Extended definition
The Lattes Platform is the integrated system of CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) that brings together curricula of Brazilian researchers, research-group registration (Directory of Groups), institutions, and national scientific production. Launched in 1999 under initial coordination by Roberto Lent and the CNPq team, it became the de facto standard for academic evaluation in Brazil: productivity scholarships (PQ), undergraduate research scholarships (PIBIC), graduate program selections, university hiring, CAPES evaluation of programs (via integration with Sucupira), funding-call distribution (CNPq, state FAPESPs, FINEP). Structure: the individual curriculum holds personal data, training, professional experience, projects, bibliographic production (articles, books, chapters, conference papers), technical production (software, patents, products), completed and ongoing supervisions, panel participations. Lane (2010, Nature News) documented the Platform as an international model of national scientific information management. Mena-Chalco and Cesar Junior (2013, RITA) described mass data-mining techniques on Lattes curricula for quantitative portraits of Brazilian science — frequent scientometric research uses authorized scraping. ORCID integration: since 2014 there has been bidirectional mapping between Lattes and ORCID, with researchers able to import/export production. Documented limitation: self-declared data without rigorous automatic validation — fictional production occurs; periodic audits and cross-checking with international bases are emerging practice.
When it applies
The Lattes Platform applies mandatorily in interactions with Brazilian funding systems: applications for CNPq, FAPESP and similar scholarships; project submission to calls; supervisee registration; integration with the Sucupira Platform via CAPES for quadrennial evaluation of graduate programs. It applies in university public-hiring calls (Lattes CV is a mandatory piece). It applies in scientometric research on Brazilian science — Lattes is the primary source for mapping researchers, groups, institutions. It applies in coauthorship-network studies via the Group Directory. It applies in international collaboration where the Brazilian partner needs to document institutional trajectory.
When it does not apply
It does not apply as a substitute for ORCID in international contexts: ORCID is the global standard for persistent identification; Lattes is not recognized outside Brazil. It does not apply directly in purely international collaborations where no partner is Brazilian. It does not apply as automatic quality validator: listed production is not automatically verified; manual audit is necessary for critical uses. It does not apply in modern scientific management systems based on DOI/ORCID: integration is still partial. It does not replace narrative description of scientific trajectory in project proposals and application letters — the CV is raw data, not argument.
Applications by field
— Research funding: CNPq scholarships (PQ, PIBIC, master’s, doctoral); universal and thematic calls. — Institutional evaluation: integration with Sucupira/CAPES for quadrennial evaluation of graduate programs. — University hiring: Lattes CV is a mandatory piece in Brazilian calls. — National scientometrics: authorized scraping for quantitative studies of Brazilian science; Lattes Extractor is a standard tool.
Common pitfalls
The first pitfall is keeping Lattes outdated for long periods: CAPES evaluation, applications, and calls consult current state — unregistered production is not counted. The second is duplicating production records (the same article registered more than once) — automatic auditing detects inconsistencies. The third is reporting inaccurate coauthorship data (omitting foreign coauthors, altering authorship order, incorrectly classifying as main author) — DOI/Crossref cross-checking exposes divergences and generates problems in serious evaluations. The fourth is confusing Lattes with ORCID: both are complementary (Lattes is national/evaluative; ORCID is international/identification); Brazilian researchers need to maintain both. The fifth is neglecting technical-production fields (software, dataset, patent): underuse of these fields harms evaluation in areas with strong technical component.