ww w . r e u m a t o l o g i a . c o m . b r
REVISTA
BRASILEIRA
DE
REUMATOLOGIA
Editorial
Foundations,
facts,
photos
and
Fundac¸ões,
fatos,
fotos
e
Frommyvillage,Icanseehowmuchoftheearthcanbeseenin theUniverse
So,myvillageisaslargeasanyotherland ForIamthesizeofmysight,
Notthesizeofmyheight...
AlbertoCaeiro1
“Apublicationabletodisseminatethescientificresearch
ofBrazilianrheumatologists” –this missionstatementwas
the original vision forthe Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia
(RBR,BrazilianJournalofRheumatology)whenitwasestablished
in1957astheofficialpublicationoftheBrazilianSocietyof
Rheumatology(Sociedade Brasileirade Reumatologia, SBR),
whoseboardhadelectedWaldemarBianchiaspresidentand
Hilton Seda as general secretary. One could say that this
journal hasnow fulfilledits mission for60 years,sinceits
establishmentinatimesodistantthatthecurrenteditorial
staffhadnotyetbeenconceived.However,itseemslikejust
yesterdaythatthefirsteditorialwrittenbyAyrthonFerreirada
Costadiscussedthejournal’simportanceforthedevelopment
ofrheumatologyinBrazil.2
DecadesofdedicationwererequiredbytheSBRtoensure
thatthesegoalswereattained, alongwithanintrepid
will-ingness to recognize the challenges that accompaniedthe
Journal’smaturation.WeareabletocloselyobservetheRBR’s
beauty,andthus,weputtogetherourphotoalbumandretell
ourstory.Letusdrawaparallelwithaveryinfluentialarticle
aboutawell-knownstudypublishedinaprestigiousjournala
centuryago.Today,thepeerreviewprocesswouldlikelyreject
suchamethodologicallyweakstudy thatfailedtoconform
tothenormsofscientificreporting,butwithoutitshistorical
presenceandthequestionsandmodelsthatfollowedit,we
wouldmostlikelynotbewherewearetoday.Therefore,this
retrospectiveisnotmerelyaformalbowtotheselflessbuilders
ofthisjournalbutastudyinplanningthatincorporatesthe
existingpracticesofscientificpublishinginthishigh-speed,
computerizedandglobalizedscenario.
However,comingbacktotheRBR’soriginsand,shallwe
say,how itscharacter was shaped,the first issueincluded
thearticles “Aclinical study ofosteoarthritis ofthespine”
byPedroNava;“Allergicrheumatism”byWaldemarBianchi;
and “Intra-articular hydrocortisone in rheumatology” by
WaldemarWettreichandIdealPeres,indicatingthatthe
jour-nalwouldemphasizeclinicalpractice.Thejournalpublished
twoissuesinitsfirstyear(volume1),fourissuesin1958
(vol-ume2)andthreeissuesin1959(volume3),withthesecond
and thirdissues combined in a robustspecial issue about
the“Symposiumcommemoratingthe10thanniversaryofthe
discoveryofcortisone”andthecommemorationofthe10th
anniversaryoftheestablishmentoftheSBR.
Ms. Siva Bianchi provides an example of the diligence
of the pioneers responsible for the Brazilian journal’s
sur-vival.ThewifeoftheSBR’sthen-president,shevolunteered
toacceptthemanuscriptsapprovedbyProfessorSeda,which,
we emphasize,were manuscriptsinthe true sense –texts
hand-writtenbytheauthors.TheSBR’sfirstladyeditedand
typedthemanuscriptssothattheywerepublishedwithout
errors.Thisarduoustaskisdifficulttoconceiveoftoday,in
theageofpublishersandcomputers.Decadesago,theRBR
wasreferredtobysomeabroadas“Seda’sJournal”because
themanwhotaughtusallheadedupseveralfunctions,
dis-seminatingBrazil’sscientificresearchonrheumatologyand
solicitingthecollaborationofthemosteminentinternational
rheumatologists.
