The Beauty and Importance of Scientific Journals

Abstract

For more than 300 years, academic journals have been the main means of communication in all disciplines to disseminate scientific discoveries and advances, both theoretical and methodological, through scientific article, since they have covered all the functions of knowledge generation. Writing articles is the highlight of the research process and through it we not only share ideas and foster the spirit of free and cooperative exchange of information, but also fuel the process of self-correction that makes science powerful. To be shared with the community, articles must go through a process of attribution of authorship, certification of validity, dissemination, distribution and archiving of knowledge. Throughout history, scientific journals have gone through different stages and through different problems inherent to the editorial process. In this essay on scientific publications, we will reflect on the nature of publications, their importance and usefulness both social and economic, their less luminous side as well as their role, as a systemic and almost irreplaceable mechanism, in the generation and transmission of scientific culture, of our knowledge and understanding about the world and about ourselves.