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(Updated: 2024/03/18)

About the journal

 

Brief Background

 

Revista Brazileira de Saúde Ocupacional - RBSO - is an open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal edited and published by FUNDACENTRO since 1973. It aims at disseminating original research articles focusing on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) that can contribute to understand and improve work conditions, to prevent injuries and labor illness, as well as supporting discussions and defining public policies related to the theme.

The journal also aims to enhance the technical-scientific debate among researchers, educators, legislators, and professionals in the field of OSH. In this sense, it seeks to add current and diversified content to each published issue, also bringing, whenever appropriate, systematized contributions on specific topics.

Starting in 2016, RBSO ceased to be published in serialized editions (issues) and adopted the continuous publication system (rolling pass), maintaining an annual online volume with the individualized and continuous publication of manuscripts

 

 

Open Science Compliance

 

RBSO follows the Gold Open Access model.

The Open Science movement proposes guidelines for collaborative, shared and public scientific practice.
RBSO aims to align itself with the principles of open Science, including the adoption of the open access publishing model, the acceptance of manuscripts published on preprints servers, the encouragement of openness of research data and other content underlying articles, and the progressive opening of peer review.

RBSO welcomes the submission of unpublished manuscripts, including those previously shared on reputable preprint servers, at the discretion of the Editors. The journal suggests the following preprint servers: SciELO Preprints, MedRxiv and Europe PMC.

At the time of manuscript submission, the authors must complete the SciELO Open Science Compliance Form: https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/Open-Science-Compliance-Form_en.docx, and attach it as a supplementary file when submitting the article. This document will serve as the basis for preparing the Data Availability Statement, to be published in the article.

The contribution of section editors is duly credited in the published article. Reviewers receive a statement of their opinion on the manuscript and may also validate the activity in Publons.

The journal's content is freely accessible, and authors are not required to pay any submission or publication fees

 

 

Ethics in Publication

 

RBSO is committed to complying with and demanding that the journal, its editors, reviewers and authors respect and promote the principles of scientific integrity, ethics and transparency throughout the editorial process and published content. Editors must ensure that there is no discrimination related to the authors or origin of the manuscript and that their decisions are based exclusively on its scientific merit.

RBSO adopts as references of scientific integrity policy the guidelines recommended by: the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing; the Council Of Science Editors, CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications; the SciELO, Guidelines on Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication. RBSO also follows the recommendations for drafting, writing, editions, and publication of academic works in periodical medical journals by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The journal’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is available at: https://www.gov.br/fundacentro/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/rbso/declaracao-sobre-etica-1/publication-ethics-and-publication-malpractice-statement.

 

 

Focus and Scope

  RBSO publishes original articles of scientific significance in the field of Occupational Safety & Health (OSH), adopting a multidisciplinary approach. The journal encompasses various facets of OSH across diverse economic sectors in both formal and informal employment realms. These include the correlation between work and health, conceptual analyses of occupational accidents, risk assessment, management strategies, and OSH systems. Additionally, it covers epidemiology, etiology of occupational illnesses, chemical exposure, toxicology, and the interplay between workers' health, organizational dynamics, and working conditions. Environmental health, OSH education, training methodologies, and behavioral aspects at work, including their physiological, psychological, and social dimensions, are also addressed. Furthermore, the journal explores mental health at work, musculoskeletal disorders, psychological conditions, and their association with organizational structures and sectoral transformations. It also delves into OSH professions, professional practices, health service organization, and occupational safety within public and private enterprises. Labor regulations, workplace inspections, and the social, organizational, and political dimensions of OSH are among the areas covered.  

 

Digital Preservation

  This journal follows the standards defined in the Digital Preservation Policy program of the SciELO Program.  

 

Indexing Sources

   

 

Bibliographic Journal Information

 
  • The title of the journal: Revista Brazileira de Saúde Ocupacional
  • Abbreviated title: Rev. Bras. Saúde Ocup.
  • Publication by: Fundação Jorge Duprat Figueiredo de Segurança e Medicina do Trabalho - Fundacentro
  • Periodicity: Annual
  • Publication Mode: Continuous Publication
  • Year of creation of the journal: 1973
 

 

Websites and Social Media

   

 

Editorial Policy

 

The RBSO editorial policy is geared to strengthen its position as reference on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Therefore, it is based on:

  • commitment to good practices, ethics and integrity in research and scientific publication to ensure the journal’s position as an outstanding scientific journal in the field of OSH.
  • Embracing the principles of open science, with the objective of expediting the dissemination of research findings and enhancing the transparency and interoperability of the entire editorial process.
  • Advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion principles within research and scientific publication endeavors.
  • Ensuring editorial excellence through ongoing enhancements in editorial management, continuous training of the editorial board, and regular updates to the Editorial Development Plan (PDE).
 

 

Preprints

 

RBSO accepts manuscripts that have been previously deposited in preprint servers considered reliable at the discretion of the Editors. The journal suggests the following preprint servers to authors: SciELO Preprints, MedRxiv and Europe PMC.

