Identifying reasons for failure in biomedical research and publishing

The regular assessment of Brazilian scientific output means that individual university departments need to constantly improve the quantity and quality of their scientific output. A significant proportion of this output involves the work of Master’s and Doctoral students, but getting this work published in a suitable journal can often prove to be a challenge. Although students’ lack of fluency in English is a contributing factor, many of the problems observed have an early origin in the formulation of the research problem and its relevance to current research trends in the international literature. In short, more time needs to be spent in the library and less in the laboratory, and more effort needs to be made in teaching students basic research skills such as the effective use of bibliographic databases like PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus.

Public health and the knowledge industry

Knowledge plays an important role in health care. The production and diffusion of health-related knowledge are increasingly under the control of private commercial interests, which are characterized by conflicts of interests that result in abuses of power. Considerable research has been done on the medical-industrial complex and its role in the production of power imbalances and the consequent abuses, but little attention has been dedicated to the role played by the publishing industry, which can be subject to the same problems. The widely diffused idea that "frequent and major changes" occur in medicine, albeit unsupported by clearcut evidence, is an effective marketing tool for both the pharmaceutical and publishing industries, who feed and thrive on physicians' insecurities. The production and distribution of knowledge should be addressed as a strategic component of public health.

Quality perception in research laboratories from Fiocruz after QMS implementation

Quality Management System has been implemented at the René Rachou Research Center since 2003. This study investigated its importance for collaborators (Cs) in laboratories. This was a quantitative and descriptive study performed in a group of 113 collaborators. It was based on the World Health Organization handbook: Quality Practices in Basic Biomedical Research. The questionnaires evaluated the parameters using the Likert scale. Biosafety, training and ethics were considered to be the most important parameters. Supervision and quality assurance, data recording, study plan, SOPs and file storage achieved intermediate evaluation. The lower frequency of responses was obtained for result report, result verification, personnel and publishing practices. Understanding the perception of the collaborators allows the development of improvement actions aiming the construction of a training program directing strategies for disseminating quality.

Do Brazilian scientific journals promote the adherence of Chagas disease researchers to internacional ethical principals?

The ethical aspects of the Brazilian publications about human Chagas disease (CD) developed between 1996 and 2010 and the policy adopted by Brazilian medical journals were analyzed. Articles were selected on the SciELO Brazil data basis, and the evaluation of ethical aspects was based on the normative contents about ethics in research involving human experimentation according to the Brazilian resolution of the National Health Council no. 196/1996. The editorial policies of the section "Instructions to authors" were analyzed. In the period of 1996-2012, 58.9% of articles involving human Chagas disease did not refer to the fulfillment of the ethical aspects concerning research with human beings. In 80% of the journals, the requirements and confirmation of the information about ethical aspects in the studies of human CD were not observed. Although a failure in this type of service is still observed, awareness has been raised in federal agencies, educational institutions/research and publishing groups to standardize the procedures and ethical requirements for the Brazilian journals, reinforcing the fulfillment of the ethical parameters, according to the resolution of NHC no. 196/1996.

From print to screen: changes and challenges facing the Brazilian publishing industry

The publishing industry is at a turning point. Facing the first major disruptive innovation in five centuries, its long-established structure and business model are at stake. Building on literature based on the pitfalls for incumbents, we interviewed key executives from the major publishers in Brazil to understand their perspective. We find that not only are they facing those pitfalls, but we also propose a new one, The Industry View Trap, concerning challenges created by convergence, the difficulty to deal with changes in the ecosystem and the fact that the very definition of the industry you're part of might have changed.

E-publishing development and changes in the scholarly communication system

New and alternative scientific publishing business models is a reality driven mostly by the information and communication technologies, by the movements towards the recovery of control of the scientific communication activities by the academic community, and by the open access approaches. The hybrid business model, mixing open and toll-access is a reality and they will probably co-exist with respective trade-offs. This essay discusses the changes driven by the epublishing and the impacts on the scholarly communication system stakeholders' interrelationships (publishers-researchers, publishers-libraries and publishers-users interrelationships), and the changes on the scientific publishing business models, followed by a discussion of possible evolving business models. Whatever the model which evolves and dominates, a huge cultural change in authors' and institutions publishing practices will be necessary in order to make the open access happen and to consolidate the right business models for the traditional publishers. External changes such as policies, rewarding systems and institutions mandates should also happen in order to sustain the whole changing scenario.