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Abstract

In January 2010, the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology received a new Editor-in-Chief appointed by a competitive civil-service examination for a four-year office. For the purposes of reaching the position of chief scientific forum in cardiology in Latin America and reinforcing our international position, several proposals were discussed and implemented in the first two years of the new administration. The main goals included improving the process of editorial review and quality of publications, as well as shortening the lead time between submission and publication of manuscripts, which attracted more and more papers from Postgraduate Programs in the field of Cardiology in Brazil and greater number of manuscripts from foreign research centers. In addition to improving the dissemination of quality scientific research, another goal was sparking off scientific debate on cardiovascular diseases by encouraging the publication of Editorials and Points of Views prepared by renowned Brazilian and foreign experts, and publishing Letters to the Editor.From the substantial increase of Brazilian scientific production in cardiology in recent years, especially resulting from the intense activity of Postgraduate programs in Brazil, each month we have an increasing number of submissions. A number of manuscripts come from research centers in foreign countries, mainly from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.To meet this demand, the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology now has the collaboration of ten Associate Editors, and the body of reviewers who cooperate with the periodical has also expanded. Our process of editorial review is now upgraded with electronic systems for the submission and follow-up of manuscripts. The improvement of editorial review procedures also included the redesign and standardization of recommendations during the review process, with emphasis on the originality and relevance of the topics discussed, as well as on the validity and reliability of the findings presented and on the level of importance of information for the progress of science. These actions had a positive impact on the quality of the selected manuscripts and reduced the period of evaluation of manuscripts submitted for publication. Now, the first opinion of reviewers is sent within an average period of one month. Besides this, the final opinion for the manuscripts accepted for publication has been issued within an average period of 120 days.By streamlining the process of final review and editing after approval of manuscripts, we could also decrease the time to publish the manuscripts. Currently, with an average time of ten months between the initial submission and the effective publication of manuscripts, and less than nine months until the English version is posted to PubMed, the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology can ensure the quick inclusion of the researchers' papers in the international literature.With more than 1,100 manuscripts peer-reviewed for publication between 2010 and 2011 by the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology, the journal's acceptance ...