EDITORIAL POLICY

Preprints

• BrJP accepts the submission of preprints. A preprint is defined as a complete and finalized manuscript for submission to a journal that is deposited on a trusted preprint server, before or in parallel to submission to a journal.

• A trusted preprint server must have a transparent moderation policy, offer DOI to submitted preprints, allow changes to the preprint version, comments and community evaluation with researcher endorsement and interoperability with other services and platforms. Only submissions of work previously deposited on public server platforms that meet these characteristics of reliability and transparency will be accepted.

• The public platforms Preprints, SciELO Preprints and EmeRI are recommended for open discussion before approval and publication in the journal.

• In the event of acceptance and publication of the article in BrJP, it is the responsibility of the authors to update the registration on the preprint server, informing the full reference of the publication in the journal.

Peer review process

• Pre-Analysis: all manuscripts submitted to BrJP will be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief will be responsible for assessing and verifying that the potential publication is appropriate to the scope of the journal. Manuscripts that do not meet all the methodological and ethical requirements as well as the authenticity statement will be subject to analysis by a plagiarism software, using the iThenticate originality detection service. Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria will be rejected and returned to the authors at this stage. Manuscripts deemed appropriate by the editor are then sent for technical evaluation.

• Technical evaluation: this stage verifies compliance with the publication and documentation standards required when submitting manuscripts to BrJP. In the event of non-compliance with the instructions, the manuscript will be returned to the authors for adjustments. Only after the required documentation has been complied with will the manuscript be assigned by the Editor-in-Chief to an Associate Editor in the manuscript's main subject area. From this stage onward, the Associate Editor assumes responsibility for processing and evaluating the manuscript, and his/her name will be identified in the process.

• Assessment of relevance and contribution to the scope of BrJP: carried out by the Editor-in-charge. At this stage, the article may be returned to the authors for not meeting the criteria of relevance and contribution, or it may be forwarded to the referees.

• Merit and content analysis: after the manuscript has been assessed by the Editor-in-charge, the article is then evaluated for merit and scientific method by at least two ad hoc evaluators/reviewers from units other than the one where the work originated. The reviewers can recommend four options: "accepted", "accepted with minor corrections", "reconsider after extensive review" or "reject the manuscript". The Editor-in-Chief will also carry out an analysis of merit and content. At this stage, the Editor-in-charge and Editor-in-chief offer the referees the option of talking directly to the corresponding author, with or without revealing their identity.

• Final decision: It is up to the Editor-in-Chief to decide whether to accept the manuscript. Whenever necessary, a revision of the original article will be requested and the manuscript will be returned to the corresponding author for adaptation. A revised version with the changes made must be submitted by the authors and this will be re-evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors and reviewers as necessary. When approved, the name of the Associate Editor responsible for processing the manuscript will be published in the article with their OCID, under the nomenclature "Editor in charge".

• After approval: Manuscripts approved as to their scientific merit for publication in BrJP will be sent for translation into English or Portuguese. After translation, the articles in bilingual format will be sent to the layout designer and sent in PDF format to the authors for final approval before publication. The authors will have 48 hours to send in any minor changes, correct spelling and check the illustrations. It should be noted that any extensive modifications will imply re-examination by the reviewers and will cause a delay in the publication of the work. All articles will have a DOI record.

• Suggestion: BrJP encourages the option of publishing article approval reports with or without identifying the reviewers. Opinions constitute a new type of literature in the SciELO methodology and receive similar treatment to research articles, according to the Open Science Compliance Form completed by the authors when submitting the manuscript.

Open data

• As a good practice, following Open Science to ensure security and transparency, the BrJP encourages the "sharing of data, codes, methods and other materials used and resulting from research that generally underlie the texts of articles published by journals”.

• Research data from the manuscript approved for publication in BrJP can be stored in the Scielo Data / BrJP repository

• The manuscript must provide a descriptive caption for each supplementary material published and the final layout of the article will contain a link to the data repository.

• It is recommended to store data observed, collected, generated to validate the results of the original research, whether raw data, processed data, audio, video, code, software, algorithms, protocols and methods.

Fees charged

• There is no charge to authors for submitting or processing articles (APC).

• Financial sustainability is the responsibility of the Brazilian Society for the Study of Pain and its partners/sponsors through annual or bi-annual contracts.

