University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi

https://ussh.vnu.edu.vn

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities must be socially influential

Recently, the Meeting of Journals of Social Sciences and Humanities' (JOSSH) collaborators was held under the chairmanship of Prof.Dr Pham Quang Minh with the participation of many leading scholars specializing in social sciences and humanities inside and outside USSH. Their feedback focused on solutions to further improving the Journal's quality and status, making it an internationally-standardized journal and included in the ISI/Scopus databases by the year 2030.

The preliminary successes

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (://journal.ussh.vnu.edu.vn) is the official scientific publication of USSH, VNU Hanoi, established under the license no 155/GP-BTTTT issued by Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communication on May 11th, 2015, with the ISSN number of 2354-1172.

The Journal's mission is defined as being "an academic forum that introduces the lastest and high-quality research findings in social sciences and humanities inside and outside Vietnam, contributing to national construction and development and strengthening international integration in the context of globalization."

Having been in existence for 4 years, the Journal soon validates its quality and status among the journals of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam. JOSSH has been included by the State Council for Professor Titles as a journal whose works are scored by 08 State Councils for Disciplinary and Inter-disciplinary Professor Titles, including Council for Professor Title for Pedagogy, Council for Professor Title for Jurisprudence, Council for Professor Title for Linguistics, Council for Professor Title for History-Archaeology-Ethnology, Council for Professor Title for Psychology, Council for Professor Title for Philosophy-Sociology-Political Science, Council for Professor Title for Culture-Arts-Sports, and Council for Professor Title for Literature.

The Council of editors of JOSSH has 37 members, including 06 non-Vietnamese scholars. Each year it publishes 04 Vietnamese issues and 02 English issues. Up to now there have been 17 foreign authors submitting articles. The ratio of rejected articles is 36.43%. 

Assoc.Prof.Dr Vu Van Quan (Deputy Editor-in-chief of JOOSH) said the quality of articles is its foremost priority. Apart from having leading and reputed domestic and foreign scientists as members of the Council of editors, the journal also has its peer-review process conducted thoroughly and objectively. Each article is secretly evaluated by 02 independent reviewers. If their evaluations are not in agreemtn a 3rd one gets involved. The articles span across many areas of social sciences and humanities.

Prof. Vu Duong Ninh (President of the University's Association of Former Teachers) speaks at the meeting

The Journal strives to become an internationally-standardized journal included in the lists of leading and prestigious regional and worldwide publications (Scopus and ISI databases) by 2030.

Until now, the Journal has been included in the scientific databases of large universities, research institutes and libraries in Vietnam such as the Vietnamese training institutions overseas, the Vietnam Scholars Network, and its contents have been cited by Google, Scholars, Worldcat, Openarchives, etc. 

Discussing about social sciences and humanities issues in line with current events

Regarded as a leading social sciences and humanities journal nationwide, JOSSH has to portray a genuine picture of the current state of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam as well as in the world. Prof.Dr Tran Thi Minh Duc (USSH) said the Journal first of all has to publish the latest findings made by its own scientists. Annually, the scholars at the University's various units conduct different research projects and papers inside and outside Vietnam, so how are they presented in the University's own journals? Why have several scholars chosen to publish their articles in foreign journals instead of their University's? Is it necessary to devise stricter regulations on publishing one's works in JOOSH?

Prof.Dr Tran Thi Minh Duc

Prof.Dr Do Quang Hung (USSH) said for the Journal to be of good quality each of its issue has to publish "core" articles by leading scientists. Instead of passively waiting for articles the Board of Editors has to actively invite leading Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese scientists to write focal, high-quality papers that cover latest developments and trends in their respective research areas. 

Prof.Dr Do Quang Hung

Prof. Tran Khanh (Institute of Southeast Asian studies) highly appreciated the Journal's content and design. Despite being young the Journal has managed to stay in the list of Vietnam's scientific journals. But he said it requires strong will from the Board of Editors to create true innovations and breakthroughs. The articles have to extend to controversial topics, even ones that were formerly considered "sensitive" and discuss them in a scientific, honest and objective way. Issues such as sovereignty over the sea and islands and policy-making affairs have be addressed by the scholars.

Internationalization

Highly appreciating JOSSH's strategy of internationalization, the leading experts at the meeting made concrete suggestions.

Prof.Sc.Dr Tran Van Nhung (General Secretary of the State Council of Professors)

Prof.Sc.Dr Tran Van Nhung said only by working seriously and valuing high quality can the University's Journal reach out to the world. To become an internationally-recognized journal, JOOSH has to attempt to meet international standards in its content, design, procedures, etc. In addition, the Journal has to forge its own and conspicuous identity among hundreds of other journals.

Prof.Dr Nguyen Van Khánh speaks at the meeting

Prof.Dr Nguyen Van Khanh (Chairman of the University's Academic-Scientific Council) suggested consolidating the Journal's Council of Editors based on increasing the number of foreign scientists; the number of international articles; and the number of English issues equivalent to that of Vietnamese issues. Finally, the University has to closely connect with leading regional journals to extend its own academic relations and status.

Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Van Chinh (Faculty of Anthropology) shared his experiences: Foreign journals highly value book review and introduction articles that are often discussed and reviewed carefully. Apart from regular issues, the Journal has to develop specialized issues that focus on specific topics and draw the attention of scientists. He said unlike those in other areas, social sciences and humanities studies tend to have huge social influences and impacts. So each prestigious journal has to have enough scientific contents that are socially influential. 

JOOSH's German editor, Etienne Mahler suggested using plagiarism detection software in reviewing articles, which has been a common practice in the world. The promotion of the Journal overseas has to be done correctly and actively. The Journal's network of authors and collabators have be regularly maintained and extended. The topics of each issue has be planned and made known to the scholars so they can send the appropriate articles.

Author: Thanh Ha

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