This issue celebrates the first print edition of the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, previously known as Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. Over the years, we have come to realize that the original title, in Portuguese, was no longer suitable for a publication that is well consolidated in Brazil and now aims to achieve large international recognition. The journal has long become a national reference for scientists working in the fields of neuroscience and mental health research in Brazil; more recently, over the last decade, the journal has expanded its presence among the international community of psychiatric journals.
Even though we changed the language of the title, we decided that it was important to maintain a strong identity with our origins and connection to the Brazilian psychiatric history. While the new title in English will make the journal more identifiable to the international scientific community, we decided to maintain a reference to Brazil in the title, thus preserving a sense of identity to those familiar with the journal’s past.
For years we have been discussing whether a title change would improve the journal’s competitiveness internationally. As the journal’s content has been published exclusively in English for several years now, we decided it was time to push forward. By changing the title, we expect to increase the recruitment of scholarly works to the journal, in terms of both number and quality of submissions. Over the last 5 years, around 30% of the manuscripts we have received came from about 25 different countries. We now hope to rise that number to 50% and attract increasingly qualified research.
Another major change is that from now on the journal will be published bimonthly. This change will support shortened publication times and help to speed up the whole publication process. The focus of the new Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry remains the same and continuity is guaranteed. We also take this opportunity to invite papers of interest to the broader community in psychiatry and mental health research. Manuscript types remain the same as in recent years: the journal publishes Original Articles, Systematic Reviews, Brief Communications, and Letters. Manuscripts that bridge these categories to increase the conceptual understanding of key issues in the field may be submitted as Special Articles, at the editors’ request.
Academic publishing is a competitive business and editors strive to provide the best possible products to the scientific community. This is an arduous task and we understand that some may not welcome strategic changes to a journal, especially when the journal looks back on a very long history. After years of editorial experience, however, and with an improved understanding of the mechanisms that drive global science publishing, we are convinced that the proposed changes to the journal will improve its competitiveness and its global scope in the years to come, as well as better serve the needs of our scientific community.
Acknowledgements
The Translational Psychiatry Program (USA) is funded by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders (USA) is funded by the Pat Rutherford Jr. Chair in Psychiatry, John S. Dunn Foundation, and Anne and Don Fizer Foundation Endowment for Depression Research. The Laboratório de Psiquiatria Translacional (Brazil) is funded by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC), Instituto Cérebro e Mente, and Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC). JQ is a 1A CNPq Research Fellow.
AEN has received clinical research support from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Jan-Feb 2019
