FCT is the new manager of SciELO Portugal

This year, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) took over the management of the SciELO Portugal project, which consists of a digital library of scientific journals integrated into an international network of libraries in which 26 countries collaborate. 

The idea of creating SciELO was born in Brazil, with the objective of expanding the dissemination of scientific production in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in general in Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries. Currently, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela are part of this network.

Portugal began in 2001 the first steps in its accession to SciELO International, which was completed in 2002 on the initiative of the Observatory of Science and Technology. The purpose of joining this network was to promote scientific journals published in Portugal by extending open access to quality national scientific production.

The project began in Portugal with the implementation of the technical requirements and with the familiarization of the team with the SciELO methodology. For the selection of the first journals to integrate the collection, it was necessary to set up a panel of evaluators composed of researchers and university professors who, together with the Observatory of Science and Technology and FCT, applied the SciELO criteria to the journals published in Portugal.

In 2005, with the selection of the first journals that met the SciELO criteria, the Portuguese site of the project is launched. In 2007, Portugal obtains certification as a regularly operating collection within the SciELO network.

The management of the SciELO Portugal project was the responsibility of the Directorate General of Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC) until 2018, the date from which preparations began to be made for the transition of the general coordination of the project to FCT, with the scientific and technical coordination being undertaken in partnership between FCT, through its FCCN unit, and the University of Minho (UM). This change implied an upgrade of the technological infrastructure, benefiting from the development of the PUBIN project, which emerges with the intention of responding to the needs in terms of editorial management platforms in a centralized and interoperable way.

With the transition of SciELO Portugal to FCT, a new Advisory Committee was formed. This body updated the criteria, policy and procedures for the admission and permanence of scientific journals in the SciELO Portugal Collection, which came into force in January 2021. Compliance with these new criteria is essential to operationalize and enforce the principles of Open Science, namely the possibility of using preprints and open peer review. In terms of ensuring integration with the science and technology system, the use of ORCIDs and the JATS-XML format is highlighted. 

Over the last 20 years it has been possible to ensure that the SciELO Portugal project met the requirements of gratuitousness, sustainability, heterogeneity and credibility of the contents disseminated. These criteria were in line with the government policy that defined that the principles and practices of Open Science were a priority, materializing in the development and implementation of a National Open Science Policy. 

Since 2014, FCT has been aligned with the principles of Open Science as defined in the Policy on Open Access to Scientific Publications resulting from R&D Projects Funded by FCT, a position that was reinforced with the adhesion of FCT to Plan S promoted by Science Europe which postulates that all scientific publications developed after 2020, arising from publicly funded research, must be published in Open Access. 

The procedures for integration of publications in the SciELO Portugal Collection are available at: http://www.scielo.mec.pt/. Doubts and questions can be sent by e-mail to scieloportugal@fct.pt.