Research In Vietnam: The Experience Of The Humanities And Social Sciences

Abstract

Vietnam's low level of research productivity is especially pronounced in the humanities and social sciences. Though previous research has suggested various possible explanations, to date there has been no detailed investigation of the topic. This investigation explored the publishing experiences of a selected sample group of 20 high-achieving and well-regarded Vietnamese scholars from the humanities and social sciences. For these participants, a commitment to research and publishing derived mainly from a personal sense of academic identity, a desire to complement their teaching role by doing research, and a wish to contribute to Vietnam's social and economic development through their research. Few of them reported feeling institutional pressure to publish, though some reported that their university was now providing financial incentives for publishing in high-impact journals. Disincentives to publishing included funding limitations, and especially limitations associated with approval mechanisms within universities. Interference with the freedom to publish was reported to occur, but none of the participants appeared to be too concerned about political censorship. It was widely considered to be easier to have research reported in national than in international peer-reviewed journals because of the difference in academic standards. A lack of confidence with writing in English was also reported by some participants to be a constraint on publishing in international journals.

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

“…What is clear is that these shortcomings are systemic problems, rooted in the absence of a mature merit‐based scientific funding, a research‐oriented higher educational structure, and an organized scientific publication database at the national level. Nonetheless, the tide is turning towards internationalization of higher education, and academic publishing in line with international standards in Vietnam has recently risen to prominence (Minh & Chinh, ; Pham & Hayden, ).…”

“…Second, they can inform the general public through science communication channels such as the website SciCom (http://sc.sshpa.com) or the Ministry of Science and Technology's magazines Tia Sáng or Khoa học và Phát triển . 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, ; Pho & Tran, ). 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.…”

“…Nonetheless, the tide is turning towards internationalization of higher education, and academic publishing in line with international standards in Vietnam has recently risen to prominence (Minh & Chinh, 2019;Pham & Hayden, 2019).…”

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

“…Pham and Hayden [34] overcame Vuong et al's [3] limitations by conducting in-depth interviews with 20 Vietnamese researchers. Pham and Hayden's work [34] revealed that English writing competency and funding limitations are among the key factors hindering Vietnamese scholars from publishing internationally.…”

“…Pham and Hayden [34] overcame Vuong et al's [3] limitations by conducting in-depth interviews with 20 Vietnamese researchers. Pham and Hayden's work [34] revealed that English writing competency and funding limitations are among the key factors hindering Vietnamese scholars from publishing internationally. 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.…”