VHL News Network

CRICS8 opens submission period for posters

Next March, the most important congress on scientific information on health in Latin America and the Caribbean opens the submission period for posters. The 8th Regional Conference on Health Sciences Information (CRICS8) will be held in Rio de Janeiro, on September 16-19, 2008. The 5th Regional Coordination Meeting of the VHL (VHL5) and of its complementary networks, such as SciELO and other regional and international networks, will take place on September 14 to 16. These and othe program activities, including courses, exhibitions, cultural and social events, have been intensively prepared, as well as the dissemination of the congress. The main theme will be contribution of information and scientific knowledge to innovation in healthcare
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Harvard decision in favor of open access rebounds on the scientific community and media

By approving the policy towards open access publication, lecturers and researchers of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, promoted an effort that impacts on the American and international scientific communities. This policy encourages authors to keep publishing in high-impact journals with controlled access, but with an authorization to deposit the articles in the open access repository of the institution. This deliberation had much repercussion on the media and in the scientific community, and fosters the international movement of open access, particularly the initiatives from developing countries, such as the VHL and SciELO
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VHL Stations available in 24 Brazilian States and in the Federal District

Thirteen new VHL Stations have been inaugurated in Brazil. In the beginning of 2008, 38 units are available in the country, with equipment and trained teams to promote access to scientific and technical sources of information of the VHL, within the Unified Health System (SUS). Initially implemented in the State Secretariats of Health, the VHL Stations are now operated within the Municipal Secretariats. Among the recent units, there are specific VHL stations for the field of Psychology, strengthening the advance towards equitable access to scientific information and knowledge that are relevant for managers, researchers, professionals, students and the general community
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LILACS achieves historic results

Source of information for scientific and technical literature record and indexing, the LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences) reaches a new step in contributing to input of bibliographic references of scientific and technical documents, such as articles, essays, papers presented at congresses, theses, government texts. The collaborative networking activities and the growing commitment of the cooperating centers added to this historic achievement, apart from the methodological and technological innovations provided for publishing in LILACS
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2nd ScienTI Network Technical Meeting recommends regional metadata repository

Methodology and technology technical professionals of the ScienTI Network and representatives from National (Oncyts) and International (Oicyts) Science and Technology Councils of the member countries of the Network gathered in Bogota, Colombia, in a meeting organized by the COLCIENCIAS. Among several topics dealt with by the work groups, it was approved to establish and operate a Metadata Repository for the network, with basic data collected from the curricula of researchers of the countries that take part in the ScienTI. The system will facilitate integrated searches to curricula registered in the CVLAC (Currículum Vitae Latinoamericano y el Caribe) directories
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Launching of SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) enhances the universe of bibliometric indicators

The launching of the new portal of bibliometric indicators based on citations, the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR), provides the scientific community with one more source of indicators to classify and measure performance and impact, as well as the flow of international scientific communication and to support scientometric studies. The portal allows selective publication of dynamic reports with indicators based on citations from scientific works indexed in the bibliographic index SCOPUS, from 1996 to 2007, by means of the new indicator SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and the Hirsch index (index H). The news led to debates about transparency in calculating Impact Factors, which contributed to better understanding of the recent indices and indicators
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