Linamara Rizzo Battistella
Editor and authors: common
way
Demand of perfection in publications is not an
isolated task of the Editor and the Editorial Board. This
objective is shared with the people interviewed who
dedicate a great part of their time in the channeling task
of adequate scientific work to the publishing rules
established by the Magazine and provide for the necessary
justifications to the reporters.
Before reaching this phase, the author must solve a
very important question: select the most indicated journal
for his work. Before solving this question, he must be
aware of who are his possible readers and how large is the
interest for this subject.
Editor must also respect characteristics of each article
submitted and verify, based on well defined criteria, if
the work fits the profile of the magazine and if interesting
to their readers.
In order each one accomplishes his task correctly, it
is necessary to be aware of the responsibility of such
journal counting with the uphold of Index Medicus and
Medline System.
Cataloguing system was a great advance for the
interchange of information extremely important for the
scientific updating and development. Informatization
through the Medline System helped the access to literature
available and transformed bibliographic search in an
agreeable and reasonable task.
When submitting some article to an indexed
magazine, the author should exactly know what are the
critical elements this publication follows. National Library
of Medicine, in July, 91, presented following criteria
among others:
"Goal-Public:
Index Medicus and Medline systems are destined, particularly, to professionals of the healtharea, such as: technicians, educators, administrators and
students. Professionals of the health area are considered:
physicians, nurses, dentists, veterinarians and other kind
of professionals related to the health invblved with the
searching and attendance.
In h o ld c h a ra c te ristic s: Jo u rn als co n sid ered fo r in d ex in g sh o u ld b ear o n e o r m o re o f th e fo llo w in g in fo rm atio n :
a) O rig in al search in g ab stract;
b ) O rig in al clin ical o b serv atio n s w ith th e co rresp o n d in g an aly sis an d d iscu ssio n s;
c) A n aly sis o f th e p h ilo so p h ic, eth ic o r so cial asp ects o f th e h ealth an d b io m ed ical scien ces;
d ) C ritical rev isio n ; e) S tatistics;
f) D escrip tio n o r assessm en t o f m eth o d s an d p ro ced u res;
g ) D escrip tio n o f cases o r clin ical m eetin g s, w ith th e co rresp o n d in g d iscu ssio n s.
G e o g ra p h ic e x te n t: H ig h q u ality an d th e m o st u sefu l jo u rn als are selected , in d ep en d en tly fro m th e p lace o f th e issu e. W ith th e p u rp o se o f en ab lin g a w o rld w id e ex ten t, sp ecial atten tio n is g iv en to search , so cial h ealth , ep id em io lo g y , ty p es o f h ealth atten d an ce an d lo cal d iseases. P u b licatio n s co v erin g su b jects alread y w ell rep resen ted in th e In d ex M ed icu s o r M ed lin e o r th o se th at are p u b lish ed fo r a lo cally in terested p eo p le o n ly , are u su ally n o t selected .
U n d erstan d in g o f th ese criteria w ill b e d irectly in flu en ced b y th e p u rp o se o f t~ e issu e. F o u r classes o f p u b licatio n s are k n o w n :
1 . S e a rc h m a g a z in e s: P referab ly d ed icated to : rep o rts o n o rig in al in v estig atio n s in th e areas o f b io m ed ical an d h ealth scien ces, in clu d in g search in th e b asic scien ces; clin ical essay s b y th erap eu tic ag en ts; tech n ical activ ities an d th erap eu tic an d d iag n o stic m eth o d s; ep id em ic, b eh av io r an d ed u catio n al stu d ies, in terestin g to th e h ealth area.
2 . C lin ic a l m a g a z in e s: T h eir m ain p u rp o se is th e reg isterin g o f th e p resen t situ atio n o f th e h ealth p ractice, en ab lin g u sefu l in fo rm atio n fo r th e in in terru p ted train in g o r teach in g o f tech n ician s. T h is is p erfo rm ed b y p u b lish in g rep o rts o f d ifferen t cases, d iscu ssio n s an d in tro d u ctio n to n ew tech n iq u es, assessm en ts o f actu al p ractices an d co m m en ts.
