When I took the reins of the Brazilian Journal of Pulmonology (BJP) in 2004, I was riding a wave of major proposals made by my predecessor, Geraldo Lorenzi Filho. Until that time, the publication of the Journal was the responsibility of a member of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Thoracic Association (BTA)-the Director of Communications. I was charged with making a transition from that model to a new one. As part of that transition, I effectively became the first independent Editor-in-Chief of the BJP, dedicated exclusively to its production.

The next six years were a time of hard work-enthusiastic, productive work-during which I always had the full support of the BTA Board of Directors, captained by Mauro Zamboni, Antonio Carlos Lemos, and Jussara Fitterman. At that time, the imperative order of the day was for the BJP to be indexed for PubMed and for the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge. A great deal of effort was put into standard-izing the graphic layout and updating the editorial guidelines. Similarly, much energy was expended in order to ensure the punctuality and periodicity of the Journal, both of which are essential to a scientific journal becoming widely respected.

The following are my best memories of my time at the BJP:

my participation in devising the Journal bylaws, which are still in effect


the implementation of the (then) recently introduced system of online article submission

the creation of a free-standing website, with texts in Portuguese, English, and Spanish


my visit, together with Mauro Zamboni, to the National Library of Medicine, in Bethesda, Marylanda


the festive announcement, made by Mauro Zamboni during the opening ceremonies of the XXXIII Congress of the BTA, held in the city of Fortaleza in 2006, of the long-coveted indexing of the JBP for PubMed


the indexing of the Journal, in 2009, for the ISI Web of Knowledge, which was the initial step in the process that led to the calculation of our first impact factor, in 2011


the establishment of a permanentb BJP office of administration at the BTA headquarters in Brasília

I have to admit that not all of the initiatives undertaken during my tenure at the JBP were successful. For example, the attempt to make the Journal a monthly publication was an exercise in frustration. Forgive me, my friends, but mistakes can be made, even with the best (if misguid-ed) intentions.

One of the things that I realized during my time at the BJP was that, in fact, people and human relations are paramount. The major advances made at the BJP during that time occurred essentially because innumerable people were aware of the importance of the Journal and were im-bued with an earnest desire to improve it. Researchers working in Brazil were aware of this need and graced us with their manuscripts. The members of the Editorial Board of the Journal always gave the best of themselves. The directors and staff of the BTA also contributed, either directly or indirectly, to supporting the efforts made by myself and my assistants.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge and express my gratitude to Luana Campos and Priscilla Bovolenta for their enormous contributions to overseeing the day-to-day activities of the BJP during my tenure.

This was a wonderful time in my life!

a) We were received by the then-Associate Director for Library Operations, Sheldon Kotzin, to whom we presented the BJP and who informed us of the modus operandi of submitting an application for a journal to be indexed for PubMed.
b) Previously, the BJP office of administration was itinerant, operating in the city of residence of the current editor for the duration of his or her term.