This work aims to discuss the evolution of scientific formal communication since Internet emergence, to place the Brazilian Journal of Agricultural Research - PAB - into this international context, and to analyze the impact of introducing this periodical into the electronic media. The number of citations received by the PAB from 1997 to 2006 was evaluated, through data obtained from SciELO electronic library. From 2001 to 2006, the number of accesses to PAB’s homepage increased four times, whilst the direct accesses to PAB’s articles augmented 50 times and the number of citations received duplicated, and reached the number of 934 in the last year. Additionally, the number of manuscripts received by the journal, for evaluation, increased. Taken together, these data demonstrate a progress through the legitimation of the electronic journal for information dissemination, by scientific community.
Scientific communication; Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira; Scientific periodical; Electronic publishing; Open access; Reading Factor
