The new scientific production assessment procedures implemented by CAPES to the graduate programs to the period 2025-2028 bring novelties in comparison with the last evaluation terms.¹ The so-called Qualis Periódicos was published for the last time in January 2026 and used just to classify the scientific production of the graduate programs from 2021 to 2024. Indeed, the evaluation related to the period 2025-2028 will emphasize the assessment of articles - categorized in strata from A1 to A8 - in addition to the classification of journals only. This new procedure employs a combination of bibliometric indicators and a qualitative assessment of both journals and articles in three Procedures. We highlighted here the procedures 1 and 2, that are related to what chemistry area will use in the evaluation.

Procedure 1 classifies articles solely based on the performance of the journals in which they are published, whereby the bibliometric indicators of the journals define the classification of the articles in a solely quantitative approach. This approach keeps the concepts of the so-called Qualis Periódicos, with the quartile of the journal being the main indicator for qualify the articles. However, from now on the articles will be classified in the strata A1-A8 rather than journals as usual.

Procedure 2 combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. Journal metrics (classification obtained in Procedure 1) and qualitative aspects of the journal such as editorial policy are combined with article metrics, thus allowing for a more detailed assessment of the articles. This approach allows to get a more detailed analysis of the research contribution, thus highlighting articles with higher scientific impact. Article-based metrics includes Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI), a bibliometric indicator that compares article citations expected (equal to 1.0) or higher than expected to a journal (greater than 1.0) in a three years period. FWCI shows how often a publication is cited compared to world average for similar publications. The ‘world average’ is based on how often similar papers (same field, type and age) were cited in Scopus over the last 3 years.

The primary goal of Procedure 2 is to recognize the intrinsic quality of research, enhance the visibility of impactful studies, and diversify assessment criteria beyond the traditional focus on the journal metrics and consider good editorial practices of Brazilian journals. This is precisely where open science Brazilian platform SciELO stands on. The articles published in journals indexed by this database will be recognized by their contribution being classified at higher levels than those resulting from the bibliometric indicator only. This approach intends to value the Brazilian open science initiative SciELO as well as good regional and national journals, in according to the most common mission of the Brazilian Graduate Programs in Chemistry (GPC): the regional development. 

By incorporating the articles indicators, the assessment aims to emphasize more the real quality and scientific contribution of the article rather than its potential impact, either when it is published in journals with lower international visibility or in high prestigious journals. Also, it encourages the strengthening of national open science initiatives: support the development of good national journals and thematic diversity, while mitigating excessive self-citation and concentration on overly popular topics. In this sense, the use of Procedure 2, adopted by the Chemistry area, will highlight journals indexed at SciELO database, such as the JBCS (Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society) and QN (Química Nova), that will receive more value than those assessed only by bibliometric-based classification. Similarly, journals with regional importance to the area could be valued beyond what comes out from the traditional quartile classification from Scopus and JCR databases.