Upon celebrating its 25 years of existence with this Commemorative Issue, Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva highlights four aspects, among many others, for the reader that affirm its relevance, without attempting to downplay its vulnerabilities and the challenges it faces in the future.

First and foremost, there is the fact that it is affiliated to the Brazilian Association of Public Health (Abrasco) whose 40-year history is often confused with the construction of the SUS. This is in the Journal’s DNA and underpins its growth, development, and commitment. Based on this affinity, it is only to be expected that its core focus is on health policy.

Secondly, ever since its first publication in September 1996, Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva has accompanied the formulation, setting up, implementation and evaluation of SUS actions in its collection of articles. Therefore, it can be affirmed that it has contributed to the enhancement of reflection on the sector. Silva et al.¹1 Silva LV, Esperidião MA, Silveira AS, Paim JS. A construção do campo da Saúde Coletiva e as políticas de saúde - Contribuições da Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Cien Saude Colet 2020; 25(12):2013-2022. highlight this journal as being a major pillar for the establishment of the field²2 Bourdieu P. O poder simbólico. Rio de Janeiro: Bertrand Brasil; 2012. of Public Health.

It should be added that it has also fulfilled another role that is also of great importance for the country today, which is to increase the worldwide deliberation on health policies. Since it is the Brazilian journal in the field that publishes the most on the topic, it considers itself included in the 2017 CAPES Activity Report relating to the Public Health Area, which compares the 2003-2005 and 2013-2015 triennia on the SJR portal: “Brazilian output on Health Policy rose from 26th to 7^th place in the production of scientific articles in the world, representing 3.2% of the total in the 2013-2015 triennium. The share of national output on Public Health, Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Epidemiology in relation to world production doubled in the period, while that of the area of Social Sciences in Health increased sevenfold”³3 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). CAPES divulga resultado final da Avaliação Quadrienal 2017. [acessado 2020 Ago 24]. Disponível em https://www.capes.gov.br/36-noticias/8558-avaliacao-da-capes-aponta-crescimento-da-pos-graduacao-brasileira
https://www.capes.gov.br/36-noticias/855... .

A third very interesting aspect that the archives of the Journal would suggest is the epistemological treatment of the health/illness phenomenon. Most of the texts address knowledge of basic sciences, public health and clinical sciences. This approach may have been scorned years ago, when it was important to distinguish what was or was not public health, in an initial moment of construction of the field. However, in the contemporary world, as Wallerstein⁴4 Wallerstein I. Análise dos sistemas mundiais. In: Giddens A, Turner J, organizadores. Teoria social hoje. São Paulo: Editora Unesp; 1999. p. 447-70., Giddens and Turner⁵5 Giddens A, Turner JH. Apresentação. In: Giddens A, Turner JH, organizadores. Teoria social hoje. São Paulo: Editora Unesp; 1999. p. 8-21. remind us, the distinction of subjects and areas has more the sense of market reserve on the topics than of orienting the production of knowledge in the face of complex realities that require theoretical and multi-method collaboration.

The fourth point involves an observation on the scientific methods used by the authors. Over time, as is the case with most journals in the sector, there is a predominance of epidemiological approaches that use quantitative methods, to the detriment of qualitative studies. However, there is a good portion of the Journal’s archives that present multi-method works and conduct an analysis of statistical data and in-depth study of the problems. As is the case in the scientific field worldwide⁴4 Wallerstein I. Análise dos sistemas mundiais. In: Giddens A, Turner J, organizadores. Teoria social hoje. São Paulo: Editora Unesp; 1999. p. 447-70.^,55 Giddens A, Turner JH. Apresentação. In: Giddens A, Turner JH, organizadores. Teoria social hoje. São Paulo: Editora Unesp; 1999. p. 8-21., the main criticisms in relation to the commemorative collection refer to the insufficient in-depth methodological and analytical approach of both quantitative and qualitative studies. Therefore, this issue remains relevant for editors and reviewers who analyze the originals to be published. The major challenge, however, falls to the professors, researchers and counselors who train the authors. The publication of an article is the last stage of the scientific process and depends on the quality of the works and the degree of scientific content that the academic community presents.

Like any human activity, Journal Ciência & Saúde Coletiva encounters problems and obstacles at all times: this has been the case for the past 25 years. The team is willing to tackle them and increasingly offer collaborators and readers a body of thought that helps them to be authors and actors in the scientific construction of the field and the SUS.

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