Knowledge production in the Social and Human Sciences within public health

Abstract

This editorial discusses the position of the Social and Human Sciences in Health (SHSH) within the broader field of Public Health. It critically examines the historical inequalities among its constituent subfields and explores how these asymmetries affect the production and circulation of scientific knowledge. We argue that, despite broad recognition of the critical and interdisciplinary value of SHSH, persistent institutional, editorial, and academic constraints continue to hinder its consolidation. Drawing on a survey of journals affiliated with the Public Health Editors Forum of the Brazilian Public Health Association, this text analyzes the editorial circulation of SHSH research. The findings show that this literature is highly concentrated in a few specific journals, revealing persistent bottlenecks in its publication and validation. The article also introduces the commemorative dossier celebrating 30+ years of Saúde e Sociedade, contextualizing the symposium that inspired this collection and summarizing the contributions of the published papers. Reflecting on the journal’s trajectory and on the contemporary challenges facing SHSH within Public Health, we reaffirm the urgent need to strengthen pluralistic, critical editorial spaces committed to epistemological diversity and to the defense of health as a fundamental right.