BianchianddaCostacontinuedatthehelmoftheJournal
formorethanadecade,butdespitetheirefforts,itsamateur
stylewasnomatchforstructuredcommercialpractice,andits
publicationwasdiscontinuedafterits13thvolume(1969).The
sentimentalwayinwhichthisstoryistoldmightdescribethe
eventasacrisisofadolescencethatwouldrequirepatience,
dedication, firmness and time toremedy. Fortunately,
Pro-fessorEdgardAtra’scourageanddedicationwouldbringthe
publicationbacktolifeinJuly1974,withthefirstissueof
vol-ume14andthreeadditionalannualeditions,thistimehiringa
professionalpublisher,MedisaEditoraS.A.Withitsincreased
capacity,thejournalproducedfiveissuesin1977(volume17)
andsixissuesannuallyfrom1978tothepresent.Inthefirst
issue of1979,thenewpublisher was theBrazilianMedical
Association,andaftertenyearsontheeditorialboard,Edgard
AtrawassucceededbyJoãoFranciscoMarquesNeto,whotook
overwiththeOctober1984issue.
RedprintEditoraLtda.servedasthepublisherbetweenthe
Costal-lattookoveraseditorwiththeSeptember/Octoberissueof
1988.HiltonSedareturnedastheeditorwithissue6of1992
andremained inthe post untilhewasreplaced byeditors
EmiliaInoueSato,MarcosBosiFerrazandLuísEduardoCoelho
AndradeinNovember/December1994.EdgardAtra,oneofthe
greatmenresponsibleforthejournal’ssurvival,workedina
supportingroleassenioreditoruntilhisuntimelydeathat
theXXIBrazilianCongressofRheumatologyin1996.Thetrio
ofeditorskepthisnameintheposition,inmemoriam;beyond
thistribute,theyalsodevelopedastrategyaimedathaving
theRBRincludedinprestigiousinternationaldatabases.
Sys-tematicpeerreviewofarticleswasimplemented,andarticles
onoriginalresearchwere encouraged,especiallythosethat
addressedregionalissuesandcouldmakerealcontributions
tointernationalliterature. Inaddition, stepswere taken to
improvethelevelofhomogeneous,thoroughandconsistent
formattingofthejournal,withtheinclusionofatitle,abstract
andkeywordsinEnglishforallarticlesandstandardization
ofthebibliography.
Thesemeasuresmayhaveappearedtobenomorethan
slightadvancesatthetime,buttakentogether,they
signif-icantlyrefined the RBR,increasing thenumber ofrequests
fromphysiciansandmedicalresidentsandachievingthegoal
ofbeing included inEMBASE, formerly known asExcerpta
Medica.However,ourbiggesttargetatthattimewouldhave
towait:inclusion intheIndex Medicus,which wouldlater
besubsumedbyPubMed. In1996,Regional Editorpositions
werecreatedforeachofthecountry’sfivemajorgeographical
regions,aimingtopromotemorediverseparticipation.
LuísEduardoAndradeservedasthesoleeditorfromthe
first issueof 1997tothe final issue of1998,when hewas
replacedbyNatalinoYoshinari,whoheldthatpositionfrom
thesixthissueof1998untilthefifthissueof2000.
Withthefinalissueof2000,IêdaMariaMagalhãesLaurindo
assumedthepostofeditor,bringingwithhertheSBR’s
well-knowndreamofhavingtheJournalincludedinmoreindices.3
In2001,thefirstissuerevealedanewcoverandlayout,anda
mid-yearinnovationpleasedthereaders–aseparatesection
onthe course“Inflammation: components and treatment,”
whichwasheldinAugust2001attheRio–SãoPaulomeeting.4
Theeditorials,emphasizingthebroadcollaborationofthe
Societyratherthanfocusingonlyontheleadership,beginto
setstandardsbywhichthescientificjournalisevaluated.The
year2002beganwiththehiringofEtceteraEditoradeLivrose
Revistas,startingwiththefirstissue.5
Bythe beginning of2003,the Journalhad undertaken a
clearanddeterminedcampaigntobeincludedinthenation’s
mostimportantscientificdatabase, withtheeditorssetting
outspecificexpectationsandrecommendingwaystoleverage
theJournal.6,7
However, gaps remained in the availability of article
abstractsinthe BIREMEand the printedjournal inleading
librariesandontheSBRwebsite.8TheJournaltookadvantage
ofcriticismtomakeimprovementsandcontinuedto
main-tainitsfocus,remainingattentivetotheneedsandprojects
ofthe Societyand thescientificcommunity,including
pro-posedresearchon tuberculosisin therecentlyinaugurated
eraofbiologicaltreatmentsandparticipationinthe
contin-uingeducationprogramoftheBRSandtheBrazilianMedical
Association(BMA).9
The July/August issue of 2004 announced the
happi-nessandresponsibilityaccompanyingthefavorabledecision
by SciELO, a milestone achieved through consistently
high-quality work and improvements to the publication
standards.10ProfessorIêdaLaurindoheldthepositionof
edi-toruntilthepenultimateissueof2004,butherenthusiastic
inputintotheRBRwouldcontinuewithhertwo-yeartenure
asPresidentoftheSBRfrom2008–2010.
