About the Journal

Brief history

The journal ‘Saúde em Debate’, created in 1976, is a publication of the Brazilian Center for Health Studies (CEBES), initially available in print (ISSN 0103-1104) and, from 2014, in an online version (ISSN 2358-2898). It follows a continuous flow modality, maintaining the organization in regular quarterly (online) and special thematic (online) issues, which can be printed upon specific demand.

About the publisher

CEBES is a non-profit social organization, created in 1976, with the motto “health is democracy, democracy is health”, which reflects the close connection between the struggle for a just and democratic society and the defense of the right to health as a fundamental human right. Since its inception, the entity has been concerned with the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge that would contribute to debates on the health problems of the population, health policy, and the construction of universal, comprehensive, and egalitarian health systems. In this sense, it was a central protagonist of the Health Reform Movement (MRS) and the creation of the Unified Health System (SUS) in Brazil. ‘Saúde em Debate’ has become the main vehicle for disseminating the thought of the Brazilian Health Reform (RSB). Throughout its five decades, it has remained a space for the dissemination of critical thinking about collective health, health policy, and the advances and challenges faced by universal health systems, nationally and internationally. With this, CEBES has contributed to the formation of a network of activists with the potential to influence and operationalize health policies.

Updates and history

‘Saúde em Debate’ is the first Brazilian scientific journal in the field of public health. It is among the national journals that publish the most analyses of health policies, stimulating debate on current problems in health systems and major issues in national and international health. It is recognized as one of the main vehicles for disseminating RSB thought and as a field of academic study, including dissertations and theses.

The journal has implemented a permanent qualification process for the editorial team, with participation by editors and technical staff in events, courses, and training, especially offered by the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and the Brazilian Association of Scientific Editors (Abec).

Main achievements of the last few years of ‘Saúde em Debate’:

2025

  • Expansion to three editors-in-chief, with academic training and experience in the health area, who meet periodically to discuss and define the themes and editorial strategies of the regular issues and the publication of thematic special issues.
  • Thorough review of policies and instructions to authors.
  • Update and modernization of the ‘Saúde em Debate’ website.
  • Update of the Editorial Board, aiming to contemplate the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the editorial process.
  • Inclusion of a plugin with the DEIA Questionnaire in the Open Journal Systems (OJS) system of ‘Saúde em Debate’ to identify users’ gender, race, and ethnicity.
  • Encouragement for authors to publish their texts in English with a view to internationalization. Currently, about 45% of published manuscripts are translated into English.
  • Adequacy of standards for indexing in new databases.

2024

  • Adoption of the practice of Continuous Publications, maintaining the organization in regular issues with quarterly periodicity, and eventually special thematic issues.
  • Obtaining financial support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)/Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) through call No. 30/2023.
  • Association with Agência Bori (a service that connects Brazilian science to journalists from all areas of coverage), which has given visibility to articles published in ‘Saúde em Debate’ that address topics of journalistic interest and relevant to the general public.

2023

  • Expansion of the number of associate editors, specialized in different areas of knowledge, who are guided and advised by the editors-in-chief and the executive editor. The expansion and renewal of associate editors are carried out periodically in response to specific demands and recommendations from the editors-in-chief.

2022

  • Obtaining financial support from CNPq through call No. 15/2021.
  • It started to make the articles available on the official website in PDF in individual format, including translations.
  • Modernization of article PDFs with a script that offers links in citations throughout the text, so that the user can quickly access the corresponding reference.

Indicators

‘Saúde em Debate’ is classified as A2 in QUALIS/CAPES – the ‘mother area’ of collective health. In the Google Scholar ranking, it is among the first scientific journals in Brazil. Access metrics in https://analytics.scielo.org/?journal=0103-1104&collection=scl.

Open access

The journal follows the Open Access model, allowing free, virtual access to all published texts without any restrictions (including financial ones).

Open Access is the condition in which the copyright holder of an academic work grants rights of use to third parties using an open license (Creative Commons Attribution, CC-BY), allowing immediate free access to the work and authorizing any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles, crawl them for indexing, pass it as data to software or use it for any other lawful purpose.

Open science compliance

‘Saúde em Debate’ adopts the Golden Open Access policy, with articles available for free, full access on the internet.

