About the Journal
Editorial Policies of the Journal Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde (CCS)
1. Focus and Scope Policy
Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde (CCS) is a scientific journal affiliated with the School of Public Health of the Federal District (ESP-DF), published in electronic format with a quarterly frequency. Established in 1990 under the title Revista de Saúde do Distrito Federal, the journal adopted its current name in 2006, reflecting the expansion of its editorial scope and strengthening its commitment to the dissemination of scientific knowledge in the field of health.
The mission of CCS is to promote the dissemination of scientific research, critical analyses, and relevant experiences that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in health, the improvement of healthcare practices, the strengthening of health management, and the development of educational processes in the health field. The journal seeks to encourage scientific production aligned with the needs of the health system, particularly within the context of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), promoting the circulation of scientific evidence capable of supporting clinical, educational, and managerial decision-making.
The journal’s editorial scope is organized into three main thematic sections. The Clinical and Healthcare section publishes studies related to healthcare delivery at different levels of care, including clinical research, health technology assessment, and evidence synthesis applied to clinical practice. The Public Health section includes studies in epidemiology, health policy, health economics, planning, management, and social sciences applied to health. The Health Education section publishes studies related to training processes in the health field, including pedagogical experiences, continuing education, and the use of active learning methodologies.
The journal’s target audience includes researchers, faculty members, health professionals, health managers, graduate students, and public policy makers interested in scientific production related to the health field.
2. Types of Manuscripts
The journal Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde publishes original and unpublished scientific manuscripts that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of health. Submitted manuscripts must demonstrate scientific relevance, methodological rigor, and effective contribution to healthcare practice, public policy development, health management, or professional education.
The journal accepts the following types of manuscripts: original articles, essays, systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis, overviews of systematic reviews, scoping reviews, experience reports, clinical case reports, opinion articles, and interviews (the latter two by editorial invitation).
Submitted manuscripts are evaluated based on originality, methodological consistency, scientific relevance, and contribution to the health field. The journal prioritizes the publication of original research articles, seeking to ensure that the majority of published works correspond to original scientific investigations.
3. Peer Review
All manuscripts submitted to Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde undergo a double-blind peer review process, ensuring impartiality and high scientific evaluation standards.
The editorial process begins with manuscript submission through the journal’s electronic platform, based on the Open Journal Systems (OJS). After submission, manuscripts undergo a preliminary evaluation conducted by the editorial team, known as desk review, in which adherence to the journal’s scope, compliance with submission guidelines, and scientific relevance are assessed.
Manuscripts considered suitable at this stage are forwarded for evaluation by external experts, selected according to their expertise in the study’s thematic area. Reviewers evaluate manuscripts considering criteria such as originality, scientific relevance, methodological quality, clarity of writing, and contribution to knowledge advancement in the field.
Based on the reviewers’ reports, the editors make an editorial decision, which may result in acceptance, request for revisions, or rejection of the manuscript. When revisions are requested, authors must submit a revised version of the manuscript accompanied by a detailed response to the reviewers’ comments.
4. Ethics, Scientific Integrity, Transparency, and Good Research Practices Policy
The CCS Journal adopts a Research Ethics, Scientific Integrity, Transparency, and Good Publication Practices Policy applicable to all submissions. Authors are fully responsible for the ethical conduct of the study, the accuracy of the data presented, the appropriate attribution of authorship, transparency regarding funding and support received, and the responsible communication of research results.
The journal’s editorial practices follow the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), particularly with regard to preventing and handling suspected research misconduct and addressing post-publication issues. In such cases, editorial procedures such as corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern may be adopted when appropriate. Failure to comply with this policy may result in rejection, retraction, and/or communication with relevant institutional authorities.
· Research involving human participants: Studies must comply with the resolutions and regulatory guidelines applicable to the Brazilian research ethics system, including Law No. 14,874/2024, which establishes the National Human Research Ethics System (SINEP), and its regulatory decree No. 12,651/2025, as well as other related regulations. For studies conducted outside Brazil, authors must comply with the legislation and ethical standards of the country where the study was carried out, including approval by an equivalent ethics review body.
· Research involving animals: Studies must comply with current ethical standards for animal research and indicate approval by the Animal Research Ethics Committee (CEUA) or an equivalent body.
