Obstacles to Scholarly Publishing in the Social Sciences and Humanities: A Case Study of Vietnamese Scholars

Abstract

Abstract:Publishing scientific research is very important in contributing to the knowledge of a discipline and in sharing research findings among scientists. Based on the quantity and quality of publications, one can evaluate the research capacity of a researcher or the research performance of a university or a country. However, the number of quality publications in Vietnam is very low in comparison with those in the other countries in the region or in the world, especially in the fields of social sciences and humanities. Employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, the current study investigates university lecturers' attitudes towards research and publication and the obstacles to local and international publication at one of the main universities in social sciences and humanities in Vietnam. The study found the main barriers to publication are funding and time for research and publication, among many other obstacles. From the analysis of the data, the study would also argue that lecturers' obstacles to publication may vary across faculties (or disciplines), ages, qualifications, education, research and publication experience. The findings in this study may be applied to other institutions in Vietnam or in other countries where English is used as a foreign language.

The harsh world of publishing in emerging regions and implications for editors and publishers: The case of Vietnam

“…Having a general public that is knowledgeable about the gold standards of scientific conduct will foster open community dialogues, hold all key participants accountable, and cultivate a genuine research culture that is lacking in Vietnam (Pham & Hayden, 2019;Pho & Tran, 2016). Similar to individual researchers, privatized higher education institutions in Vietnam, unshackled by bureaucratic rigidity and fuelled by market pressure, can be proactive, even aggressive, in shaping the academic environment.…”

Research as a Base for Sustainable Development of Universities: Using the Delphi Method to Explore Factors Affecting International Publishing among Vietnamese Academic Staff

“…However, both Vuong et al's studies [3] and the work of Pham and Hayden [34] have a common limitation: they only collected data relating to social researchers and ignored their peers in science and technology. This limitation was addressed by Pho and Tran [4], with the participation of 148 Vietnamese lecturers in their survey. However, their work did not separate the opinions of those who had experience of international publication from those who did not.…”

“…The second part of the survey included 13 five-point Likert scale items pertaining to 13 factors affecting international publishing (see Table 3). These items were developed based on previous studies relating to our topic, including Pham and Hayden [34]; Chang and Chow [24]; Li [25]; Vuong et al [3]; Ho et al [29]; Pho and Tran [4]; Vuong and Tran [32]. The third part of the survey was composed of two open-ended questions.…”

“…"Time available for research purposes" is the last factor under the dimension of "policy-related" [4]. In Vietnam, since most universities are teaching institutions, staff are often overwhelmed with teaching workloads and do not have enough time for research activities [56].…”

“…Vietnamese academic staff have been encouraged or, in certain circumstances, required, to submit research to international publications (i.e., publications indexed by citation databases such as ISI Web of Science and Scopus). However, due to a chronic shortage of research competency and skills, along with appropriate supporting policies, many academic staff face challenges when trying to publish internationally [4]. Despite growing concern from practitioners in Vietnam about the need to support academic staff to be able to publish internationally, there has been limited research identifying the main factors inhibiting international publishing by Vietnamese academic staff.…”