Mudanças necessárias no Jornal Vascular Brasileiro

Abstract

The Jornal Vascular Brasileiro was established in June 2002, and in its short, roughly eight-year existence, has experienced significant development. Since 2004, it has been indexed in SciELO, the foremost Brazilian bibliographic database, and in subsequent years was added to several international citation indices, such as EMBASE, EBSCO, SCOPUS, SIIC, and REDALYC. Article submission rates, while still far from ideal, increased, as did the publication of articles authored by foreign researchers. We introduced several new features: online submission and review, electronic publication ahead of print, and real-time access to illustrative video files for various articles. In recognition of our progress, we received article submissions from outside Brazil, and for 2 consecutive years, J Vasc Bras received publishing grants from the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq), placing us in the company of a select few Brazilian journals. J Vasc Bras must break into the international scientific publications scene through its two most important indexing services: MEDLINE and ISI.In late 2008 and early 2009, we applied for MEDLINE and ISI indexing respectively, and, throughout 2009, the journal was assessed by a group of reviewers from both databases. In early 2010, MEDLINE declined our request. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), which runs MEDLINE, does not provide access to reviewer feedback and allows reassessment only after a 2-year period has elapsed. Alongside the Publications Department of the Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery, we approached SciELO in an attempt to understand the reasoning behind the NLM's decision. This meeting was very enlightening, and from it we learned that various factors may have contributed to this unfavorable outcome. NLM reviewers use an assessment scorecard that considers the following criteria: * Editor-in-chief, J Vasc Bras. No conflicts of interest declared concerning the publication of this editorial. J Vasc Bras. 2010;9(2):13-14.