Análise crítica de uma revista institucional: as Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Abstract

The journal Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, founded and maintained over the course of many years for the exclusive publication of research results from one single institution, has undergone changes over the last decade which have resulted in an open journal. Conditions leading to the journal's founding and the excellent role it has played in the dissemination of knowledge produced by the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz are examined. The fact that it has differed from journals published by scientific societies does not diminish its importance. The present option to give this journal an international slant, with possibilities for competing on the foreign market, and which would be facilitated by the preference given to papers written in English, raises some questions about the role of Brazilian specialized journals within the framework of our scientific development.

The scientific publication of the Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (1909-2020): a history of contribution to the biomedical sciences

“…Until then, the MIOC was an institutional journal dedicated exclusively to publishing articles by IOC researchers and their collaborators from other institutions. (4) However, even after this MIOC opening, as mentioned previously, about 61% of Fiocruz's 40% of MIOC publications between 1989 and 2020 were authored by IOC researchers. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that an important intersection between MIOC publications and research conducted at the IOC still takes place.…”

“…(5) Similar to what was also undertaken in 1989 in the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur (the main MIOC reference since its creation), these two changes were applied for IOC to become a non-institutional and international journal. (4) In fact, from 1980 onwards, a much higher number of articles was published annually compared to the previous period (Fig. 3), and from 1989 a variety of research organisations and countries (Figs 4-5) began publishing in the MIOC (although the most frequent were still Brazilian).…”

“…In 1989, another important editorial policy was changed and papers in English were prioritised. (4) Since its first edition, papers could be published in several languages as long as there was also a Portuguese version. (5) Similar to what was also undertaken in 1989 in the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur (the main MIOC reference since its creation), these two changes were applied for IOC to become a non-institutional and international journal.…”

“…(1,2,3) The Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Oswaldo Cruz Institute Memories) (MIOC) was one of the first Brazilian scientific journals, and certainly the most important one in the first decades of the 20th century. (4) The origin of the MIOC goes back to Brazilian Decree Nº 1,802, of December 12, 1907, which, besides creating the Instituto de Pathologia Experimental de Manguinhos (Manguinhos Institute of Experimental Pathology) -renamed Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Oswaldo Cruz Institute) (IOC) in 1908 -, determined that its studies should be "published, as Memories, as the experiences are confirmed". (5) Since its foundation, the MIOC has received institutional and financial support from its host Institution -the IOC as well as from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation since 1970.…”

“…Previous studies have analysed MIOC publications, but only qualitatively or bibliometrically, without covering the research subjects disseminated since its foundation. (4,17,18,19) This study addresses this gap by mapping the MIOC's scientific publication from 1909 to 2020 to identify the main research topics it has disseminated over time, as well as its main collaborating organisations. To this end, data from SciE-LO, PubMed, and WoS were combined, and bibliometric and SNA were performed to assess articles published by the MIOC from its first edition up to 2020.…”