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The role of the RBO: 70 years of support to the Brazilian orthopedic surgeon n

2009; Brazilian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology; Volume: 44; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s2255-4971(15)30265-2

2255-4971

Lech Osvandré,

Global Health and Surgery

The history of this Brazilian Journal of Orthopaedics (RBO) transcribes much of the history of orthopedics in Brazil. Considered one of the cornerstones of the Brazilian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology (SBOT, Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia e Traumatologia), the magazine was leveraged to the public with great difficulty at a time when the specialty was taking its first steps in Brazil, but was already carrying in its core the mission of scientific communication. Today, it has a double role, as Gilberto Camanho said in his first editorial in 2009: to contribute to the scientific updating of more than 10,000 orthopedic surgeons in Brazil, where it is edited, and to reach the world through scientific indexing-this is also proof of its scientific quality. As we have written elsewhere, Jose Londres, in a letter for the foundation of the SBOT said: “I believe that it would be convenient to form an Academy, with a limited number of permanent members, all of whom are experts, if possible. It would then be responsible for the publication of a quarterly journal, collaborating openly with all the work of the specialty that is of interest, even if its author is not a member of the organization. The letter is dated August 1935, one month before the founding of the SBOT and indelibly marks the vocation of the society to promote the production of science and spread it to its peers. The Brazilian Archives of Orthopedics, published in the following year by Barros Lima, one of the founders of the SBOT, bore the annals of the first Congress of the society. Preserved in the archives of the SBOT to date, this volume from 1936 can be considered the seed of the current RBO. Achilles Araujo, also a founder of SBOT, created the RBO just three years later. Very few copies remain of this first edition of the RBO in Brazil. In the introductory text, Achilles wrote: “With this issue begins the ‘Brazilian Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology’ and the task to which it is proposed-to be the repository and at the same time the publisher of the scientific output of those of us who are dedicated to the study of these subjects and a dedicated and enthusiastic collaborator of the work that the Brazilian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology is brilliantly creating towards the concept of autonomy of these specialties that complement each other. The ever-increasing number of scientific studies on the pathology and clinical aspects of the organs of the locomotor apparatus, scattered in numerous Brazilian's medical journals and even abroad, exuberantly shows the interest that is awakening in our country regarding the specialization and the need to take greater advantage of the effort that has been dedicated thereto, to unite them in one magazine that has dealing with these subjects as its only scope. The ‘Brazilian Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology’ appears as a logical consequence of such statements, and it is certain that gathering and disseminating the technical and scientific output of the cultivators of the specialty in Brazil, and becoming, as desired, an efficient field of study of the multiple and complex social-medical problems that orthopedics and traumatology still present, is certain, we repeat, to make a useful and patriotic product.” Wise words. Professor Achilles, who chaired the SBOT between 1936 and 1937, committed his entire life to spreading knowledge of the specialty, and edited and maintained the magazine by himself until 1945. Unfortunately, a large gap in the historical records follows up to 1965, when it turns to discuss the need for an official publication of scientific papers in orthopedics. Twenty years without the RBO. There was a lack of structure and funding for such work and, during the SBOT Congress in Belo Horizonte in 1967, Marcio Ibrahim de Carvalho proposed to edit the magazine at the University of Minas Gerais press. For that he needed permission from the “owner” of the title, Achilles Araujo, who promptly granted it, and also needed money. Previous studies had indicated that it would be impossible to resume publication of the RBO without funding. It was decided at an executive meeting that one third of the contributions of the SBOT members (less than 300 orthopedic surgeons at the time) would be reserved for the magazine. A wise political decision. The first volume of this new phase of the RBO came out with the following words on its cover: “Founded by Achilles de Araujo. A campaign was made to raise funds for the first few volumes, with the raffling of two cars, and the official launch took place on December 