The process of evaluation and selection of journals from Brazil for the LILACS database is carried out annually, an activity in the context of the Technical Cooperation Term 93 with the Ministry of Health of Brazil for the improvement of BIREME/PAHO/WHO. The process relies on the performance of an ad-hoc Evaluation Committee that has been part of the LILACS Committee since 2009 and which has eight specialists from areas that integrate the health sciences.
This committee met last December 18th, at the XXI Meeting of the LILACS Brazil Journal Evaluation and Selection Committee, to carry out the last stage of the periodical selection process for the LILACS database, which started in August 2020.
Within the evaluation process, the Committee meeting is the most important milestone, as it decides on the indexing of a journal in the LILACS database, gives suggestions for improvement to the analyzed journals, recommends advances in the process and in the Brazilian criteria, and indicates the indexing of journals to the ColecionaSUS database, coordinated by the Ministry of Health of Brazil.
In 2020, 15 journals were submitted, of which 5 failed the pre-analysis of normalization and scope, leaving 10 journals for evaluation by the Committee. As a final result of the content analysis, 3 were approved for indexation at LILACS through the implementation of the standardization recommendations, as well as those of the Committee, and 7 journals were not approved. Of those that were not approved, 2 journals were indicated for indexing in the ColecionaSUS database.
Total journals submitted 15
Journals not approved in the pre-analysis 5
Journals analyzed by the Committee 10
Journals approved with restrictions 3
Journals not approved by the Committee 7
The journals approved with restrictions were: Connections (Campinas, Online); Surgical Case Reports; and Brazilian Interinstitutional Journal of Occupational Therapy.
At the Committee meeting, in addition to the evaluation of the 10 scientific journals, a meeting was scheduled for the month of February 2021, to review and discuss the criteria for the selection and permanence of LILACS Brazil journals in light of the regional criteria, updated and launched in October 2020, as a product of LILACS’s 35th anniversary celebration. In addition, for the next evaluation processes, the Committee will support the appointment of new ad hoc reviewers and also collaborate in the format pre-evaluation process.
It is worth noting that this evaluation process had some modifications in the submission spreadsheet, where fields were added to identify the journal’s social function and indication of dates for receipt, approval, and publication of articles. The endogenous report was also reviewed and was generated and presented using the Tableau tool. The ad hoc reviewers’ form was also revised and expanded, and the questions focused more on the scientific merit of the articles published in the issues under analysis. This was the second year in which the process took place using the LILACS Journal Evaluation Platform, which is constantly evolving and improving the system.
According to Sueli Suga, BIREME’s Referral Sources Supervisor, who together with Verônica Abdala, Information Sources Manager and Diego González, Director of the Center coordinated the meeting, “it is important to recognize that the Committee’s role is much broader than the evaluation of journals for indexation in LILACS, as this body has the capacity to point out the best practices and paths in the scientific communication process, which is going through a moment of great change and challenges brought about by the urgency to respond to public health problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation, the quality of scientific health research, and the promotion of Open Science in Latin American and Caribbean countries”.
Committee Members
Acácia Aparecida Angeli dos Santos, from São Francisco University, representative member of the Psychology field;
Adeilton Alves Brandão, of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, representative member of the Biomedical Sciences field;
André Luiz Félix Rodacki, from the Federal University of Paraná, representative member of the Physical Education field (Speech Therapy, Physical Education, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Sports Medicine);
Antônio de Pádua Pithon Cyrino, from Júlio de Mesquita Filho São Paulo State University, representative member of the Public Health field (including Nutrition);
Edna Frasson de Souza Montero, from the University of São Paulo, representative member of the Clinical and Surgical Medicine field
Elizabeth Igne Ferreira, from the University of São Paulo, representative member of the Pharmacy field;
Maria Helena Palucci Marziale, from the University of São Paulo, representative member of the Nursing field;
Sigmar de Mello Rode, from the Júlio de Mesquita Filho São Paulo State University, representative member of the Dentistry field.