Brazilian nursing journals: strengths, weaknesses and challenges

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate, qualitatively, the Brazilian nursing journals and identify their strengths and weaknesses when compared to international journals in the area. Methods: A historic approach regarding the period from 2012 to 2016. We included national nursing journals indexed in the SciELO Database and international journals with an impact factor above 1.0 and below 1.8 indexed in the WoS and Scopus databases. Results: The national journals met SciELO requirements for internationalization and obtained visibility when they were included in international indexing bases. Their citations were mostly national, with the following mean values: 86% in Portuguese; 12% in Spanish and 2% in English. Conclusion: The excellence requirements of the national journals are being accomplished. The publication of articles in Spanish can impact on the increase of bibliometric indicators.