EDITORIAL POLICY

Preprints

Manuscripts deposited on reliable preprint servers , such as SciELO, are welcomed Preprints and medRxiv , before or in parallel with submission. The corresponding author must inform about the deposit by completing the Open Science Compliance Form, which must be submitted as a supplementary file to the manuscript.

This practice aligns with continuous publishing as a mechanism to accelerate research communication. Preprints share the originality of the publication of articles with the journal.

Peer review process

After submission by authors, manuscripts go through the following evaluation stages: 

1. Verification by the executive secretariat: confirmation of adherence to instructions to authors and checking of submitted files.
2. Scope and quality assessment by chief and scientific editors.
3. External peer review: carried out by at least two experts to evaluate the scientific merit and content of the manuscripts, with constructive criticism for improvement. Reviewers must follow the ethical requirements for reviewers recommended by COPE.
4. Recommendation by the associate editor: substantiated analysis of the manuscript and opinions and indication of the need for review by the authors, among the options:
   1. To accept
   2. Small revision (30 days period for adjustments)
   3. Major review (60 days period for adjustments)
   4. Reject
5. Review by authors: adjustments to the manuscript by the authors, accompanied by a response letter indicating how the recommendations were met.
6. Decision by general and scientific editors: deliberation on publication of the manuscript.

The estimated time for editorial evaluation is 90 days from submission within the journal's rules. The manuscript is accepted after it has been accepted into the system by the executive secretariat against the checklist (step 1 above). Such verification reflects the instructions to authors. 

Revisions to the stages of the editorial process will be sent to authors via the ScholarOne System, with a clear definition of the deadline for reformulation. Authors are advised to pay attention to communications sent to the email address provided in the submission and observe the response deadlines. 

As a standard, the RESS submission system follows a double-blind peer review model, in which authors and reviewers are not identified. 

The opening of the evaluation process is planned according to the following steps: 

• For manuscripts deposited as preprints , the process automatically becomes peer review single-blind, allowing peer reviewers to acknowledge authorship.
• Authors indicate in the Open Science Compliance Formtheir agreement with: (i) the publication of manuscript evaluation opinions and ( ii ) direct interaction with reviewers.
• In the evaluation system, reviewers express an interest in (i) interacting directly with authors and, in the case of an approved manuscript, ( ii ) disclosing their identity as a reviewer and ( iii ) publishing the manuscript's evaluation opinion.
• In case of mutual agreement in the interaction, the associated editor incorporates the name and email of the reviewers in his editor's comment, at the stage of registering the recommendation, and sends a message to the reviewers containing the name and email of the corresponding author and the evaluation by Open pairing is then implemented.

All published articles inform the name and ORCID ID of the associated editor and the identity of the referees who so wish. 

Assessment opinions can be published in the “Peer Review Opinions” format, with or without the identification of the reviewers in the authorship, depending on the options indicated. 

Open data

Research data (databases, codes, methods and other materials used and resulting from research) should ideally be deposited in reliable data repositories such as the SciELO Data repository (list available at https://wp.scielo.org/wp-content/uploads/Lista-de-Repositorios-Recomendados_pt.pdf), preferably with a persistent identifier such as digital object identifier (DOI). 

Access to such data with the link to the repository must be informed in the “Data availability” section. The data must be cited in the text, preferably in the “Methods”, and the complete reference must be included in the “References” section, following example: 

Andrade M. Study of genes in albino rats in Latin America. OSF [dataset], 2018, ASM0000v1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0123-45620187214  

During the editorial process, editors can request access to study databases from authors to support the evaluation. 

Fees

RESS operates under the diamond open access modality , in which there are no charges for authors or readers. It does not charge fees for submission, evaluation or publication of articles. All manuscripts are accessible free of charge, without charging fees or registration to the reader. The articles are translated free of charge into English and the abstract into Spanish. 

Publication costs are covered by the supporting institution, the Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health (SVSA/MS), in alignment with the SciELO Declaration on Financial Sustainability. 

