Building better scientific journals in Peru

Introduction
During the last two years, institutions as Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC), Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and Pan American Health Organization, have joined efforts to disseminate international standards on edition of scientific publications. As a consequence of this work, initiatives to improve the publishing quality of the peruvian scientific journals have been generated.
These initiatives are established within the framework of the national effort to promote a culture of quality in scientific publication as a result of research. The establishment of minimum criteria for the qualification of national journals and counting with an association that represents scientific editors in the country will make possible to increase the visibility of the national scien tific production.

Basic initiatives
1. Red Peruana de B ibliotecas en Salud = Peruvian Network of Health Libraries (REPEBIS). Established minimum criteria for evaluating of scientific health journals in the LIPECS database (Literatura Peruana en Ciencias de la Salud = Peruvian Literature in Health Sciences). A pilot evaluation of 13 journals was made using the established criteria.
2. Sistema Regional de Información en Línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal = Regional Information System on Line for Scientific Journals of Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal (LatIndex). At the end of 2003, CONCYTEC signed a Collaboration Agreement with LatIndex for the collecting and evaluation of peruvian scientific journals. The system has 33 qualification parameters for the scientific journals to be admitted into LatIndex database.
3. SciELO Perú (Electronic Scientific Library on Line). Initiative that was born in March 2004 with the s igning of a Collaboration Agreement between CONCYTEC, Universidad Nacio nal Mayor of San Marcos and the Pan American Health Organization for the implementation of SciELO Perú. The LatIndex criteria were adopted for the qualification of journals to be admitted at this portal. Up today, it has 13 titles and 90 registered fascicles.
4. Comité Nacional para la Edición de Publicaciones Científicas = National Committee for the Edition of Scientific Publications. This Advisory Committee of the Presidency of CONCYTEC recommends and advises the scientific publication editors in the fulfillment of the international standards for the edition of its journals. It carries out trainings and events related to the publishing task.
5. Asociación Peruana de Editores Científicos = Peruvian Association of Scientific Editors (APECi). Nonprofit civil association that will be created with the following objectives:
a. Help to improve scientific quality of national publications. Monitoring and orienting ethi cal aspects in the scientific publications.
b. Promote the elec tronic publication of scientific journals, using international standards.
c. Promote the national scientific production and foster the recognition of best scientific articles.

Outcomes
CONCYTEC as coordinator of Latindex in Peru has initiated narrow bonds with scientific editors in order to give technical assistance on the importance of using international standards to improve the quality of their journals and succeed in obtaining presence and visibility for national scientific publications in the international community.
In its first year, SciELO Perú has achieved a growth of 87% in its titles, 690% in fascicles. We have compared the number of visits at the portal during July 2004 to May 2005 and we have graphic the results in a chart (see below). The Technical Committee projects to incorporate 6 new titles during its second year. SciELO Perú as electronic publications has proven to be an excellent alternat ive for scientific journals.
All these initiatives have conver ged in the need for the creation of a national scientific editor association which main purpose will be to promote professional training in publishing work and the relationship with similar societies in the region.