 

 

Peer Review Process

 

Manuscripts submitted accordingly to the instructions to authors are checked by the Executive Editorial Board, or appointed editors, as to suitability to the journal scope, originality, ethical aspects and scientific quality. Studies involving statistical methods will also be subjected to preliminary evaluation by the statistical editors. Manuscripts that do not meet the evaluation criteria required in this initial step will be rejected. Those that meet the initial requirements will be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief for scientific merit and study contribution. If the manuscript is considered appropriate, the Editor-in-Chief will designate an Associate Editor to coordinate and follow the peer review process. The Associate Editor will nominate at least two ad hoc reviewers for peer review. If the evaluations are contradictory, or considered insufficient to support his recommendation, the Associate Editor may invite one or more additional reviewers to evaluate the manuscript.

Presently, our peer review process operates under a double anonymized format, where the identities of both authors and reviewers remain undisclosed to each other. However, manuscripts previously disseminated on preprint servers may be exempt from this practice, as the authors' identities are already public knowledge.

An evaluation form is made available to reviewers to be filled out online through the workflow-management system. The journal recommends that editors and reviewers follow the guidelines proposed by COPE – Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

The Associate Editor will make his recommendation on the manuscript based on the reports issued by the reviewers and on his own evaluation, indicating refusal, acceptance or need for adjustments and corrections. The Editor-in-Chief will decide whether to refuse or accept the paper or whether the authors will need to comply with the Associated Editor and the reviewer’s recommendations, for further evaluation and final decision.

A manuscript rejection can happen at any time, at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, when a justification will be issued to the author.

Authors may appeal against editorial decisions by sending a message to RBSO executive secretary informing and justifying their disagreement. The message will go to the Executive Editorial Board for analysis and forwarding as deemed necessary. Answers to questions and, when applicable, information on measures defined by the editors will be sent to the authors.

Regarding the relationship between this topic and Open Science, RBSO will progressively implement the following peer review procedures, as agreed between the Editor, authors and reviewers:

  • Informing in each published manuscript the name (or names) of the editor responsible for its assessment.
  • Offering the possibility of disclosing or not the reviewers’ and authors’ identities.
  • Offering to reviewers the possibility of publishing their review reports, disclosing or not their identity. Published opinions will be indexed and may be cited
 

 

Open Data

 

RBSO encourages authors to upload, previously or at the time of submission, the supporting content used in the research on national or international open access repositories recognized by the scientific community. The document Lista de repositórios para depósito de dados de pesquisa [Research data repositories list, in Portuguese only], prepared by SciELO, offers suggestions for repositories in different research areas. Other options can be found in the FAIRsharingand Re3Data directories. RBSO recommends using the SciELO Data repository. Depending on the file formats and content, more than one repository may be required. Programming routines used in statistical analysis software can be posted on directories or submitted in complementary files for publication along with the manuscript.

Authors should cite in the article the data sets and other supporting content posted on repositories and reference the directories used in the list of references. Information about data citation:

Authors should pay attention to the format of the data to be shared in repositories to avoid disrespecting ethical and legal aspects of confidentiality or anonymity agreements signed with the research participants. Data sharing in open access should have preferably been predicted in the research project and, when applicable, approved by the Research Ethics Committee.

Authors must complete the SciELO Open Science Compliance Form, and attach it as a supplementary document when submitting the article. This document will serve as the basis for preparing the Data Availability Statement, to be published in the article.

 

 

Fees

 

RBSO is an open access journal, as defined by BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative).

The journal does not charge any submission or publication fees.

 

 

Ethics and Misconduct, Correction and Retraction Policy

 

RBSO and its editors will not tolerate scientific misconduct (plagiarism, citations manipulation, falsification/fabrication of data or any other unethical conduct). Suspected misconduct of any kind in published or submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the editorial board and will be treated in accordance with COPE guidelines. Proven cases of scientific misconduct will be reported to the authors' affiliation institutions and to the research funding agencies.

Correction and retraction of published manuscripts: Whenever fraud, distortions, misleading statements or relevant academic inaccuracies are identified in manuscripts published in RBSO, measures for correction or retraction will be immediately taken by the journal. When necessary or requested, authors must provide corrections or retractions. For retracting or correcting published manuscripts, RBSO follows COPE’s flowcharts and SciELO guidelines (in Portuguese): Guia para o registro e publicação de retratação and Guia para o registro e publicação de Errata.

 

 

Policy on Conflict of Interest

 

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest concerning the writing or assessment of a submitted manuscript, no matter how unlikely they are. Conflicts may involve financial/commercial, academic, political, or personal interests.

Research support and funding: Authors must reveal all sources of material support and funding, public or private, received by the study presented in the submitted manuscript. Suppliers of equipment or material provided free of charge or at a discount should also be described as funding sources. When the study is carried out without funding, this information should also be declared by the authors.

RBSO meets the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendation: the relationship of the editorial board with the journal's publisher and/or supporting institutions is based on the principle of editorial independence. Editors decide which articles to publish based on merit and scientific quality, regardless of the economic and political realities of these institutions.

