Objective: To evaluate whether there is a preference for foreign periodicals over Brazilian one.
Methods: We evaluated all references of articles published in the years 2011 and 2007 in the journals Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira, Arquivos Brasileiros de Cirurgia Digestiva and the Journal of the Brazilian College of Surgeons, verifying the quantity of papers from Brazilian and foreign publications.
Results: We analyzed a total of 7,343 references arranged in 348 articles in those three journals; of these, 856 (11.65%) were from Brazilian journals. There was no difference between the three magazines, nor between the two periods. One hundred and eleven (31.9%) articles did not cite any Brazilian journal article and 36 (10.34%) cited Brazilian articles more than foreign ones.
Conclusion: There is need for the Brazilian researcher to appreciate more the Brazilian journals, increasing citation from Brazil, without a scientific xenophobia.