Methodological adequacy of articles published in two open-access Brazilian cardiology periodicals.
OBJECTIVE
The use of rigorous scientific methods has contributed towards developing scientific articles of excellent methodological quality. This has made it possible to promote their citation and increase the impact factor. Brazilian periodicals have had to adapt to certain quality standards demanded by these indexing organizations, such as the content and the number of original articles published in each issue. This study aimed to evaluate the methodological adequacy of two Brazilian periodicals within the field of cardiology that are indexed in several databases and freely accessible through the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), and which are now indexed by the Web of Science (Institute for Scientific Information, ISI).


METHODS
Descriptive study at Brazilian Cochrane Center.


METHODS
All the published articles were evaluated according to merit assessment (content) and form assessment (performance).


RESULTS
Ninety-six percent of the articles analyzed presented study designs that were adequate for answering the objectives.


CONCLUSIONS
These two Brazilian periodicals within the field of cardiology published methodologically adequate articles, since they followed the quality standards. Thus, these periodicals can be considered both for consultation and as vehicles for publishing future articles. For further analyses, it is essential to apply other indicators of scientific activity such as bibliometrics, which evaluates quantitative aspects of the production, dissemination and use of information, and scientometrics, which is also concerned with the development of science policies, within which it is often superimposed on bibliometrics.
Macedo
Cristiane Rufino
CR
Brazilian Cochrane Center, São Paulo, Brazil. crisrufa@uol.com.br
Silva
Davi Leite da
DL
Puga
Maria Eduarda
ME
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil; D002309:Cardiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data