Current situation and historical path

Currently, the journal has fixed sections for publication of articles, reviews of recently published books, and documents of interest for the History of Education. In addition, thematic dossiers are frequently published addressing specific topics under the coordination of one or two researchers in the area of History of Education, with authors necessarily affiliated with institutions in Brazil and abroad. Interviews with prominent researchers may be published in the area of Education, History, and especially History of Education.

Articles in Portuguese and Spanish have been published since the beginning of publication. In 2009, the journal began to publish articles written in French and English. In 2014, Italian was added as an official language of the journal. In 2019, the standard became publication of articles in a bilingual edition, in the original language and in English, which was consolidated in 2020 and currently proceeds. In cases in which the original language is English, the version in Portuguese can also be published. To the extent possible, the aim is to always have versions published in Portuguese or Spanish, the languages of easiest and most frequent access for most of the readers of the journal. In any case, however, it is necessary for the articles published to have titles, abstracts, and keywords in English and in Spanish. Sometimes, translations of important texts are published beyond the area of History of Education that are not available in Portuguese, mentioning the original publication.

The journal is indexed in the Bibliografia Brasileira de Educação (BBE) of the Brazilian Ministry of Education; in the Directory Indexing of International Research Journals (Citefactor), maintained in collaboration by institutions of Canada and the United States; in the Fundación Dialnet (Dialnet) of the Universidad de La Rioja in Spain; in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) maintained by Lund University in Sweden; in Educ@. Publicação On Line de Educação (Metodologia Scielo) of the Fundação Carlos Chagas in Brazil; in the Portal de Periódicos da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes) of the Brazilian Ministry of Education (Ministério da Educação - MEC); in the ProQuest Education Database based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States; in the Repertório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) in Portugal; in the Sistema Regional de Información em Línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, Espanã y Portugal (Latindex) based at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Unam); in the Sumários de Revistas Brasileiras (Sumários.org) maintained by the Fundação de Pesquisas Científicas de Ribeirão Preto (Funpec-RP) in Brazil; and in Periódicos de Minas - Portal de Periódicos Científicos e Tecnológicos do Estado de Minas Gerais, maintained by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (Fapemig).

In addition, the journal is preserved in the Rede Cariniana, maintained by the Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia (Ibict), linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovações - MCTI) in Brazil; in the Keepers Registry maintained by the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, in partnership with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) in Paris, France; and in the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) linked to the Open Archives Harvester.

Since 2008, the journal has been classified in the A2 stratum of the education area of Qualis/CAPES, which is the second highest stratum of a scale with eight levels of classification and which subsidizes the process of evaluation of graduate studies programs in education in Brazil. In addition, since 2020, the journal has been classified at level A, the highest level, in evaluation carried out by the Agenzia Nazionale di Valutazione del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca (Anvur) in Italy, accessed through https://www.anvur.it/.

Since 2017, the journal has come to work with associate editors, by language, namely, for Portuguese language countries, except Brazil, colleagues from Portugal, Prof. Dr. Joaquim Pintassilgo (Universidade de Lisboa) and Prof. Dr. Luís Alberto Marques Alves (Universidade do Porto); for English language countries, colleagues from the Unites States, Prof. Dr. Karl Lorenz (Sacred Heart University) and Prof. Dr. Noah W. Sobe (Loyola University Chicago); and for Spanish language countries, colleagues from Spain, Prof. Dr. Antón Costa Rico (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela) and Prof. Dr. Miguel Somoza Rodríguez (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia). The collaboration of these colleagues has favored an increase in the process of internationalization of the journal.

Currently, the Editorial Board of the journal, which is dedicated to the establishment of publishing policies, to sending proposals of publication, and to issuing of opinions, is composed of 37 researchers from Brazil and abroad, coming from 14 countries, namely, Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. In addition, the Advisory Board, which is mainly directed to issuing opinions regarding the publication proposals received, is made up of 44 researchers, mainly Brazilians, but also from abroad, notably from Argentina, Spain, and Portugal.

In historical terms, the emergence of a research group in History of Education at the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia at the beginning of the 1990s led to the creation of a line of research dedicated to the History and Historiography of Education in the sphere of the Graduate Studies Program in Education of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU). Both initiatives in the area of History of Education led to the need for publication of the results of research achieved. Up until that time, scientific production was conveyed mainly in the Boletim do Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa em História da UFU (Cdhis/UFU), but, as time went on, the volume of publications exceeded the capacity of that Boletim, which enabled the creation of the journal Cadernos de História da Educação in 2002.

