Celebrating its 25 years of existence, Ciência & Saúde Coletiva (C&SC, 2020), first and foremost commends its editorial team which, despite the complications caused by the pandemic, maintained the quality and production schedule of the Journal. There were 12 editions and two special supplements about COVID-19. All the work, carried out remotely, required adaptations and creativity in order not to fall short of the commitment to respond adequately to the pressing demand for scientific dissemination in the health area. The year 2020 was an exceedingly difficult one, marked by losses, uncertainties and lessons learned, but it also fostered a future of hope and confidence in the development of vaccines and challenges of all kinds for the post-pandemic period.

The scope of this editorial is to present readers with an assessment of the work of C&SC over the past year, which can be summarized in the following statistics: 4,388 originals received and 339 approved (7.72% of the total); 3,634 rejected texts; 400 articles published in Portuguese; 346 translated or originally drafted in English (86.5% of the total); 16 in Spanish. The total of the material published (original articles, reviews, editorials, essays and letters) constituted a set of 481 communications. And in this collection, a special space was given to texts about the new coronavirus: 68 articles published¹1 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. O que a covid-19 revela e esconde. 2020; 25(Supl.1).^,22 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. A pandemia que revirou o mundo. 2020; 25 (Supl.2)..

The profile of the editions was marked by studies on communicable and non-communicable diseases throughout the life cycle and according to sociocultural categories of class, gender, ethnicity/race and age³3 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Doenças infecciosas, agravos não transmissíveis e prevenção. 2020; 25(8). (2020,25(8); and on analysis of sundry policies and actions, among which there are: an edition commemorating 40 years of Alma-Ata (2020)⁴4 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Celebrando 40 anos de Alma-Ata nas Américas e Região Ibero-Americana. 2020; 25(4).; access to and quality of health services; performance of the sector in terms of social inequalities, vulnerabilities and invisibilities; training of health workers; relationship between food and health; aging and care; the role of information and communication in health. The last edition of the year⁵5 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva. Ciência para a sociedade: 25 anos de história. 2020; 25(12). was dedicated to the commemoration of the Journal’s silver jubilee, the content of which reviews its contribution to public health and to the SUS. It also highlights the difficulties, shortfalls, and prospects of the journal. The year ended with a flourish, with a commemorative webinar, presented live on YouTube on the Abrasco channel, on December 17, 2020 (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wH4TimPU-8).

Herewith, an overview of the contributors: 1,936 Brazilian authors from all regions of the country and 155 foreign authors published in the Journal. Of the latter, in order of magnitude the following stand out: Portugal, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and Argentina. In lesser proportions, authors from Chile, Peru, Uruguay, United States, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, India, Australia, Malaysia, East Timor, Haiti, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Regarding the metrics currently recognized worldwide, for the 5th consecutive year, in 2020 C&SC ranked in first place in mentions among all Brazilian journals from all areas in Google Scholar (index H5, 49; index H5, average 67). On the Scimago database, its index went from 0.926 to 1.179; and the FI/JCR index for 2020 increased to 1.336. The Journal’s timid but firm steps are promising and what matters most is its relevance for the population and for the scientific community in the field of Health.

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