EDITORIAL
Scientific work - a reflection
The scientific work consists on a long path that includes a considerable number of people involved in the development and dissemination of their findings. In general, little is pondered about this and it seems that the final product has been accomplished by only a few people; in this case, the authors.
The publication of scientific findings, respecting the necessary requirements that such disclosure requires, always brings great benefits to the scientific community and for those who embrace research results so that new studies, diagnoses and treatments, can be more specific and efficient.
Behind the publication of a scientific article, there are more steps than one might think. It is interesting to do a brief reflection, trying to resume this process and to mention the people involved in it, since the beginning of this process until the publication of the article, and beyond, which is expected to happen after that.
Considering that most of these studies are associated to an institution of higher education, we would point out that this process begins with the interests of one or more professionals in studying a particular topic or in investing in education.
So, in addition to the author (s), we have to consider: the professionals who analyze the admission of a candidate, for example, in post-graduate degrees; the teachers of the disciplines that will be performed in this process; the supervisor who directs the research from the drafting of the project for it to be feasible; the directors or the ones who are responsible for the institutions where the data collection will be conducted; the research ethics committee members that analyze the project; the research funding agencies and their reviewers; the subjects that make part of the research group and those in the control group (which are not easy to find); the statistician or statistical consultants; the librarians who help with the literature research, correct descriptors and catalog the study; and members of the board that will exam the scientific work in their different phases. Once again, the supervisor directs the closure of the scientific paper indicating the Journal of interest.
As this process is completed, a second phase, sometimes equally complex, begins: the submission, progress, adjustments and acceptance by the journal. At this stage a lot more people are involved, but the names and the work they do pass almost unnoticed due to the process that is imposed by the evaluation system. The article is received by reviewers, who check if the theme and format of the manuscript are compatible with the rules of the journal, and conduct the first review- the editorial review.
As the manuscript is according to the submission rules, it is sending to the referees, who are knowledgeable professionals with experience in various areas covered by the journal, who dedicate part of their time to review the work from the perspective of its scientific content, issuing opinions that lead to adjustments and improvements when the publication is viable. If the suggestions and/or the requests done by the referees are contemplated, the articles accepted for publication will be organized in a certain order avoiding the endogeny, respecting all researchers of all institutions who submit their work and considering the distribution of articles by topics and types of articles. The papers then follow to translators who perform the review, and, if necessary, correct them. After that the diagrammed format the article and the editorial reviewers check the cover, the compendium, the editorials, and draft the final order of the journal, they send the databases in which the journal is included, as Scielo, submit to online insertion and printing.
It is worth mentioning the work of "backstage" of the journal. This is a continuous and exhaustive work which includes: internal meetings, presence at events and courses designed to the publishers with the objective of improving the quality of journals as vehicles for dissemination of the scientific literature. At these events it is also discussed the criteria for classification of journals and how to achieve higher classification. The editors are also engaged in the search of indexing in national and international databases, preparing the journal to be evaluated and making adjustments in order to contemplate the difficult steps of this process. They also look for financial support for maintenance of the journals that have high financial cost, often subsidized by private funds or linked to any educational institution. Moreover many times it is necessary direct contact with authors and reviewers who are not always satisfied, respectively, with the result of analysis and with the final corrections of the manuscripts.
This process of quality maintenance of a journal is continuous, requiring the dedication of its editors, as the classification of these journals (Qualis) is done by being evaluated through annual update. These journals are classified in different indicative stages of quality: A1 the highest level, followed by A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and C. This scientific journal classification is used by the post graduate programs for the dissemination of its production and subsequent score
Besides all those people that participate in the large process that enables the execution and dissemination of scientific works, perhaps the most important participants are the readers that search the journal looking for the due date information with scientific rigor. It is the readers' interest that feeds all the process in a Scientific Journal and they are expected to apply those concepts, procedures and achievements that are reached in the difficult path of scientific research. They should apply it both in their clinical practice and the new doubts and inquiries that will generate ideas for other scientific works.
And so knowledge goes on.
It was for you reader, that the CEFAC Journal has released in 2010 its biggest number of scientific works in one year, since its creation. There were published, this year, six issues, bimonthly, with 20 scientific articles in each journal, besides the editorials, coming to the amount of 120 published works only in 2010. We thank to the authors and institutions that sent their works. There was also published an electronic media related to the 39th IAOM Convention and 1st Congress of Orofacial Motricity in Latin America. There were almost two hundred abstracts of researches presented on the Congress, besides the history of the Orofacial Motricity in Brazil. I can only comment that it was very interesting to see the international repercussions of this event regarding the level of excellence of the Brazilian Speech Language Therapy (SLP) in this field. This fact makes us proud of taking part in this struggle that today projects Brazil internationally.
The CEFAC journal keeps receiving scientific manuscripts from all states in Brazil and from various countries. We are consulted by many Latin America, USA and Europe professionals. Seeking the necessary insertion in the world stage, we would like to publish the articles in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Therefore, we will start to request that the authors, that have interest and availability, to send their manuscripts in two languages - Portuguese/Spanish, Portuguese/English or Spanish/English. Thus we will extend our coverage, circulation and global recognition.
A happy 2011... healthier, with more provision, more success and more fights, because they strengthen us, whether we lose or win. The challenges are the best part of our "doing".
Our gratitude to everyone who made, make or will make part of this wide and exciting process of elaboration and dissemination of the scientific work.
Esther Mandelbaum Gonçalves Bianchini
Scientific Editor
Revista CEFAC - Atualização Científica em Saúde e Educação
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
27 Jan 2011 -
Date of issue
Dec 2010
