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Edit orial Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem 2009 m arço- abril; 17( 2) : 143- 4
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TH E PROBLEM OF RECOVERI N G I N FORM ATI ON DUE TO TH E VARI ABI LI TY OF
AUTHORSHI P REGI STRATI ON I N SCI EN TI FI C ARTI CLES
Mar ia Helena Palucci Mar ziale1
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ibliogr aph ical dat abases ar e an in dispen sable t ool t o r ecov er scien t if ic in f or m at ion an d car r y ou t bibliom et ric st udies. However, errors and inconsist encies in dat a regist ers lead t o t he loss of relevant inform at ion in r esear ch and int er fer e in t he access t o docum ent s( 1).The nam e of t he aut hor is one of t he m ain fields t o r ecov er infor m at ion, as user s fr equent ly sear ch scien t if ic j ou r n al dat abases an d elect r on ic libr ar ies t h r ou gh t h is f ield. Th u s, t h e lack of st an dar dizat ion t o regist er t he nam e of t he aut hor m akes it difficult t o find st udies and can int erfere in t he art icles’ and aut hors’ cit at ion rat ios. These indicat ors are increasingly used in t he assessm ent of scient ific j ournals, select ion processes, t o adv ance in t he academ ic car eer and t o obt ain r esear ch gr ant s.
Despit e t h e st r ict con t r ol m easu r es based on in t er n at ion al pu blish in g policies, edit or s of t en do n ot apply r ules and st andar ds coher ent ly. I n addit ion, aut hor s’ nam es ar e r egist er ed in differ ent way s in j our nals published in Spanish and in English. Journals published in English usually present t he surnam e followed by t he fir st nam e and m iddle nam es, if applicable. As an ex am ple, m y nam e w ould be cit ed “ Mar ziale, Mar ia Helena Palu cci”. I n j ou r n als p u b lish ed in Sp an ish , t h e r ef er en ce of m y n am e b ecom es “ Palu cci - Mar ziale, Mar ia Helena”, t hat is, t he first and second surnam es are followed by t he first and m iddle nam es, alt hough t here can be ot her v ar iat ions.
I n a st u dy abou t t h e pr obable cau ses of t h e in con sist en cy in t h e r egist r at ion of au t h or s’ n am e in j ournals published in Spanish, t he ident ified causes were: aut hors use different form s of t heir nam es t hroughout t h eir car eer, lack of con t r ol b y t h e dat abases, u se of in com pat ible in dex in g m et h ods an d possible edit or ial int er v ent ions fr om j our nals( 1 ).
The edit orial st andardizat ion used by t he j ournal regarding t he nam e of t he aut hor is also highlight ed. I n Brazil, m ost Nursing j ournals use t he Uniform Requirem ent s for Manuscript s Subm it t ed t o Biom edical Journals – Vancouver st yle. I n t he Unit ed St at es and in som e European count ries, t he Am erican Psychological Associat ion ( APA) st andards are used. Adopt ing t he Vancouver st yle, a few years ago, brought qualit y and indexing benefit s t o Nur sing j our nals in Br azil, bot h in nat ional dat abases like t he SciELO Collect ion and int er nat ional bases like SCOPUS and I SI . I t has also facilit at ed t he process for aut hors t o prepare t heir m anuscript s, as m any j ournals in t his ar ea adopt ed t he m ent ioned st andar dizat ion.
Due t o t he lack of st andardizat ion regarding aut hors’ nam es, and as dat abases publish and use aut hors’ nam es in t he sam e way as t hey are described in j ournals, aut hors’ nam es are abbreviat ed in different ways in dat abases t oo. My n am e, f or in st an ce, is r egist er ed on I SI - Web Kn ow ledge, Scopu s, Medlin e, Lilacs an d SciELO Collect ion , in t h e f ollow in g d if f er en t w ay s “ Mar ziale, Mar ia Helen a Palu cci” ; “ Mar ziale, Mar ia H P” ; “ Marziale, M. H.” ; “ Marziale, M. H P” ; “ Marziale, Maria Helena; “ Palucci - Marziale, M H” ; “ Palucci Marziale, Maria Helen a”. Th ese v ar iat ion s m ak e it d if f icu lt t o f in d an d r ecov er p u b lish ed ar t icles an d also t o calcu lat e t h e bibliom et r ic indices of aut hor s and ar t icles.
Anot her aspect highlight ed in t his edit or ial is t he w ay j our nals’ nam es ar e r egist er ed in r efer ences in j ou r n als in dex ed in dat abases an d docu m en t s pu blish ed in sear ch w ebsit es lik e Google. Th e pu blicat ion of incor r ect nam es of j our nals r epr esent s dam ages t o j our nals’ cit at ion r at ios and, in Br azil, it also im pair s t he assessm ent of gr aduat e pr ogr am s, as t heir scient ific pr oduct ion is assessed by CAPES ( Coor dinat ion for t he I m pr ov em en t of High er Edu cat ion Per son n el) , a gov er n m en t al agen cy t h at assesses gr adu at e pr ogr am s in Br azil. The QUALI S index , by CAPES, classifies t he j our nals gr aduat e st udent s and adv isor s publish in, using m ainly cit at ion indexes from I SI - Web Know ledge, t hrough t he im pact fact or published in t he Journal Cit at ion
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Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem 2009 m arço- abril; 17( 2) : 143- 4w w w .eer p.usp.br / r lae
Rep or t s, an d f r om Scop u s, t h e H in d ex , p u b lish ed b y t h e SCI m ag o Jou r n al & Cou n t r y Ran k . Cit at ion s, in general, im ply t hat highly cit ed j ournals should be m ore relevant , or have m ore im pact , in t heir area. Thus, it is used t o m easure t he im port ance or influence of a j ournal or a group of docum ent s, based on t he num ber of t im es art icles published in t his j ournal are cit ed in a given period of t im e( 2). Aut hors and edit ors should be alert t o t he pr oper r egist er of aut hor s’ and j our nals’ nam e in ar t icle r efer ences.
I n view of t his problem , aut hors should be encouraged t o sign t heir art icles wit h t he sam e nam e during t heir ent ir e car eer. Edit or s of Nur sing j our nals need t o w or k j oint ly t o cr eat e a single st r uct ur e t o r egist er t he n am e associat ed t o differ en t sou r ce docu m en t s. Th at is, scien t ific j ou r n als sh ou ld st an dar dize t h e elem en t s used in t he inform at ion t ransfer process, including t he order of priorit y and present at ion of art icles’ aut horship. Dat abases can also help in t his im por t ant dut y.
REFEREN CES
1. Ruiz- Pér ez R, Delgado López- Cózar E, Jim énez- Cont r er as E. Spanish per sonal nam e v ar iat ions in nat ional and int er nat ional
biom edical dat abases: im plicat ion s for in for m at ion r et r iev al an d bibliom et r ic st u dies. J Med Libr Assoc. 2 0 0 2 ; 9 0 ( 4 ) : 4 1 1 - 3 0
2. Marziale MHP. Produção cient ífica da enferm agem brasileira: a busca pelo im pact o int ernacional. Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem .
2 0 0 5 ; 1 3 ( 3 ) : 2 8 5 - 9 0 .