 

 

Adoption of similarity software

  Manuscripts submitted accordingly to the instructions to authors are checked by the Executive Editorial Board, or appointed editors, as to suitability to the journal scope, originality, ethical aspects and scientific quality. After this stage, before proceeding to the responsible Editor-in-Chief, manuscripts undergo analysis using the CrossCheck similarity detection tool, available in the ScholarOne submission system.  

 

Gender and Sex Issues

 

The RBSO editorial board declares its commitment to promoting the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to its community of authors, reviewers and readers, recognizing its importance in the entire flow of scientific communication for the advancement in knowledge.

Among the actions aimed at promoting the principles of DEI in the RBSO, the journal highlights the consideration of the diversity of sex, gender, race, geographical origin and stage in the career for the composition of the Editorial Board and selection of reviewers; the analysis of indicators; the endorsement of the guidelines on sex and gender equity in research (SAGER); the attention to the correct use of DEI terminology and the use of inclusive language in the published articles; the encouragement of the publication of articles related to DEI similar to the scope of the journal; the confrontation with implicit bias, the commitment of the editorial team to provide an inclusive environment in which all people can have opportunities for development and to continue reflecting on the improvements needed to advance these principles within the journal and the scientific community in the area of Occupational Health and Safety.

 

 

Ethics Committee

 

Publication of articles that bring results of research involving human beings is conditioned to compliance with ethical principles (Declaration pf Helsinki – 1964, in its most recent revision of 2013) and to the compliance with the relevant legislation for this type of research in the country where it was carried out.

For studies carried out in Brazil, information about approval by the Research Ethics Committee, including the name of the institution and date of approval, as well as information about the signature of the Informed Consent Form (ICF), when applicable, will be required.

Research utilizing non-open access databases or health records necessitates formal authorization from the originating institution before conducting the research and publishing its findings.

Research based on animal models must comply with the Basel Declaration and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Academy of Sciences, USA).

Information regarding research ethics must be informed in the Methods section of the manuscript, in the subsection called “Ethical Considerations”. When the adopted model of peer review is the double-blind, information on the research ethical procedures adopted, which can identify the authors, must be included with the manuscript complementary documents and inserted in the final version only after its approval.

 

 

Copyright

  Authors whose articles are published by RBSO retain the copyright of their works. These works are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted reuse and distribution, provided that proper citation of the original work is maintained.  

 

Intellectual Property and Terms of Use

 

The content published in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY License.

By submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors implicitly agree to its publication under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) should it be approved for publication.

Authors have control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited. The citation must obligatorily indicate RBSO as the original source of publication of the manuscript.

The author is responsible for obtaining authorizations (from persons, institutions, other authors and/or publishers) regarding copyrights for the use of images, tables, other figures, methods, or other elements used in the manuscript to be published.

When submitting a manuscript, the authors declare that it is original and had not been published previously, neither in whole nor in parts, in any form of printed or electronic media except when applicable in preprints servers; and that it has not been and will not be submitted concomitantly to other journals during its evaluation process by the Revista Brazileira de Saúde Ocupacional (RBSO) under Creative Commons CC BY License, in electronic format or other media, as well as in bibliographic indexing bases and in directories and repositories of scientific journals and articles.

 

 

Sponsors and Promotion Agencies

 

RBSO is hosted by Fundação Jorge Duprat Figueiredo de Segurança e Medicina no Trabalho (FUNDACENTRO), an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Labor and Employment of Brazil.

 

 

 

Editorial Board

 

Editor-in-Chief

   

 

Executive Editors

   

 

Associate Editors

   

 

Statistical Consulting and Epidemiology

   

 

Technical Team

 

Editorial management

  • Tarsila Baptista Ponce
  • Maria Angela Pizzani Cruz

RBSO site

  • Cézar Akiyoshi Saito e Júlio César Lopardo Alves

Computer support

  • Coordenação de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação - Fundacentro
 

 

 

 

Instructions to authors

 

1 Scope

  RBSO publishes original articles with scientific relevance in the field of Occupational Safety & Health (OSH). The journal adopts a multidisciplinary approach and covers several aspects of OSH in the different economic sectors of the formal and informal world of work including: the work and health relationship; conceptual aspects and analyses of occupational accidents; risk analyses; risk management and OSH management systems; epidemiology; etiology of causal nexus of occupational illnesses; exposure to chemicals and toxicology; relationship between the workers’ health and organization and working conditions, and environmental health; OSH education and training; behavior at work and its physiological, psychological and social dimensions; mental health and work; muscle-skeletal disorders, psychological conditions and their relationship to organizational aspects and productive sector restructuring; OSH professions and professional practice; health services organization and occupational safety  in public and private companies; labor regulation and laws; workplace inspection; social, organizational, and political aspects of OSH.  

