The article aims to understand from the citation behavior expressed in the scientific production of the professors-researchers in the field of Brazilian Cancerology their choices about Qualis/ Capes and the impact factor of the journal. It is appropriate to clarify that the expression "more or less conscious choices", refers in this article to the primacy elaborated by the professors-researchers about the reasons/factors that guide the practice of citation from the Qualis/Capes and the Impact Factor of the journal. Although the preferences are subjective, it is evident convergences with the modus operandi with the scientific field to which the researcher is linked. The research is characterized as descriptive and this qualitative stage of the research was carried out with 15 faculty-researchers from six graduate programs in the field of Brazilian Cancerology - FAP; HCB; INCA; UFPA; USP and USP/ RP. The structured interview was used as an instrument of data collection. From the results, the reasons/factors that influence the citation behavior of the professors-researchers of the Brazilian Cancerology field were grouped into two major groups, the first, conceptual-argumentative, associated with the obligation that the researcher needs to give credibility to their scientific productions from the citations of previous research. The second group, sociopolitical, related to the modus operandi of the scientific field of the researcher, that is, the citing researcher create alignment between his production and that of researcher who is in a position consecrated in the field, to strengthen his productions and thus achieve academic visibility.