EDITORIAL
Brazilian Annals of Dermatology
QUALIS is a national periodical list which has been elaborated by CAPES (Coordination for Improvement of Higher-Level Manpower), an agency within Brazil's Ministry of Education. It has become an important reference to assist authors in deciding whether to submit articles to this or other journals. In fact, QUALIS is a system aimed at classifying the publishing vehicles that divulge Brazil's intellectual and scientific production in diverse areas beyond the field of health sciences per se. It was implemented in 1998 and has been used by CAPES as one of its main indicators for assessing fully accredited graduate studies programs in Brazil. It is subdivided into international and national sections. The Journal Citation Reports (JCR) have been adopted as a basis for classifying internationally circulating periodicals according to their impact. Accordingly, periodicals with an impact factor greater or equal to the average in the area are classified as QUALIS International (IntA), while those with a lower than average impact factor are labeled QUALIS International B (IntB). For example, the Archives of Dermatology are classified as IntA, and the International Journal of Dermatology as IntB. Finally, periodicals classified as QUALIS International C (IntC) are those with an undetected impact factor, but listed nonetheless in databases such as Medline and the Tropical Diseases Bulletin, among others. The Journal of the Sao Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine belongs to this latter group. In turn, QUALIS National category A (NatA) features periodicals indexed in SciELO, whereas QUALIS National B (NatB) includes periodicals indexed in Lilacs, Embase, Excerpta Médica, whether they are national or not, or those edited by Brazilian scientific societies that are representative of the area. National QUALIS C (NatC) assembles periodicals that do not fulfill the above requirements. Periodicals are categorized in the system according to the following value scale: QUALIS IntA > IntB > IntC > NatA > NatB > Nat C.
Ever since being indexed in SciELO in 2003, the Brazilian Annals of Dermatology have satisfied the criteria for inclusion in QUALIS level NatA. Meanwhile, the review was classified by CAPES as IntC after being catalogued in the Tropical Diseases Bulletin (www.cabi-publishing.org). This is a highly promising and motivating achievement because the Annals have indeed sparked a power of attraction in Brazil akin to the traditional periodicals operating within the vast scope and field of Dermatology. We must do our utmost to preserve this breakthrough. With steady improvement of Brazil's intellectual and scientific production in Dermatology, we shall also manage to expand it.
In a bid to heighten the coherence of the aforementioned proposal, the Annals now rely on the advice of specialists in Scientific and Statistical Methodology. This is by no means an ordinary initiative even amongst the major and traditional periodicals, as recently reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (J Am Acad Dermatol 2004; 51: 234-240). As illustrated in the flow chart presented in the previous issue of the Annals, submitted articles featuring quantitative analyses will now be subject to a methodological and statistical evaluation even prior to being assessed by the Editors.
These new standards are anything but obstacles to being published. What the Annals seek foremost is to motivate and stimulate authors to raise the bar ever higher in articles dealing with clinical investigation, case reports and other topics. We seek to incentivize authors to consider the Annals one of their premier options for publishing. We should like to join you in making this a most accomplished joint undertaking.
Bernardo Gontijo
Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology
Sílvio Alencar Marques
Associated Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology
Everton Siviero do Vale
Associated Medical Coordinator of Brazilian Annals of Dermatology
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
26 May 2008 -
Date of issue
Oct 2004
