Qualis Journals: indicator of science policy in Brazil?

Abstract

This study was developed to understand and analyze how the Qualis indicator and its criteria are experienced in the editorial routines of Brazilian scientific journals. To elucidate the argument, questions about the emergence of Qualis, as well as its operation, the changes it suffered through time and the controversies around this evaluation/classification are also addressed in this paper. The research was conducted in two phases: firstly, an extensive bibliographic research about the theme was made; and in the secondly, interviews and an ethnographic study with journal editors of Education area were conducted, where it was possible to verify the implications that Qualis has on editorials practices. The study shows that the Qualis, as a consolidated scientific indicator, raises questions about how specific measures and concepts of quality in scientific publishing are constructed in Brazil, and how they are enforced through Qualis.