Holding a specialized workshop on indexing academic journals and books at Iran University Press

The sixth specialized workshop of Iran University Press  entitled “Indexing Academic Publications and Books” was held on Saturday, February 6, 1404,  with the presence of a group of responsible managers, editors of academic publications, researchers, publishing experts, and activists in the field of scientometrics, at the Press’s conference hall. This workshop was planned and implemented with the aim of explaining the new requirements of indexing, examining the challenges and weaknesses in the country’s academic publishing system, and familiarizing with the standards and expectations of reputable international databases. At the beginning of this scientific meeting, Dr. Ahmad Shakeri, Research Advisor of University Press, while welcoming the attendees, pointed out the necessity of holding such workshops and added that rapid developments in the field of science, research, and academic publishing require that activists in this field continuously familiarize themselves with the current needs of the scientific community and new international standards. He emphasized that specialized workshops can play an important role in enhancing the professional knowledge of publication managers and improving the quality of the country’s scientific production. Dr. Shakeri, stating that indexing is one of the key components of accreditation for academic publications and books, added: “Without a precise understanding of the requirements of indexing and compliance with scientific and technical standards, it will not be possible to have an effective presence in the international arena.” He emphasized the need to link the real needs of the scientific community and policies in the field of academic publishing. Furthermore, Dr. Morteza Taheri, a faculty member of the University of Tehran and deputy director of the Research Policy Office of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and a workshop instructor, explained the position of University Press in the country’s scientific system and stated: “With its scientific, technical and executive capacities, this Press can become a hub for indexing university publications and books in the country if planned purposefully.” According to him, strengthening this role requires a strategic vision, continuous training and synergy between publishers, editors and scientific policymakers. Dr. Taheri, referring to the challenges in the field of indexing, considered the greatest weakness of the country’s scientific publishing system to be the lack of coherent and professional indexing of academic books, adding: While a significant portion of scientific production is published in the form of academic books, these works are less visible in international circles, and this has reduced their scientific impact at the global level.
In another part of his speech, he referred to new developments in the economic structure of scientific publications and said: Based on the new standards, from 2025, all scientific publications are required to have a clear and transparent “business model.” He emphasized that the continuation of the activities of publications, regardless of economic sustainability and revenue models, will face serious challenges in the future. The workshop instructor also emphasized the technical requirements of international indexing and stated: Journals that intend to be included in reputable global databases must obtain international identifiers such as DOI and Cross mark. According to him, these identifiers play an important role in validating, tracking citations, and trusting the indexing databases in journals.
Dr. Taheri listed the lack of specialized, reputable, and reliable publishers as another fundamental weakness in the field of academic book indexing and stated: The lack of such publishers has caused many scientific works, despite having valuable content, to encounter problems in terms of publication and indexability standards. He emphasized that strengthening and supporting specialized publishers can play a decisive role in improving the status of academic books in the country. He also referred to the criteria for accepting publications in databases such as Scopus and said: “Journals that have a long history and regular publication continuity have a better chance in the evaluation and acceptance process. According to him, stability in publication, scientific quality of articles and professional structure of the journal are key factors in this direction.”
Dr. Taheri continued by discussing the importance of “research trends” and noted: “Recognizing emerging topics and scientific trends in each field helps journals to publish articles that are in line with the current needs of the global scientific community.” He added that paying attention to these trends can significantly increase the citation rate and impact of journals. Emphasizing the requirements for the internationalization of scientific journals, he considered the existence of an international editorial board essential and said: “Adhering to the geographical diversity of editorial board members is one of the important indicators of evaluating journals at the international level and is considered to be a transnational and scientific approach of the journal.”
The workshop instructor also pointed out the importance of paying attention to the standards of general and non-specialist audiences and stated: “Although scientific journals are specialized in nature, paying attention to the standards of non-specialist audiences and publishing articles with a social impact approach can expand the scope of research impact.” He added that articles should be published in response to targeted calls and with an emphasis on solving real problems in society. Finally, Dr. Taheri stated that one of the important factors in the international indexing process is the quality of content and the internationality of the last three issues of the journals, and emphasized: The presence of articles with the participation of foreign authors in the last three issues plays a significant role in the positive evaluation of the journals by reputable global databases.
This specialized workshop ended with questions and an exchange of views among the attendees, and the participants evaluated holding such meetings as an effective step towards improving the quality of academic publishing, increasing the visibility of the country’s scientific productions, and strengthening the position of Iranian academic journals and books in the international arena.