· Declaration of Helsinki:When applicable, authors must indicate that the procedures followed were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975, revised in 2013).
· Ethical approval documentation: Manuscripts requiring ethical review must include a copy of the approval, exemption, or waiver issued by the relevant ethics committee as a supplementary file at submission.
· Informed consent: Authors must declare in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained from participants or formally justify its waiver when permitted by the ethics committee.
· Identifiable information and images: Authors must confirm that written consent has been obtained for publication of identifiable information, images, or photographs.
· Conflicts of interest and funding: Authors must declare any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest, as well as funding sources and support received.
· Plagiarism and text similarity: The journal may use similarity detection software to identify possible cases of plagiarism or text recycling.
· Previous publication: Authors must inform whether the study or substantial parts of it have been previously published.
· Authorship: Only individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the research should be listed as authors.
· Data sharing statement: Original research manuscripts must include a data sharing statement indicating whether the underlying data are available, where they can be accessed, and under what conditions.
5. Copyright
Authors retain the copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. By submitting a manuscript, authors declare that the work is original, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration by another journal.
Total or partial reproduction of published works is permitted provided that the authorship and the original source of publication in Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde are properly acknowledged.
6. Open Access Policy
The CCS Journal provides immediate open access to all its content, with no embargo period, ensuring full access to articles from the moment of publication. No fees are charged for access, reading, or downloading articles.
Any user may read, download, copy, distribute, and share the articles under the terms of the license adopted by the journal, provided that appropriate credit is given to the authors and the source.
The maintenance of open access is supported by institutional funding from the Coordination of Research and Scientific Communication of the School of Public Health of the Federal District (ESP-DF) and the Foundation for Teaching and Research in Health Sciences of the Federal District (FEPECS).
7. Licensing Policy
Articles published in Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde are distributed under a Creative Commons license, indicated in each published article. This license establishes the conditions for use, sharing, and distribution of the scientific content.
The licensing model aims to balance the broad dissemination of scientific knowledge with the recognition of authorship.
8. Plagiarism and Misconduct Policy
The journal adopts measures to prevent and identify scientific misconduct, including the use of similarity detection tools to identify possible cases of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, or inappropriate text recycling.
Manuscripts may be analyzed using similarity detection software during the editorial process. Confirmed cases of misconduct may result in rejection of the manuscript, retraction of published articles, or notification to the authors’ institutions.
9. Privacy and Data Protection Policy
Personal data provided by authors, reviewers, and readers in the journal system are used exclusively for editorial and administrative purposes related to the functioning of the journal.
The journal ensures the confidentiality of the information provided and adopts appropriate measures to ensure secure storage and protection of such data.
10. Editorial Transparency
Comunicação em Ciências da Saúde adopts principles of editorial transparency and good practices in scholarly publishing. The journal publicly provides information on its editorial structure, including the composition of the editorial board, institutional affiliations, and countries of its members.
The journal also publicly describes its editorial workflow, peer review model, and other editorial policies relevant to authors, reviewers, and readers. In addition, published articles include information on dates of submission, acceptance, and publication, contributing to transparency in the editorial process.
11. Repository Policy
The journal allows and encourages the deposit of published articles in institutional or thematic open access repositories, contributing to the visibility and impact of scientific production.
Authors may deposit different versions of their manuscripts, including preprints, accepted manuscripts (postprints), and the final published version. Deposits should clearly indicate the reference to the original publication in the journal.
12. Artificial Intelligence Policy
The CCS Journal allows the limited use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, including generative natural language processors, in the preparation of manuscripts. Currently, approved uses are restricted to text editing support, such as language revision, clarity improvement, grammar correction, style adjustments, and text organization.
The following uses are not permitted: generation of original scientific content, development of research hypotheses, automatic search or recommendation of references, and creation, modification, or fabrication of data.
The use of AI tools must be declared during the submission process. Additionally, manuscripts that used AI tools must include a transparency statement indicating the scope and extent of their use, including the name of the tool, software version, and developer when applicable.
AI tools cannot be credited as authors and do not meet authorship criteria, which remain the responsibility of human authors in accordance with internationally recognized principles such as those established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of the manuscript content, including fact-checking, proper citation of sources, and ethical and legal compliance. Improper or undeclared use of AI may result in rejection, correction, retraction, and/or notification to relevant authorities when appropriate.
