SciELO announces measures for internationalizing scientific journals

New indexation and holding criteria for the SciELO Brasil collection target the alignment of journals with international standards.

By Diego Freire

Agência FAPESP – With the goal of contributing to internationalizing the scientific journals produced in Brazil, the electronic library SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library On Line), maintained by FAPESP, announced new indexation criteria on its platform.

The announcement was made during the 4th Annual Meeting of SciELO held on December 2, 2014, at the FAPESP headquarters. According to Abel Laerte Packer, director of the SciELO program, the measures announced are expected to lead to a “progressive reconfiguration of journals and research studies from Brazil that communicate within the international context of science.”

“Science is by nature international. An effort that Brazil, and FAPESP in particular, has been making is to provide more visibility to research conducted in Brazil, thereby increasing international collaboration. Brazilian journals should play an important role in this effort by not only strengthening their presence outside Brazil but also bringing top-quality international authors and articles to Brazilian journals,” Packer told Agência FAPESP.

The criteria apply to the indexation of new journals and to those journals already in the SciELO Brasil collection. For Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, FAPESP scientific director, internationalization will reflect the impact of such publications.

“It is an effort that, when added to others, will contribute to the inclusion of our researchers in the international context of science, thus increasing their competitiveness. Our scientific production is growing considerably, and the challenge now is to expand its impact,” said Brito Cruz during the meeting.

The announced measures encompass criteria related to managing the editorial processes, author affiliation in articles and the language of publication, with terms defined according to the field of knowledge.

Implementation of the measures will be assessed on the basis of indicators related to the change in the percentage of articles published in English and articles written by authors with foreign affiliation, in addition to the increase in the proportion of researchers from other countries who perform the duties of associate editors and reviewers.

The number of downloads originating in Brazil and in other countries will also be assessed, as will the number of citations for articles submitted by foreign authors, using the SciELO Citation Index as a source of reference for the calculation, and the development of a presence on social networks based on the Altmetric.com index.

Goals by areas

The reference values used to evaluate the internationalization of journals were defined by the SciELO Advisory Committee according to subject area, and deadlines for their adoption range from one to five years.

“Each area has its idiosyncrasies, objectives and historical legacies, so to the extent possible, the criteria were adapted to the reality of each, noting recent trends,” Packer explained. The publications are divided into eight broad areas: agricultural sciences; biology; engineering; exact and earth sciences; human sciences; linguistics, letters and arts; health; and applied social sciences.

Starting in January 2016, the indexed journals will have to meet expected minimum percentages with regard to active associate editors with foreign institutional affiliations according to the subject area.

In the area of agricultural sciences, for example, the minimum is 20%, and the recommended level is 30%. In the area of applied social sciences, however, the minimum is 15%, and the recommended level is 25%. Summing the goals for all areas, SciELO expects that at least 20% of active associate editors of all journals will have a foreign affiliation.

The new criteria also include expected minimum and recommended annual percentages of authors with foreign institutional affiliations, also by subject area. The goals range from 15% in the area of agricultural sciences to 30% in biology, engineering, and the exact and earth sciences. Thus, SciELO expects that up to 35% of the journals’ authors will have foreign affiliation.

The language in which the articles are published was also included in the changes announced. The title, abstract and keywords of the studies must appear in the original language as well as in English. “The SciELO model allows simultaneous publication in two or more languages. The journals should maximize the number of original articles and review articles in English with a view towards internationalization,” Packer said.

At least 80% of the original and review articles in journals in the field of health, for example, should be in English. Summing the goals of all areas, SciELO expects to ensure that 75% of its publications meet such conditions.

Professionalization

SciELO Scientific Director Rogerio Meneghini explained that the new indexation criteria are also designed to ensure the sustainability of the journals. “The goals were developed with the objective of improving professionalization of the journals and making them sustainable in the medium and long term in a scenario of growing international competitiveness,” he said.

Thus, in addition to articles, the new criteria include other documents published by the journals, such as editorials. SciELO has determined that beginning in 2015, only documents that present relevant scientific content will be indexed, published and included in journal collection performance metrics.

That way, the documents have to present scientific content that justifies their indexation, including information about the authors, institutional affiliation, and bibliographic references and information that has the potential to be cited.

In addition to editorials, documents such as addenda, research articles, review articles, letters, collections, comments on articles, short communications, discussions, errata, introductions, standards, case studies, critical reviews of books, responses and retractions will be indexed, published and included in the performance metrics of SciELO.

Advertisements, calendars, calls for proposals, books received, news, obituaries, reprints, meeting minutes, summaries, product revisions, theses and translations will not be considered.

Disclosure plan

By the end of 2015, all SciELO journals must operate with the support of an online management system. Such operation should facilitate the process of evaluation, reduce the time between article submission and final decisions, and allow the parties involved to monitor the evaluation process and obtain records and statistics to track the flow of manuscripts.

“We also recommend making the research data used in articles available in open access repositories, contributing to the possible replication of studies and increasing the visibility and number of citations,” Meneghini said. Availability of the data will become subject to evaluation criteria starting in 2015.

The new criteria for evaluating the professionalization of the journals also include media publications. Starting in July 2015, SciELO will require a marketing and advertising plan that includes contact management of potential researchers, authors, domestic and international users, and readers, among other members of the public, and the production of press releases for each new issue or for selected new articles.

“We also expect that, starting on that date, the journals will announce their new research studies by using social networks as well as the SciELO channels in these environments, such as the SciELO in Perspective Blog,” Packer said. “It is an effort on various fronts that will raise our journals to a new level and ultimately contribute to the development of science in Brazil and beyond.”

The document containing the new criteria for scientific journals to be accepted and held in the SciELO Brasil collection as well as the policy that guided its development and the required procedures is available at www.scielo.br/avaliacao/avaliacao_pt.