About the Journal

Focus and Scope

What is Infodir?

Infodir is an electronic journal, registered in the National Register of Serial Publications of the Cuban Book Institute, whose

Title: INFODIR

Subtitle: Journal of Information for Health Management

Registration: RPNS: 2097

                    ISSN 1996-3521. Online version

Periodicity: Quarterly

Frequency of appearance: 3 issues per year

Year of foundation: 2005.

Sponsor Agency: MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Through:

Ministry of Public Health - MINSAP

National School of Public Health - ENSAP

National Information Center of Medical Sciences - CNICM

Health Telematic Network - INFOMED

OBJECTIVES:

To inform and guide cadres, leaders, directors, reserves and quarries of the Health field on ways, methods and modern management techniques, propitiating  scientific and instructive exchange.

SCOPE:

It has a national coverage accessible to all health entities, through Health Telematic Network, known as INFOMED.

It is managed from the site: http://revinfodir.sld.cu

It can be located from the Cuban Health Network Portal or the Cuban Virtual Health Library.

PURPOSE:

To inform and guide cadres, leaders, managers, reserves and quarries at the Health Care field,  on forms, methods and modern techniques of management, promoting effective and instructive exchange that allows generating the scientific knowledge, raising the culture and propitiating a better performance of them, which results in more efficiency and effectiveness in  management  allowing them to collaborate with development of the theoretical and practical thought in health management.  The sending of manuscripts, processing and publication does not offer any cost to the authors, it is totally free.

PUBLICATION REGULATIONS

The Journal has its own Rules for Electronic Publication, and Rules for Arbitration, to which it conforms, guaranteeing compliance with these. Arbitration is carried out on a double-blind basis.

THEMATIC PROFILE: Health Management.

Summary and index

¨ The Editorial for each issue in charge of the Director or staff designated by him.

¨ Originals (Articles) In this Section reports and articles of original research, review, opinion and debate will be published. It includes publication of Master's and Doctoral Theses, historical research and others, which will be added to the Virtual Health Library. It constitutes the appropriate framework for the directors and cadres to publish their work on these topics.

¨ Review, position or essay (Review or position articles) This type of article has the purpose of addressing an area of knowledge or specific problem by means of arguments or assertions logically expressed and duly supported by referenced evidence, which attempt to demonstrate the validity of the subject reviewed or the position on what has been stated. It offers a set of relevant evidence in favor of the position that is assumed used as a form of incentive for critical and independent judgment of the authors.

¨ Sources and analysis in management (Position Papers): Presentation, review or reproduction of articles, book reviews and other materials that due to their novelty, validity and importance strengthen the work done; it will be presented by an expert through a review, condensed article or analytical commentary.

¨ Reports and brief communications: Generally reports on events or important aspects related to Health Management, works that can be commissioned or presented by authors with experience in the subject that they wish to inform or communicate, will be presented.

There are also special sections, useful for health managers,  that appear on the right side.

¨ Preparation System in Health Management (Preparation for Managers): Course materials, seminars, workshops, and teaching materials to support the Diploma and Master's programs. Laws, Decrees, normative documents, orientations, indications that should be object of analysis, considerations and incorporation to management.

¨ Moral Collective movement. Situation, comments, reviews on outstanding directors, news on this movement, which is coordinated by the Health Workers Union and which contributes to the formation of values of the workers in the Health Sector.

- History. Stories, experiences and untold anecdotes that contribute to the enrichment of the historical heritage of the health system in Cuba and wideworld.

¨ Doctoral Theses or Magisterial Conferences.  Works presented by professors with high educational category or of directors in defense of health management-related masters or doctorate endorsed to be published by the corresponding tribunal.

Peer Review Process

The article evaluation process is carried out using the "peer review" system where each article is submitted to the consideration of two or more arbitrators who issue their verdict.

The editorial committee is responsible for the final decision of the publication of the manuscript, regardless of the decision of the referees.

