Terminology as qualifying indicator

Abstract

In Brazil, researchers identify themes of their Research Groups through the terminology used, which is registered in the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. Such terminology is also used as an instrument to reformulate the Research Lines from Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, and used as well as qualifying indicator in the evaluation of the institutional scientific production. Both processes were developed by the Departamento de Estudos em Ciência e Tecnologia of the Centro de Informação Científica e Tecnológica, in partnership with delegates of other Fundação Oswaldo Cruz research unities. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis, which pointed to some divergences between the terminology used by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz researchers, and the terminology found in the Tabela de Áreas do Conhecimento do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, in the Descritores em Ciências da Saúde - developed by the Centro Latino Americano e do Caribe de Informações em Ciências da Saúde - and in the Tesauro de Manguinhos. The results draw to a conclusion about the validity of using the terminological analysis as an instrument to reclassify the Research Groups in the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Research Lines, and as an instrument to evaluate scientific production, considering that both these processes aim at generating greater institutional scientific integration, strategically and economically.