Ethics and Misconduct Policy, Errata and Retraction

• BrJP adopts the principles of publication ethics included in the code of conduct of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Ethical issues and/or those that could damage the journal's reputation will be evaluated and retracted by the BrJP editorial board and the board of the Brazilian Society for the Study of Pain. 

• In the event of misconduct, the retraction policy will be applied by the journal, in accordance with the Good Practices Guide proposed by SciELO.

• Registration and Errata Publication will follow the recommendations proposed by SciELO.

• Retraction registration and publication will be as proposed by SciELO.

Conflict of Interests Policy

• Conflicts of interest can be of a personal, commercial, political, academic or financial nature. Conflicts of interest can occur when authors, reviewers or editors have interests that may influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. 

• Authors, reviewers and editors involved in the manuscript evaluation and processing process must disclose a summary declaration of interest in the title page file. If there is no interest to declare, then it should be stated: "Declarations of interest: none". This declaration will ultimately be published if the article is accepted. 

• The reviewers and editors involved in the process must disclose in a declaration whether or not there is a conflict of interest involved in the process of evaluating and processing the article. If there is, even if it is a potential conflict, the conflict of interest must be disclosed in a signed document attached to the processing file. This information will be published if the article is approved.

• All authors, reviewers and editors involved in the article evaluation and processing process must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consulting, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

• When editors have a conflict of interest, they should delegate decision-making to other editors.

Adoption of similarity checking software

• BrJP uses the iThenticate similarity checking software from the CrossRef platform.

• Manuscripts are analyzed for similarity before being sent to reviewers. When extensive changes are made in the process of evaluating the manuscript, editors and reviewers may suggest a new check, in which case the article will undergo a new similarity check.

Sex and Gender Issues

• The BrJP editorial team, as well as the authors who publish in the journal, must always observe the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines. The SAGER guidelines comprise a set of guidelines for reporting sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, results and interpretation of findings. In addition, BrJP observes the gender equity policy in the formation of its editorial board.

Ethics Committee

• ·When the research article involves procedures with human beings, animals or LGPD-sensitive data (LGPD - General Personal Data Protection Law), the authors must attach a statement of approval from the ethics committee of the institution responsible for approving the research.

Copyright

• Authors of articles published by BrJP retain the copyright of their work, licensing it under the Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited.

• The authors grant the journal the right of first publication under the , which allows access, printing, reading, distribution, remixing, adapting and developing other works with acknowledgment of authorship

• Authors are granted the right to take on additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in BrJP, such as publishing in an institutional repository, with due acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.

• Readers may read, download, distribute, print, search or linearize the full text of the articles without seeking prior permission from the authors or editors.

Intellectual property and terms of use

• Responsibility of the site: 

• BrJP reserves the right to make spelling changes to the originals in order to maintain the cultured standard of the language, while respecting the authors' style. The original files will be returned to the authors.

• Author's responsibility:

• The authors retain full rights to their work published in BrJP, and its total or partial reprint, deposit or replication is subject to the indication of first publication in the BrJP journal, through the CC BY 4.0 License.

• The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their sole responsibility.

• BrJP adopts the Creative Commons License CC-BY 4.0, preserving the integrity of the articles in an open access environment. The author is allowed to retain publication rights without restriction.

  • Authors of articles published by BrJP retain copyright of their work, which allows articles to be reused and distributed without restriction, provided the original work is correctly cited.

• BrJP encourages Authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts by publishing them on personal blogs, institutional repositories and academic social media, as well as on their personal social media, as long as the full citation to the journal's website version is included.

Sponsors and Funding Agencies

• The publication is sponsored and financially supported by the Brazilian Society for the Study of Pain (SBED) - https://sbed.org.br/

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Types of documents accepted

• The BrJP journal publishes original articles,Scopop, Systematic review and meta-analysis articles, letters to the editor, case reports and short communications on topics related to different areas of pain. We do not accept narrative and interactive reviews (since June 2024).
• BrJP accepts articles of up to 4000 words (excluding title page, abstract, refer-ences, tables, figures and captions; including information in appendices) and up to six tables/figures.
• Short communication publications consist of short communications (up to six per year) in a similar format to original articles, containing 1200 words and up to two figures, one table and ten references.
• Letter to the editor type publications point out important issues in relation to an article recently published in BrJP, encouraging discussion after publication. If accepted, the letter is sent to the authors of the article who have the opportuni-ty to respond. The total word count should be around 500-750 words.
• Submission of preprint articles is encouraged, as long as they are available on platforms with an open, reliable system that allows open discussion before pub-lication/acceptance (see the Preprints section in the editorial policy).

