06/08/2021

Brazilian journals reflect the country's 'scientific vitality'.

Journals focused on case study articles, research, survey. The Brazilian mathematics journal market is on the rise. This Friday (6), researchers met at a round table at the 3Tuesdays Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium to present information from five major mathematics journals in the country and discuss issues in the sector, such as the importance of having publications of Brazilian origin in an area as global as mathematics and the challenges of managing a scientific journal.

The conversation was moderated by Robinson Nelson dos Santos, editor at Springer, and included the participation of the general director of IMPA and editor-in-chief of the SBM Bulletin, Marcelo Viana; Maria Eulália Vares (UFRJ), editor-in-chief of “Ensaios Matemáticos”; Jaqueline Godoy Mesquita (UNB), editor-in-chief of “Matemática Contemporânea”; Claudio Gorodski (USP), editor-in-chief of the “São Paulo Journal of Mathematical Sciences”; and Aurelio Ribeiro Leite de Oliveira (UNICAMP), editor-in-chief of “Trends in Computational and Applied Mathematics”.

Participants gave presentations about the periodicals.

The participants presented a brief profile of the journals they run, detailing the publication's objectives, published volumes, scope of coverage topics, editorial board structure, and submission process. Viana shared encouraging recent results from the SBM Bulletin , released by Springer, the journal's producer and distributor. "The bulletin can now respond to authors in less than two months. It takes 56 days between submission and the decision to publish articles in the journal. A reflection of this is that authors are very satisfied with the submission process; we have a favorable satisfaction rate of 94%," he commented.

With mathematical articles of an expository nature, “Ensaios Matemáticos” publishes works on any mathematical topic in which a “vigorous activity” of research is developed, explained Maria Eulália Vares. The journal is open access and accepts articles in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. “In my view, it represents a huge gift from the SBM to its members, the scientific community, and graduate students. I say this because it is a completely open access and free journal. This makes a huge difference; it is an extremely valuable contribution,” reinforced the editor-in-chief.

Jaqueline Godoy explained that the goal of the journal “Contemporary Mathematics” is to publish proceedings of scientific events that take place in Brazil and abroad. The researcher invited everyone to learn about the publication and submit proposals. “I would like to invite everyone to send a proposal for a special volume of any event you are organizing to the journal. We will be very happy to receive your proposal.”

Claudio Gorodski spoke about the leap the “São Paulo Journal of Mathematical Sciences” has experienced since partnering with Springer. “The journal's numbers have grown considerably, it has gained more visibility. From 2019 to 2020, the number of downloads quadrupled, and the number of submissions doubled from one year to the next.” The journal encourages Brazilian mathematicians to submit their articles for publication. “Currently, 20% of the articles we publish are from Brazilian mathematicians or mathematicians working in Brazil,” commented Gorodski.

With the name change, Trends in Computational and Applied Mathematics is undergoing a makeover, commented its editor-in-chief, Aurelio Ribeiro Leite de Oliveira. In addition to the restrictive migration to an online format, the journal will now have four volumes per year. “We are looking to expand further and already have some editors from Latin America, although the majority are Brazilian. We are also strengthening the area of discrete mathematics,” he commented.

Brazilian journals reflect the country's 'scientific vitality'.

"While the idea once circulated that the main function of Brazilian mathematics journals was to make it easier for Brazilians to publish in scientific journals, today this is an outdated concept," commented Viana. "Brazilian mathematicians compete on the international stage and are qualified to compete for publications in any journal worldwide," he emphasized.

But strengthening this sector is important. “Scientific journals are a reflection of the country's scientific vitality. In a way, the community as a whole is projected onto the scientific health of the journals that the country is able to generate. The importance lies in being actors, participants in all aspects of the production of mathematical knowledge and its dissemination,” added the director-general of IMPA.

Oliveira raised the issue of regionality in the discussion. “In the field of applied mathematics, there are problems that are uniquely Brazilian. I've received responses from foreign journals saying, 'this problem doesn't exist.' For some applied mathematics problems, it makes sense to have a national journal, because perhaps there isn't as much interest in applying that problem in other countries,” he added.