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Editorial
Earlier this year we took on the responsibility of editing this journal, which, in addition to changing chancellery, title and editors, also had the challenge of being linked to an institution that is not related to Speech, Language and Hearing science as a whole but only to a part of it, and, therefore, we had to fight against prejudicial suspicions that we could favor one field over another.
A year went by and it’s evident that this was never our motivation. Since the beginning our intention was pure and simply not allow a Speech, Language and Hearing science journal indexed in SciELO database just disappear.
The work was hard, but at the same time rewarding. Deal with always urgent dynamics with the responsibility and seriousness necessary to the editing work was a constant challenge in our lives this year.
Fortunately, on the third issue we were able to reestablish the journal periodicity and that volume was delivered on time, which we consider a great victory, especially because it was done in such a short time: only 6 months. We were also able to maintain the average number of annual articles, which was 48 articles in the four issues released this year.
However, we know we still have a greater challenge ahead, that is improve indexing of this journal in databases such as MEDLINE and Web of Science. To do so, we will need to improve some details, but mostly our editing in English. Currently, although we indicate a few companies so the authors may request the translation of their articles, each author is free to submit it to the translator that suits them better. What ends up happening is that translated articles are very distinct from one another since each translator has its own style.
In attempt to minimize disparities and standardize the articles translation from Portuguese to English, we are formalizing an agreement with a large translation company to make it responsible for the English version of all articles. This will bring benefits to both the journal and the authors, since the translation cost will be lower in comparison to what each author would pay individually, besides ensuring the uniformity to the language used in all articles to be published.
Negotiations with the companies are still in progress, but the first issue of 2014 might already incorporate this novelty. It is not a publication charge, but a payment for the translation costs, and each author will receive an invoice of the translation services.
That said, it is with much satisfaction that we present the fourth issue of Audiology - Communication Research (ACR) with 18 important contributions in various fields of Speech, Language and Hearing Science. In this issue, seventeen original articles and one review article on areas of Language, Audiology, Swallowing, Voice and Public Health are being published.
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services and Quality indicators for audiology services, by Barbosa, Medeiros, Ribeiro, Rossi-Barbosa e Caldeira; Hearing health indicators in the State of Minas Gerais – a study by macro-region, from the authors Maciel, Januário, Henriques, Esteves, Silva, Carvalho and Lemos; Correlation between hearing loss and risk indicators in a neonatal hearing screening reference service, authored by Barboza, Resende, Ferreira, Lapertosa and Carvalho; Process diagnosis of deafness in children in the perception of familiar and managers, from Silva and Gonçalves, and Assessment of the degree of involvement in family therapy for children with hearing impairment, by Figueiredo and Gil.Still in this issue, we present the article The profile of a patient receiving speech-language therapy assistance at a school hospital emergency unit, authored by Faria, Pessoa, Araújo and Paiva.
On Speech and Language fields we have Effectiveness of using software for stimulation of phonological awareness abilities in children, from Farias, Costa e Santos; followed by Relation between mother-child interaction upon the development of oral language of the preterm newborn, authored by Brocchi and Leme; and Adaptation of the Parent Report Language Use Inventory for 18- to 47-months-old children to European Portuguese: A Pilot Study, authored by Guimarães, Cruz-Santos and Almeida. Then, in sequence, we have Portuguese translation and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39), written by Rodrigues and Leal. And Complaints to oral functions and verification of the speech of individuals diagnosed with burning mouth and xerostomia, by Pastana, Cantisano and Bianchini.
This issue also present two articles from the field of Voice: Voice assessment and quality of life after supracricoid laryngectomy, authored by Oliveira, Augusti e Siqueira; and a Review Article, Direct and indirect vocal interventions for teachers: a systematic review of the literature, authored by Anhaia, Gurgel, Vieira e Cassol.
We emphasize that the articles presented here describe studies performed in national and international research centers, following strict quality standards, applicable to different situations and populations.
The changes being implemented to our journal aims to its internationalization and equivalence to the best journals in the world. We are sure that this is a worthy investment and will contribute to development of Speech, Language and Hearing science in Brazil.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas and a 2014 full of achievements and joys to our contributors: authors, reviewers, field editors, and especially to our editorial assistant, Érica Ferraz.
