Scientific quality and connectivity for sustainability
In recent years, scholarly communication has undergone profound transformations. While, for decades, the main concern of journals was to ensure the quality of published articles and expand their presence in international databases, today the challenges are broader. Beyond quality, scientific output must be visible, accessible, interoperable, and capable of circulating in an increasingly complex global ecosystem comprising platforms, metrics, search engines, and artificial intelligence systems.
It is in this context that the recent trajectory of RBCIAMB — Revista Brasileira de Ciências Ambientais (Brazilian Journal of Environmental Sciences), a scientific journal published by the Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (ABES), unfolds.
Beginning in 2021, the journal undertook an internationalization process that included publishing all articles in English, expanding the potential reach of the research it publishes. This movement was followed by indexing in the Web of Science in 2023 and in Scopus in 2024 — important milestones for the journal's insertion into the main international circuits of scholarly communication.
The results of this process are beginning to be reflected in impact indicators. The recent growth in the impact factor in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and in CiteScore in Scopus signals a positive trajectory in recognition and visibility. More importantly, however, is understanding that such indicators are not a goal in themselves but rather a consequence of a broader set of efforts aimed at strengthening the journal editorially.
In recent years, RBCIAMB has sought to align itself with the best international practices in scholarly publishing and communication. This commitment involves the continuous improvement of editorial processes, the strengthening of peer review, the growing participation of international reviewers and authors, and permanent investment in the quality of the published content.
At the same time, the journal has come to understand that its presence in the contemporary scientific landscape does not depend solely on database indexing. Knowledge now circulates through a wide network of interconnected systems that includes persistent identifiers, citation-tracking platforms, alternative metrics, repositories, and search engines.
Accordingly, RBCIAMB has invested in developing a scientific connectivity infrastructure that enhances the visibility and traceability of its published articles. Integration with services such as Crossref, OpenAlex, Dimensions, Altmetric, and PlumX allows authors, readers, and institutions to follow different dimensions of the scientific and social impact of the research published in the journal.
Valuing peer review is also part of this strategy. The adoption of reviewer recognition in Web of Science represents a further step toward strengthening an editorial culture based on collaboration, transparency, and recognition of the work that underpins the quality of scientific output.
The effects of this transformation are beginning to appear not only in bibliometric indicators but also in the patterns of use and discovery of the published content. Recent access data indicate that content published by RBCIAMB has been reaching new audiences through international scientific search engines, academic indexing platforms, and emerging digital environments for information discovery. These signs suggest a gradual expansion of the journal's presence in the global ecosystem of scholarly communication, which is increasingly connected and diversified.
For a journal linked to a Brazilian scientific society, this movement carries special meaning. In a scenario marked by complex and growing environmental challenges, strengthening scholarly communication channels with international reach means expanding the circulation of knowledge produced in Brazil and in other countries of the Global South. It also means helping experiences, evidence, and perspectives developed in diverse contexts to engage, on more balanced terms, with international scientific production.
RBCIAMB's trajectory is only beginning. The consolidation and credibility of a scientific journal are continuous processes, built collectively by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and institutions. Recent advances, therefore, indicate that the journal has been strengthening the foundations needed to expand its contribution to environmental science and to contemporary scholarly communication.
More than following trends, the challenge for the coming years is to continue building a scientific journal that is connected, international, and committed to the quality of the knowledge it publishes — a journal capable of serving as a bridge between scientific production and the major global debates on sustainability, the environment, and development.
Valdir Fernandes and Helen Treichel
Editors-in-Chief
