International publication of Vietnamese papers rises sharply

Hanoi (VNA) – Statistics show that the number of papers by Vietnamese researchers published in International Scientific Indexing (ISI) journals has increased significantly in both the social and natural sciences.  

Educational experts said international integration has prompted universities to work hard to improve their world rankings if they want to affirm their prestige and attract students.

Investing in research and being published in prestigious journals is just one result of that.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education and Training issued regulations on doctoral training, requiring both post-graduate students and mentors to have publications in ISI journals.

The issuance of these regulations has yielded success, with a sharp rise in Vietnamese research papers being published in international publications over the past three years.

ISI publications up 144.7 percent

Ho Manh Toan, from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Social Research, Phenikaa University, said over the past decade, the number of Vietnamese papers published in ISI journals rose rapidly, from nearly 1,600 in 2011 to around 12,500 in 2020.

Last year’s figure was bigger even than the combined volume of 2015, 2016 and 2017, and for the period 2011-2015.

Increases have been seen through the years but particularly after 2017 when the above-mentioned regulations came into force. The number of published papers last year was double the number of 6,000 in 2018.

This rapid rise has helped Vietnamese universities gain higher rankings on the international education map.

In 2018, the Vietnam National University – Hanoi, and the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City were the first Vietnamese universities to be named among the top 1,000 universities in the world, according to the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings in the UK.

The QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Being the only international ranking to have received International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) approval, the QS ranking is viewed as one of the three most widely-read university rankings in the world, along with the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The QS World University Rankings evaluate universities according to six metrics - Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, and Faculty/Student Ratio, as well as Citations per faculty, International Faculty Ratio, and International Student Ratio.

In 2019, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the Vietnam National University-Hanoi became the first Vietnamese representatives in the 801-1000 group in the annual global ranking compiled by the Times Higher Education (THE), a British provider of higher education data.

Four universities in Vietnam have placed on a global ranking for science subjects released on March 4, 2020, by QS.

They are the Vietnam National University, Hanoi; the Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City; the Hanoi University of Science and Technology; and the Can Tho University.

Big strides for social sciences

Among Vietnam’s ISI publications, those related to social sciences make up only 5.8 percent.

Despite the modest number, the sector has shown substantial growth, with many subjects experiencing intensive international integration, Toan said.

Photo: The number and ranking of publications of Vietnam’s social sciences on Scopus journals

Toan said that the number of economic papers published in Scopus journals jumped from 107 in 2016 to 1,024 last year, and the number of published business papers increased from 140 to 1,316.

Other subjects such as culture, anthropology, history, political science and international relations have also made big strides in this regard.

There were only a handful of Vietnamese papers published on philosophy, literature, anthropology and urbanisation in international journals in 2016. The number reached double digits in 2020.

According to Toan, SCImago Institutions Rankings upgraded Vietnam’s
economics course from 57th in 2016 to 20th last year. Business courses were also elevated from 63rd to 25th.

Such numbers and analysis reflect the significance of scientific research and publication in international journals.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training has recently scrapped the requirements of having papers published in an international publication for researchers and lecturers on doctoral training.

This decision has triggered concern among Vietnamese scientists who have said it will slow down the country’s international integration in scientific research./.