REVIEW GUIDELINES (Download)

INFODIR, the Journal of Information for Health Managers, uses the double-blind peer review of articles, having a maximum of 60 days to issue its opinion or review report. Only the Editorial and Special Sections do not go through the peer review. All articles submitted to arbitration are treated with the confidentiality of the case. Thus, peer reviewers must communicate any conflict of interest when responding to an invitation to review a manuscript, as well as when presenting the results of the review of the manuscript. In cases of conflict of interest, such as when the reviewer has recently collaborated with the author at the same institution, or when the reviewer is in direct competition with the author, the reviewers cannot review the author's manuscript.

INFODIR, the Journal of Information for Health Professionals, reserves the right to apply Open Peer Review (OPR) when it considers it useful.

ARBITRATORS' REQUIREMENTS:

  •  The arbitration group or reviewers will be the responsibility of the Editorial Committee of the Journal Información para Directivos de la Salud. INFODIR.
  •  The body of referees of the journal will be selected by the Editorial Committee and submitted to the consensus of the Editorial Board of the journal.
  •  For its selection, the journal may invite or summon to take part of the arbitration body those health professionals, specialists and scientists who are recognized for their expertise in modern forms, methods and techniques of management, demonstrated in the management of administration,  teaching and research, as well as for their application in the development of management thinking in health.
  •  The referees must study and consider the guidelines for authors of the journal and carry out a rigorous evaluation in the time established for this, issuing the opinion or review report in the format established for this purpose.

This journal has in mind when making a request for evaluation that, the quality of the articles and of the journal depends largely on the quality and rigor with which the review and evaluation process of the submitted works is carried out. This rigor and responsibility is what allows us to achieve the prestige and recognition of the readers and to reach better indexes that accredit it.

For this reason, the time and experience dedicated to the evaluation are recognized as a contribution to the diffusion of scientific work in the field of health management in Cuba and the world. Especially because it is an unpaid review work, a free procedure used by most of the main international journals.

Consequently, every reviewer, when concluding his work, will receive from the magazine Información para Directivos de la Salud INFODIR, a certificate that accredits the work done; as well as, a public recognition of the referees' contributions will be published in the last issue of the year so that they can be used as scientific evidence in the evaluation processes of their teaching-research work.

REVIEW PROCESS:

Once the manuscript is registered, it goes through the review or arbitration process, which must be carried out with relevance, timeliness, methodological rigor, and clear writing and structure.

This process takes into account that:

  •  The referees will conform to the arbitration guidelines adopted by the journal.
  •  Two specialized referees will be appointed according to the subject matter of the manuscript.
  •  Double blind review will be carried out, except when considered useful according to the topic and content, which applying Open Peer Review (OPR), will provide scientific benefits to both authors and reviewers.
  •  If the referees do not agree on their criteria, a third party will be appointed.
  •  A form will be used where the criteria and arguments for the arbitration are stated. This constitutes the arbitration guide.
  •  The work must be evaluated and its results registered in the OJS platform in the space corresponding to the referee within 60 days.

Once the results have been received, the arbitrators' suggestions will be reconciled. The Editorial Committee will make the decision to accept the submission without restrictions, to communicate the observations and suggestions for reworking and re-submission for review, or to reject it for further arrangements.

    The results of the revision will be communicated by email to the first author or author of contact, which can be:

  •  Acceptance of the manuscript. In this case, it will go through the correction and style process for editing and publication.
  •  Returned for minor adjustments. In this case, the author(s) will have 30 days to proceed with the elaboration of a new version, taking into account the recommendations stated in the arbitration report and registering it in the same space as the previous one. Once registered, it will go back to a revision round. If after 30 days the corrected work is not received, the Editorial Committee may decide to extend the date for another 30 days, or to file it, communicating it to the first author or author of contact by email. If it is archived and the author(s) maintain(s) their desire to publish in the journal, they must register it as a new manuscript, commenting on the editor in the corresponding space of the 1st step of the registration, which follows a 2nd version of the work whose title and ID are recorded.
  •  Return for major repairs.  In this case, the primary author is notified by email of the review considerations and that the work will be archived. It will be clarified that if the intention to publish it in the journal is maintained, it must be registered as a new submission, commenting in a note to the editor in the corresponding space of the 1st step of the registration, which is due to a new version of the work whose title and identifier (ID) is recorded. This will allow the recovery of the previous process and give continuity to the evaluation of the new version.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REFEREES.