Authors, at the time of submission, must complete the Form on compliance with Open Science and upload it to the OJS system during the file upload step, under ‘Components of the article, Complementary document’.

Ethics in publication

The journal follows the Recommendations for the preparation, writing, editing, and publication of academic papers in medical journals, of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It adopts the international guidelines of scientific integrity, such as the recommendations of the codes of ethical conduct in publication and good editing practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In addition, it follows the guidelines of the ‘SciELO Guide of Good Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publishing’ and the ‘Principles of Transparency and Good Practices in Academic Publications’ recommended by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

‘Saúde em Debate’ does not admit plagiarism (presenting phrases, ideas, concepts or theories as if they were one’s own, that is, without citing the original author), self-plagiarism (using, in whole or in part, one’s own texts already published as if they were unpublished) and duplicate publication (presenting a manuscript that substantially overlaps with one already published). It points out that plagiarism is a crime under the Brazilian Penal Code. Manuscripts that adopt such practices are rejected.

Articles derived from academic works (dissertations and theses) deposited in institutional repositories do not constitute self-plagiarism. The deposit of theses and dissertations in institutional repositories does not compromise originality and should be recognized as a legitimate part of scientific communication. The journal reaffirms its commitment to Open Science, advocating editorial policies that ensure transparency, value the disclosure of manuscript origins, and strengthen public dissemination of scientific knowledge.

The publication of articles reporting the results of research involving human beings is subject to compliance with the ethical principles contained in the Declaration of Helsinki and with the specific legislation of the country where the research was carried out. Research carried out in Brazil must follow the ethical principles established in Resolutions No. 466/2012 and No. 510/2016 of the National Health Council (CNS) and be accompanied by a copy of the Research Ethics Committee (CEP) approval opinion. Research involving animals must follow international ethical principles and Resolution No. 30/2016 of the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA). It must present a document of approval from the CEP Animal. In any case, all information must be recorded in the ‘Material and methods’ section, including the number of the approval opinion of the respective Committee.

‘Saúde em Debate’ supports the clinical trial policies of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Therefore, clinical research must report this information in the ‘Material and methods’ section.

Responsibility of the site

The ‘Saúde em Debate’ website guarantees the integrity, credibility, and ethics of the information and publication processes, keeping editorial policies up to date. It adheres to COPE’s ethical guidelines, ensuring the validity and scientific relevance of published texts, and follows the General Data Protection Law in Brazil, ensuring the protection of the personal data of its users (authors, reviewers, and readers). ‘Saúde em Debate’ reserves the right to make normative, spelling, and grammatical changes to the originals, to maintain the cultured standard of the language, respecting the style of the authors.

Responsibility of the author

Authors of articles published by ‘Saúde em Debate’ maintain the copyright of their works, granting the journal the right of first publication, licensing them under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction as long as there is recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal. The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their sole responsibility.

‘Saúde em Debate’ encourages authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts by publishing them on personal blogs, institutional repositories, and academic social media, as well as posting them on their personal social media, as long as the full citation of the version available on the journal’s website is included.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality, accuracy, and integrity of manuscripts submitted to ‘Saúde em Debate’, ensuring that the research has been conducted and reported ethically and transparently. Submissions must follow the journal’s editorial guidelines and observe international standards of good scientific practices, such as those established by ICMJE and COPE. Compliance with these principles is fundamental for the credibility of the publication and for the reliability of the knowledge produced in the field of health.

They must also promptly respond to requests from the Editorial Committee or evaluators, clearly and within the established deadlines, and provide clarifications or complementary materials when requested. Immediately communicate to the editorial board any relevant error identified in the article, before or after publication, collaborating with the issuance of errata, retraction, or other measures necessary to preserve scientific integrity.

Responsibilities of the editors

Ensure that the peer review process guidelines remain up to date and transparently available, so that authors and reviewers are clearly informed about the procedures, criteria, and responsibilities involved in the editorial process.

Ensure compliance with evaluation and publication deadlines to promote agility and efficiency throughout the editorial process. Ensure that the decision on the acceptance or rejection of an article is based exclusively on academic criteria, methodological rigor, and scientific relevance.

