• The virtual meeting was co-organized by POLIS Revista Latinoamericana and the Forum of Scientific Editors of Chile.
• Between July and November, six public conferences and one private conference were held with editors of scientific journals from Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.

With a very high participation of editors of scientific journals from Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, the “conference Thursdays” of the FOROnline of editors 2020 closed, a virtual meeting that, due to the pandemic, replaced the fifth meeting of the Forum of Editors of Scientific Journals of Chile.

The initiative, organized by POLIS Latin American Magazine and the Forum of Scientific Editors of Chile, between July and November of this year, contemplated six public conferences and one private. The closing was starred by the director and co-founder of SciELO, Abel Packer.

The academic from the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) referred to the situation of open science in Latin America in 2020.

“Open science is presented as a new modus operandi of doing research, so it is not just a matter of journals or data management, it is an approach that affects the entire cycle and the entire flow of doing scientific research. That represents something overwhelming for each of the actors (…) so it is a moment where there is a game of forces to articulate in each thematic area, in each country, how the progressive process of adopting the new modus operandi is going to take place, “he said.

The complete presentation of Abel Packer can be reviewed in the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dofXMy2i7Js&t

The rest of the FOROnline 2020 conferences were in charge of Manuel Loyola from the Universidad Finis Terrae; Ivonne Lujano of Current Issues of Education Magazine; Bárbara Rivera of Academic Journals of the Universidad de Chile; Juan González-Sanabria of the Pedagogical and Technological Universidad de Colombia; and Erwin Krauskopf of Universidad Andrés Bello.

Public lectures can be reviewed on the Forum’s Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/ForoEditoresCientíficosdeChile

Conference Thursdays

For the forum coordinator of Scientific Editors, Francisco Osorio, the expectations of the “conference Thursdays” were largely met, although he acknowledged that because practically all this year we had to connect to meetings or conferences through Zoom or other platforms “our ability to concentrate was already very low by the end of the year.The good thing is that the editors and assistants, in general, said that they valued the activity, because in addition to the content, it gave the feeling that they were in community, with common problems and that the editorial work continued despite everything. “

Regarding how he plans for next year the usual meeting of the Forum of Scientific Editors, he said that “it is very likely to think that 2021 will force us to continue in the online modality. Therefore, I see it unlikely that we will meet in San Pedro de Atacama, as originally thought. Hopefully it can be done in 2022, but we have learned that the future is open and that it is better to make decisions with humility and when the time comes.”

In that line, he said that “apparently, the Youtube conference system works well, because it allows you to participate from any computer or cell phone and you can write questions through the chat. But more than the technical aspects, people value the content and participation of peers, along with all people interested in scientific communication. The 2021 planning will be done with the editors, to see the topics that interest them and we will try to find the rapporteurs who can best meet those expectations.”

POLIS

For her part, Carina Saldivia, assistant editor of POLIS Latin American Magazine, said that since the publication edited by CEDER they are very satisfied with the cycle of virtual conferences “for the good reception that there was by editors of scientific journals and for the high number of visibilizations of the conferences either live or after they are transmitted“.

She added that as organizers of the meeting “we achieved our purpose which was to maintain the channel of communication between us as a group of editors, since as every year we have a meeting, we needed to maintain that contact, for example, to know in what state our magazines are, to share advice and above all to support each other as magazines. “

Additionally, she adds that it is also very meaningful that POLIS is recognized as a co-founder of the Editors Forum and manager of many activities of the encounter. “That gave us the possibility to publicize what our work is and in general terms, also explain what is the role of the scientific journal in the academic production and visibility of science,” she said.

As for the mandatory turn towards virtuality this 2020, he explained that most scientific journals have had to modernize. “We are constantly using social networks to disseminate our content although we still need to professionalize ourselves in that aspect. It is very important for journals to effectively disseminate scientific content, which is why I highlight the conference by Bárbara Rivera who taught us to bring papers or research results closer to more practical methods and more immediate communication“.

Finally, Carina Saldivia clarified that the Forum of Scientific Editors of Chile is a self-convened group, and that therefore, the invitation is open to “all editors who are initiating this process so that they participate in the meetings and can join the activities we do as a group.”