Change the Qualis Criteria!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Change the Qualis Criteria!^*

Since Capes (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; Coordination Office for Improvement of University-level Personnel) published its revised Qualis criteria, the AMB (Associação Médica Brasileira; Brazilian Medical Association) has been organizing a series of meetings, held at its headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, starting in August 2009, in partnership with the ABEC (Associação Brasileira de Editores Científicos; Brazilian Association of Scientific Editors). These meetings led to the publication of an editorial entitled "Classification of journals in the Qualis System of Capes - urgent need of changing the criteria!" The editorial was signed by 62 editors of scientific journals and published in full in all of them, and in many others, primarily within the health sciences, demonstrating that Brazil's periodicals are more and more committed to discussing the problems that they share in common.¹

The scientific community remains concerned about the future prospects and direction of Brazilian periodicals.^2,3 The editors present at the meeting on March 18 were therefore in a position to evaluate the repercussions of the first editorial, which had been discussed at scientific events and meetings all over Brazil. The meeting was attended by Dr. Lilian Caló, who is scientific communication and assessment coordinator for SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online). She presented a comparative study of the Brazilian periodicals indexed by SciELO, according to two different criteria: the first criterion was the ISI/JCR (Institute for Scientific Information/Journal Citation Report) impact factor, which only uses journals indexed by Thomson Reuters, and the second was an index formed by simple addition of the ISI/JCR and SciELO impact factors. The SciELO impact factor, which includes all the periodicals that it indexes, significantly modifies the number of citations and, consequently, raises the Brazilian periodicals' impact factors. Dr. Caló's presentation illustrated this fact more clearly, showing the percentages gained by adopting the composite index. It is clear that by combining indexes, or creating equivalencies or several alternatives, improved quality ratings among Brazilian journals can be promoted, thereby raising their visibility and making international indexation more likely. It is also of concern that Brazilian researchers now prefer to publish their work in foreign journals rather than choosing domestic publications. They choose to do this because it improves the ratings of their postgraduate departments, earns them greater impact factors and increases their H index; all entirely and exclusively a result of the revised criteria adopted by Capes. Achievements in increasing the visibility and quality of Brazilian scientific production should not be assessed on the basis of articles alone, but should also focus on improving our periodicals to the point at which they are recognized internationally.

Considering that the criteria have already been set for Capes' current triennial assessment, the assembled editors decided to draft a second editorial containing a list of suggestions for the next assessment, to be sent to the administration at Capes. The list of suggestions, which supplement those in the first editorial, is as follows:

- that the criteria used by Capes to classify periodicals be revised, adopting the composite impact factor calculated by summing the ISI/JCR and SciELO impact factors;

- that a seat on the Capes Scientific Committee be created for ABEC so that editors can be heard within the process;

- that CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico; National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) be requested to create an "Editors' Scholarship" program to support scientific publishing and to be awarded to the editors of journals funded by CNPq. The objective of this project would be to improve the quality of these journals by providing their editors with more time to dedicate to their editorial activities.

Additionally, the assembled editors decided to seek support for their criticisms and suggestions from the Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Brazilian Academy of Sciences), from FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos; Funding Office for Studies and Projects) and from Federal Deputy Eleuses Vieira de Paiva. At a later date, the editors will request a detailed breakdown from CNPq of the criteria adopted for, and the results from, the distribution of the resources allocated through the Publishing Support Grants (Editais para Auxílio à Editoração). The editors intend to use these data to construct a database on the annual budgets of Brazilian periodicals, which will be useful for comparative analysis and mutual cooperation. Publication of these two editorials and promotion of discussion is one of our goals in seeking the recognition that Brazilian periodicals both need and deserve.