LaísLageand RogerAbraminoLevytookoveraseditors
withthefinalissueof2004andfurtheredtheinterestsofthe
RBRbyexpandingscientificexchanges,particularlywithLatin
Americancountries,andgraduallybeginningtodiversifythe
editorialboard.11,12
Beginningwiththefinalissueofthatyear,theCongresses
Update, the publication of the RBR became entrusted to
AquaprintGráficaeEditoraLtda.In2005,theRBRexpanded
via onlineaccessthroughSciELO, andbeginningwithissue
4,July/August2005,itwasincludedinLILACS,takingitsfirst
stepstowardaninternationalaudience.13
In2006,theconsensusofrheumatologydevelopedin
part-nership with the BMA project guidelines, but withan eye
towardinternationalization,standardsfortheeditorialboard
andanOpenAccessversioninEnglishbegantobediscussed.
TheJournalstartedacceptingonlinesubmissionsand
design-ingitsownwebsite.WiththeNovember/Decemberissuethat
year, Francisco Airton Castro Rocha and Ricardo Machado
Xavier took over as editors and reflected the publication’s
maturity, as they addressed questions regarding editorial
ethics,conflictofinterest,separatingeditorialindependence
fromquestionsoffinancialandadministrativeresponsibility
in the hands of the SBR leadership and adopting
recom-mendedinternationalstandards,suchasregisteringclinical
protocols.14,15Thefirstissueof2007broughtwithitatransfer
toSegmentoFarmaEditoresLtda,anewcover
commemorat-ing the Journal’s50thanniversaryand thesame persistent
questtobeincludedinmoreindices.
The developmentof a scientificjournal is certainly the
fruitofcountlesscollaborations,butaspecialdebtisowed
to the work of notable editors and managers who lend
theircompetenceanddedicationatcrucialmoments,
some-timesatgreatsacrificetotheirownacademicandresearch
careers. With issue 6 in 2008, Mittermayer Santiago and
Ricardo Fullerwere namededitors underthe management
ofIêdaLaurindo,withthegoal ofintegrating theRBRwith
PubMed/MEDLINE, a crucial step toward achieving global
visibility.16Amultinationalpublisherwashiredto
adminis-tertheentireprocessfromonlinesubmissionstopublishing,
translationandadjustmentstotherecommendationsofthe
InternationalCommitteeofMedicalJournalEditorsand the
requirements oftheAmerican NationalLibraryofMedicine
(NLM). The editorial board was restructured with
interna-tional representatives, ourresearchers were encouraged to
submitsomeoftheirmanuscriptsthatmetinternational
stan-dards, and foreign authors were also invitedto write.The
editorialprocess becamedescribed indetail,theblindpeer
reviewprocess was strictlyfollowed,and editorialroutines
were implemented to avoid delays. Original research and
studies ofclinicalconditionsinBrazilwere prioritized,and
installmentswerepublishedfocusingsolelyontherheumatic
ThemagazinewaspresentedatAmericanandEuropean
Con-gressesandwasintroducedtotheeditorsofmajorjournals,
suchasArthritisandRheumatism,AutoimmunityReviewsandthe
JournalofClinicalRheumatology, whowroteletters of
recom-mendationthatweresubmittedtotheNLMinMay2010.