3 . R e v isio n m a g a z in e s: S h o w cu rren t k n o w led g e an d p ractices, co m p risin g m o st recen t im p ro v em en ts o f p rin cip les an d p ractices accep ted o r, co n d en sin g an d ex am in in g u su al p o in ts o f v iew in co m p ariso n to co n tro v ersies in k n o w led g e an d p ractices. R ev isio n m ag azin es p ro v id e b asic in fo rm atio n fo r tech n ician s,
search ers, stu d en ts, resid en ts an d o th ers w h o lo o k fo r a g en eral v iew o r th e p resen t co n d itio n o f a certain area.
4 . G e n e ra l m a g a z in e s: In h o ld elem en ts su ch as th e ab o v e d escrib ed an d , freq u en tly , b rin g in g so cial, p o litics o r eco n o m ical co m m en ts an d an aly sis. A re u su ally d estin ed to a w id e-ran g in g p u b lic, n o t lim ited to o n ly o n e sp ecialty ."
E d ito rs o f th e R ev ista C ien tffica k n o w cu rren t d ifficu lties fo r in tro d u cin g a n ew p u b licatio n in th e In d ex M ed icu s.
A n n C o laian n i, A sso ciate D irecto r, L ib rary O p eratio n - N atio n al L ib rary o f M ed icin e, in a recen t sy m p o siu m sp o n so red b y B irem e an d P A H O (P an A m erica H ealth O ffice) em p h asized th e id ea o f a R eg io n al b ib lio g rap h ic d atab ase su ch as "A rtem ise in M ex ico an d L IL A C fo r L atin A m erica" as an altern ativ e o r co m p lem en tary so lu tio n d u e to d ifficu lty n ew jo u rn als face try in g to b e reg istered in th e In d ex M ed icu s.A t th is sam e o p p o rtu n ity , sh o w ed th at, fro m th e to tal o f articles p u b lish ed in 1 9 8 3 , 1 .7 % w ere in S p an ish an d P o rtu g u ese lan g u ag es, d ecreasin g to 1 .4 % in 1 9 8 4 . In th e sam e p erio d , articles in E n g lish reach ed 7 4 % in 8 3 an d 8 6 % in 9 3 , p ro v in g th at E n g lish is co n sid ered as b ein g a scien tific lan g u ag e.
S P M J is th e o ld est m ag azin e in clu d ed in th e In d ex M ed icu s an d tries to fo llo w ten d en cies to co n tin u e b ein g u p -d ated .
T o atten d co m m u n icatio n n eed s b etw een th e h o m e au th o rs an d th e A m erican an d S cien tific co m m u n ities, S ao P au lo M ed ical Jo u rn al h as b een ed ited sin ce 1 9 9 2 an d co n tin u es b ein g p rin ted in E n g lish , co m p risin g a w o rld w id e d istrib u tio n .
F ro m 1 9 9 5 o n , w e cam e b ack to a b im o n th ly p u b licatio n to atten d req u irem en ts an d w ith sp ecial em p h asis to C lin ical Im p licatio n s o f B asic R esearch . T h e m o st im p o rtan t is th at th ro u g h th ese refo rm u latin g , S ao P au lo M ed ical Jo u rn al in ten d s to reach th e tw en ty six th o u san d asso ciates o f th e A P M , carry in g o u t its co m p ro m ise in in fo rm in g an d u p d atin g m ed ical co m m u n ity o f th is co u n try an d g u aran tee a co m m u n icatio n ch an n el b etw een B razilian au th o rs an d th e fo reig n p u b lic.
W h en su b m ittin g h is w o rk to R P M /S P M J, th e au th o r is co n tactin g th e en d -p u b lic o f In d ex M ed icu s an d M ed lin e sy stem . In 1 9 9 4 , w e h av e in tro d u ced th e S P M J in to th e In stitu te fo r S cien tific In fo rm atio n an d , th is w ay , w e w ill reach th e C u rren t C o n ten ts p u b lic. T h is co m m u n icatio n
m ust be properly valued, scientific frontiers m ust be m ore and m ore approached and com m unication should be the key-w ord now w e are entering the third m illennium .
So is defined responsibility of the Relaters, Editorial Council and Editor in Chief, as they are responsible for the scientific im age diffusion of the m agazine and, therefore, of the country in front of the international com m unity.
Sao Paulo M edical Journal is one m ore facility offered by the A ssocia9aO Paulista de M edicina, offered at no cost to all associates, having in m ind the union
qf
the U niversities and M edical Institutions in the w hole country. A com m on w ay A uthors and Editors go through together.
