On March 11 of current year, at the initiative of the Higher Attestation Commission under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan a meeting was held with representatives of the international publishing company Elsevier. The leadership of the Commission and staff from the Information and Scientific Journals Department participated in the event.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues related to improving the performance of peer-reviewed scientific journals in the country and to create the necessary conditions for their inclusion in the international scientific database Scopus.
During the meeting, it was emphasized that the inclusion of domestic scientific journals in prominent international databases is a key factor in enhancing the quality of scientific research, developing academic publishing infrastructure, strengthening the competitiveness of national science, and showcasing the achievements of Tajik scientists in the international scientific arena.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Commission, Saifiddin Khairiddin Davlatzoda, Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Mumin Mashokir Sharifzoda, advisor of the Elsevier Dmitry Sultanov, as well as head of the Sector for Grant Project Support and International Relations, the head of the Sector of Information and Scientific Journals, and leading specialists of the relevant divisions, who shared their views on current plans, prospects, and existing challenges.
Within the framework of the meeting, representatives of Elsevier provided detailed information regarding the key criteria and requirements for the indexing of scientific journals in the Scopus database. Special attention was given to compliance with international editorial and publishing standards, transparency of the peer-review process with scientific rigor, novelty of articles, alignment of editorial policies with international standards, editorial board performance, and increasing the citation impact of scientific publications.
Additionally, issues concerning the improvement of the editorial boards of national scientific journals, attracting international authors and reviewers, expanding academic collaboration, and aligning journal editorial policies with global publishing standards were thoroughly discussed.
As a result of these discussions, the parties identified the main directions for future cooperation and emphasized that specific measures would be taken to expedite the inclusion of national scientific journals in the Scopus database. Key areas of collaboration include improving editorial and peer-review quality, implementing international standards for scientific publishing, developing the digital infrastructure of journals, and strengthening the activities of national scientific publications.