Growth
expectations
(Portuguese
PDF version)
Telmo
P. Bonamigo*
*Editor-in-Chief,
Jornal Vascular Brasileiro.
J
Vasc Br 2004;3(1):1-2
With volume
3, issue 1 (2004), Jornal Vascular Brasileiro (J Vasc Br) completes
its second year of existence.
This publication was created during the presidency of Márcio
Leal de Meirelles, and its editorial policy is being maintained during
the presidency of Liberato K. de Moura. I was given the hard though
rewarding task of supervising this process, which is growing stronger
as new issues are released.
In the editorial process of medical journals, there is a phenomenon
known as "stillbirth rate", which we have already overcome.
Now we are is a stage of improvement, which will develop in parallel
with the process of expansion of the Brazilian Society of Angiology
and Vascular Surgery (SBACV) in terms of both the number and the academic
qualification of its members.
In the current issue, together with the sections 'Original Article',
'Special Article', 'Case Report', 'Diagnostic Challenge' and 'New Publications',
we present a symposium on lymphology, which is being published thanks
to the effort of outstanding Brazilian specialists on lymphology in
writing, revising or translating the material, as well as a forum on
critical ischemia, which material is a priority for J Vasc Br, given
that it represents the official position of SBACV on this relevant topic.
As usual, it is now time to make a review of the results of the past
year and optimistic projections for the current year. To do so, I was
inspired by the comparison of the editorial production of Journal of
Vascular Surgery (JVS) in 1984 and in 2004. While the first issue of
JVS, which is sponsored by the Society for Vascular Surgery, had 234
pages (comprising 26 original studies which had been presented at the
1983 Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Society
for Vascular Surgery), the last issue (January 2004) has 273 pages (comprising
11 clinical research studies, which had been presented at the last Joint
Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery and the American
Association for Vascular Surgery, 14 clinical research studies, seven
basic research studies, seven case reports, one vascular image, one
special article and one surgical ethics challenge). It can be noted
that, in the beginning, JVS focused on the publication of studies already
presented in meetings, which is an usual policy since these events are
interesting sources of material for medical journals given that, in
principle, such material is practically ready to be published.
In our case, the first issue of J Vasc Br comprised five original articles,
two articles on new technologies, one review article, one case report,
and one consensus on endovascular surgery with a total of 77 pages.
In our current issue (volume 3, 2004), there are three original articles,
one review article, one special article, three case reports, one diagnosis
challenge, one symposium on lymphology and the consensus on critical
ischemia, with a total of 88 pages.
Comparing the improvements of JVS over 20 years with those of our J
Vasc Br, which has only two years of existence, we can foresee a great
challenge and positive improvements in the future.
Considering the situation of our country, we are aware of occasional
limitations which lead to a tradition of unsystematic scientific publication
in journals. Although we observe that the publication of medical books
in Brazil (including the area of vascular surgery) is increasingly developing,
the same may not happen in relation to publication in journals. There
are particular requirements for publishing a paper in a journal, such
as: the need for protocols which provide a basis for original articles,
the submission of the study to an editorial board, tolerance for constructive
criticisms (which end up in a review of the material and an improvement
of the study); all such factors could be constraining the publication
of new findings in our area.
We believe that the scientific improvement could be achieved through
formal education in every medical school, or otherwise, in case some
school does not offer a course specifically in angiology or vascular
surgery, through short courses on basic concepts of such specialties
under the sponsorship of SBACV.
In Brazil, there are several graduate programs in the area of vascular
surgery, which are supervised by highly qualified and internationally
renowned professors. Such programs have already awarded the degrees
of MSc and PhD to a significant number of students skilled in writing
scientific reports.
Similarly, residency programs in vascular surgery, which are almost
100 in Brazil, are also an important source of scientific reports.
Furthermore, there is a great number of physicians particularly dedicated
to providing direct medical assistance, with a significant experience
and in condition for publishing excellent reports.
Considering that SBACV has the second larger group of specialists in
the world, that vascular surgery services in Brazil are effective (which
is being confirmed through papers presented in several meetings and
through other forms of academic interchange), we are confident that
we have the basic conditions to enhance our scientific productivity.
With the potential participation of several groups in writing reports
and publishing new scientific knowledge, SBACV will soon find that its
effort has multiplied and its prestige has improved once the articles
of J Vasc Br will also be made available in an English Version (Brazilian
Vascular Journal), which will be sent to 300 highly qualified professionals
from 25 countries around the world.
