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 aim of broadening the dissemination of scientific production in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in general in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries. The network currently includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In 2001, Portugal took the first steps towards joining SciELO International, which was completed in 2002 at the initiative of the Observatory of Science and Technology. The aim 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 the familiarization of the team with the SciELO methodology. To select the first journals to be included in the collection, it was necessary to set up a panel of evaluators made up of researchers and university professors who, together with the Science and Technology Observatory and the FCT, applied the SciELO criteria to journals published in Portugal.

In 2005, with the selection of the first journals that met the SciELO criteria, the project's Portuguese website was launched. In 2007, Portugal was certified as a regularly operating collection within the SciELO network.

The SciELO Portugal project was managed by the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC) until 2018, when preparations began for the transition of the overall coordination of the project to the FCT, with scientific and technical coordination being taken on in partnership between the FCT, through its FCCN unit, and the University of Minho (UM). This change involved updating the technological infrastructure, benefiting from the development of the PUBIN project, which is intended to meet the needs of editorial management platforms in a centralized and interoperable way.

With the transition of SciELO Portugal to FCT, a new Advisory Committee was set up, which 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 guaranteeing integration with the science and technology system, the use of ORCIDs and the JATS-XML format stand out. 

Over the last 20 years, it has been possible to ensure that the SciELO Portugal project meets the requirements of free, sustainable, heterogeneous and credible content. These criteria were in line with the government policy that defined the principles and practices of Open Science as a priority, materializing in the drafting and implementation of a National Open Science Policy. 

Since 2014, the 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 the FCT, a position that was reinforced with the FCT's adherence to Plan S promoted by Science Europe, which stipulates that all scientific publications developed after 2020, resulting from publicly funded research, must be published in Open Access. 

The procedures for integrating publications into the SciELO Portugal Collection can be consulted at: http://www.scielo.mec.pt/. Questions and queries can be sent by e-mail to scieloportugal@fct.pt.