A importância dos periódicos de acesso aberto para o desenvolvimento da ciência e tecnologia do país

This is about the importance of open access journals to the advancement of science and technology in this country. It presents definition, purpose and evolution of Brazilian scientific journals. It demonstrates through literature review how investments applied in human resources and research (input) and in scientific journals (output) over the years were important for the strengthening of Brazilian scientific journals. It shows the evolution of Brazilian scientific journal in the international arena by means of quantitative data collected in the Qualis system and citation indexes of ISI in a sample of 31 journals. It displays the increased number of Brazilian scientific journals indexed in the ISI and the gradual evolution of the impact factor. It discusses the need to publish the results of research in open access journals as a way to speed the process of disseminating information, increasing the visibility of scientific production and return on public investment for society