EDITORIAL
In this issue, we disclose RAE numbers of 2013 on an editorial information section (and on our website). Some of these numbers deserve being highlighted, so that we understand the evolution of the last 12 months, when we received 630 papers, an increase of 8% as compared to 2012. We have noticed a significant drop in rejections due to format: 398 papers were directly forwarded to desk review, thus reducing the historic average of 50% of this kind of rejection to 37%. We hope that this number will keep on falling, demonstrating our authors maturity by previously reading our editorial guidelines.
From the papers assessed in desk review, 23% came from authors affiliated to 73 international institutions. The international papers analyzed in this stage (92) were mainly from Spain, Portugal and Latin-American Countries. Among them, 23 were produced in partnership of authors from different countries (12 with Brazilian authors'). The increase in international papers submissions already affects RAE publications profile, which, in 2014, will probably include many more foreign authors on our pages.
Despite the 40% increase in papers volume selected by desk review (from 285 in 2012 to 394 in 2013), we have kept percent rates close to those observed in the last two years, with 34% rejections and 46% forwarded to scientific editors, and the remaining 21% requiring changes before re-submission. Since the total volume has increased in absolute numbers, we have been rejecting more and forwarding 50% more papers to our scientific publishers. Considering that the final number of papers published will not increase at the same ratio, it is likely that our criteria along the assessment process need to be more rigorous.
It is interesting to evaluate the impact of papers submitted by foreigners on our editorial process. If we consider only foreign papers, the level of rejection in desk review falls to 20%, indicating that these authors are submitting, to our appraisal, material with higher quality than exclusively Brazilian articles. When we observe only international partnerships, the rejection level is even lower (17%), which confirms the thesis that these partnerships contribute to larger researches. These numbers present two warnings to our academic community. The first is that RAE internationalization will probably increase the requirement levels for Brazilian authors. The second is that the search for international partnerships represents an interesting alternative for the evolution of our work quality.
In this issue we are publishing the international forum about Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America, with the following articles: "Perspectivas sobre la situación y proyección de la responsabilidad social empresarial en América Latina", by Mário Aquino Alves, Ezequiel Reficco and Juan Arroyo; "Corporate social responsibility practices at Brazilian firms", by Isabel Galego-Álvarez, Henrique Formigoni and Maria Thereza Pompa Antunes; "Credibilidad en Latinoamérica del informe de responsabilidad social corporativa", by Laura Sierra-García, María A. García-Benau and Ana Zorio; "Valoración de la RSC por el consumidor y medición de su efecto sobre las compras", by Ana Dopico Parada, Rocío Rodríguez Daponte and Encarnación González Vázquez; "A new approach for measuring corporate reputation", by Percy Marquina Feldman, Rolando Arellano Bahamonde and Isabelle Velasquez Bellido; and "Agregando valores a las cadenas de valor", by Gregory J. Scott. To complete this issue we have an essay "Meritocracia e sociedade brasileira", by Lívia Barbosa, and a review about the book Eco-business: a big-brand takeover of sustainability, by Professor Marcus Vinícius Peinado Gomes.
Wish you all an excellent 2014 and a pleasant reading!
EDUARDO DINIZ
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
14 Feb 2014 -
Date of issue
Feb 2014