Authors' Contributions

• Authors are obliged to mention their contribution on the title page based on the declaration of authorship according to the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT). The main activities correspond to Conceptualization, Methodology; Software; Validation; Formal Analysis; Research; Resources; Data Analysis; Writing – Preparation of the Original t; Writing - Review and Editing; Visualization; Supervision; Project Administration; Funding Acquisition.

Preparing the Manuscript 

• To facilitate and speed up the submission and evaluation of your manuscript on the BrJP platform, please follow the following recommendations carefully. In case of any technical issues, your article will be sent back for adjustments before it can go on to merit analysis.

Title page

Title

Short title

Full name of the authors, their affiliations (department, institution, city/state/country, e-mail address) and ORCID

Corresponding author with contact details: author's name and e-mail address

Descriptors: between three and five descriptors registered in the DeCS or MeSH databases

Highlights (3 to 5 main points about the article)

Conflict of interests statement

Information on article funding

Statement that the research has been approved by an institutional ethics committee

DOI registration and submission platform in the case of a preprint

Word count
 

Open Science compliance form

·       Complete and submit the Open Science Compliance Form as a supplementary file.

Article Submission Format

• Blind manuscript (no details about the authors): the main part of the article (including references, figures, tables and any acknowledgments) should not include any identifying information, such as author names or affiliations.

• Title

• Short title

• Abstract (Abstracts should be clear, easily readable, structured into: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE, METHOD, RESULTS, CONCLUSION)

• Keywords in Portuguese. The keywords should be between three and five descriptors registered in the DeCS or MeSH databases. 

• The metadata, including the title, abstract and keywords, must be in English when the language of the text is other than English.

• A Graphical Abstract is a concise and informative visual representation of a scientific research article. It typically consists of a single figure that condenses the main findings, concepts, and conclusions of the study into an easily comprehensible image. The primary goal of a graphical abstract is to provide readers with a quick and clear overview of the article's content, helping them understand the study's essence and decide whether to read the full article. This visual summary is particularly valuable in scientific fields where rapid and effective communication of findings is crucial. A graphical abstract may include elements such as graphs, illustrations, diagrams, symbols, and concise text to highlight the study's key points. It should be designed to capture attention and convey information clearly and succinctly.

• Introduction: Briefly describe the scope and prior evidence-based knowledge (state of the art) for the research design, based on bibliographic references related to the topic, preferably the most recent as possible. Highlight the knowledge gap or problem in question. Present the aim of the research clearly and the relevance of the subject studied.

• Methods. Specific information on "Article Types", since each type of manuscript requires different items. The sample size should be presented in full detail in all manuscripts that are clinical trials. The p-value and confidence interval will also be required. Reinforce the proposed guidelines for each type of article. As described below, each "type of article" follows a guideline for presenting the text. Where applicable, the checklist should be included as a supplementary file to the manuscript submission:

Randomized controlled clinical trials (CONSORT or TIDieR):

• Clinical trials must provide registration from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) ClinicalTrials.gov or anzctr.org.au.

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: CONSORT or TIDieR.

• The title should take into account the information contained in the PICOT strategy (P: population; I: intervention: C: comparison; O: outcome; T: time).

Cross-sectional or longitudinal observational studies, cohort or case-control studies:

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: STROBE.

Qualitative studies:

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: COREQ.

Systematic reviews:

• Those that include meta-analysis will have priority over other systematic reviews.

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the PRISMA checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document.: PRISMA.

Studies on the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of questionnaires or assessment tools:

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: COSMIN. 

Methodological studies:

• BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: GRRAS.

Clinical trial protocols:

• The BrJP encourages the publication of protocols from new clinical trials related to pain, trial protocols that are substantially funded, with ethical approval, prospective registration, with a large sample size and of high methodological quality.

  • BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: SPIRIT.