At first, the periodical was to simply be a channel for publication of the results of investigations developed by researchers of UFU. That objective was soon abandoned, due to the emergence of a complex system of evaluation of journals, called Qualis, developed in the scope of Capes, which is the government agency responsible for evaluation of graduate studies in Brazil.

Thus, the journal sought to meet the quality criteria coming from Qualis/Capes, specifically those established by the area of Education, which allowed it to achieve positive evaluations in a short time, such that in 2008 the journal was classified in the A2 stratum of Qualis/CAPES (Education Area) on the following scale: C (lowest), B5, B4, B3, B2, B1, A2, and A1 (highest).

The journal, up to the present time, has maintained the A2 classification. However, from 2020 to 2021, there were changes in the evaluation system, with adoption of the quality standard linked more directly to the citation index, with a new evaluation scale, namely: C (lowest), B4, B3, B2, B1, A4, A3, A2, A1 (highest). The results are expected to be disclosed at the beginning of 2022.

In terms of frequency of publication, from 2002 to 2008, publication was annual, which passed to twice a year in 2009, and to every four months in 2015. Beginning in this year 2021, the continuous publication format has been adopted, which aims at providing greater speed in the process of submission, evaluation, and publication of proposals in the journal. Currently, the journal publishes from 45 to 60 articles annually, and also includes documents of historical-educational interest and reviews of books recently published in the area of History of Education.

Since 2008, the issues of the journal have been fully published on Internet through the Brazilian version of the Open Journal System (OJS), available at the following address: http://www.seer.ufu.br/index.php/che/, which remains until now. It is important to highlight that since 2008, all the volumes published by the journal are complete and fully in the open access modality on the page of the journal on the OJS.

Since the beginning of its publication, Cadernos de História da Educação has had the support of the publishing arm of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (Editora UFU - Edufu). In 2010, it also gained the support of Fapemig, which was maintained for the 2020-2021 two-year period. As of 2021, the journals published by UFU changed from being linked to Edufu to being linked to the UFU Library.

The graphic design of the cover lent identity to the journal from the beginning of its publication, whether by the format at the time of the printed version that is larger than usual, or by inclusion of a photo image on the cover linked to historical-educational moments of the Minas Triangle (Triângulo Mineiro) and Alto Paranaiba region in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

In that respect, the photos showed the universality of the phenomenon of schooling, without failing to make reference to the place of origin of the journal. That way, a graphic design prevailed in the first ten years of the journal. Then, another design was implemented, without, however, losing the original identity, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1 Cover of Volume 1, Number 1, January to December 2002 of the journal Cadernos de História da Educação. 

Figure 2 Cover of Volume 20, 2021 (continuous publication) of the journal Cadernos de História da Educação. 

Articles and dossiers: quantities, languages, countries, authors, institutions, and historical periods

In these first twenty years, the journal published 653 articles, 500 of them in continuous flow, and 153 of them in 26 different thematic dossiers, as shown in Tables 1 and 2 below.

More modest beginnings with annual publication of approximately 15 articles have risen in recent years to triple that, with around 45 articles published annually, to which should be added current publication of all articles in bilingual version, predominantly articles in Portuguese/English. In terms of language, articles published in Portuguese have predominated (72,64%), and due to the implementation of bilingual publication policies since 2019, publication of articles in Portuguese/English is in second place (19.23%). After that, in third place, is publication in Spanish and Spanish/English, which make up 6.14% of the total. English as the language of publication reached 1.2% of the total, followed by Italian/English (0.4%), Italian (0.13%), and French (0.13%), as shown in Table 3 below. The publication of articles in English, together with bilingual articles, reached 21.63% of the articles published from 2002 to 2021.

Regarding the objects of study focused on, namely, countries and combination of countries, as well as articles related to conceptual and historiographical approaches, to the teaching of History of Education, and to the theme of historical-educational heritage, from 2002 to 2021, Brazil was the primary topic of study (69.34%). After that, the articles prioritized conceptual or historiographical topics (10.06%). In third place is Portugal (5.66%), followed by Spain (1.89%), the United States (1.72%), Chile (1.57%), and Argentina (1.09%). Comparative studies also appeared, representing 2.53%, namely, Brazil/Argentina, Brazil/France, Brazil/Paraguay, Brazil/Portugal/France/Spain, Brazil/Venezuela, and Brazil/Spain. The topics of the teaching of History of Education and of the educational heritage appeared together in nineth place (1.09%). With lower percentages are studies involving Italy, Colombia, France, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The following countries are the object of study with only one or two articles published: Greece, Nigeria, Angola, Belgium, Paraguay, and Switzerland. The complete data are shown in Table 4 below.

