END OF QUALIS AND BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA: RADICAL CHANGE BY CAPES GIVING VALUE TO RESEARCH AND NOT TO THE JOURNAL WHERE IT IS PUBLISHED

Abstract

Circular Letter 46/2024-DAV/CAPES of October 3, 2024 explains what is already defined and what all post-graduate programs in all areas must be adapted to, for the future evaluation of the 2025/2028 quadrennium. This new vision radically modifies everything that existed over the previous decades based on Qualis and its modifications over time, and which ceased to exist. The evaluation methodology will be indicated in the area document, as is done today, but with different qualitative and quantitative indicators. They should be widely discussed not only among the committees' consultants but also with the academic community related to the area, which may be class associations. It is now called "article classification". What changes is the focus on the article and not on the publication vehicle. It is very important to understand this. To classify an article is to verify the value it has, or may have, for the community or science where it resides. The process will be based on three classification procedures. The first is to continue following equivalence with the calculation bases, similar to the current Qualis. In the second - this has changed a lot - the classification of articles should be done by direct bibliometric indicators of the article (impact factor, h-index, Eingenfactor, Scimago Journal Rank SJR), citation (frequency with which articles are cited by other works, showing the relevance, impact and quality of the article), altimetry (set of indicators of scientific communication of the social web that can evaluate the quality of journals and researchers), various quantitative analyses of social media (Instagram, Facebook, Wikipedia and others), the classification of the article by criteria of indexing of articles (indexing databases), the valorization of national journals with the use of DOIs that allow their search through social media,  be in open access (free availability to the public on the internet, without financial restrictions and/or fees), among others. The third procedure is the qualitative analysis of the article, that is, the collaboration that the article gave to society in an immediate way. Brazilian journals will be valued through their articles, measured by the number of citations, bibliometric and social media indicators that this article has and made by the national and/or international media, and not by the name of the journal where it was published. But open access is fundamental. It is understood at this point that the scientific community must be heard by the evaluation committees of the areas. Dialogues, opinions, and projections are only fruitful with freedom of expression and group participation among all actors. We are going to use this moment to create something that will make us proud and that can be a model for creation for other countries that intend to install post-graduate systems at a high level of reliability, evolution, innovation and social application.