The article analyzes the trajectory of História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos since it was first released in 1994. This multidisciplinary journal opens its pages to unpublished, peerreviewed articles, images, documents, interviews, and other material that address issues and important figures in the history of medicine, public health, and the life sciences. Approaching from the perspectives of health and of historiography, the article explores the context in which the journal was born and discusses the daily workings of a scientific editorial office. Tables and graphs illustrate variations in the topics submitted for publication, acceptance and rejection rates for articles, the geographical origin of authors, and how the profiles of contributors and readers of the print and online versions differ in terms of their areas of interest.