 

2 Manuscript types

 

RBSO receives the following manuscript types:

Research Article: Reports original results of empirical or conceptual research (up to 4,500 words and 40 references, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references)

Review Article: Critical and systematized review of scientific literature on a specific subject; the review objective must be mentioned; the criteria for searching and selecting the literature and the sources and bibliographic bases must be specified in methods; the obtained results must be discussed, and suggestions of studies to fill knowledge gaps must be presented; for systematic reviews, we recommend the guidelines of PRISMA and MOOSE, as well as register the trial protocol in accordance with section 4.6 of the instructions to authors (up to 6,000 words, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Essay: Circumstanced reflection, in a writing style that suits the purpose of a scientific publication, which grants authors more freedom to defend a certain view and intends to deepen a discussion or to present a new contribution/approach on a relevant theme; the same applies to the introductory essays of thematic dossiers (up to 4,500 words and 40 references, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Report on experience: Reports a successful original intervention case related to occupational safety and health; it must refer to an innovative experience with important impact, which could be reproducible. The manuscript must characterize the problem and describe the case in a synthetic and objective way; it must present and discuss its results and can suggest recommendations; its writing style must be suitable to the purpose of a scientific publication; must describe the methodology employed to deal with the case and to assess its results, using pertinent references (up to 4,500 words and 40 references, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Case report: Reports a new or an unusual clinical work-related case; the study must present evidence that contributes to elucidate, deepen or question established theories, or to support new approaches in the relationship between health and work; pointing out unexpected or not yet identified associations between clinical manifestations and work; present new findings that can contribute to establish work-related causal links; identify singular or rare characteristics of a health-related problem caused by work; identify conditions not usually considered, gaps or gray areas that may lead to confusion or inadequacy in the establishment or in the disqualification of a work-related illness diagnosis or causal link. The discussion of the evidence should be based on a comprehensive and in-depth literature review of the report central object. The Case Report preparation must follow the CARE Guidelines’ recommendations. (up to 3,500 words and 40 references, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Short Communication: Reports research's partial or preliminary results, or a study of small complexity (up to 3,000words and 40 references, excluding titles, abstract, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Discussion: At the invitation of the editorial board, a scientifically based text aimed at debating a technical-scientific argument or discussing content related to a topic of interest defined by the editorial board, or a specific article or thematic dossier published in RBSO (up to 2,000 words and 20 references, excluding titles, tables, pictures, illustrations, and references).

Interview: Dialogue/interview with researchers, specialists or other personalities who may contribute technical/scientific content or whose trajectory addresses experience or provides knowledge, techniques, inputs or operating modes in topics of interest related to the scope of the journal and considered relevant at the discretion of the journal. The submission is not free, it will be by invitation or at the discretion of the editorial board (up to 6,000 words).

Note: Technical or informative note, with scientific basis, considered relevant at the editors' discretion (this is not a free submission modality - RBSO must be consulted before its submission); up to 2,000 words, 20 references, three illustrations, and three authors.

Book Review: Critical analysis of a book published in the previous two years (up to 1,200 words).

Letter:Text discussing an article recently published by RBSO or, at the discretion of the editorial board, other matters of interest to the technical-scientific community in the field of OSH; up to 750 words, ten references, one illustration, and three signatories.

Answer: Response to a letter or comment. Submitted by the author of a commented manuscript or by the editorial board; up to 750words and ten references, one picture or illustrations, and three signatories.

 

 

3 Proposals for thematic dossiers

 

RBSO publishes thematic dossiers to strategically foster manuscript submitted on current and relevant issues in the field of OSH. Propositions for thematic dossiers to be published by RBSO are continuously open. Proposals will be evaluated by the editorial board and must be sent to rbso@fundacentro.gov.br with the following minimum content:

  • The proposal authors (name, degree, institutional affiliation).
  • The dossier theme and proposed title.
  • Short contextualization and justification for proposing the theme (with citations and references).
  • Contributions expected: manuscript types/ contents/approaches (inform also if there is an intention of including a discussion article).
  • Name and profile of possible collaborators (researchers and others, in case there are any) including the intended geographic coverage (national/international). It is important to note that a public call of papers for the dossier will be opened and all the submitted manuscripts will have to be assessed by the editorial board and peer review according to the journal procedures, including those submitted by invited authors.
  • Suggestion of RBSO Editors and of Invited Editors for the dossier. Attention: RBSO editorial board will necessarily appoint one of its members to join the dossier group of editors. RBSO asserts its right to refuse or suggest names (included or not in its editorial board) to take part in the dossier editorial board.
  • Proposed text for the public call for papers (one page).

Manuscripts submitted to thematic dossiers must be in accordance with definitions of public call as well as RBSO instructions to authors.  Articles considered relevant to the scope of the thematic dossier will be submitted to peer review and other evaluation stages, in the same way as articles submitted to the general flow of the journal, including those submitted by invited authors.

 

 

4 Ethics and integrity

 

The Revista Brazileira de Saúde Ocupacional (RBSO) is committed to complying with and demanding that the journal, its editors, reviewers and authors respect and promote the principles of scientific integrity, ethics and transparency throughout the editorial process and published content. Editors must ensure that there is no discrimination related to the authors or origin of the manuscript and that their decisions are based exclusively on its scientific merit.