  •     They may not have conflicts of interest
  •     They will comply with ethical and review standards, guaranteeing the confidential nature of the manuscripts, verifying that the guidelines are met according to the type of article, evaluating and providing references and evidence that document the recommendations, criticisms and deficiencies found in the manuscripts. 
  •     They will carry out well-reasoned, fair, constructive and informative reviews that facilitate the efficient and rapid handling of the work.
  •     They will record the results of the review in writing in the Referee's Report, in terms of content and assessments, in the following format:

ARBITRATION RULES

(Taken from: Arbitration of the Cuban Journal of Public Health. Author: Dr. Francisco Rojas Ochoa)

Peer review of scientific journals consists of the review by experts of the articles received by the journal with the aim of publishing them. Journals that do not use peer review as a method to ensure the quality of the publication are not recognized by the scientific community.

Referees must be chosen on the basis of rigorous selection criteria. Their main attributes will be:

1. Absolute ethics. They will review originals that belong to the authors, cannot divulge in any way the content reviewed and will only inform the editor of the journal of their opinions.

2. High scientific level. They will be true experts in the field on which they will give their opinion.

3. Voluntary work. Arbitration is not paid work. The recognition of their work will only be of a moral and professional nature.

The method applied is the so-called "double blind". The arbitrator will not know who the author / is of the work being evaluated, nor the institution from which it comes. The author will not know who his or her referees are.

No work has been done in the country to educate or train the referees. When our journal first asks an expert to act as an arbitrator, it sends him/her an article describing the nature of his/her work and the guidelines for it.

The referee should be advised that his or her job is not to compare his or her opinions with those of the author. They may have differing opinions, but the aim is to ensure that the article is relevant, up-to-date, methodologically sound, and clearly written and structured.

Articles that are rejected must be returned to the author/s, with the criteria that support the return. The journal does not establish any discussion or controversy with the authors of articles that are not approved.

A paragraph of utmost importance is transcribed from the "Uniformity Requirements for Manuscripts sent to Biomedical Journals: writing and preparation of the edition of a biomedical publication":

" Reviewers are not authorized to make copies of the manuscript for their files and are prohibited from sharing it with others, except with the permission of the editor. Reviewers must return or destroy copies of manuscripts after they have been evaluated. Editors should not keep copies of rejected manuscripts. Reviewers' comments should not be published or made public without the permission of the reviewer, the author, and the editor.

The problem that often affects our arbitration is the time it takes to respond to the request made by the journal. It is common for them to take more than 4 weeks, which is detrimental to the journal.

One last observation, of the utmost importance: our referees are public health professionals/scientists and without exception revolutionary. Consistent political focus, not as a censor or pamphleteer, is part of their job.

Publication Frequency

Periodicity: Quarterly

Frequency of appearance: 3 issues per year

Year of foundation: 2005

Open Access Policy

This journal is available in Open Access without restrictions, in compliance with the international policy on open access to information. The contents that are exposed here can be used, without commercial purposes, as long as reference is made to the primary source, so it is protected by a Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Journal History

This publication has its antecedent in the Electronic Bulletin INFODIR, of the Telematic Health Network for the update in managerial techniques. Within the framework of the renovation and improvement process of the National Health System (SNS), greater depth and the management of information and scientific knowledge is required, to support the transformation process that takes place in Health Services and in your methods and management techniques.