VHL News Network

Brazil will host the 12th International Conference of the ISSI in 2009

The 12th International Conference on Scientometrics and Informetrics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 28 to 31, 2009. The announcement was made at the closing session of the 11th ISSI, in Madrid, Spain, on June 27, 2007. Ronald Rousseau, president of the ISSI communicated the decision supporting the BIREME/PAHO/WHO proposal to held the next conference based on the experience and know-how of the institution in scientific information, including the use of bibliometrics, informetrics and scientometrics methods to develop the VHL and SciELO networks. Later, Abel L. Packer, Director of BIREME, presented the proposal to an audience of approximately 250 people of more than 30 countries, highlighting that the conference will present the state-of-the-art in informetrics and scientometrics research, in addition to contributing to strengthen scientometrics and its application to develop sciences in developing countries
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VHL Cochrane, VHL Evidence Portal and EVIPNet Americas will contribute to strengthen access and use of scientific evidences

The health authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C), researchers, professionals and the general public, will expand their capacity to get access to scientific research evidences, with three new initiatives promoted by the PAHO/WHO: the EvipNet Americas network will strengthen and increase the use of evidences in health policies and in management of health systems and services; the VHL Cochrane Portal will provide access to a collection of sources of evidence on the effects of interventions in health care. Moreover, the Cochrane collection at the VHL already includes the complete version of the Cochrane Library in English and the full version of the Cochrane Plus Library, produced by the Iberian American Cochrane Network, which has contents in Spanish and the set of abstracts of the Cochrane Systematic Reviews, translated into Portuguese by the Brazilian Cochrane Center. In October 2007, during the 15th Cochrane Colloquium, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, BIREME will launch the new VHL Evidence Portal, in which new retrieval mechanisms and sources of information, such as guides, reports, terminology and directories of scientific institutions and events, will be integrated
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ePORTUGUÊSe adopts the VHL/GHL for management of scientific and technical information on health

The ePORTUGUÊSe Network significantly advanced with the results achieved in the technical seminar organized by the BIREME/PAHO/WHO and supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, held in Sao Paulo City, in June 2007. The public opening session was attended by Reinaldo Guimarães, Secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs, representing the Minister of Health; Regina Ungerer, Coordinator of the ePORTUGUÊSe; Helena Nader, Full Professor, Head of the Molecular Biology Department, representing Ulysses Fagundes Neto, Principal of the UNIFESP; Diego Gonzalez, Regional Advisor, representing Diego Victoria, PAHO Representative in Brazil; José Carlos Seixas, Office Advisor, representing Luis Roberto B. Barata, Secretary of Health of the State of Sao Paulo and Abel Packer, Director of the BIREME. Augusto Paulo Silva, Coordinator of the Department of Planning and Cooperation of the Ministry of Health of Guinea-Bissau, represented the participants of the countries in this session. The seminar participants prepared a document with conclusions and recommendations towards implementing the VHL in Portuguese-speaking countries in the next two years
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China and India join the Clinical Trial Registry System of the WHO

On July 25, 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that China and India joined the Clinical Trial Registry System to assure transparency and good quality in research activities. The inclusion of both countries in the online clinical trial database, available at the Portal of International Clinical Trial Registry Platform, is a major step for managers and scientists, who now can follow-up local research activities, enhance quality of investigation and comply with global standards for transparency. This decision also contributes to strengthen the effort to implement a registry in Latin America and the Caribbean, which shall operate as a national and regional network, according to the VHL network model. BIREME demands editors of journals to indicate the clinical registry identification number acknowledged by the WHO in scientific articles involving clinical trials
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VHL Psy Argentina expands the VHL psychology network

The VHL Psy Argentina is part of the VHL network and was developed based on the experience of VHL Psy Brazil, following the principles of ULAPSI, and the decisions made during the 1st Meeting, held in August 2006. During the 14th Psychology Research Seminar and the 3rd Psychology Research Forum of Mercosur: Research in Psychology and its Relation with Professional and Academic Practice, held on August 9-11, 2007, at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina, the 2nd VHL Psychology Meeting of Argentina was held concurrently. The VHL Psychology Network aims to promote efficient, online, universal and equitable access to sources of scientific information and knowledge produced in Latin American countries, with a view to becoming the virtual space for Latin American psychologists
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BioMed Central introduces portal on open access for developing countries

BioMed Central recently launched a new portal targeted at developing countries with a view to enhancing open access to medical and scientific literature in general by researchers, students and health professionals. BioMed Central integrates major current open access initiatives for health sciences, together with the SciELO network, two PubMed Central repositories, and PLoS. The Open Access and the Developing World Portal features the most relevant research published in open access journals of BioMed Central in addition to the most important news and sources of information on open access and developing countries. Among the resources included in the portal, it is worth mentioning the "Salvador Declaration on Open Access: the Developing World Perspective"
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