Pre-clinical studies with animals: 

• Animal experiments must comply with the Arouca Law (Federal Law 11.794) and authors must clearly indicate in the manuscript that this instrument has been followed. 

  • BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: ARRIVE.​​​​​​​

Diagnostic/prognostic studies:

• Studies related to the biological effects and/or mechanisms of action of pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain interventions.

  • BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: STARD.

Case reports:

• A single case or a series of cases related to acute or chronic pain can be presented here. Is is the recommended to consult the editorial board before submitting a case report by sending an e-mail to brjp-contato@dor.org.br. Only very interesting cases will be considered for publication. This type of publication requires approval from the institutional Ethics Committee and informed consent signed by the participant(s), maximum word count 1800. It should contain: introduction, patient information, clinical findings, timeline, diagnostic evaluation, therapeutic intervention, follow-up and outcomes, patient perspective, discussion, acknowledgments and references.

  • BrJP encourages authors to submit the checklist of text structure recommendations as a supplementary document: CARE.

Results:

• Should be described objectively, elucidated by figures and tables when necessary. Include the analyses carried out and their results.

Discussion:

• In this section, the authors should discuss their results and three different phases for each set of findings should be considered: interpretation of the results, use of previous publication to confirm or refute findings and the authors' considerations for each topic discussed. Previous information should be duly cited. The discussion can optionally be divided into subchapters. Limitations of the study, clinical implications (where appropriate), information on importance/relevance and perspectives for future research are mandatory.

Conclusion:

• Conclusions should be concise and directly respond to the objectives of the study. No extra comments are required.

Acknowledgments:

•  Acknowledgments should be presented in a separate section at the end of the article before the references, so they are not included on the title page as a footnote. List the individuals who provided help during the research (e.g. providing language help, assistance with writing or proof reading the article, etc.).

Funding Statement:

• State the sponsoring sources. If the manuscript is linked to a project that has received funding, state the project number and funding agency that supported this work. 

• It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions of the program or type of grants and awards. When the funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college or other research institution, provide the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

• If no funding was provided for the research, please include the following sentence: "This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial or non-profit sectors.”.

Digital Assets:

• BrJP considers digital assets to be: Tables, charts, figures, illustrations, maps, diagrams and other digital assets. 

• Form of submission: All digital assets must be submitted as a separate file from the text.

• Editable format: Digital assets will be published in two versions: Portuguese and English. For this reason, the texts on these assets must be editable. Do not include digital assets that cannot be edited.

• Resolution: images, illustrations, maps and other graphic files must be presented with a minimum resolution of 300 real dpi (not interpolated). Images and photos: from digital files must have a minimum optical resolution of 3MegaPixels without compression.

• BrJP accepts up to 6 digital assets per original article.

• Numbering: all images must be numbered and accompanied by a caption and source indication. Each nomenclature follows a unique progressive numbering, for example: Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2, Table 1.

Citations and references:

• References should follow Vancouver style (http://www.icmje.org).

• Examples of citations:

• Book
  • Posso IP, Grossmann E, Fonseca PRB; Perissinotti DMN, Oliveira Junior JO, Souza JB, Serrando SC, Vall J, organizators. Tratado de Dor. São Paulo: Atheneu, 2017. v. 1.

• Book Chapter

  • Kraychete DC, Reis PS, Almeida BO. Taxonomia da Dor Neuropática. In: Palladini MC, organizator. Tratado de dor neuropática São Paulo: Atheneu; 2021. p. 3-10.

• Journal article

  • Cohen SP, Vase L, Hooten WM. Chronic pain: an update on burden, best practices, and new advances. Lancet. 2021;397(10289):2082-97.

Supplementary Documents:

• Mandatory documents for all submissions, such as:

• Open Science Compliance Form

• Statement of originality

• Conflict of interest statement

• Mandatory documents for clinical studies:

• Ethics committee approval form

• Prospective clinical trial registration

Additional Information:

To submit your manuscript to BrJP, please visit GNPapers/brjp 

Contact

BrJP - Brazilian Journal of Pain

SBED – Sociedade Brasileira para o Estudo da Dor

Av. Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves, 937 / Conjunto 02

São Paulo – SP – CEP 04014-012 – Brazil

Phone number: +55 11 5904-2881

Whatsapp: +55 11 97572-1403

brjp-contato@dor.org.br