Establish and maintain effective mechanisms to identify, prevent, and manage conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, and editorial members. Treat all submissions with equity, free from discrimination by gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, academic position, or any other factor unrelated to scientific merit. Act diligently and promptly when faced with suspicions of academic misconduct, plagiarism, data manipulation, or other irregularities, and follow the appropriate ethical procedures.

Ensure editorial independence, ensuring that personal, institutional, economic, or political interests do not influence decisions on evaluation and publication.

Confirm that all approved texts are in accordance with internationally accepted ethical principles for research, authorship, data integrity, and scholarly communication.

Maintain accessible channels for receiving and forwarding complaints, queries, or disputes from authors, evaluators, and readers, promoting transparency and editorial responsibility.

Continuously seek improvements in the journal’s management process and editorial policy, incorporating tools, practices, and updated recommendations from recognized bodies in the area of scientific publishing.

Develop scientific dissemination strategies to expand the journal’s visibility and social reach, promote its content across platforms, and strengthen public access to the knowledge it produces.

Responsibilities of the evaluators

Check if the manuscript is aligned with your area of expertise and, if not, inform the editorial board so that another reviewer can be appointed.

Immediately declare any conflicts of interest (financial, professional, academic, or personal) and, when relevant, refuse the evaluation.

Maintain openness to new approaches, methods, and perspectives, evaluating them with equity and respect for the epistemological diversity of public health, recognizing the dynamic character of science and the value of innovative contributions.

Comply with the agreed deadlines and promptly communicate to the Editorial Committee any impediment, contributing to the fluidity and predictability of the editorial process.

Inform the Editorial Committee about possible ethical issues identified during the reading (e.g., plagiarism, redundant publication, manipulation/fabrication of data, inappropriate treatment of human beings or animals, relevant similarities with already published works).

‘Saúde em Debate’ reinforces the importance of evaluators maintaining the highest ethical standard in their evaluations, avoiding prejudice and respecting intellectual property rights, based exclusively on scientific merit and adherence to the scope of the journal. It recommends that reviews be respectful, objective, critical, impartial, and constructive, ensuring they are helpful to authors in improving the methodological quality, argumentative coherence, and transparency of the research. Reviewers are recommended to read COPE’s Peer Review Guidelines.

Focus and scope

‘Saúde em Debate’ publishes manuscripts that contribute to scientific knowledge and practice in the field of public health, especially those that incorporate the dimensions of health policy, planning, and/or management into their objects. It is aimed at the academic community, health workers, managers, other social policy actors, social movements, and the general population.

Digital preservation

The journal is part of the SciELO Network and adheres to the standards defined in the SciELO Program’s Digital Preservation Policy. SciELO uses the infrastructure of the Carinian Preservation Network, Lockss for the preservation of its collections. Currently, publications from 2011 onwards are available in SciELO. The complete collection, started in 1976, can be found in the digital collections of the DocPro platform, which promotes the digital legal deposit at the National Library, available from: https://www.docvirt.com/asp/saudeemdebate/default.asp.

Indexing sources

Collections

Indexing bases

Thematic repositories

Periódica, Índice de Revistas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias

Directories

Diadorim
DOAJ
Miguilim: Diretório das revistas científicas eletrônicas brasileiras
The journal is affiliated with ABEC.

Bibliographic file

Title of the journal: Saúde em Debate
Abbreviated title: Saúde Debate, used in bibliographies, footnotes, references, and bibliographic captions
Publication of: Brazilian Center for Health Studies (CEBES)
Periodicity: quarterly; at the discretion of the Editorial Committee, special thematic issues are published and follow the same submission and evaluation process as regular issues
Publication method: continuous, organized in regular issues and in special thematic issues
Year of creation of the journal: 1976

Websites and social media

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/cebesbrasil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cebesbrasil?igsh=MTloZW5hbDF3emEwbg==
X: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2FCebesBR
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CebesNacional

Contact

Editors-in-chief (decisions and complaints)
Avenida Brasil, 4.036, sala 802
Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil – CEP 21040-361
E-mail: editorsaudedebate@cebes.org.br

Executive editor (editorial production)
Correspondence
Avenida Brasil, 4.036, sala 802
Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil – CEP 21040-361
Telefone: + 55 (21) 97198-8249
E-mail: revista@saudeemdebate.org.br