Ethics and misconduct, correction and retraction policy

RESS follows the guidelines of the Recommendations for the preparation, writing, editing and publication of academic works in medical journals, from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors ( ICMJE ) and adopts the principles of ethics in publishing the Committee 's code of conduct on Publication Ethics ( COPE ) to guide its editorial procedures, including conduct in the event of errors or bad practices in research and scientific communication. Such procedures are in line with SciELO's Guide to good practices for strengthening ethics in scientific publishing. 

By submitting the manuscript, authors commit to the quality and integrity of their work. This includes using appropriate language and ensuring that the text reflects research procedures and comparison with the literature. When identifying errors, authors must notify the editors in order to make corrections through the preparation and publication of errata. 

Practices that violate scientific integrity, such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication of data, redundant publication and undisclosed conflicts of interest, among other bad practices, will be evaluated by the RESS editorial board in accordance with COPE recommendations , ensuring communication to authors about the stages and decision of the process. 

If misconduct is suspected, RESS editors will initiate an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines, which, depending on the severity and stage of submission or publication, may result in: 

• Rejection of the manuscript under consideration;
• Errata for (i) correction of information, ( ii ) inclusion of information and ( iii ) exclusion of information involving honest errors that do not affect the structure of the article (other exclusions must be carried out through retraction);
• Partial or total retraction of the article.

RESS authors undertake to cooperate with editors in corrections and retractions. 

Policy on conflict of interest

Authors must declare the presence of conflicts of interest in the appropriate section of the manuscript, reporting the existence of interests – apparent or not – capable of influencing the process of preparation and review of manuscripts, and which may be of a diverse nature – personal, commercial, political, academic or financial. The declaration of conflicts of interest will be published in the final version of the manuscript. Authors must send the completed Declaration of Potential Conflicts of Interest Form after approval of the manuscript. 

Reviewers involved in editorial processing must declare in the evaluation system their potential conflicts of interest with the manuscript under consideration. 

Annually, all members of the RESS editorial board present their declaration of conflicts of interest and the associated editors renew their term of commitment to act as such, which includes ethical and research integrity commitments in the handling of manuscripts. 

As a way of ensuring the journal's editorial independence in relation to the supporting institution, the decision on approving manuscripts for publication is the responsibility of the chief and scientific editors, researchers with institutional autonomy and academic independence. 

Adoption of similarity software

The Journal uses the iThenticate system to identify plagiarism. Authors are encouraged to remove similarities to previous texts, especially complete sentences. It is recommended to keep the final text below 30% similarity with other documents. In cases of text derived from academic works that fail to meet this threshold, such deliberation will be up to the editors. 

Similarity verification is carried out during peer review, with the iThenticate system report forwarded together with the opinions for adjustment by the authors. The final version of the accepted manuscript is checked to ensure that the journal's recommendations have been followed. 

Adoption of artificial intelligence software

Authors must inform whether they used artificial intelligence technologies in the cover letter and in the “Use of generative artificial intelligence” section of the manuscript. If such tools have been used, authors must guarantee the accuracy of citations and the originality of content generated with the aid of artificial intelligence, ensuring the absence of plagiarism. 

Gender and sexual issues

RESS observes the gender equity policy in the formation of its editorial board. The RESS editorial team and its authors must observe the principles of the Guideline on Sex and Gender Equity in Research ( Sex and Gender Equity in Research , SAGER), whose official translation into Portuguese was carried out and published by RESS.  

Per this guideline, the terms sex (biological attribute) and gender (shaped by social and cultural circumstances) must be used carefully in order to avoid inaccuracy in their use. 

Ethics committee

Compliance with ethical precepts in conducting and publishing research results is the sole responsibility of the authors, and the ethical recommendations contained in the Declaration of Helsinki must be respected. Research involving human subjects must be approved by the competent research ethics committee, at the regional or national level. 