Thefirstfully bilingual editionofthe Journalin English
andPortuguesewasinauguratedwiththefirstissueof2009,
publishedbyElsevier on its virtualplatform ScienceDirect,
offeringwidedissemination.Thus,inNovember2010,
follow-ing logisticaland financial investmentand with its efforts
nowsupportedbythelargestglobalpublisherinthehealth
field,theRBRachieveditslong-soughtgoalofbeingincluded
inthePubMedindex.Certainlythemostsignificanteventin
theSBR’slifetime,thisachievementwascommemoratedby
the editorsand managerswiththe familiar mantra:effort,
theprivilegeofserving,satisfactioninsharing,institutional
support, commitment to the Journal and gratitude to the
reviewers.17,18
In2011,PauloLouzada-JuniorandMaxVictorCariocade
Freitasenteredwiththegoalofmaintainingtheregular
publi-cationoftheRBR,aimedatpreservingitsinclusioninindices
andobtaininganimpactfactorforinclusionintheJournalof
CitationReports.Thecitationdataweremorecloselyobserved
andreported tothe Societywiththe recommendationthat
membersnotonlysubmitoriginalarticlestotheJournalbut
alsocitearticlespublishedintheRBR,especiallyinarticles
publishedbyBrazilianrheumatologistsinotherjournals.19In
July2012,theRBRbecamepartoftheWebofScience,recently
acquiredbyClarivateAnalytics,whichprovidedthemost
sig-nificantboosttoitsimpactamongscientificjournals.20
In2013,RobertoEzequielHeymanntookoveras
editor-in-chiefinpartnershipwithMaxVictorCariocadeFreitas,and
atmid-year,theRBRreceiveditsfirstimpactfactorof0.864,
making it the 12th-ranked national health science journal
amongtheBrazilianpublicationsindexed.21In2014,theRBR
wasincludedinScienceDirect,ahugedatabasebelongingto
Elsevierthathousesalmostone-quarterofthepeer-reviewed
scientificpublicationsintheworld,andbegantooffer“online
first”publicationofarticlessoonaftertheiracceptance,
reduc-ingthetimefromsubmissiontopublication.22
Inlate2014,thepositionofeditor-in-chiefwassharedby
RobertoEzequielHeymannandMarcosRenatodeAssis,who
conducteda survey of SBR members regardingthe course
of the Journal, with an eye to professionalizing it. It was
notedthatthecommunitydesiredcriteriaofmeritocracyand
sawtheRBRadoptingthestandardsofmorewell-known
sci-entificjournals.Inmid-year,animpact factorof1.087was
announced:forthefirsttime,theJournal’simpactfactor
sur-passedthe1.0mark,andwewerethe10th-rankedBrazilian
journalintermsofimpactamongthetop24publications
inter-nationallyinthefieldofrheumatologyandthefirstinLatin
America.23 Withtheprogress achievedinrecentyears,the
volumeofmanuscriptsubmissionshasbeenlarge,andthe
associateeditorshavetakenonamoreactiverole,helping
evaluatethearticlesandtheirrevisions,whichnowrequire
ahigherstandard.TheinevitablerestructuringoftheJournal
hasincludedadjustmentstothestatuteandbylaws,which
wereadoptedinfullbyavoteoftheassembledSociety.
Attheendof2016,MarcosRenatodeAssiscametoshare
thepositionofeditor-in-chiefwithSimoneAppenzeller,and
both, supportedbytheSBR,beginthe processofbecoming
certifiedasscienceeditorsbytheCouncilofScienceEditors
(CSE),followingthegoalofbecomingevermoreprofessional
andcompetitive.TheRBRbegantobepublishedexclusively
onlineandachievedwiderdisseminationviatheSBRwebsite
andsocialmedia.Growthopportunitiesarose,and
maintain-ingthestatusquowasnolongeranoptiongiventhespeedand
effervescenceoftheworldofscientificpublication.Therefore,
thediscussionwasreopenedregardingtheJournal’srolewith
respecttoreadersaroundtheworldandtotheSBR.
