Criterios de ediçao de uma populaçao de revistas de saúde portuguesasrelaçáo com a sua visibilidade nacional e internacional

Résumé

Scientific journals are of great importance in disseminating the results of scientific research. They play a key role in the field of health sciences and contribute not only to the dissemination of scientific results, but also to the advancement of medicine, the continuous training of researchers and the improvement of health care. The possibility of a scientific work being known and cited depends largely on the quality and visibility of the scientific journal in which it is published.The visibility of scientific production, that relates to the journal's ability to be accessible and recognized to the scientific community for which it is intended, is very important for the development of medical science. The inclusion of journals in national and international databases of recognized prestige is an indicator of indirect diffusion visibility. Editorial groups, responsible for publishing these journals, also have the responsibility for developing procedures for health journals to be indexed in prestigious databases and comply with editorial quality criteria. In this context, the main objective of this research is to ascertain the relationship between the editorial quality of a sample of Portuguese scientific health journals and the national and international visibility of these journals. Regarding the methodology, this cross-sectional, analytical and essentially quantitative study was based on the analysis of the fulfilment of the Latindex editorial quality criteria of a sample of Portuguese health journals and the evidence of the respective national and international visibility of these periodical publications. The national visibility of the journals was verified through indexation analysis in the Index das Revistas Médicas Portuguesas and SciELO Portugal. Verification of international visibility it was found by analyzing the indexing of journals in the databases: Journal Citation Reports; Index Medicus / MEDLINE; Latindex System and SCImago Journal and Country Rank. The relationship between the editing criteria and the visibility of a sample of Portuguese scientific health journals was examined using Pearson's linear correlation coefficient. The sample studied is made up of 46 Portuguese scientific journals from the health area, with active status, selected in November 2013 through Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (UIPD). The study revealed that the overall average of criteria compliance by the sample of journals studied is 91%, higher than the 75% imposed for inclusion in the Latindex Catalog. The average visibility of the population of 46 Portuguese scientific journals in the health area is 24%. The obtained data allow the degree of visibility of a population of Portuguese health journals in national databases to be confirmed as higher than that of international databases. The hypothesis that the editing criteria relate to the visibility of a population of Portuguese health scientific journals is confirmed. Pearson's linear correlation coefficient R between the variable editing criteria and the variable visibility of a population of Portuguese health journals was r = 0.39, indicating a weak positive linear association. This means that when compliance with the editing criteria increases, it tends to increase the visibility of a population of Portuguese health journals, and vice versa.