International publication is closely linked to the scientific life of each individual.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Party Secretary, Vice Principal of the School) chaired the conference.

Is international publication in the field of social sciences and humanities easy or difficult? Why does the field of social sciences and humanities have so much potential but the results of international publication are not commensurate? What solutions are there to promote international publication among the staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities? Scientists at the conference not only shared their personal experiences in international publication but also suggested solutions from the perspective of management and policy...

At the conference, Dr. Pham Duc Anh (Deputy Head of Science and Technology Department, VNU) said: In the development strategy until 2020, VNU sets a target of achieving at least 600 international publications in the ISI and Scopus categories each year, of which 60 are in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities.

In recent years, the number of international publications in the ISI and Scopus categories of VNU has grown steadily and on an upward trend. Notably, in 2018, the scientific team of VNU published 603 ISI and Scopus articles. International publications in the field of social sciences and humanities account for about 1/10. Dr. Pham Duc Anh said that the field of social sciences and humanities has a lot of potential and advantages, but the results of international publications are not commensurate with the potential. Therefore, in 2019, VNU proposed solutions to further promote international publications in this field.

Dr. Pham Duc Anh (Deputy Head of Science and Technology Department, VNU) believes that the field of Social Sciences and Humanities still has a lot of potential for international publication.

Sharing the international publication experience of the strong research group of the Institute of Policy and Management, the group leader - Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Thanh Truong affirmed: Most of the group's international publications are the results of topics and projects, and 3/4 of the publications are in the field of policy science and management of an interdisciplinary nature. Since 2017, the group has hired foreign experts to participate in the implementation of the tasks of topics and projects; thereby supporting and transferring experience and technology to members revolving around the capacity to write, announce and publish international articles.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Thanh Truong highly appreciated the effective policies of the University that have supported and promoted international publications among staff in recent times, and proposed some additional solutions: Firstly, VNU and the University assign tasks to strong research groups, along with funding and international publication targets. Research groups are autonomous in terms of funding and activities to achieve the highest efficiency. The activities of research groups need to be taken into account and placed in the long-term international publication development strategy of the University.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Thanh Truong (Head of the Faculty of Management Science, Director of the Institute of Policy and Management) proposed to assign funding and international publication targets to each research group.

Second, the School is interested in recruiting research positions for faculties, centers, and institutes. These research positions can be flexible according to the staffing of each research project. It is time for the School to promote the building of a culture of international publication, making international publication a regular task and a personal need of staff.

Finally, besides international publications, a special product of social sciences and humanities that needs to be given special attention is policy advice and recommendations for Party and State agencies.

Considering that international publications in the field of social sciences and humanities are lower when compared to other scientific fields - this is a common situation in many countries, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Con (Faculty of Linguistics) provided information: survey data in the past 6 years shows that publications in the field of social sciences and humanities in Malaysia account for 4.7% of the total number of scientific publications; in Vietnam, this rate is 5.7% and equal to Singapore; the highest in Southeast Asia is the Philippines with a rate of 9.6%. If calculated by school, Singapore has a rate of international publications in the ISI and Scopus categories of 15 articles/school/year; while this rate in the remaining countries in the region is low, only 1-2 articles/school/year.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Con (Faculty of Linguistics) said that the number of international publications in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities is not high compared to other scientific fields, which is a common situation in many countries.

Explain the reasons whycThe international fathers in Vietnam are lower than in other countries, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Con said that the underlying cause lies in the difference in the level of socio-economic development and the level of investment in science. Compared to developed countries, investment in science in Vietnam is still very far behind. Besides, there are other limitations stemming from both subjective and objective causes of the general context and from the side of individual scientists. These are the disconnection in theory and research methods with the world; not being able to update timely current scientific issues of the world; poor foreign language proficiency; the characteristics of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam... Therefore, to gradually increase the quantity and quality of international publications in social sciences and humanities, there needs to be a roadmap and time, and it cannot be rushed.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hong Con also emphasized that the human factor is the most important factor in the development strategy of universities. Therefore, the University needs to be careful in the selection of personnel to recruit people with capacity and qualities in research and international integration. In addition, the management mechanism needs to be open and transparent to fully promote the creativity and enthusiasm of the team.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh (Faculty of Sociology) speaking at the Conference

Associate Professor Dr. Trinh Cam Lan (Faculty of Linguistics) shared the unit's experience, that is, if a research team has not been established, then focus on investing and encouraging individuals to strongly develop their research capacity in the direction of each person's own specialty. This comes from the fact that international publications require very deep expertise in a certain field and sometimes it is difficult to find people with the same research direction.

Regarding the experience of getting articles published in international journals, Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Cam Lan said that foreign scientific journals are very interested in survey materials in Vietnam - that is an advantage. In addition, authors need to have an updated theoretical basis, an effective analytical theoretical framework and a research problem that is in the current trend of interest... then the possibility of the article being accepted will be high.

In response to concerns raised by many people that only scientists formally trained in English-speaking countries are more likely to publish internationally, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Luot (Department of Psychology) cited: the majority of the staff of the Department of Psychology were trained in French and Russian-speaking countries, but to date, they have all published internationally in English-language journals. This is due to the special characteristics of the Psychology industry, which has a strong international connection factor, combined with the spirit of openness, sharing and personal efforts of the teachers in the department on this issue, which has led to certain results.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Luot (Faculty of Psychology) shares his experiences about his personal efforts to publish articles in international journals.

From a psychological perspective, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Luot believes that scientists need to research and proactively participate in international scientific forums and networks in their research fields to learn and exchange expertise.

Sharing the same view, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Huyen (Institute of Journalism and Communication) said that scientists need to always maintain their passion, enthusiasm, and be ready to contribute to science, considering international publications as a way to develop and demonstrate their scientific capacity. In their specialized fields, Vietnamese scientists need to connect with the world's leading scholars, confidently shake hands, and "sell" themselves to participate in international research projects, thereby gaining more experience and building prestige. Maintaining personal relationships is very important to building scientific relationships in the international community.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Huyen (Institute of Journalism and Communication) spoke at the Conference

Providing a practical perspective, Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan (Vice Principal of the University) commented: research universities are no longer just a destination, but the spirit of research must always be present in all activities of the staff and the university. If public universities are not careful, they will fall behind in the race for international publications. Brainpower is flowing from the public school system to the private school system very quickly and private universities are showing great efforts and investments in international publications.

Whether international publication is easy or difficult, whether it has positive or negative prospects - these are still controversial issues, but it cannot be denied that it is completely possible to promote international publication on the basis of making good use of the very open policy mechanisms at all levels for this activity.

Concluding the Conference, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Vice Rector of the University) once again affirmed: international publication in Social Sciences and Humanities is an inevitable trend and a policy being promoted at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and VNU. Especially, the context of Vietnam's education increasingly integrating deeply with the region and the world leads to the need for internationalization in all fields, from research, training to university administration, becoming increasingly stronger. That context requires Vietnamese scientists to be dynamic and proactive to adapt to the above trend.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim concluded the Conference

In recent years, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has implemented many policies and solutions to promote international publications as well as develop the scientific research capacity of its staff. The school has a policy of rewarding and providing financial support for international publications; inviting many domestic and foreign experts to share their publishing experiences; organizing seminars and conferences on international publications; including international publication targets in regular scientific tasks; paying attention to strong research groups...

The school also calls for more efforts from teachers in research activities and international publications to affirm the position, role and professional capacity of the scientific staff. It is time for international publications to become a factor closely linked to the scientific life of each individual and of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in the present and future.