ChallengestopublishingtheresultsofBrazilianstudiesin
well-known,high-circulationjournalssometimesgobeyond
merelytechnicalconsiderations.Underthesecircumstances,
the RBRhasprovidedachannelforthepublication of
sub-jectsextremelyrelevanttotheBraziliancontext,suchasthe
guidelines oninfection byChikungunya virus and data on
tuberculosisandrheumatoidarthritisinourBiobadareport,
foundinthis issue, alongwithseveral other
recommenda-tionsoftheSBRandregularlypublishedrecordsofBrazilian
data.24–26ThesearticlesarecertainlyapriorityfortheJournal,
butwedonotlivebyconsensusandSBRrecommendations
alone,andwerecognizetheneedtoimproveouroperation,
expeditingourpeerreviewprocess,preservingrigorinthe
cri-tiquesandattractingthebestmaterialforpublication.These
advances willrequire anotherprofile ofparticipation,with
moresubmissionsandreviewsinEnglish.
Therefore,theRBRnowfacesthechallengeofprogressing
initsinternationalizationandcomputerization,followingthe
sameparametersasourcompetitors,andwiththischallenge
comesafearthatalongtheway,theRBRmayforgetits
iden-titybyvirtueofconception,orconferredbybaptism,asthe
BrazilianJournalofRheumatology.However,asalreadyforeseen
inanoldeditorial–asthissociety’sofficialorganofscientific
communication,theRBRwillnotshrinkfromits
transforma-tionintoaninternationallyrecognizedscientificjournal–for
oursocietyhasalsogrownandismakinganumberof
contrib-utionsthatextendbeyondournationalborders:amongthese
contributionsistheBrazilianCongressofRheumatology,the
specialty’sthirdlargest eventintheworld.Ithasalsobeen
saidthattheRBR“representseachandeveryoneofour
asso-ciates”andwillthusreflectthegrowthofourSocietyinboth
anewrhythmandnewforms.
This editorialis being printedalong with sevenarticles
ofgreatrelevancetoclinicalrheumatologists,including
top-icssuchasosteoporosis,fibromyalgiaandvasculitis,withthe
potentialforgreatlyassistingotherspecialtiesandimproving
public health.27–30 Thisissuedeparts from the almost
uni-versaltrendofpublishingexclusivelyonline,whichhasbeen
adoptedbytheRBRinrecentmonths.However,this
publica-tionisacommemorationofour60thanniversary,andtoday,
werecountourhard-foughttale,withaphotoalbumonour
lap,pointingoutafewphotosofthepeoplefromourvillage.
However,wewillnotloseourbearing,andinthisnewway
ofexpressingourselves,wewillhavetobroadenthescopeof
ournarrativewithlinesfrom abriefepiphanybyFernando
Pessoaon Twitter,declaring,“myvillageisasgrandasany
other land,forIamthesizeofmysight”.Inconclusion,so
that the entireSBR canlike andshare,we willimpartour
biggestmessageintheformofaFacebookpost,identifiedby
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www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/pe000001.pdf. 2. SedaH.RevistaBrasileiradeReumatologia–50anos.RevBras
Reumatol.2007;47:319–20.
3. RadominskiSC.Planosdemetas:oinício.Arevitalizac¸ãoda Revista.RevBrasReumatol.2001;41:IX.
4. SeparatadaRevBrasReumatol2001.
5. LaurindoIMM.2001–2002.RevBrasReumatol.2001;41:V.
6. LaurindoIMM.Mudanc¸as,definitivamentemudanc¸as!Rev BrasReumatol.2003;43:VII.
7. ReisFB,LopesAD,FaloppaF,CiconelliRM.Aimportânciada qualidadedosestudosparaabuscadamelhorevidência.Rev BrasOrtop.2008;43:209–16.
8. KnoplichJ.RevistaBrasileiradeReumatologia–críticase comentários.RevBrasReumatol.2003;43:XIX.
9. LaurindoIMM.Algumasconsiderac¸ões.RevBrasReumatol. 2003;43:IX.
10.LaurindoIMM.EditorialBoasnotíciasemuitotrabalho!!!Rev BrasReumatol.2004;44:IX.
11.LaurindoIMM,LageL,LevyRA.Intercâmbiocientífico.Rev BrasReumatol.2004;44:XI.
12.LageL,LevyRA.EditorialBienvenidosnuevoseditores!Rev BrasReumatol.2005;45:XI.
13.CavalcantiF.Umanovaera.RevBrasReumatol.2005;45:XIII.