RBSO adopts as references of scientific integrity policy the guidelines recommended by: the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing; the Council Of Science Editors,CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications; the SciELO, Guidelines on Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication. RBSO also follows the recommendations for drafting, writing, editions, and publication of academic works in periodical medical journals by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The journal’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is available at: https://www.gov.br/fundacentro/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/rbso/declaracao-sobre-etica-1/publication-ethics-and-publication-malpractice-statement

 

 

4.1 Responsibility of editors, reviewers and authors

 

Editors and reviewers commit themselves to acting with integrity, impartiality, and confidentiality.

For editors: editors commit themselves to adopting and ensuring editorial neutrality and impartiality and that published manuscripts comply with internationally accepted ethical recommendations; and shall adopt procedures to identify and seek to prevent the publication of papers guilty of research misconduct. They also commit themselves to dealing appropriately with formal claims of scientific misconduct made by the editorial board or editors; and to seek constant improvement of the journal and its content, including the publication of corrections and retractions, as well as explanations and apologies, whenever necessary. Editors must declare potential conflicts of interest when invited to evaluate manuscripts, and act to prevent potential conflicts of interest involving authors and reviewers from compromising ethical standards in publication.

For reviewers: only those who are able and available to participate in the peer review process with the greatest possible scientific rigor and within the agreed deadline, and who do not present conflicts of interest that may influence their assessments or recommendations should accept the invitation to review. Reviewers who agree to participate in the peer review process are committed to assessing the work according to best academic and scientific integrity practices and pointing out scientific misconduct, when found. They also commit themselves to maintaining confidentiality of the documents they receive and of the process, during the assessment.

For authors:  when submitting manuscripts, authors commit themselves to respecting the scientific integrity conduct. They must strictly observe the criteria for authorship and inform the individual contributions of each of the authors. They must declare all potential conflicts of interest in relation to the submitted manuscript, as well as inform about its previous publications, work presentation, academic affiliations, and sources of funding. They should cite and correctly reference all articles, data and other documents mentioned in the paper. They must take responsibility for the integrity of the research and content of the manuscript, as well as make corrections or retractions when errors have been identified after publishing manuscripts.

 

 

4.2 Plagiarism policy and scientific misconduct

 

Submitted manuscripts will be checked using similarity detection tools. When similarities are considered inappropriate or inadequately cited, that can be considered plagiarism. The action to be taken by the journal or required from the authors will be defined according to the characteristics of each case.

RBSO and its editors will not tolerate scientific misconduct (plagiarism, citations manipulation, falsification/fabrication of data or any other unethical conduct). Suspected misconduct of any kind in published or submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the editorial board and will be treated in accordance with COPE guidelines. Proven cases of scientific misconduct will be reported to the authors' affiliation institutions and to the research funding agencies.

Correction and retraction of published manuscripts: Whenever fraud, distortions, misleading statements or relevant academic inaccuracies are identified in manuscripts published in RBSO, measures for correction or retraction will be immediately taken by the journal. When necessary or requested, authors must provide corrections or retractions. For retracting or correcting published manuscripts, RBSO follows COPE flowcharts and SciELO guidelines (in Portuguese): Guia para o registro e publicação de retratação and Guia para o registro e publicação de Errata.

 

 

4.3 Conflicts of interests

 

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest concerning the writing or assessment of a submitted manuscript, no matter how unlikely they are. Conflicts may involve financial/commercial, academic, political, or personal interests.

Research support and funding: Authors must reveal all sources of material support and funding, public or private, received by the study presented in the submitted manuscript. Suppliers of equipment or material provided free of charge or at a discount should also be described as funding sources. When the study is carried out without funding, this information should also be declared by the authors.

RBSO meets the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendation: the relationship of the editorial board with the journal's publisher and/or supporting institutions is based on the principle of editorial independence. Editors decide which articles to publish based on merit and scientific quality, regardless of the economic and political realities of these institutions.

 

 

4.4 Authorship criteria

 

RBSO adopts the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors  (ICMJE) recommended authorship criteria.

Each author must simultaneously meet the four authorship criteria: (1) substantial contribution to study conception or design; or in collecting, analyzing or interpreting data; (2) participation in writing manuscript preliminary versions or its critical revision, with important intellectual contribution; (3) approval of the final version to be published; (4) agreement to be responsible for all aspects of the work and to ensure that issues related to accuracy or completeness of any part of the work have been properly investigated and resolved.

All those designated as authors must meet the four authorship criteria, and all those who meet the four criteria must be identified as authors.

Individuals who do not meet the four criteria mentioned may have their collaboration acknowledged as a thank you, but they should authorize the publication of their name in the acknowledgments of the paper (see item on Acknowledgments in “Preparation of manuscripts”).

Individual contribution of each author must be informed in the final version of the manuscript in the item “Authors contribution”.

Artificial intelligence (AI) - assisted technology should not be listed as authors. The use of AI tools to support writing must be informed when submitting the manuscript, in the letter to the editors. When AI tools are used in the development of any stage of the research, detailed information about their use must be included in the methods section.

 

 

4.5 Ethics in human and animal research

 

Publication of articles that bring results of research involving human beings is conditioned to compliance with ethical principles (Declaration pf Helsinki – 1964, in its most recent revision of 2013) and to the compliance with the relevant legislation for this type of research in the country where it was carried out.

