About the Journal

The Revista de Direito Sanitário (Journal of Health Law) aims to disseminate knowledge and foster discussions within the interdisciplinary field of health law, regardless of the author's academic background.

As the first Brazilian journal to address topics related to health law, the Revista de Direito Sanitário was launched in 2000 by the Health Law Research Center at the Universidade de São Paulo (NAP-DISA/USP) and the Center for Health Law Studies and Research (Cepedisa)—institutions dedicated to developing this interdisciplinary legal field in Brazil and Latin America.

The Revista de Direito Sanitário has a unique profile that distinguishes it from other publications in law and public health. It covers diverse topics such as the legal organization and management of health systems, public health policy formulation, the right to health services, consumer rights in health matters, health ethics, the right to health and the environment, the right to mental health, and intellectual property.

The publication is aimed at academics, researchers, students, legal practitioners, public administrators, and professionals working in both public and private health systems.

The Revista de Direito Sanitário employs a continuous article publication system (rolling pass), releasing one volume per year (which may or may not be divided into issues), and utilizes a double-blind peer-review system for manuscripts.

All stages of the submission process are free of charge, and the journal's entire content is available via open access.

EDITORIAL POLICY

Ethics and good editorial practices

The Revista de Direito Sanitário adopts the ethical principles and guidelines for good editorial practices advocated by the:

Editorial decisions regarding specific ethical issues are also based on recommendations from the following codes of editorial best practice: "Best Practices for Peer Reviewer Selection and Contact to Prevent Peer Review Manipulation by Authors" by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME); the "Updated ICMJE Recommendations" by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE); and the "Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials" (SPIRIT-CONSORT).

The editorial team of Revista de Direito Sanitário is committed to these principles and guidelines.

The journal strongly recommends that authors and reviewers read these documents.

By submitting their manuscripts, authors accept the terms of the journal's editorial policy and the guidelines and principles advocated by the aforementioned documents.

By agreeing to participate in the journal's scientific review process, reviewers agree to the guidelines and principles advocated by COPE, CSE, and WAME, as well as Revista de Direito Sanitário's specific guidelines for evaluating manuscripts.

Content

Revista de Direito Sanitário publishes original works—original research articles, review articles, case studies, and book reviews—authored by Brazilian and international researchers in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French. The journal does not publish essays or articles translated from other periodicals.

Works submitted to Revista de Direito Sanitário must be original and intended exclusively for publication in the journal. Once accepted for publication, the work may not be made public prior to its release by the journal.

Works published in academic conference proceedings, on academic platforms, as preliminary versions (such as working papers), or on preprint platforms are considered original and may be submitted for the journal's review process.

Authors may share and discuss research data at scientific events, with peers, and with the press, but they may not distribute copies of the work—in the final version submitted to the journal—prior to official publication.

Revista de Direito Sanitário encourages authors to archive their articles and deposit published works in public academics repositories.

The publication enforces a two-year waiting period for articles by the same lead author. A lead author cannot publish articles in two consecutive issues.

Copyright

The journal adopts the Creative Commons "Attribution 4.0 International" (CC BY 4.0) license. This license allows for sharing—copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format—and adapting—remixing, transforming, and building upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. Further information about the license can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.pt_BR

By submitting works for publication in the Revista de Direito Sanitário, authors accept the terms of this license and agree to assign copyright to the publication.

Authors also agree to the journal's commitment to providing open access to all its content.

Author Responsibilities

Authors of a scientific work are individuals who have contributed significantly to the research and the article, participating in the development of the methodology, data collection and analysis, and the drafting of the manuscript. All individuals identified as authors of the manuscript must have contributed to its preparation and must be familiar with its content.

The Revista de Direito Sanitário adopts the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) classification for roles and contributions. Upon manuscript submission, the corresponding author must complete the questionnaire detailing each author's contribution to the work's development.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript has not been submitted to any other publication, either concurrently with or after its submission to the Revista de Direito Sanitário.

Authors are responsible for addressing any questions regarding the scientific merit of the research and the article, as well as the writing of the text. They are also responsible for approving the final version of the article for publication.

Authors are also responsible for disclosing whether public and/or private funding was received for the work.

In the case of articles with multiple authors, the primary contact author is responsible for all communication with the journal and is tasked with keeping the other authors informed about the submission and editorial production processes.

Opinions expressed in works published by Revista de Direito Sanitário are the sole responsibility of their authors.

Use of AI

Authors must provide detailed information regarding which artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used and how—whether for research or data analysis, the production of images or graphic elements, or the writing of the article itself. This information must be included in the section describing the article's methodological procedures. Failure to disclose the use or content generated by AI is considered unethical behavior and a violation of the principles of transparency in research and scientific writing.

Editorial misconduct

Revista de Direito Sanitário condemns any and all forms of scientific misconduct, such as data falsification and fabrication; issues regarding authorship; plagiarism; misappropriation of ideas or data; citation manipulation; and undisclosed or declared conflicts of interest.

