2015, Vol. 1(1): 1-2
Editorial for the
inaugural issue
Helena Espírito-Santo, PhD (1), Sónia Guadalupe, PhD (2)
(1)
Department of Research & Development., Miguel Torga Institute; E-mail:
espirito-santo@ismt.pt.
(2)
Department of Research & Development., Miguel Torga Institute; E-mail:
guadalupe@ismt.pt.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7342/ismt.rpics.2015.1.1.16
As publishers, it is our privilege to
announce the launch of the first Portuguese edition of the Portuguese Journal of Behavioral and
Social Research (PJBSR). The PJBSR arises from a process that
involved many wills that have crossed and builded together.
From the coupling of our perspectives,
the PJBSR honors the scientific and educational tradition of Miguel Torga
Institute in its 78-year history and the mission of the recent Department of
Research & Development.
This publication lies at the
intersection of two complex and related sciences. "Behavioral" is a
broad term that refers to what people do and to the underlying psychological
processes, regulatory, risk or resilience, including attention, learning and
memory, sensation and perception, emotion and cognition, motivation and
personality. "Social" is also a broad term and concerns the ways
people relate to each other in micro and macro social contexts, including in
small groups, families, communities, institutions and organizations,
populations, cultures and society and its processes. The combined domain of
behavioral and social sciences is dedicated to describe, analyze, and
understand the processes associated with the behavior, disease and health,
social (dis)advantage, processes of (ex)inclusion, and social issues as lived
by individuals and populations, as well as studying the intersections between
the two levels.
The aim of the PJBSR is,
therefore, the publishing of original research articles with quantitative
methodologies and review articles in the areas of Behavioral and Social
Sciences, submitted by experts and researchers, national and international, for
the dissemination of production of knowledge in these fields or in its
intersection. Its purpose is to promote reflection on the challenges of
contemporary societies from studies focused on people and their recursions in
populations and social contexts of particular interest, either because of the
social relevance of the issues, either by the intervention possibilities opened
up by research. The PJBSR welcomes the relevant research based on the
perspectives from the different disciplines of social and behavioral sciences;
as well as studies concerning models, methods, and therapeutic and social
intervention techniques in the various areas.
As the PJBSR intends to support
the community, it is an annual digital publication (with two numbers), part of
the Open Journal System, following the Open Access policy, and being published
in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
Open access involves advantages widely
recognized for the development of science, for the visibility of the studies,
and to the increase of the impact of research. The mission of PJBSR is
the dissemination of knowledge, having no profit. We hope that all potential
authors take advantage of the PJBSR open access policy, contributing
together to the increase of its scientific impact.
As publishers of PJBSR, we assume
responsibility for prior refereeing of the received articles, as well as the
indication of the editorial team for each issue that integrates the reviewers and
contributors. In this regard, we also assume responsibility for our decisions,
stating that we will follow editorial independence governed by scrupulous
acceptance of manuscripts, that we will concern with the quality of writing,
methodological correction, adequacy of statistics, pursuing of ethical
guidelines for human studies, and with the application of transparent criteria
which will be communicated to the authors.
This first issue features authors of the
Miguel Torga Institute, with reviewers from two continents and several
Portuguese universities. The editors want to express their thanks to all the
authors and reviewers for their valuable work and dedication to the quality of
research, including the authors who sent us papers that could not be published
because of editorial policy that restricts publication to quantitative studies.
A total of eight articles were submitted
to this first issue, and each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers
specialized in the area of the study. By the end of the evaluation and review
process, we selected five articles for publication. We hope that all our
readers will appreciate and enjoy the articles that comprise the first issue of
PJBSR, being of particular interest to psychologists, social workers, sociologists,
and all professionals interested in the behavioral and social research.
Two of the papers reflect on relevant
methodological aspects, being a contribution in the direction of future
research and publications. Two other papers are dedicated to highly relevant
topics for those who study and for those who work with socially disadvantaged
populations and their caregivers, as well as for those who develop their work
with teenagers or in educational settings. The latter presents an essential
contribution to the research and therapeutic work.
To conclude this editorial, we encourage
authors to submit their review papers and their original empirical papers of a
quantitative nature to our editorial process, because the success of PJBSR
depends on the quality of work and commitment of all.
Coimbra, February 13, 2015
The editors