For studies carried out in Brazil, information about approval by the Research Ethics Committee, including the name of the institution and date of approval, as well as information about the signature of the Informed Consent Form (ICF), when applicable, will be required.

Research that uses non-open access databases or health records must have formal authorization from the institution of origin of these documents in order to conduct the research and publish the results.

Research based on animal models must comply with the Basel Declaration and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Academy of Sciences, USA).

Information regarding research ethics must be informed in the Methods section of the manuscript, in the subsection called “Ethical Considerations”. When the adopted model of peer review is the double-blind, information on the research ethical procedures adopted, which can identify the authors, must be included with the manuscript complementary documents and inserted in the final versión only after its approval

 

 

4.6 Registration of clinical trials and review studies

 

RBSO endorses both policies for registration of clinical trials of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and recognizes the relevance of these initiatives for international registering and international dissemination of information on clinical trials through open access.

RBSO only publishes articles on clinical trials that have previously obtained an identification number in one of the Clinical Trials Registration Offices certified by WHO or ICMJE standards. Addresses of Registration Offices are available through ICMJE website. Identification of register number must be indicated underneath the abstract and in the methods section.

Every systematic review should have its protocol published or registered in a systematic review registry such as PROSPERO. Recording of the protocol of scope reviews is encouraged.

 

 

5 Research data availability

 

Disclosing research data and other supporting content of the manuscript ensures authorship, use and citation of the data and corresponding paper, besides contributing to the understanding of the research and to its peer review, reproducibility, reuse and preservation.

RBSO encourages authors to post, previously or at the time of submission, the supporting content used in the research on national or international open access repositories recognized by the scientific community. The document Lista de repositórios para depósito de dados de pesquisa [Research data repositories list, in Portuguese only], prepared by SciELO, offers suggestions for repositories in different research areas. Other options can be found in the FAIRsharing and Re3Data directories. RBSO recommends using the SciELO Data repository. Depending on the file formats and content, more than one repository may be required. Programming routines used in statistical analysis software can be posted on directories or submitted in complementary files for publication along with the manuscript.

Authors should cite in the article the data sets and other supporting content posted on repositories and reference the directories used in the list of references. Information about data citation:

Authors should pay attention to the format of the data to be shared in repositories to avoid disrespecting ethical and legal aspects of confidentiality or anonymity agreements signed with the research participants. Data sharing in open access should have preferably been predicted in the research project and, when applicable, approved by the Research Ethics Committee.

Authors must complete the SciELO Open Science Compliance Form, and attach it as a supplementary document when submitting the article. This document will serve as the basis for preparing the Data Availability Statement, to be published in the article.

 

 

6 Peer review

 

The evaluation procedures of submitted manuscripts can be seen in full in item 7, including peer review procedures. Regarding the relationship between this topic and Open Science, RBSO will progressively implement the following peer review procedures, as agreed between the Editor, authors and reviewers:

  • Informing in each published manuscript the name (or names) of the editor responsible for its assessment.
  • Offering the possibility of disclosing or not the reviewers’ and authors’ identities.
  • Offering to reviewers the possibility of publishing their review reports, disclosing or not their identity. Published opinions will be indexed and may be cited.

Also aiming to enhance the peer review process, RBSO is now using the Publons platform, offered through SciELO. The platform allows users to search for peer reviewers based on data from Publons, Web of Science and SciELO and offers the Reviewer Recognition Service, which enables proper recognition of the work of reviewers who participate in the journal’s peer review process.

 

 

7 Diversity, equity and inclusion

 

The RBSO editorial board declares its commitment to promoting the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to its community of authors, reviewers and readers, recognizing its importance in the entire flow of scientific communication for the advancement in knowledge.

Among the actions aimed at promoting the principles of DEI in the RBSO, the journal highlights the consideration of the diversity of sex, gender, race, geographical origin and stage in the career for the composition of the Editorial Board and selection of reviewers; the analysis of indicators; the endorsement of the guidelines on sex and gender equity in research (SAGER); the attention to the correct use of DEI terminology and the use of inclusive language in the published articles; the encouragement of the publication of articles related to DEI similar to the scope of the journal; the confrontation with implicit bias, the commitment of the editorial team to provide an inclusive environment in which all people can have opportunities for development and to continue reflecting on the improvements needed to advance these principles within the journal and the scientific community in the area of Occupational Health and Safety.

 

 

8 Evaluation procedures for submitted manuscripts

 

Manuscripts submitted accordingly to the instructions to authors are checked by the Executive Editorial Board, or appointed editors, as to suitability to the journal scope, originality, ethical aspects and scientific quality. Studies involving statistical methodologies will also be subjected to preliminary evaluation by the statistical staff of the editorial board. Manuscripts that do not meet the evaluation criteria required in this initial step will be rejected. Those that meet the initial requirements will be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief for scientific merit and study contribution. If the manuscript is considered appropriate, the Editor-in-Chief will designate an Associate Editor to coordinate and follow the peer review process. The Associate Editor will nominate at least two ad hoc reviewers for peer review. If the evaluations are contradictory, or considered insufficient to support his recommendation, the Associate Editor may invite one or more additional reviewers to evaluate the manuscript.