9, 1966 in the lobby of the Library of the School of Medicine at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). The Library of the School of Medicine at the UFMG was the headquarters of the RBO for five years, while Marcio Ibrahim remained as its editor. Donato D'Angelo, another major contributor to the SBOT, then took his place in 1972 and directed the magazine for no less than 27 years. His office in Rio de Janeiro was the headquarters of the RBO during this period. As president of the Twentieth Congress of the SBOT, held in 1975, Donato used this experience to resolve another RBO problem in addition to its chronic lack of economic resources: the scarcity of articles for publication. The magazine published three issues per year between 1971 and 1977. All of this output came from the papers presented in the Brazilian Congresses of Orthopedics and Traumatology (CBOT, Congresso Brasileiro de Ortopedia e Traumatologia) and the examination for obtaining the Title of Specialist in Orthopedics and Traumatology (TEOT, Titulo de Especialista em Ortopedia e Traumatologia)-the committee of which Donato was also part. Therefore, in order to obtain the TEOT, the candidate needed to produce, and this product was published if it received a score above 8. The papers presented in the CBOTs also had space guaranteed in the RBO. Moreover, Donato communicated with the heads of clinics requesting the writing of articles. Without the current rules for scientific evaluation, a work was often selected for its length, according to the need for a “bigger” or “smaller” article! Beginning in 1978, Donato also initiated partnerships with printing companies who printed the magazine, giving them the right to sell ads in the RBO as part of covering the production costs. That year, the magazine began to have four annual installments. And it would not stop growing: starting in 1982, six issues per year. In 1981, it managed to be indexed in the Latin American database LILACS. In 1987, the magazine had to request assistance from agencies that support research, such as FINEP and CNPq to help the RBO to be published, since the laboratory advertisers withdrew funding due to economic crisis. The following year, the RBO published 10 editions. In 1992, through a decision by the president of the SBOT, Edison Jose Antunes, the RBO came out with its regular issue and one more dedicated to the subspecialty committees. In 1996, the output of the committees allowed the number of annual issues to increase to 12. In 1999, after a phenomenal series of actions dedicated to Brazilian orthopedics, Donato D'Angelo asked to resign from the RBO, becoming Editor Emeritus. Carlos Giesta took his place and created the bylaws of the RBO in that same year, changing the criteria for selecting articles for publication to ensure their highest quality. The Executive Committee of the magazine was created and the Editorial Board was restructured and expanded. In 2003, the magazine began publishing articles in English. In 2004, the entire contents of the magazine since 1993 were published on the Internet. Since 2005, the choice of editor-in-chief has been made among the peers of the Editorial Board (instead of the traditional appointment by the president of the SBOT). Review articles of current issues personally requested to the national leaders in orthopedics published at the beginning of each edition, and letters and editorials written with elaborate language resources also marked the influence of Giesta in the RBO. In 2007, the magazine managed to take another important step towards increasing its international visibility-it was indexed by the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) database, which provides all texts in full and for free. In 2009, Carlos Giesta passed the editing of the magazine to Gilberto Camanho when it was celebrating 70 years of publication, with 44 volumes and 2758 articles published through April, much of it available on the Internet to any health professional in the world. The new editor-in-chief began his mission bringing to the SBOT the administration of the magazine where he presents spectacular credit in the first year. The RBO is now located at the SBOT headquarters and the dedication and efficiency of Diva Godoi and Carolina Widonsck. The editorial body goes through structuring, revisions are quick and online, and the editor-in-chief's role gains a period predetermined among peers. It also intensely seeks new indexations. The history of the RBO is very rich. To summarize it in a text so small is foolhardy. However, it is worth stating that this journal has provided and still provides a spectacular service to the “two ends” of the Brazilian orthopedic class-a place to publish and a place to seek information. We drink, for it is water from the same source. Achilles de Araujo, Marcio Ibrahim de Carvalho, Donato D'Angelo, Carlos Giesta, and Gilberto Camanho, editors-in-chief of the RBO at different times: thanks for the commitment, dedication, love to the SBOT and science.