For research with human beings in Brazil, authors must fully comply with the standards contained in the Resolutions of the National Health Council. The cover page file must include(i) the protocol number with ( ii ) the date of approval by the research committee research ethics, ( iii ) certificate of presentation of ethical assessment and ( iv ) obtaining informed consent. 

Clinical trials must inform the protocol number registered in one of the registries validated by the World Health Organization (WHO, available at: https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform/network/primary-registries, among which includes the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry, available at: https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br. 

Copyright

The authors retain the copyright of the published article ( copyright ), and grant RESS the right of first publication, under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0. This license assignment allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited. 

All authors complete and sign the Copyright Assignment Term after approval of the manuscript. 

Intellectual property and terms of use

All journal content and articles published by RESS, except where otherwise specified, are licensed under the Creative License Commons Attribution CC BY, which allows reuse and distribution without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited. The authors maintain the copyright, and RESS, the right of first publication. 

The data, opinions and concepts expressed in the articles, as well as the accuracy of the bibliographic references, are the sole responsibility of the author( s). 

RESS encourages authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts, 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 is included in the journal website version. 

Support institution

Secretariat of Health and Environmental Surveillance of the Ministry of Health (SVSA/MS). 

Instructions to Authors

Epidemiology and Health Services: SUS journal (RESS) publishes scientific articles in the field of public health, including epidemiology, social and human health sciences, management and planning, and which present evidence relevant to the SUS. 

Types of documents accepted

RESS welcomes manuscripts in the modalities described below. Manuscripts must be submitted in Portuguese and may have been published as preprints , deposited on reliable servers.

1. Original article – Product with unpublished research data. This category also includes experience reports, event or outbreak investigations, and profiles of Brazilian databases.
2. Research note – A concise report of original research results.
3. Review – Synthesis of scientific literature, which can be systematic, narrative or other types of review.
4. Opinion article – A succinct commentary on specific topics within the scope of collective health, based on scientific evidence and expressing the qualified opinion of the authors; it should be prepared by a specialist at the invitation of the editors.
5. Debate – Theoretical article written by a specialist, at the invitation of the editors, which will receive comments and/or critiques through signed replies from specialists, also invited.
6. Letter – Brief comments and/or critiques related to an article published in the journal, which may be published at the discretion of the editors and accompanied by a response letter from the authors of the commented article.
7. Methodological series –Description of methodological procedures, including innovative methods and improvements to existing methods that are relevant to the SUS, published in a series of manuscripts, at the invitation of the editors.
8. Guidelines – A guide or guideline to guide conduct within the scope of the SUS.
9. Peer review opinions – Analysis of the approved manuscript containing the reviewers' recommendations for improving the manuscript, with a view to its publication.

In addition to the modalities above, submitted by the scientific community, editors are responsible for preparing Editorials (limit: 1,500 words) and Interviews (limit: 3,500 words) with personalities or authorities. The characteristics of the types of manuscripts accepted by RESS are summarized below.

To access detailed author instructions, Click here

Contact

Epidemiology and Health Services: SUS journal (RESS)

General Coordination of Technical-Scientific Publishing in Health Surveillance, Department of Strategic Actions in Epidemiology and Health Surveillance, Secretariat of Health and Environmental Surveillance, Ministry of Health

S RTVN Quadra 701 , Via W5 Norte, Lot D (Building PO700) CEP: 70719-040 Brasília/DF – Brazil

Telephone: (+55 61) 3315-3464

Email: revista.saude@saude.gov.br

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© 2024 Coordenação-Geral de Desenvolvimento da Epidemiologia em Serviços / Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde e Ambiente / Ministério da Saúde do Brasil

SRTVN Quadra 701, Via W 5 Norte, Lote D, Edifício PO 700 - 7º andar,
Asa Norte, Brasília, DF, Brasil. CEP: 70.719-040
Telefones: (61) 3315-3464 / 3315-3714
+55 61 3213-8387 / +55 61 3213-8531

ress.svs@gmail.com or revista.svs@saude.gov.br