Currently, the peer review process adopts a double-blind format, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are not mutually revealed. Exceptions are manuscripts previously published on preprint servers, in which the authors' identity is publicized.

Progressive changes being implemented in the peer review process towards open science are described in item 5.4 of these Instructions to Authors.

An evaluation form is made available to reviewers to be filled out online through the workflow-management system. The journal recommends that editors and reviewers follow the guidelines proposed by COPE – Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

The Associate Editor will make his recommendation on the manuscript based on the reports issued by the reviewers and on his own evaluation, indicating refusal, acceptance or need for adjustments and corrections. The Editor-in-Chief will decide whether to refuse or accept the paper or whether the authors will need to comply with the Associated Editor and the reviewer’s recommendations, for further evaluation and final decision.

A manuscript rejection can happen at any time, at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, when a justification will be issued to the author.

Authors may appeal against editorial decisions by sending a message to RBSO executive secretary informing and justifying their disagreement. The message will go to the Executive Editorial Board for analysis and forwarding as deemed necessary. Answers to questions and, when applicable, information on measures defined by the editors will be sent to the authors.

 

 

9 Preparing the manuscript

9.1 Languages

 

Manuscripts in Portuguese, Spanish and English are accepted. Authors are responsible for checking the grammatical correctness. The grammatical quality and the objectivity, clarity and precision of scientific writing will be considered in the manuscript assessment.

Submission of manuscripts in English is encouraged. The writing quality will be an eliminatory criterion for manuscript evaluation. RBSO encourages the presentation of a certificate issued by a professional or companies specialized in English scientific writing and will consider it as an evaluative criterion, but not as determining the manuscript acceptance.

 

 

9.2 Bilingual publication

 

An original English-language manuscript accepted for publication will be published in bilingual format, in English and Portuguese. The Portuguese version will be prepared based on the final text to be published in English, that is, after the RBSO post-approval editing revisions have been made. It may be prepared by the authors or by RBSO, and, in that case, it will be submitted for approval by the authors.

Manuscripts accepted for publication with originals in Portuguese or Spanish may be published in bilingual format, with an English version, at the discretion of the editor. Importantly, the decision on publishing the English version is highly dependent on the quality of the text in the original language. For this reason, the original text in Portuguese or Spanish needs to be correctly and objectively written. The English version of the manuscripts indicated for bilingual publication by the editor will be prepared based on the final text to be published in the original language, Portuguese or Spanish, that is, after the publication of post-approval editorial revisions made by the journal. RBSO will send to the authors the final text in Portuguese or Spanish that will serve as the basis for the English version to be presented by them. The version presented by the authors must be certified by a company or professional specialized in scientific writing in English. However, the presentation of the translation certificate is not decisive for its acceptance. The version presented will be evaluated by the editorial board, which reserves the right not to publish it if the quality is considered inappropriate for publication in RBSO.

All language versions of the same manuscript will be published simultaneously.

 

 

9.3 Writing and formatting

 

Aiming at improving the manuscripts assessment and editorial process, we request the authors to check carefully the following important topics before submitting their manuscripts:

  • Check if the manuscript has the size stipulated for its modality type.
  • The manuscript must be formatted in font 12 with 2.0 spacing between lines.
  • Review the whole text giving special attention to:
    • the use of correct language and consistent verbal tenses in the whole text;
    • the writing must be straightforward, avoiding repetitive or long sentences;
    • titles of tables, charts and figures must allow the reader to identify their aims as well as their time and geographic delimitation;
    • methods must be clearly described broaching the population and the sample, statistic methods (when applied), research instruments and tools, collecting procedures and data analysis; each one with its respective references;
    • references must be suitable, updated and appropriate to the study and correctly cited;
    • Sex and gender equity: the term “sex” refers to biological and physiological characteristics that distinguish male from female organism. On the other hand, “gender” refers to the roles, behaviors, identities and power relations that are socially constructed and assigned to women, men, and gender-diverse people. Both sex and gender should be appropriately considered in the design and conduct of studies, as well as in the publication of their results. For more information, please refer to the SAGER guidelines and their checklist.

The text must include:

a) Title in Portuguese or Spanish and in English. It must be pertinent, complete, and abridged. To be detected with greater effectiveness and relevance by online search engines, it is recommended that the title contain a descriptor directly related to the content and be as short as possible. (up to 30 words).

b) Abstract: manuscripts must have the abstract in two languages. One of them will always be in English. The other one will be in Portuguese or Spanish, according to the manuscript original language. The English version, preferably, prepared by a native translator or company specialized in translating scientific articles. Abstracts must have a maximum of 200 words for each language and their content must be compatible with each other. Research article, review article, Report on experience, case report and Short communication must present a structured abstract: Introduction (optional), Objectives, Methods, Results, Discussion and / or Conclusion). In the other manuscript types, the abstract should preferably be presented in a structured form. The abstract should summarize the main point of each corresponding item in the manuscript; conclusions should be limited to the object of the study. Discussion, Book review, Letter and Response do not need an abstract.

