The scope of this editorial is to render account to the readers, collaborators and all of those responsible for Ciência & Saúde Coletiva (executive editors, associate editors, the editorial board and the editorial policy board) regarding the Journal’s performance in 2018. With all editions distributed on schedule and one of which featured 50 articles, the delivery routine was duly accomplished, and the objectives and targets established for the year were met.

There are two ways to present the results of the work: the most important way is to stress the relevance of the topics covered by the Journal, which publishes 30 articles in each monthly edition. There are two editions highlighted here that are notable for their historical significance: 23.61 which dealt with the 30 years of the Unified Health System (SUS). It featured 40 articles, all translated into English, which brought together people who have followed the trajectory of the implementation of the SUS with young researchers who have been studying this remarkable achievement. All articles take a constructive and critical look at the implementation process of the SUS. The second is 23.72, which has 23 of its 30 articles translated into English and serves as a counterpoint to the previous edition. It presents a comparative study of the SUS with several other public health systems in the world, bringing together scholars from Brazil and various other countries. The two editions complement each other and constitute invaluable and indispensable material for the training of professionals and for consultation by researchers.

The second way to evaluate the Journal is to examine its performance indicators. A total of 3,516 originals were received through the Journal’s website in 2018. Of these, 439 were approved (12.5%). There were 383 articles published in the year, 278 of which were translated into English (72.25%). If one counts the texts published in Spanish, 78.32% of the works in a foreign language were included. However, 1631 (monthly average of 149), namely 92% of the authors who published in Ciência & Saúde Coletiva in 2018 are Brazilian. Only 8% (149 authors) come from other countries. This is one of the issues that the Journal fully intends to address in its internationalization process.

In the international rankings that measure the impact factor, Ciência & Saúde Coletiva has a rating of 0.9397 in SciELO; In Scimago, it is listed in the 2nd quartile, together with Cadernos de Saúde Pública and Revista de Saúde Pública (SJR 0.57). However, it is in first place in the ranking of Google Scholar mentions, in relation to the journals of all areas in Brazil, with an H5 46 index and an H5 58 median.

These indicators are important because they show what it was possible to achieve and what still needs to be improved (a lot!). Given the immense demand, the journal reveals another problematic aspect, namely the backlog of papers accepted for publication. Attempts are being made to overcome this issue with a phenomenal effort to publish 30 articles every month and maintain a page of ahead-of-print articles on its site, which enables perusal and advance quoting of the texts.

The editors are grateful to all the collaborators, because Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is a work built with a thousand hands. However, we extend our deepest gratitude to some special people, who give their very best efforts and guarantee the quality of the work, namely the executive editorial team, the Portuguese reviewer, the English translators, the cooperative graphic designer and the professionals of the Cabo Verde company. And our special thanks go to the SciELO team, which, by demanding quality and change, inspires the staff to attain ever higher standards, improving scientific communication within the country and abroad.

It is a pleasure to show you what has been achieved and what remains to be done. Our most sincere thanks to each and every one of you for your commitment to enhance the quality of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year!!! We are already in collective party mode!

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