About the Journal

 

Manuscripts in the following languages are accepted: Portuguese and English. Articles submitted in Portuguese  are translated by our journal into English and published in both languages. For articles submitted in English, there is no translation to Portuguese.

The original research manuscript must follow the structure known as IMRAD: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (Text Structure). Manuscripts based on qualitative researches may have other formats, with Results and Discussion being accepted in the same section, as well as Final Remarks and Conclusions. Other manuscript categories (reviews, commentary, etc.) must follow the text format suited to them.

The studies must be presented so that any interested researcher may reproduce its results. For that, we encourage using the following recommendations, according to the submitted article category:

  • CONSORT checklist and flowchart for controlled and randomized tests;
  • STARD checklist and flowchart for diagnostic accuracy studies;
  • MOOSE checklist and flowchart for meta-analyses and systematic review of observation studies;
  • PRISMA checklist and flowchart for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
  • STROBE checklist for observation studies in epidemiology;
  • RATS checklist for qualitative studies.

 

Details on the items required for presenting the study are described according to the article category.

As a way of evaluating the occurrence of plagiarism, all received manuscripts are submitted to a program for text similarity detection.

The first author’s ORCID, as well as all other co-authors’ ones, must be informed when submitting the manuscripts, in the cover letter.

 

Resolution of conflicts of interest and ethical violations

Editors will take the necessary steps to identify and prevent the publication of articles where research misconduct or ethical violations occur, including plagiarism, manipulation of citations and falsification / fabrication of data, absence of relevant authorizations, discrimination, among others. Situations and allegations that come to the attention of editors and evaluators will be forwarded to the Editorial Committee, which will take the appropriate measures, including referral to higher levels of the university, if necessary.

 

Focus and Scope

Article categories

 

  1. Original Articles

Include observational, experimental or quasi-experimental studies, program evaluation, cost-effectiveness analyses, decision analyses, and studies on the evaluation of the performance of diagnose tests for populational triage. Each article must contain clear objectives and hypothesis, used design and methodology, results, discussion and conclusions.

They also include theoretical essays (critique and formulation of significant theoretical knowledge) and articles dedicated to present and discuss methodological aspects and techniques used in public health research. In this case, the text must be organized into topics to guide the reader in relation to the essential elements of the argument developed.

 

Measurement tools in populational research

Manuscripts that deal with measurement tools may include aspects related to transcultural development, evaluation, and adaptation for usage in populational studies, excluding the ones with clinical application, which do not meet the RSP scope.

 

For measurement manuscripts, we recommend the presentation of a detailed appreciation of the evaluated construct, including its possible intensity gradient and its occasional sub-dimensions. The development of a new tool must be based on a literature review, which can explicitly identify the insufficiency of previous proposals and justify the need for a new tool.

 

The following must be detailed in the text: item proposition, selection, and elaboration, as well as the employment of strategies to adequate it to the construct’s definition, including the use of qualitative techniques in research (in-depth interviews, focal groups, etc.), meetings with specialist panels, among others; the path traced in the definition of how to measure items and the performing pre-tests, along with its preliminary sets; and the evaluation of face, content, criteria, construct or dimensional validity.

 

Tool reliability analyses must also be presented and discussed, including measures for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, or interobserver concordance. The authors must expose the process of selecting the final tool and place it in critical and comparative view in relation to other tools destined to evaluate the same or similar constructs.

 

For manuscripts on the transcultural adaptation of measurement tools, besides fulfilling the aforementioned recommendations on the whole, it is necessary to explain the theoretical model guiding the process. The authors must just as well justify the choice for a certain tool for adaptation to a certain socio-cultural context, based on a through literature review. Lastly, they should also explicitly indicate how, and which were the adapting theoretical model’s phases used in the work submitted for publication.

 

The measurement tool must be included as an annex in the submitted article.

 

Manuscript organization

Besides the mentioned recommendations, authors must verify the following formatting instructions:

a) Original article

  • Should have a maximum of 3,500 words (excluding abstract, table, figures, and references).
  • Number of table and figures: up to 5.
  • Recommended number of references: up to 30.
  • Abstract in the structured format with up to 300 words.

