Ciência & Saúde Coletiva entra em seu 24º ano de existência

Abstract

The scope of this editorial is to render account to the readers, collaborators and all of those responsible for Ciência & Saúde Coletiva (executive editors, associate editors, the editorial board and the editorial policy board) regarding the Journal's performance in 2018. With all editions distributed on schedule and one of which featured 50 articles, the delivery routine was duly accomplished, and the objectives and targets established for the year were met. There are two ways to present the results of the work: the most important way is to stress the relevance of the topics covered by the Journal, which publishes 30 articles in each monthly edition. There are two editions highlighted here that are notable for their historical significance: 23.61 which dealt with the 30 years of the Unified Health System (SUS). It featured 40 articles, all translated into English, which brought together people who have followed the trajectory of the implementation of the SUS with young researchers who have been studying this remarkable achievement. All articles take a constructive and critical look at the implementation process of the SUS. The second is 23.72, which has 23 of its 30 articles translated into English and serves as a counterpoint to the previous edition. It presents a comparative study of the SUS with several other public health systems in the world, bringing together scholars from Brazil and various other countries. The two editions complement each other and constitute invaluable and indispensable material for the training of professionals and for consultation by researchers. The second way to evaluate the Journal is to examine its performance indicators. A total of 3,516 originals were received through the Journal's website in 2018. Of these, 439 were approved (12.5%). There were 383 articles published in the year, 278 of which were translated into English (72.25%). If one counts the texts published in Spanish, 78.32% of the works in a foreign language were included. However, 1631 (monthly average of 149), namely 92% of the authors who published in Ciência & Saúde Coletiva in 2018 are Brazilian. Only 8% (149 authors) come from other countries. This is one of the issues that the Journal fully intends to address in its internationalization process. In the international rankings that measure the impact factor, Ciência & Saúde Coletiva has a rating of 0.9397 in SciELO; In Scimago, it is listed in the 2nd quartile, together with Cadernos de Saúde Pública and Revista de Saúde Pública (SJR 0.57). However, it is in first place in the ranking of Google Scholar mentions, in relation to the journals of all areas in Brazil, with an H5 46 index and an H5 58 median. These indicators are important because they show what it was possible to achieve and what still needs to be improved (a lot!). Given the immense demand, the journal reveals another problematic aspect, namely the backlog of papers accepted for publication. Attempts are being made to overcome this issue with a phenomenal effort to publish 30 articles every month and ...