EDITORIAL
On its 30th birthday in 2008, the Brazilian Magazine of Fruticulture (Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura) has published in its four numbers of its 30th volume, 200 papers, among articles and communications, accomplishing 1166 pages of scientific information.
Once again it was possible to highlight the breadth of our RBF magazine, which had papers from almost all Brazilian states, confirming its condition of national integration Magazine in the field of fruticulture. It is important to highlight that this integration not only limits itself to publishing, but also to the evaluation of the submitted articles, since the Magazine has assessors in all regions of the country, contributing for spreading the knowledge and participating in the Brazilian fruticulture. The quality of the published works is due to the seriousness and the dedication of these professionals.
Moreover, the RBF deals with diverse specialties of the fruticulture, as shown in Chart 1. It can be observed that all the sub-areas are contemplated, once this is an important aspect that consolidates the Brazilian Magazine of Fruticulture (RBF) as a means of divulgation, containing different aspects and interests of the fruticulture field.
Another theme to be considered in this Editorial, and that has been calling attention in the latest years, is the classification of Scientific Magazines. The initiative of CAPES is worthy and must be recognized, however, it needs reflection and deep discussion of the subject.
The research on the field of fruticulture creates knowledge that inserts itself in an applied area by excellence, producing results to solve important daily question of this sector. Different from the basic sciences, such as Physics and Chemistry, whose information can contribute to solve problems all over the world, the research on fruticulture helps to solve national or regional problems. This is a fact that must be considered when the publication of Journals of international circulation is excessively valued. This does not mean that a lot of information produced here can not be used in other parts of the world, but this is not the rule due to the peculiarities. For example, what interest would countries from the North hemisphere have in an article (even in English) about lack of zinc in guava tree? It is necessary to have caution. The language does not express the quality of the work. The choice of the communication channel, that is, where we wish to publish should be related to the public we want to achieve.
The important thing in the published result is its relevance in the elucidation or prevention of problems in the area of fruticulture, and the scientific rigor together with the quality of the work should be the factors that lead to the success.
The improvement in the scientific quality of the published articles has been the main objective of the Journals that search for higher impact in both academic and scientific area. This is also the objective of RBF, which in 2007 was included in the ISI data base.
In relation to the classification, our RBF, as it is known by everyone, received B2 at the Qualis-CAPES. If it can be used as consolation (I believe it can not), traditional magazines such as Fruits (with almost 70 years of existence) and the Acta Horticulturae deserved grades B3 and B4 respectively. Which one of us hasn't consulted these journals or used its important contributions in the fruticulture area? This classification seems to be strange!
This happens because the classification of Qualis considers, in special, the impact of the Magazine. In this way, in the area of Agricultural Science, including fruticulture, there is no journal published in Brazil with sufficient impact factor to be considered level A (that is, international). So, there is the question: is our science of such bad quality that none of our magazines can be considered of excellence? The answer is absolutely no. Brazil is internationally known for its thriving agriculture, with special feature for the fruticulture. Which one of us hasn't received foreign researches or professors amazed by our fruits and strongly interested in our researches? And the foreign post-graduation students that come to do their courses? What happens is that our magazines are being evaluated with general criteria used in the other area of knowledge, what is unfair, placing the Agricultural Science in disadvantage.
The journals Editors react to this, due to the high impact factor in the classification of Magazines. Some have 'suggested' that the submitted articles have a certain number of citations of the Magazine and, recent ones, since the JCR involves only the last two years of the journal publication.
The act of not considering the peculiarities and special features of the different areas of knowledge in the utilization of the JCR to determine the impact factor of the Magazines is a mistake. That is why it is necessary to reconsider the adopted criteria and the reflection about the subject, after hearing the Scientific Societies of various areas. If this does not happen, soon we will be facing situations in which the Science will not create good things nor offer solutions to the problems.
William Natale
Scientific Editor
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
26 May 2009 -
Date of issue
Mar 2009
