Coleção Meira Mattos History*

The origin of CMM has a historical link with the professional and intellectual updating of Military Staff officers. Since the main function of a scientific journal is to communicate the latest research results in a particular area to its peers, the first publications that preceded CMM also divulged the most recent subjects on the Military Sciences and their studies, especially those dedicated to doctrine.

On November 9, 1965 the Curso de Atualização dos Diplomados in the Curso de Comando e Estado-Maior and Curso de Chefia de Serviço of ECEME (Course for Updating Graduates in the Command and General Staff Course and Service Direction Course – CAECEME) was created. This was a distance education course that provided, via correspondence, five Notebooks on the following subjects: internal security, operations in continental territory, operations in extracontinental territory, professional culture and miscellaneous subjects.

The course lasted 36 weeks and was renamed Curso de Atualização dos Diplomados pela Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército (Course for Updating Graduates by Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército – CADECEME) in 1974. The course did not underwent any significant changes in its course format and continued to be distributed in notebooks with articles for knowledge updates.

The CADECEME was changed on August 23, 1991, now renamed as Processo de Atualização dos Diplomados pela Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército (Updating Process for Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército Graduates – PADECEME). The distance education format is changed to annual update cycles. And its participants – General Staff Officers – are updated via information pamphlets distributed during the year.

The PADECEME pamphlets comprised works elaborated by alumni of ECEME and syntheses of ongoing studies. According to the regulatory decree, the update would occur "via a permanent flow of information, in an informal and non-systematic manner" (BRASIL, 1991).

There were two main sections in the pamphlets: "PADECEME News", addressing the most recent issues, and "Topics for Reflection", broadening the space for debates. The best articles were selected and published in the Revista Defesa Nacional (National Defense Journal), which was also considered an instrument for updating military personnel.

Despite continuing to use the acronym PADECEME, from the second issue of 1995, the pamphlet was now called Programa de Atualização dos Diplomados pela Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército (Updating Program for Escola de Comando e Estado-Maior do Exército Graduates), substituting the term “Process”.

It was only in 2002 that PADECEME took on the journal format. The journal was now sequentially numbered and officially became quarterly publication, being registered under the number ISSN 1677-1885. The sending of works is stimulated and the focus continues on the doctrinal updating, the debate and the improvement of Officials.

Subsequently, the tenth edition of the PADECEME journal, from 2005’s first quarter, included the subtitle “ECEME's Scientific Journal” in its cover, opening the section “Scientific Articles” and seeking to adapt to the Brazilian standards ABNT 6021 and 6022. The selection of these articles was conducted by the journal’s editors and their publication usually had abstract and keywords in Portuguese and English. Also in 2005, the journal increased the space for the dissemination of undergraduate theses and of the studies presented at the National Meeting of Strategic Studies, which were also published in the "Scientific Articles" section.

In the following year, 2006, the journal was structured in two sections: Scientific Articles, which seeks to increase the journal’s range; and Selected Articles, maintaining the publication’s initial objective of updating graduates.
In 2007, the updating of graduates started to be conducted online, made available on the Internet. The printed magazine, while maintaining the two sections previously explained, reinforces the objectives of expanding and improving the dissemination of scientific-military knowledge produced in ECEME.

In the following issue, still in 2007, the journal was finally named Coleção Meira Mattos: revista das ciências militares (Meira Mattos Collection: the journal of military sciences). The title changed was explained in the editorial of that issue. However, the PADECEME identification was kept on the front page, on the title page and on the index card. Furthermore, the ISSN was not changed, nor in the numbering, which remained sequential.

Few changes occurred in the following years. Some presentation items were corrected and the number of civilian contributions increased. The journal was still divulged in printed format and its distribution was free, being sent primarily to military organizations and collaborators.

A new phase for ECEME’s scientific journal began in 2011 with the creation of IMM. Seeking to broaden the dissemination of the journal and adapt it to the criteria required for a scientific publication, the Sistema de Editoração Eletrônica de Revistas (Electronic Journal Editing System – SEER), an editing software translated and adapted from the Open Journal System (OJS) by the Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Teconologia (Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology – IBICT). The editorial team was trained and started the implementation of the electronic editorial process, including double blind peer review. The CMM published a single issue in 2001, already without the PACEDEME naming.

The printed format was changed in 2012, including the size of the publication and improvements in its layout. From the twenty-sixth issue, new ISSN numbers were assigned to the publication. The printed and online versions were assigned the numbers ISSN 2316-4833 and ISSN 2316-4891, respectively. During the process of learning and implementing the peer review system, CMM maintained a single section,called “Articles.”

Several corrections on the journal’s form were made in 2013 to improve its quality. The numbering remained sequential, following the title change in 2007. Volume identification was also added, considering that very year; thus, 2014 was the eighth volume. Bibliographic captions and volume information were included in the footer of all pages. Titles, abstracts and keywords are available in the original language and also in Portuguese and English. Considering the different changes that occurred with the CMM, a balance between the technical-normative issues and the historical link of the publication was sought.

Regarding the content aspects, internal rules were included to define the activities of all the functions of the editorial team. The blind peer review was established and starting from the thirtieth issue, all articles presented in the “Scientific Articles” sections were evaluated by at least two reviewers.

Starting in 2014, the journal was institutionally consolidated as a scientific journal, while also trying to establish itself as a new scientific publication in the academic world. The journal was regularly published until the following year; however, in 2016, it faced some issues that interrupted its publication after the first issue, returning only in 2018.

In 2019, with intensive management and restructuring efforts, the CMM has stabilized its publishing process and begins a positive cycle of publication. By executing an active management and seeking to meet quality indicators for scientific journals, CMM implements DOI, improves the layout of articles and publishes them again regularly.

Carlos Shigueki Oki

* Elaborated in 2013 and updated in 2020.