Regarding the countries of origin of the authors that published articles during the first twenty years of existence of Cadernos de História da Educação, from 2002 to 2021, the predominance of Brazilians is clear, at 84.3%. However, in this case, the continental dimensions of Brazil must be considered, and this is shown by the number of institutions in different Brazilian states and municipalities from which the authors come - 131 universities or research and educational institutions. Authors from Portugal were the next largest group (5.39%). At a distance were authors from Argentina (1.76%), Spain (1.17%), the United States (0.89%), Chile (0.89%), Italy (0.69%), and Colombia (0.59%). After that, with numbers of authors from 6 (0.39%) to 1 (0.1%), in decreasing order, were authors from Mexico, Belgium, Nigeria, France, Uruguay, Greece, Hungary, England, Poland, and Venezuela. In addition, it is noteworthy that there were combinations of two or more authors of a single article, probably as a result of investigations developed in an inter-institutional and international manner, namely, Brazil/Portugal (1.37%), Brazil/Colombia (0.39%), Brazil/Italy (0.20%), Brazil/United States (0.20%), and Brazil/Spain (0.20%). Detailed information is shown in Table 5 below.

In regard to the number of universities and research and educational institutions to which the authors of the articles published in Cadernos de História da Educação are affiliated from 2002 to 2021, there was predominance of Brazil, with 131 institutions, which makes up 65.18% of the total. Ten universities stand out with the largest number of authors recorded, namely, the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade de Uberaba, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Nevertheless, the presence of Brazilian universities and institutions is extensive, which expresses an excellent level of regional and state diversity.

After that is Portugal, with 16 institutions (7.98%), most prominently the Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade de Coimbra, Universidade do Porto, and Universidade do Minho. Then comes Argentina, with 10 institutions (4.99%), mainly the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidade Nacional de La Plata, and Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios.

Spain appeared with 9 institutions (4.49%), especially the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and the Universidad de Sevilla. From the United States, there were authors affiliated with 6 institutions (2.99%), including Sacred Heart University, Utah State University, Loyola University Chicago, and Stanford University.

From Italy, there are authors from 5 institutions (2.49%), especially from the Università degli Studi del Molise and from the Università degli Studi di Macerata. Then, with 4 to 1 institutions are Chile, Mexico, Colombia, France, Belgium, Nigeria, Greece, Hungary, England, Poland, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The general data regarding the countries and the number of institutions can be examined in Table 6 below.

The articles published in Cadernos de História da Educação in the period from 2002 to 2021 clearly show that the period of greatest focus was the twentieth century, which represented 69.8% of the articles published. After that is the nineteenth century, with 14.54% of the articles published, and then the period from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries. Adding up the three, the result is a robust 93.07% concentration on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the studies of the authors published. The other periods are dispersed from the third to the twenty-first centuries, as can be examined in Table 7 below.

Final Considerations

Publishing scientific journals is an important challenge, above all when the aim is achieving relevance in a specific area of History of Education that has a considerable number of journals internationally and at least four journals of high level established in Brazil. In these first twenty years of publication of Cadernos de História da Educação, from 2002 to 2021, we can indicate positive aspects and current challenges.

First, the increase in the number of articles published annually can be highlighted as positive, from an average of 15 articles in the first years to an average of 45 articles currently. It is also auspicious that the journal has been utilized for publication of thematic dossiers, a total of 26 until now, dealing with different topics in the History of Education.

Secondly, the recent option for publication of articles in bilingual versions has been successful, with original articles predominantly in Portuguese, but also in Spanish and Italian, nearly always along with versions in English. This has collaborated in disseminating knowledge in History of Education internationally.

The objects of study have also been wide ranging. Even though publications regarding Brazil have predominated, historical-educational issues from 19 different countries have been addressed in the articles published up to now. There has been concentration of publication of Brazilian authors, with wide diversity of institutional affiliation including all regions of Brazil, but authors linked to universities and research and teaching institutions from 17 other countries have published articles in the journal over the past 20 years. This shows the capillary effect the journal has had in international terms.

A challenge not only for the journal, but also for the area of investigation in History of Education in Brazil, is promoting a widening of the historical periods addressed. There has been concentration on the twentieth century, with some expansion to the nineteenth century, but the previous centuries still require intensification of studies and, consequently, articles published.

Another important challenge faced by the journal, but that also concerns scientific research in general and educational research in particular, is funding and the availability of human resources sufficient to maintain scientific journals. Fortunately, Cadernos de História da Educação has had the consistent support of UFU and of Fapemig for its publication, which is expected to continue in coming years. Finally, there are indexing goals to be achieved beyond those already obtained in Brazil and abroad, above all, in association with indexing bodies more consolidated internationally.