[Brazilian scientific journals in speech-language and hearing science: impact indicator].

BACKGROUND Global value of scientific papers published in national journals of the Brazilian Speech-language and Hearing Science analyzed through the Impact Factor (IF). PURPOSE To analyze part of the Brazilian Speech-Language and Hearing Science through its scientific journals: characterization of the impact indicator--in this case the Impact Factor (IF). Seven national Speech-language and Hearing Science journals (1986/ 2001) registered in the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (Ibict) and with a given International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) were analyzed. In order to calculate the IF of the scientific journals, the lists of bibliographic references of the published papers were consulted and the original formula of Garfield was used, adapting it to the seven journals. Bibliographic references cited in the research papers, in the case studies, in the review and update articles were considered for analyses. Researches which were cited in the summaries like letters to the editors; editorial, abstracts, commentaries and others were excluded. A total of 9,334 bibliographic references of 549 papers were analyzed, excluding self-citations of authors. It was observed that the resulting IFs revealed practically null values. The obtained results demonstrate that the Brazilian Speech-language and Hearing Science needs to develop a few aspects of its editorial and scientific processes--the researches of the Brazilian Speech-language and Hearing Science are being lost, making it necessary for the editors to raise the access and visibility of their journals and for the speech-language and hearing scientists to cite the work of their antecessors and national partners. According to the obtained data, for the Brazilian Speech-language and Hearing Science, the publication of 11.9 papers is necessary for only one of these papers to be cited in another research. It is observed that the IFs of the Brazilian Speech-language and Hearing Science, among these seven journals, have risen since 1999, suggesting a development of this Science. The follow up of this research, analyzing the years subsequent to 2001, is necessary in order to verify the real raise of the impact of these articles.