Any allegation of scientific misconduct will be reported to the Editor-in-Chief of Revista de Direito Sanitário and investigated confidentially in collaboration with the Editorial Board, ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to rectify any confirmed errors.

The journal employs plagiarism detection software (iThenticate). In cases of suspected plagiarism and/or self-plagiarism, Revista de Direito Sanitário requests that the author revise the manuscript to include proper references to the original works. If the author fails to comply with the journal's request, the manuscript is rejected.

Revista de Direito Sanitário recommends that all parties involved in the editorial process consult the guidelines and standards for good editorial practice adopted by the journal.

Conflicts of interest

Authors submitting manuscripts to Revista de Direito Sanitário must disclose any potential conflicts of interest—whether academic, professional, political, personal, or financial in nature. The same guidelines apply to scientific reviewers of manuscripts, who must recuse themselves from evaluating a paper if there is a potential conflict of interest that could influence their assessment—such as the identification of authors, a lack of familiarity with the study's subject area, or funding-related issues.

Members of the Board and the editorial team of the Revista de Direito Sanitário must also disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the journal.

In case of doubt regarding the existence of potential conflicts of interest, authors, reviewers, and editors should consult the Editor-in-Chief of the Revista de Direito Sanitário.

Funding

The Revista de Direito Sanitário is funded by the Center for Research in Health Law at the Universidade de São Paulo (Cepedisa/USP)—its publisher—and by funds obtained through public calls for proposals from the Universidade de São Paulo’s Program for Support of Scientific Periodical Publications, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes).

EVALUATION OF SUBMISSIONS

The Revista de Direito Sanitário employs a double-blind peer review process.

First stage: editorial guidelines

In this stage, the submission is checked for compliance with the Revista de Direito Sanitário's editorial guidelines, particularly regarding the following items: text length (within section limits); title, abstract, and keywords in the original language and in English (within word count limits); author affiliations; and adherence of citations and references to ABNT standards.
During this stage, the manuscript is also screened using the iThenticate plagiarism detection software adopted by the journal.
If the submission does not meet the publication's editorial standards, it is returned to the author with a request for revisions to ensure compliance.
Responsible for evaluation: editorial office.
Timeframe: 5 business days.

Second stage: editorial evaluation

This evaluation determines whether the submission addresses topics within the field of health law, whether it contributes to the scientific development of the area, whether it falls within the publication's editorial scope, and whether its structure meets the standards of a scientific paper.
All submissions to the Revista de Direito Sanitário undergo this initial evaluation—including original articles, review articles, case studies, and book reviews—regardless of whether the authors were invited or submitted the work independently.
Responsible for evaluation: Editor-in-Chief.
Timeframe: 10 business days.

Third stage: scientific merit

In the third stage of the manuscript review process, the work's scientific merit is analyzed, adhering to the rules of a double-blind peer review process.
Original articles, review articles, and case studies—whether submitted by invited authors or others—undergo this evaluation.
Responsible parties: ad hoc reviewers external to the Revista de Direito Sanitário. In addition to external reviewers, members of the Editorial Board and the publication's Editor-in-Chief participate in this stage.
Responsibilities and timeframes:

  • Initial evaluation by external reviewers: 30 business days.
  • Editorial recommendation by the editors and/or Editor-in-Chief: 10 business days.
  • Note: the editorial recommendation may be to request a third review; request a revision of the manuscript based on the two reviews or just one of them; or reject the manuscript.
  • Total timeframe for feedback to authors: 40 business days.
  • If a revision is recommended, authors have 60 calendar days to make the changes.
  • The revised work undergoes a new round of evaluation by the same reviewers or by new evaluators.
  • Total timeframe for feedback to authors: 40 business days.
  • If a revision is recommended, authors have 60 calendar days to make the changes.

Notes:

  • Reviews prepared by the publication's ad hoc reviewers serve as tools for assessing the scientific merit of manuscripts, and the recommendations contained therein act as guidelines for improving the scientific quality of the work. The Editor-in-Chief, with the collaboration of the Editorial Board, holds final responsibility for the editorial decision.
  • The publication reserves the right to make adjustments to ensure manuscript standardization, in accordance with the journal's editorial style. The papers are also reviewed to correct any grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors, as well as issues with bibliographic formatting.

 

INDEXERS AND DATABASES

Scopus

Emerging Citation Sources (Web of Science)

CSA Sociological Abstracts / PAIS - International Peer Reviewed Journals List

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Lilacs

Latindex – Catálogo 2.0

Open Academic Journal Index (OAJI)

Google Scholar

Ulrichs

Diadorim

Oasisbr

Catálogo Coletivo Nacional

Portal de Periódicos da Capes

Sudoc (Agence bibliographique de l'enseignement supérieur)

OpenAlex

German Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB)

Scilit

Banco de Dados de Artigos de Periódicos da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo

Rede Virtual de Bibliotecas

 

ARCHIVING

 

All content from the Revista de Direito Sanitário is archived in the USP Intellectual Production Repository, adhering to a 48-hour timeframe and the SWORD protocol. Journals on the USP Journal Portal are preserved via the PKP Preservation Network.

 

Content updated in July 2026