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TO PUBLISH OR NOT TO PUBLISH
The debate about the importance – or not – of stricto sensu scientific publications has been recurrent in the Brazilian university community. Every time the issue of research evaluation is addressed, the heated debate resurfaces. On the one hand, there are those who argue that the only way to evaluate scientific work is through publications in journals with an editorial board, rigorous peer review criteria, indexed in the best databases, with international circulation and with significant impact indices. . On the other hand, there are those who point out specificities of their research areas, supposed incompatibility between relevance to society and the possibility of generating publications, a possible devaluation of teaching and extension activities, the importance of technological production – the secrecy of which would prevent publication – and other arguments to relativize or even completely discredit evaluation by publications and their impact on the form of citations.
Instead of enumerating arguments for and against one of the two theses, it is worth reflecting on the merit of such a debate. To analyze this point, it is worth reflecting on the genesis of scientific publications. Scientific periodicals emerged from letters exchanged by researchers and they were certainly the ones that allowed the remarkable scientific development seen in recent centuries, since the “Philosophical Transactions” of the “Royal Society” and the “Scavans Journal” began to be published in 1665. The Internet revolution may make paper journals anachronistic in a short time, replacing them with electronic journals, which allow not only texts to be brought, but also images and sounds, and by electronic sites, where research groups can present timely real the results of your research; but publication as a form of peer-approved exchange of information between scientists will certainly continue to be a foundation, along with ethics, of our activity.
It is surprising that someone would use the argument that there are no journals in their area as an excuse for not publishing when, back in 1996, “Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory” listed the existence of 165.000 scientific journals, a number that has certainly only increased since then. There is no way to be “autistic” in science or in the pursuit of knowledge in general. This certainly also applies to teaching techniques and even more so to technology. If there is a new area of research with some relevance that is not yet being publicized in journals, it is part of the researcher's mission to find journals that are interested in incorporating it into their areas of interest or even create new journals, where this research can be carried out. be discussed by the scientific community dedicated to it. Such journals must, evidently, seek to reach other researchers working in the area and not just satisfy the ego of those who publish and generate lines in CVs and numbers in reports.
On the other hand, it is worth remembering that there is the possibility of publishing scientific books. Unlike textbooks, whose value lies in the way they present known topics and in the commercial aspect, scientific books are perhaps the noblest form of publication. Also in this case, it is necessary to evaluate the editorial board, the seriousness of the publisher and the impact that the scientific book has. The simple fact of publishing a book does not have a priori guaranteed merit, since there are even publishers that survive on the payments made by vain authors to publish their works.
Publications are particularly important at the beginning of a career, so that researchers can expose themselves and their work to the scientific community in their field. This interaction brings exchange possibilities that are absolutely essential to research activity. Over time, one way to evaluate the impact of the scientific work of a researcher or a research group is to measure the consequences of their publications (and therefore there need to be publications) in terms of invitations to coordinate technical sessions and give lectures at important scientific events, invitations to be a visiting professor or researcher (paid by the inviter, not with grants from the Brazilian government) at prestigious universities and research institutes, invitations to join scientific and editorial boards at events and journals, invitations to referee from funding agencies in the country and abroad and academic awards granted by scientific societies and other institutions (excluding those of a political nature).
Although smaller than other areas, the number of journals in technological areas is significant. A recent survey carried out among electronic journals1 shows that 8% of the total were technology journals, against 37,3% in social sciences, 20,8% in life sciences, 16,7% in arts and humanities, 16,2% in exact sciences and 1% in undefined areas. In fact, the very distinction between basic and applied research has become less clear. The distinction today may be more in the original intention of the research than in its results, since the distance between cutting-edge research and technological application has been decreasing very quickly. If it is true that some technological research results are confidential due to the immediate economic interests involved, it is difficult to imagine relevant technological research that is not partially publishable, with due filtering of sensitive information. This is a current practice and explains the growing number of technological journals.
Ultimately, an institution is evaluated by the products it generates and the functions it performs in society. The university is expected, above all, to train well-prepared professionals and researchers with solid ethical and citizenship values and to generate knowledge – science, technology, humanities and arts – aimed at solving problems relevant to humanity and the society that finances it. The competence of research groups and individual researchers can only be assessed by their peers. Aspects linked to teaching and extension activities are evaluated directly by society, which forms its judgment based on the performance of the professionals that the university trains and the quality of the services it provides.
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