Why publish?

Abstract

-(Why publish?). This paper forwards an opinion about authors' and journals' motivations for scientific writing. Personal and institutional motivations are listed and discussed and, in regard to biodiversity sciences, I propose that a nationalistic motivation is also pertinent in a biodiversity-rich country such as Brazil. Curiosity and competitiveness should be combined for better results. Finally I discuss ground-breaking science within a post-modern perspective, and how the mere act of scientific writing might trigger both scientific and social revolutions.Key words -citation frequency, impact factor, science in Brazil, scientific journals, scientific writing RESUMO -(Por que publicar?). Este artigo opina acerca das motivações de autores e periódicos para publicar. Motivações pessoais e institucionais são listadas e discutidas e, em relação às ciências da biodiversidade, é proposto que uma motivação nacionalista é também pertinente em países ricos em biodiversidade como o Brasil. A combinação de curiosidade e competitividade leva ao alcance de melhores resultados. Finalmente, são discutidas originalidade e inovação sob uma perspectiva pós-moderna, e como o mero ato da redação científica pode ser o início de revoluções tanto científicas quanto sociais.Palavras-chave -ciência brasileira, redação científica, fator de impacto, freqüência de citação, periódicos científicos

A profile of the impact of Acta Botanica Brasilica: reflections on how to improve visibility and recognition of a scientific journal

“…They are respectively 11 th and 13 th out of 24 disciplines in terms of the ratio long-term to current (two-year based) impact factor (Contreras et al 2006). In addition to the need to attract highly original papers, a common strategy to achieve immediate citation is the publication of opinion papers and review papers (Scarano 2008).…”

“…This fact places the journal at the core of the so-called 'impact factor game' (PLoS Medicine Editors 2006), which is a legitimate drive to continually increase impact factor so as to achieve higher visibility and recognition. It has been recently claimed that such an attitude is of great national interest, particularly considering the strategic value of biodiversity for Brazil (Scarano 2008). The journal's indexation in ISI has the additional benefit of allowing direct access to citation frequencies of papers in ISI database.…”

The tyranny of the impact factor: why do we still want to be subjugated?

“…As a result, many began to adopt the h-index 5 as a measure of authors' visibility. According to Scarano (2008):"While evoking the need of better ways of assessing scientific literature, the editors admitted they would be lying if they said they were not interested in their journal's impact factor. This exemplifies that despite one's awareness of the limitations and flaws of impact factor judgement, it is simultaneously the most practical way of producing any type of objective analysis of scientific value.…”

Publish what? A reply to Scarano

“…(Scarano 2008), Scarano presents a well structured analysis of the motivations that lead scientists to publish their fi ndings. I think, notwithstanding its contribution, that some important aspects should be extended in order to further the comprehension of not only why we should publish but also of what deserves to be published.…”

“…A reply to Scarano). Fabio Scarano (2008) shows an attractive picture of the motivations leading to the fi nal goal of the scientifi c enterprise, i.e. why scientists must publish their fi ndings.…”