazil and within
thisarea,clinicalresearch,whichis invaluabletomedical
practice and whose main beneficiary is society. Thus,
although our journal has been fulfilling its mission onan
admirable, ascending path, following rigorous scientific
selection,thetimehascometoincludepotentialoractual
benefitfor innovation inour selectioncriteria, which will
bring contributions to Brazil towards its destination as a
developedandindependentnation.
Conflicts
of
interest
Theauthordeclaresnoconflictsofinterest.
PauloPontes
