Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia and Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia: perspectives for the next four years

The Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia (JBP) is the leading journal in the field of respiratory medicine in Latin America. It is well established as a major scientific journal in Brazil, and its international visibility has gradually increased. Recent positive results were made possible by the efforts of JBP editors and reviewers, as well as by the unconditional support of the Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia (SBPT, Brazilian Thoracic Association), which is currently the primary supporter of the JBP. During the period in which the JBP was penalized by Thomson Reuters, the support provided by the SBPT and the hard work of JBP editors and reviewers were essential for the recovery of the Journal.¹

The primary objectives of the JBP are as follows: to educate and update SBPT members not only on diseases that are highly prevalent (such as tuberculosis, smoking, obstructive lung diseases, and sleep-disordered breathing) but also on those that are rarer^2-5; to increase the body of knowledge in the field of respiratory diseases and related areas; and to disseminate, strengthen, and contribute to the internationalization of research in Brazil.

According to the World Health Organization, respiratory diseases will be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the coming years. In this context, it is important that the JBP and the SBPT continue to work together in order to disseminate up-to-date knowledge to SBPT members, thus benefitting patients. Attractive features of the JBP include the following: national and international dissemination of its content, which can be accessed in Portuguese and in English; free submission and publication of articles; and content aimed at pulmonologists and other medical and nonmedical specialists. Updated data from the JBP show that 414 articles were submitted in 2018. Of those, 67% were original articles, and 72% were articles written by researchers in Brazil. Approximately 70% of the articles that are submitted for publication in the JBP are rejected, approximately 120 articles being published each year.

Achievements of past JBP editorial boards include the following: 1) consolidation of the Journal as an international publication, with increases in the impact factor of the JBP, the number of articles submitted by authors from other countries, and collaboration among several groups⁶; 2) increased citations of JBP articles in other journals; 3) creation of the position of Vice Editor of the JBP, a position that allows its occupants to gain experience with the JBP, thus facilitating the continuation of measures taken by the former editorship and the transition from one editorship to another⁶; 4) decentralization of editorial decisions, associate editors having come to play an increasingly important role in the JBP^1,2; 5) publication of review articles that can be used as reference and have clinical applicability,¹ with a high rate of approval among SBPT members (as noted in a recent survey); 6) creation of the Continuing Education series of articles (on Imaging and Scientific Methodology), also with a high rate of approval among SBPT members; 7) increased rejection rate for articles submitted to the JBP in recent years, reflecting increased stringency in the evaluation of submitted articles and, consequently, increased quality of publications; 8) choice of a different company to manage the JBP site for article submission; and 9) partnerships with other journals, such as the European Respiratory Journal and Pulmonology (previously Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia).

The new editorial board of the JBP comprises the Editor-in-Chief, the Vice Editor, and 19 associate editors (14 in Brazil and 5 elsewhere). In the coming years, the expectation is that the JBP will achieve the following goals: 1) publication of updated guidelines for the management of major respiratory diseases with the support of the SBPT; 2) maintenance of or increase in the impact factor of the JBP; 3) increased submission of quality articles by researchers in Brazil and other countries through collaborative projects; 4) compliance with SciELO proposals for the next five years (such as inclusion of the ORCID iD of all authors; continuous publication of articles, increasing the speed with which they become available online and, consequently, their exposure and citation potential; a board of associate editors on which 20-30% are affiliated with institutions outside the country; and inclusion of a description of each author’s contribution in all manuscripts)^7,8; 5) until the implementation of a continuous publication model, rapid online publication of articles ahead of print^7,9; 6) optimization of the time from manuscript submission to first response to authors, as well as from manuscript submission to publication; 7) optimization of the JBP website and increased dissemination of the most viewed and most cited articles; 8) use of social media to disseminate the JBP and its most relevant articles; 9) creation of the Continuing Education: Respiratory Physiology series of articles; and 10) expansion of the interface between the JBP and international societies and journals.

One of the major challenges is to encourage reviewers to engage with the articles. It is essential that the role of reviewers in evaluating JBP manuscripts be more widely recognized in order to expedite and improve their evaluation, as discussed in a recent editorial.⁶ One of the proposals is to invite promising early-career researchers to act as reviewers.

The primary mission of the SBPT is to provide quality continuing education on respiratory medicine using up-to-date scientific and technical resources. The vision of the SBPT is to be recognized for its management excellence, encouraging best practices for quality and safety in patient care and having fully integrated, committed, and satisfied members. To that end, the SBPT has adopted the following as its core values: ethics, respect for life, and a humanistic approach to everything it does, valuing the professional dignity of its members and promoting the best interests of patients and the community.

The new (2019-2020) SBPT board believes that many projects require long-term planning in order to come to fruition. Therefore, the 2019-2020 board will work in conjunction with the next SBPT president, elected to serve a two-year term, beginning in 2021, in order to plan actions that will be evaluated more objectively in four years’ time.

Some of the aforementioned proposals include projects initiated during the previous term and new, short- and long-term initiatives, as follows: 1) to encourage member participation in SBPT events and programs-the ATUALIZAR (UPDATE) program, a successful initiative that, on the basis of pre-established criteria, sponsored the participation of a significant number of SBPT members in national and international events, will remain in effect, albeit with modifications; 2) to replace at least 30% of lecturers with new lecturers after each SBPT promotion, a committee or group tentatively named SBPT JOVEM (YOUNG SBPT) being created to that end; 3) to maintain the autonomy of the JBP and expand its role as a disseminator of research findings; 4) to increase partnerships with international societies in an attempt to promote the exchange of conference lecturers, joint publications with international researchers, internships at quality institutions, problem solving, and the integration of continuing education programs in pulmonology worldwide, as well as to provide education on an ever-increasing number of subspecialties, many of which continue to pose a challenge for pulmonologists in Brazil, including eHealth, robotics, and environmental pollution; 5) to maintain close ties with the Brazilian Federal Medical Council and proceed with the process of qualification for respiratory medicine procedures with the Brazilian Medical Association in order to increase the number of job opportunities for pulmonologists; 6) to maintain the support that the SBPT provides to the training of residents in pulmonology, residents in clinical medicine, and general practitioners in respiratory medicine; 7) to increase the participation of medical and nonmedical professionals in all SBPT events and programs; 8) to maintain a focus on sustainability by seeking alternative sources of funding for the SBPT and the JBP; 9) to maintain a policy of transparency in all SBPT processes and projects; and 10) to work more closely with all 22 state societies of pulmonology.

In summary, the JBP and SBPT have overlapping missions, and the new boards have great responsibilities. Major challenges for the coming years are to continue and improve on what has been achieved by former boards and develop new strategies to achieve excellence in an objective, transparent, and realistic manner.

We would like to thank all of the SBPT members who agreed to be members of the editorial board of the JBP and the SBPT board as of January of 2019. We also count on the indispensable assistance of all 3,800 SBPT members, many of whom are also JBP reviewers.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  2019