New paths and bioethics

Technological advances in health are diversifying and opening space for research and studies that aim at a future of hope, with new discoveries and scientific perspectives. This year brought new paths and a time of great challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic ¹ .

With its recent publications, Revista Bioética continues to update and expand knowledge on various relevant topics to ethics, life and the humanities in their universal breadth, in a bioethical vision inserted in different ethical and moral implications.

The works that we publish in this issue present relevant themes, such as the teaching of bioethics, and bring reflections on the changes that have occurred in this context in the face of a health crisis, evaluating participation, collective production and purposes involving remote activities. Within the scope of actions and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, one article deals with guidance and access to mechanical ventilators, involving the bioethical bases in triage systems and intensive care units.

Regarding the importance of teaching bioethics, one study shows the strengthening of the inclusion of the discipline of bioethics in the dentist’s training matrix, and another deals with the issue of professional secrecy, confidentiality and ethics in the training of medical students.

Palliative care was approached from several perspectives, such as: knowledge of patients with cancer on this topic, challenges of palliative sedation to control suffering, perception of health professionals, representation of this care for humanity, educational strategies involving health professionals, and neonatology and decisions involving palliative care.

In addition, this issue also brings studies on spirituality, religiosity, quality of life, advance directives in the view of patients with cancer, compassion fatigue, strategies for coping with terminality, self-care, and death. We also highlight an article that deals with shared decision-making in situations of health vulnerability, a topic that raises many ethical and bioethical questions.

With this brief disclosure of such challenging topics, we hope that this issue will present bioethics as a path of reflection and encouragement in the face of sensitive topics related to the health and dignity of human beings.

In the pursuit of scientific values, we must rely on the principles of the humanities, with the appropriate and rational use of health technologies. As an example, we can mention artificial intelligence, which can be used, in accordance with ethics and bioethical principles, in decisions and dilemmas, guiding both the present and the hope for the future.

Recently, the editorial team of Revista Bioéti ca participated in the main event held in Brazil for scientific editors and professionals involved in the academic publication process, the ABEC Meeting. The meeting was a unique opportunity to discuss trends, share knowledge and establish strategic partnerships in the field of national and international scientific publishing ² .

Among the topics discussed were challenges and opportunities implied in the use of artificial intelligence in scientific publishing, financial sustainability of scientific journals in Latin America and the Caribbean, and relevance, criteria, and difficulties of indexing journals ² . New trends in scientific publications emerge daily and 2023 was a year of changes, evolution, growth, and renewal in which we sought to improve and adapt to them ³ .

One of the most important trends is the adoption of open science, a global movement defended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which defines it as an inclusive construct that combines various movements and practices aiming to make multilingual scientific knowledge openly available, accessible and reusable for everyone, to increase scientific collaborations and sharing of information for the benefits of science and society, and to open the processes of scientific knowledge creation, evaluation and communication to societal actors beyond the traditional scientific community. It includes all scientific disciplines and aspects of scholarly practices, including basic and applied sciences, natural and social sciences and the humanities, and it builds on the following key pillars: open scientific knowledge, open science infrastructures, science communication, open engagement of societal actors and open dialogue with other knowledge systems ⁴ .

Open science is a new reality, which gradually adds transparency to the process of scientific publication and content sharing. The joint work of all the bodies involved in this process makes the research more efficient, reliable and creative.

Other aspects that deserve to be highlighted regarding open science are the publication of preprints, defined as manuscripts ready for submission to a journal and deposited on reliable servers, before or in parallel with submission to a journal ⁵ , as well as open peer review, in search of the rigor, quality, objectivity, and reliability of the results that will be published ⁶ .

There are many challenges, especially regarding open science, and this subject has divided opinions in the academic and scientific world. The discussions and analyses of its impact on publications must be developed, especially in the area of health and, taking into account that evolution is part of the process of those who aim to achieve success ⁷ !

May you have a great reading and may we be united by bioethics in the new paths to the future!

Referências

• ¹
  De Negri F, Zucoloto G, Miranda P, Koeller P. Ciência e tecnologia frente à pandemia. Centro de Pesquisa em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade [Internet]. 2020 [acesso 1º dez 2023]. Disponível: https://bit.ly/419WLdz
  » https://bit.ly/419WLdz
• ²
  Associação Brasileira de Editores Científicos. ABEC Meeting 2023. ABEC [Internet]. 2023 [acesso 1º dez 2023]. Disponível: https://bit.ly/486lbXx
  » https://bit.ly/486lbXx
• ³
  Dudziak E. Tendências mundiais em comunicação científica, acesso e pesquisa aberta. Open Access USP [Internet]. 2022 [acesso 1º dez 2023]. Disponível: https://bit.ly/4a4dzqB
  » https://bit.ly/4a4dzqB
• ⁴
  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Draft recommendation on Open Science on its way to final adoption. Unesco [Internet]. 2021 [acesso 1º de dez 2023]. Tradução livre. Disponível: https://bit.ly/3uVx18x
  » https://bit.ly/3uVx18x
• ⁵
  Scientific Electronic Library Online. Critérios SciELO Brasil: critérios, políticas e procedimentos para a admissão e a permanência de periódicos científicos na Coleção SciELO Brasil. SciELO [Internet]. 2022 [acesso 1º dez 2023]. p. 8. Disponível: https://bit.ly/43rJFrV
  » https://bit.ly/43rJFrV
• ⁶
  Varella FF. Anonimato e transparência: qual o futuro da avaliação cega por pares? Esboços: Histórias em Contextos Globais [Internet]. 2020 [acesso 1º dez 2023];27(44):5-9. DOI: 10.5007/2175-7976.2020.e70909
  » https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7976.2020.e70909
• ⁷
  Wanderley N . A evolução faz parte do processo de quem almeja alcançar o sucesso. Pensador [Internet]. Disponível: https://www.pensador.com/frase/MjQ4NTkxMQ/
  » https://www.pensador.com/frase/MjQ4NTkxMQ/

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Mar 2024
• Date of issue
  2023