EDITOR'S LETTER

Sebastião Rogério Góis Moreira

Editor of Mental

In this issue of Revista Mental, I would like to take the opportunity to draw some considerations about the decisions made in regards to Resolution 196/96, which guides the conduction of research with the use of human beings. These decisions were made during a meeting coordinated by the National Research Ethics Committee (NREC), the National Health Council (NHC), and the Ministry of Health. The gathering took place in the city of São Paulo from September 20^th to
the 22^nd, with the participation of members from several human research ethics committees.

On this occasion, among other decisions, the new Regimental Resolution was established. The purpose of the meeting was to update Resolution 196/96's legal clauses taking into consideration unconditional principles of preservation of the rights of individuals who participate in scientific research conducted in Brazil.

The reformulation rests on an important tripod that dictates the
protection of human beings: the Nuremberg Code, named after
the German city in which it was signed in 1947 after the end of World War II (1939-1945), the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, signed by Brazil, and the 2005 Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights, in addition to other related documents. Thus, the reformulation abides by the Brazilian 1988 Federative Constitution and by its correlate legislation.

Considering Brazil's role in the global scenario in relation to the protection of individuals who participate in research projects, Resolution 196/2012, which seeks to improve organizational aspects of the Research Ethics Committee (REC)/NREC system, cannot ignore the ethical references presented.

The new resolution was publicly consolidated in this historical meeting, represented by more than 500 REC and NREC members, following the attested consistency of the documents cited and endorsed by means of enquiries directed towards researchers and representatives of research participants through 18 documents elaborated by represented institutions and more than 1800 proposals, subject to change over the course of time, submitted to the National Health Council's website on behalf of NREC.

Regarding the Resolution's guidelines, the achievements were many. Although ideal principles for the conduction of research in human and social sciences were not achieved to the degree we would have liked, it cannot be denied that significant advances have been made. Therefore, we, psychologists, have the duty of keeping the debates concerning the current legislation flowing through the pertinent means available, so that we can contribute to and legitimate studies on psychology alongside NREC.

These considerations cause new guidelines to be in effect in the norms of publication of research results that involve human beings in Revista Mental, starting with the articles submitted by authors that want their work to be analyzed for possible publication already in the first semester of 2014. When displaying research results, the articles must be submitted together with a copy of the research project protocol approved by an Ethics Committee accredited by the National Research Ethics Committee (NREC). Likewise, when studies involve animals, we require a protocol enclosed by Ethics Committees that analyze projects that involve animal experiments.

These initiatives, proposed by the editor of Revista Mental, consolidate guidelines that have already been adopted by a large number of Brazilian and, especially, international reviews, thus reinforcing the principles that govern international science in regards to scientific production and communication.