EDITORIAL
Previous efforts and new challenges of the Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy
The Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy (BJPT) has been undergoing changes that are part of a strategy towards its internationalization. Every changing process implies a period of adaptation, requiring the cooperation of all involved individuals. Just like in physics and biology, phase transitions are marked by instability, followed by periods when a new order is achieved. This new order is now our goal: to upgrade the BJPT to a new standard of quality, thus promoting greater visibility for the published articles. In order to provide the physical therapy community a better understanding of the changes that we intend to carry out, we are going to describe with this editorial, what has been done so far and indicate the efforts and challenges that are still to come.
The year 2007 was marked by efforts to obtain an indexation for the BJPT on an international basis. Initially, this proposal was submitted to Thomson Scientific, who are responsible for the Science Citation Index. In response to our inquiry, we were informed, at the end of 2007, that from late March 2008 onwards the BJPT would be included in the Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). Also in response to our inquiry, Elsevier Bibliographic Databases selected the BJPT to be included in the Scopus and EMCare bases, starting in 2008.
Besides its inclusion in two of the major international indexing databases, the BJPT was invited to join the Periódica base in Mexico, which has a great outreach in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Thus, from 2008 onwards, the articles published in our Journal will be available to researchers from various parts of the world, which will broaden the visibility of the Brazilian scientific production in physical therapy. These accomplishments were the result of several individuals efforts, including those who submitted their research articles, but we would like to highlight the contributions of Prof. Helenice Jane Cote Gil Coury, who acted as the BJPT editor alongside the present editors throughout this period.
Unfortunately, 2007 was not only marked by successes. Our inquiry to include the BJPT on the Medline/PubMed did not obtain the expected 3.75 mark on a 1-5 scale to be included on the Medline base. The BJPT got an overall score of 3.5. Looking into the reasons why it did not attain the minimum assessment level, we detected the need to make changes in several aspects, along with in the quality of the publications. In order to do that, we hired the services of a company specialized in the publication of periodicals, and profound formatting changes were implemented at the end of 2007; to top it off, the layout was revamped, and there were alterations in the graphic material and in the quality of printing.
A second aspect taken into account in the evaluation for inclusion of the BJPT in the Medline base was the quality of its Editorial Board. In response to this problem, the Editorial Board gathered in São Paulo in October 2007 and after a lengthy discussion approved a total reformulation of its administrative structure. It was decided that a) the components of the National and International Editorial Boards must contribute in a meaningful way to the BJPT by submitting articles, providing reports, and by inviting various authors in physical therapy both from Brazil and abroad and by regularly publishing articles in periodicals indexed by the ISI in recent years. Thus, there were changes in the International Editorial Board, and a reduction of the National Editorial Board, which was then merged with the Council. It is important to highlight that the composition of the Editorial Board is a dynamic process, and that all the researchers who were excluded from it may be invited to contribute again, as long as they fulfill the established criteria.
During the aforementioned meeting, a Section Editor group was also created. These will work alongside with the publishers, evaluating the contribution of the articles submitted in their specific areas. The functions of these editors will be: a) to provide a preliminary report specifying: the originality, relevance, scope and quality and, in the case of a rejection, to justify it; b) to suggest/point out to the Editors researchers that could act as peer-reviewers for the manuscripts; c) to contribute to broaden the board of peer-reviewers of the BJPT, by indicating researchers from their specific, knowledge areas; d) to be committed and to be available for six hours per week of work, with readiness, efficiency and be quick at solving issues concerning the BJPT; finally, to be present at the deliberative meetings, whenever necessary.
The changes did not only cover issues such as the graphic quality or the Editorial Board. Keeping in mind the goals internationalization, and of increasing the visibility of the articles published, the BJPT decided to translate all the Portuguese articles into English and make them available online. Thus, all the articles published in the BJPT and searched for by researchers anywhere in the world, will be available in their full texts format. Thus, the dissemination of the Brazilian scientific production in physical therapy will not be limited by language barriers. In order to guarantee the quality of the English version of the BJPT, Professor John H. Salmela was invited to take over the post of English Copy Editor. Professor Salmela is a full professor in sport psychology from the University of Ottawa and former Editor of the International Journal of Sport Psychology. This new version in English represents a great deal of effort, both in terms of time and financial resources, but this step seems to us to be fundamental to ensure that the articles published are cited internationally, which will improve the Journals scientific impact, and which will, in turn, allow us to have greater recognition by the international scientific community.
All of these changes were made with the intention of displaying the physical therapy-related science produced in Brazil to the greater scientific community. However, there are already new challenges ahead. Our main challenge will be to increase the number of BJPT citations, to make it a greater impact journal. Thus, it is fundamental, when suitable, that the research published by Brazilian physical therapy researchers are quoted in the articles submitted to other international journals. This is what is expected from us on the part of the Brazilian scientific community. On our part, the guarantee of an open access journal in two languages is our contribution to spread our national production. It is our intention that undergraduate and graduate students, as well as national and international researchers will embrace the BJPT as a trustworthy, regular, and comprehensive source of information in all physical therapy related areas of interest.
Sérgio Teixeira da Fonseca
Tania de Fátima Salvini
Editores da Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
10 June 2008 -
Date of issue
Apr 2008
