Vietnam publishes over 19,000 international articles/year but only has 2 Scopus journals

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc speaks at the seminar

The information was shared at the seminar on building a scientific journal meeting Scopus/ACI standards organized by the Ministry of Education and Training this morning (July 15) at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH).

Speaking at the seminar, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc said that through research on experiences in Asian countries, it was shown that many journals from countries in this region such as Japan, Korea, and Singapore are included in the ISI/Scopus list. Notably, Korea has over 300 journals in the Scopus list.

The Deputy Minister informed that there are currently 32 scientific journals under the management of highereducation institutions under the Ministry of Education and Training, not including member schools of regional universities. In the past, the Ministry has supported 18 journals to develop plans to meet standards in the Southeast Asian Citation Index (ACI). Two journals that have met Scopus standards include: Asian Journal of Economic and Business Studies under the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City and Journal of Economics and Development under the National Economics University.

The numbers show the inadequacy

Sharing at the seminar, Prof. Dr. Le Quoc Hoi, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economics and Development under the National Economics University, also said that by 2024, Vietnam will have a total of approximately 800 scientific journals. Of which, only 12 journals will be included in the WoS and Scopus systems. At the regional level, out of 405 scientific journals indexed in the ACI system, Vietnam only has 19 journals. The process of international integration of Vietnamese scientific journals faces many difficulties and challenges.

Sharing the same view, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Van Thuat, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Construction Science and Technology under the Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, said: "It can be said that there is a serious imbalance between the need for publication and the ability of domestic journals to meet it. The number of Vietnamese journals in Scopus is much less than that of many countries in the region."

According to data accessed on June 28, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Van Thuat said that Vietnam currently has only 2 Scopus journals, much lower than other countries in the Southeast Asian region (such as Indonesia with 169 journals, Singapore with 205 journals, Malaysia with 117 journals, etc.). Meanwhile, the total number of scientific articles in Vietnam is about 40,000 articles/year. Notably, there are over 19,000 articles from Vietnam submitted to Scopus/WoS journals of other countries. The number of articles published in Vietnam is equivalent to over 71% of the Scopus articles of Thailand, 42% of Malaysia and 33% of Indonesia, etc. But on the contrary, there are very few articles from abroad submitted to Vietnamese journals. Therefore, Associate Professor Thuat said that there is an inadequacy when the number of international publications is quite large but the number of journals is too small.

Overview of the seminar on building a scientific journal that meets Scopus/ACI standards

What solutions can Vietnamese scientists publish internationally in the country?

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Van Thuat, Vietnam needs many Scopus/WoS journals to publish domestic and foreign articles. To do so, according to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Construction Science and Technology , there needs to be strong initial investment in specialized human resources and facilities. Especially finance to maintain activities including services using international editing and publishing systems that some international organizations have monopolized for many years. Current domestic journal activities cannot generate enough revenue to cover necessary expenses.

Prof. Dr. Le Quoc Hoi believes that improving the quality of scientific journals to join international databases has become an urgent requirement today. "To improve the quality of Vietnamese scientific journals, as well as to have more and more journals listed in WoS, Scopus and ACI, it is time for managers of Vietnamese scientific journals to work seriously and determine the right roadmap, steps and specific solutions according to the criteria of the international peer review system. This is a task that needs support from the state and the scientific community so that Vietnam can soon have many journals that meet international standards," Prof. Dr. Le Quoc Hoi proposed.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc also said that developing domestic scientific journals to integrate with those of other countries in the region and the world is an important task. In the future, scientists can publish articles in domestic journals but with international quality and standards.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Phuc, the above tasks cannot be delayed because domestic journals have the potential and ability to do so. "More than 10 years ago, we were not confident in publishing international articles, but now we are confident. Similarly, scientific journals can now be confident in international journal categories. After phase 1, we will evaluate and learn from experience to continue implementing the above goals in the next phase," said Deputy Minister Phuc.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-cong-bo-tren-19000-bai-bao-quoc-te-nam-nhung-chi-co-2-tap-chi-scopus-185240715190841999.htm