 

b) Concise communication - Short reports on findings which are of interest to public health, but which do not comprise a wider analysis or a more extensive discussion. Its presentation must follow the norms required for original articles.

  • Should have a maximum of 1,500 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, and references).
  • Number of tables and figures: one table or figure.
  • Recommended number of references: up to 5.
  • Abstract in narrative form with a maximum of 100 words.

 

c) Review article

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis - Through the synthesis of results in original, quantitative or qualitative, studies, it aims to answer a specific question, which is significant to public health. It describes in detail the process of looking for original studies, the criteria used for selecting the ones included in the review and the procedures employed for synthetizing the results obtained by the reviewed studies. Consult:

MOOSE: checklist and flowchart for meta-analyses and systematic reviews of observational studies;

PRISMA:  checklist and flowchart for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

 

  • Narrative or critical review - The narrative or critical review has a descriptive-discursive character, and it is dedicated to comprehensively present and discuss themes of scientific interest in the field of public health. It must present a clear formulation of a scientific interested object, logical argumentation, theoretic-methodological critique of consulted works, and a concluding synthesis. It must be designed by researchers with experience in the studied field or specialists of recognized knowledge.

 

  • It must have a maximum of 4,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, and references).
  • Number of tables and figures: up to 5.
  • Number of references: no limitation.
  • Abstracts in the structured format must have up to 300 words, or 150 words for narrative formats.

 

d) Commentary - They aim to encourage the discussion, introduce a debate, and “fuel” controversies on significant aspects of public health. The text must be organized into topics or subitems. The introduction must highlight the subject and its significance. Mentioned references must support the main aspects covered by the text.

  • They must contain a maximum of 2,000 words (excluding abstracts, tables, figures, and references).
  • Recommended number of references: up to 30.
  • Number of tables and figures: up to 5.
  • Abstracts in the narrative form must have a maximum of 150 words.

 

We also publish Letters to the Editor with up to 600 words and a maximum of 5 references.

Publication Frequency

Continuous publication

PUBLICATION FEE

In 2012, RSP started to charge a publication fee, which is essential to ensure its continuity, with quality and technological resources.

Considering the authors whose financial situation was affected by the pandemic, we decided to keep the tariff rate unchanged for the last two and a half years, absorbing the increases in publication costs. However, given the important cuts in the support received from the development institutions and the inflationary pressures in the sector, as of January 1st, 2022, the publication fee will change to: R$ 3,800.00 for an original article, review or comment and R$ 3,200.00 for a brief communication. Payments from abroad will be US$1,200.00 and US$1,000.00, respectively. Articles sent before January 1st will not be subject to readjustment in the publication rate.

The RSP provides authors with the necessary documents to demonstrate the payment of the fee to employing institutions, postgraduate programs, or research funding agencies.

After the approval of the article, the authors must wait for the submission of the proforma invoice with information on how to proceed with the fee payment.

Information services

Articles published in Revista de Saúde Pública are indexed or abstracted in the following databases:

International

  • BIOSIS
  • CAB-Abstracts
  • CAB-Health
  • EMBASE
  • Health Plan
  • HEALTHSAFE
  • Human Nutrition
  • Life Science Collection
  • Medline
  • PubMed
  • PERIODICA
  • Popline
  • Web of Sciences (ISI)
  • Wildlife Worldwide (NISC)

Latin American

  • Lilacs

The journal is also indexed in the following printed bibliographies:

  • Abstracts on Hygiene and Communicable Diseases
  • Abstracts on Zooparasitology
  • Biological Abstracts
  • Current Contents / Social & Behavioral Science
  • Entomology Abstracts
  • Excerpta Medica
  • Index Medicus
  • Microbiology Abstracts
  • Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews - Series B
  • Review Medical Veterinary Entomology
  • Safety Science Abstracts Journal
  • Social Science Citation Index
  • Tropical Diseases Bulletin
  • Veterinary Bulletin
  • Virology Abstracts

 

Journal History

Organ of the Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo, the Revista de Saúde Pública publishes results of original researches, reviews, comments and scientific notes.

The journal is specialized in the several interdisciplinary areas of the public health, with emphasis in epidemiology, and published  since 1967.

Some articles have online English version since August 2003.