For a Model of Self-Citation Governance in Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia

Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (ABC) has been the official scientific publication of Brazilian Society of Cardiology (Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia, SBC) since 1948. Since its beginning, ABC has continuously published articles on a wide range of topics in cardiology, becoming the main organ of dissemination of scientific work in Brazil and Portuguese-speaking countries. Since 1950, the articles have been indexed in the main international databases (Institute of Scientific Information – ISI Web of Science; Cumulated Index Medicus – MEDLINE; Pubmed Central; EMBASE; SCOPUS; SCIELO and LILACS), and are currently published in two languages (English and Portuguese). Thomson Reuters publishing company, owner of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) statistical database, created the concept of impact factor in 1955, aiming to provide an instrument to evaluate the performance of scientific publications in a comparative and quantitative manner. Impact factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations of articles published in an academic or technical journal indexed in the ISI by the total number of articles published in that journal during the two preceding years. These estimates include approximately 3,300 journals, 200 subject areas and 100 countries.

Impact factor is a metric for journal assessment, widely used by researchers to choose the best journal to submit their papers. However, its validity as an indicator of scientific impact has been questioned due to, among others, self-promoting journal self-citation in attempt to increase their impact factor. Overuse of self-citation practices is punishable, and caused the exclusion of 5 Brazilian journals from the JCR for one year (2013). For this reason, efficient control measures of this practice should be developed and implemented by scientific journals that seek to adhere to ethical precepts recommended by the scientific community.

[…]