This editorial is signed by:

Adagmar Andriolo

Jornal Brasileiro de Patologia e Medicina Laboratorial

Alfredo José Afonso Barbosa

Jornal Brasileiro de Patologia e Medicina Laboratorial

Arnaldo José Hernandez

Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte

Aroldo F. Camargos

Revista Femina

Benedito Barraviera

Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases

Bogdana Victoria Kadunc

Surgical & Cosmetic Dermatology da Soc. Brasileira de Dermatologia

Bruno Caramelli

Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira

Carlos Brites

Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases

Dejair Caitano do Nascimento

Hansenologia Internationalis

Domingo M. Braile

Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular

Dov Charles Goldenberg

Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica

Edmund Chada Baracat

Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira

Edson Marchiori

Revista Radiologia Brasileira

Eduardo de Paula Vieira

Revista Brasileira de Coloproctologia

Eros Antônio de Almeida

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Clínica Médica

Flávia Machado

Revista Brasileira de Terapia Intensiva

Geraldo Pereira Jotz

Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cabeça e Pescoço

Gianna Mastroianni Kirsztajn

Jornal Brasileiro de Nefrologia

Gilberto Camanho

Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia

Gustavo Gusso

Medicina Família e Comunidade

Ivomar Gomes Duarte

Revista de Administração em Saúde

Izelda Maria Carvalho Costa

Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia

João Ferreira de Mello Júnior

Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology

Joel Faintuch

Revista Brasileira de Nutrição Clínica

José Antônio Baddini Martinez

Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia

José Antônio Livramento

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria

José Eduardo Ferreira Manso

Revista do Colégio Brasileiro de Cirurgiões

José Eulálio Cabral Filho

Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil

José Heverardo da Costa Montal

Revista da Associação Brasileira de Medicina de Tráfego

José Luiz Gomes do Amaral

Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira

José Luiz Martins

Archives of Pediatric Surgery

Jurandyr Moreira de Andrade

Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Leonardo Cançado Monteiro Savassi

Revista Brasileira de Medicina de Família e Comunidade

Luís dos Ramos Machado

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria

Luiz Augusto Casulari

Brasilia Médica

Luiz Eugenio Garcez Leme

Geriatria & Gerontologia

Luiz Felipe P. Moreira

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia

Luiz Henrique Gebrim

Revista Brasileira de Mastologia

Marcelo Madeira

Revista Brasileira de Mastologia

Marcelo Riberto

Revista Acta Fisiátrica

Marcus Bastos

Jornal Brasileiro de Nefrologia

Mário Cícero Falcão

Revista Brasileira de Nutrição Clínica

Mario J. da Conceição

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia

Mauricio Rocha e Silva

Revista Clinics

Milton Artur Ruiz

Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia

Milton K. Shibata

Arquivos Brasileiros de Neurocirurgia

Mittermayer Barreto Santiago

Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia

Nelson Adami Andreollo

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cirurgia Digestiva

Nivaldo Alonso

Brazilian Journal of Craniomaxilofacial Surgery

Osvaldo Malafaia

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cirurgia Digestiva

Olavo Pires de Camargo

Acta Ortopedica Brasileira

Paulo Manuel Pêgo Fernandes

São Paulo Medical Journal

Regina Helena Garcia Martins

Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology

Renato Soibelmann Procianoy

Jornal de Pediatria

Ricardo César Pinto Antunes

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Cancerologia

Ricardo Fuller

Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia

Ricardo Guilherme Viebig

Arquivos de Gastroenterologia

Ricardo Nitrini

Dementia & Neuropsychologia

Rogério Dedivitis

Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cabeça e Pescoço

Ronaldo Damião

Urologia Contemporânea

Rosângela Monteiro

Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular

Sergio Lianza

Revista Medicina de Reabilitação

Sigmar de Mello Rode

Brazilian Oral Research

Tarcisio E. P. Barros Filho

Acta Ortopedica Brasileira

Wallace Chamon

Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia

Winston Bonetti Yoshida

Jornal Vascular Brasileiro

Zuher Handar

Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Trabalho

References

• 1. Classificação dos periódicos no sistema Qualis da Capes - a mudança dos critérios é urgente! [Classification of journals in the Qualis system of Capes - urgent need of changing the criteria!]. Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2010;56(2):128-43. Available from: http://www.ramb.org.br/edicao_atual/ingles/editorial.pdf Accessed in 2010 (Jun 21).
• 2. Lucena AF, Tibúrcio RV. Qualis periódicos: visão do acadêmico na graduação médica [Qualis periodical: view of an academic on medical graduation]. Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2009;55(3):247-8.
• 3. Rocha-e-Silva Mauricio. O novo Qualis, ou a tragédia anunciada: [editorial]. Clinics. 2009;64(1):1-4.

*

This letter to the editor was first published in Portuguese in the journal Diagnóstico & Tratamento, volume 15, issue number 3, July-August 2010.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Nov 2010
• Date of issue
  July 2010