14.RochaFAC,XavierRM.Ética,dedicac¸ãoemuitotrabalho.Rev BrasReumatol.2006;46:374.
15.RochaFAC,XavierRM.Registrodeprotocolosclínicos.Rev BrasReumatol.2007;47:149.
16.SantiagoM,FullerR.Recebendoabola.RevBrasReumatol. 2008;48:317.
17.LaurindoIMM.Indexac¸ãodaRBR.RevBrasReumatol. 2010;50:609–12.
18.SantiagoMB,FullerR.RBRindexadanoMEDLINE.RevBras Reumatol.2010;50:613–6.
19.Louzada-JuniorP,FreitasMVC.ARevistaBrasileirade Reumatologianosúltimosdezanos–umavisãobaseadaem cienciometria.RevBrasReumatol.2010;50:609–12.
20.Louzada-JuniorP,FreitasMVC.Aindexac¸ãodaRevista BrasileiradeReumatologianoWebofScience.RevBras Reumatol.2012;52:661–4.
21.HeymannRE,FreitasMVC.Ofatordeimpacto.RevBras Reumatol.2013;53:321.
22.Louzada-JuniorP.ScienceDirect:aindexac¸ãoquefaltavaà RBR.RevBrasReumatol.2014;54:165.
23.HeymannRE,deAssisMR.Eahistóriacontinua.RevBras Reumatol.2015;55:395.
24.MarquesCDL,DuarteALBP,RanzolinA,DantasAT,Cavalcanti NG,Gonc¸alvesRSG,etal.Recomendac¸õesdaSociedade BrasileiradeReumatologiaparadiagnósticoetratamentoda febrechikungunya.Parte1–Diagnósticoesituac¸ões especiais.RevBrasReumatol.2017;57:421–37.
25.MarquesCDL,DuarteALBP,RanzolinA,DantasAT,Cavalcanti NG,Gonc¸alvesRSG,etal.Recomendac¸õesdaSociedade BrasileiradeReumatologiaparadiagnósticoetratamentoda febrechikungunya.Parte2–Tratamento.RevBrasReumatol. 2017;57:438–51.
26.YonekuraCL,OliveiraRDR,TittonDC,RanzaR,RanzolinA, HayataAL,etal.Incidênciadetuberculoseempacientescom artritereumatoideemusodebloqueadoresdoTNFnoBrasil: dadosdoRegistroBrasileirodeMonitorac¸ãodeTerapias BiológicasBiobadaBrasil.RevBrasReumatol.2017;57:477–83.
27.LouresMAR,ZerbiniCAF,DanowskiJS,PereiraRMR,Moreira C,PaulaAP,etal.DiretrizesdaSociedadeBrasileirade Reumatologiaparadiagnósticoetratamentodaosteoporose emhomens.RevBrasReumatol.2017;57:497–514.
28.RadominskiSC,BernardoW,PaulaAP,AlbergariaB-H, MoreiraC,FernandesCE,etal.Diretrizesbrasileirasparao diagnósticoetratamentodaosteoporoseemmulheresnapós menopausa.RevBrasReumatol.2017;57:452–66.
29.HeymannRE,PaivaES,MartinezJE,HelfensteinMJr,Rezende MC,ProvenzaJR,etal.Novasdiretrizesparaodiagnosticoda fibromialgia.RevBrasReumatol.2017;57:467–76.
30.SouzaAWS,CalichAL,MarizHA,OchtropMLG,Bacchiega ABS,FerreiraGA,etal.Recomendac¸õesdaSociedade BrasileiradeReumatologiaparaaterapiadeinduc¸ãopara vasculiteassociadaaANCA.RevBrasReumatol.
2017;57:484–96.
MarcosRenatodeAssis∗,FranciscoAirtonCastroRocha,Luís
EduardoCoelhoAndrade,RogerAbraminoLevy,HiltonSeda
SociedadeBrasileiradeReumatologia,SãoPaulo,SP,Brazil
∗Correspondingauthor.
E-mail:[email protected](M.R.Assis).
2255-5021/©2017PublishedbyElsevierEditoraLtda.Thisis
anopenaccessarticleundertheCCBY-NC-NDlicense
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbre.2017.07.005