c) Keywords/descriptors: they should be selected from the structured vocabulary ofDescritores em Ciências da Saúde (Health Science Descriptors) – DeCS - available at the Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde (Health Virtual Library) and/or at Medical Subject Headings - MeSH from National Library of Medicine (NLM). Presented in each language and compatible with each other. Exceptions must be evaluated by the Editors Board of RBSO. Occupational Health/Saúde do Trabalhador/Salud Laboral should be included as one of the descriptors. The text structure must follow the conventional format of scientific article writing.

d) Citations and references: RBSO adopts the Vancouver style, according to the National Library of Medicine (National Institutes of Health). In references, the DOI of the cited document must be added, whenever applicable. The maximum number of references per manuscript is 40 (forty). Review Articles may exceed this limit. Citations shall be numbered consecutively with Arabic number (superscript) in accordance with the order they appear in the text. References shall be listed in the same numerical order. Authors are fully responsible for the references and citations accuracy. RBSO can refuse a manuscript due to inadequate or inaccurate citations and references.

e) Tables, charts and figures: the total number of tables, charts and figures is restricted to 5 (five). They must be presented one by one, on separate sheets at the end of the text or in separate files. They must be paginated sequentially in Arabic numbers in the same order as they are mentioned in the text. To each one should be given a synthetic title contextualizing the presented data. Figures should not repeat data presented in the tables. No vertical lines should be used in the tables. The minimum internal spacing between the rows of a table must be 1.15. Each table should not exceed 1 page. Larger or supplementary tables, if necessary, may be submitted as extra documents. These parameters do not apply to Review Articles. Each Table, Chart or Figure must be mentioned in the text. Sources, notes, observations, abbreviations and acronyms concerning the tables, charts and figures contents must be presented under their main body. Figures (diagrams, photos. charts etc.) should also be presented individually in separate files. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the figures will be required in a high-quality electronic file format. Photos and illustrations must have a high-resolution image, over 300 dpi, and must be in jpg or tiff or eps files. Photos and illustrations will only be published if their quality is considered satisfactory.

f) Acknowledgment: it is optional to include an acknowledgment item. It refers to those who collaborated intellectually to the study, either by providing scientific assistant, or by producing a critical review of the manuscript, or even by collecting data, but who did not meet the authorship criteria, and as long as the nominated persons agree in having the name published in this condition. The nominated persons' permission should be forwarded to the journal by the authors.  Institutions which offered financial, material, or any other support may also be included. Acknowledgment information should not be included in the main manuscript document upon submission; it must be submitted in a separate document, which should be classified on the ScholarOne platform as “supplement file not for review”.

g) Whenever relevant, the Data Availability Statement must be inserted, to be prepared based on the content informed in the Form on Compliance with Open Science, made available by SciELO.

 

 

9.4 After-approval reviews

  Approved manuscripts will be subjected to the revisions required for publication. RBSO safeguards its rights to make grammatical corrections and adjustments in order to improve the format and content of the manuscript. Authors will have the opportunity to check and approve the reviews before the manuscript is published. After this review process, the electronic files needed for the on-line publication will be produced.  

 

10 Manuscript submission

 

Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript in more than one journal is not allowed as well as to submit to another journal at the same time the evaluation process is in progress in a journal. Neither is it allowed to publish the same results of a research, in whole or in part, in more than one journal. It is also not allowed to publish the translation of manuscripts already published.

Manuscripts must be electronically submitted by using ScholarOne Manuscripts.

It is important that authors pay attention on the complete filling out of all items requested in the system at the time of submission. Incomplete information may delay the editorial process of manuscript.

In addition to the full text file, which should not contain any identification of the authors, additional files should be submitted as complementary files:

a) Cover sheet

It should contain:

  • Title in the original language of the manuscript and in English.
  • Full names, ORCID number, and Institutional affiliation of all authors.
  • Corresponding author identification and institutional e-mail address.
  • Information on academic work, when relevant.
  • Information on research funding.
  • Information on potential conflicts of interest. See item 4.3.

b) The SciELO Open Science Compliance Form, duly filled.

The platform has an English HELP Page for authors.

Further explanations can be obtained by e-mail: rbso@fundacentro.gov.br

 

 

11 Contact with RBSO

  Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional (RBSO)
Gestão Editorial da RBSO - a/c: Júlio César Lopardo Alves
Rua Capote Valente, 710 - CEP: 05409-002
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
E-mail: rbso@fundacentro.gov.br
Twitter: @RBSOinforma
Fundação Jorge Duprat Figueiredo, de Segurança e Medicina do Trabalho (Fundacentro) :  Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional
SciELO: Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional 		 

 

Fundação Jorge Duprat Figueiredo de Segurança e Medicina do Trabalho - FUNDACENTRO Rua Capote Valente, 710 , 05409 002 São Paulo/SP Brasil, Tel: (55 11) 3066-6076 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rbso@fundacentro.gov.br
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