BACKGROUND: As a successor of Cirurgia Vascular e Angiologia, the Brazilian Vascular Journal (J Vasc Bras) is the official scientific organ of Sociedade Brasileira de Angiologia e Cirurgia Vascular (SBACV) and has been making progress and achievements throughout the years. However, these achievements lead to a full commitment able to maintain a high quality standard and imply continuous challenges, not only to achieve new conquests, but also to sustain them. OBJECTIVE: To critically evaluate all J Vasc Bras publications in printed and/or electronic versions between 2002 and 2007. METHODS: It is a systematic review of all J Vasc Bras publications, both printed and electronic, released in the aforementioned period. The papers were subdivided into 12 categories and evaluated considering five aspects: a) type of publication; b) large thematic area; c) level of scientific evidence; d) references; e) country of origin of references. SPSStm version 13.0 and Microsoft Excel tm were used for statistical analysis. There is no conflict of interest in this study. RESULTS: A total of 26 issues and nearly 400 manuscripts were evaluated, regarding all levels of scientific evidence, comprehending editorials, original and review articles, consensus and/or scientific forums, case reports, letters to the editor and final paper abstracts. The texts dealt with all large thematic areas of angiology and vascular surgery, besides bioethics, sociology, philosophy and technological innovations. However, despite a progressive paradigm shift, Brazilian authors are still far from ideal with regard to appreciation of the Brazilian scientific production, besides that of J Vasc Bras. This behavior needs to be reconsidered. CONCLUSION: Despite being young, J Vasc Bras has been overcoming obstacles and playing its role, both as the official scientific organ of SBACV and as a scientific journal. Its achievements allow us to claim that it is in the right path, but there are still challenges to be overcome, especially related to national authors, who doubtlessly have been and will always be part of all conquests. More than stimulating, the word of command is growing, but growing together.
Publication; quality; scientific evidence
