Issuing criteria for evaluating and classifying Vietnamese scientific journals

The Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) has signed and issued Circular 27/2025/TT-BKHCN regulating scientific articles and the system of criteria for evaluating and classifying Vietnamese scientific journals. The Circular takes effect from December 15, 2025, creating a unified standard framework to improve the quality and transparency of domestic scientific publishing activities.

According to the Circular, the evaluation of scientific journals must ensure scientific, objective, transparent and fair nature throughout the process. The criteria system is built on Article 36 of Decree 262/2025/ND-CP of the Government on information, statistics, digital transformation and evaluation in the field of science, technology and innovation. The evaluation and classification are carried out annually and can be carried out suddenly at the request of the management agency.

The evaluation and classification of scientific journals must ensure scientific, objective, transparent and fair nature.

The criteria set consists of 100 points, in which academic content is considered the most important foundation. A journal must ensure that over 75% of the published articles are academic research, reviews or scientific reviews, and use international citation standards and publish full titles, abstracts and keywords in English. The editorial board is also strictly evaluated, requiring at least 50% of its members to be independent experts outside the governing body, with appropriate qualifications and a public list on the website; the participation of international experts is given incentive points.

The peer review process is one of the key criteria, requiring journals to transparently announce the process of receiving, reviewing and editing; publicize the policy of charging fees or not; apply a closed review mechanism with at least two independent reviewers for each article. In addition, scientific publishing standards such as timely publication, having a valid ISSN code, along with policies against plagiarism, article withdrawal, copyright protection and handling of conflicts of interest are also considered mandatory requirements.

Statistics of number of articles and citations by year.

The Circular also emphasizes transparency and accessibility. The journal’s website must be fully updated with the operating principles, Editorial Board, submission regulations and author guidelines. Articles must be published in full text with abstracts, keywords and DOI codes, if available. In particular, a journal is only classified as meeting scientific standards if it is indexed on the National Information System on Science, Technology and Innovation or on international databases such as Scopus or Web of Science.

A journal is recognized as meeting the standards when it scores 75 points or more and simultaneously fully meets three important criteria groups including academic content, peer review process and scientific index. With the issuance of Circular 27, the Ministry of Science and Technology expects that the Vietnamese scientific journal system will be standardized according to international practices, contributing to improving the quality of research, promoting innovation and enhancing the position of Vietnamese scientific works on the world knowledge map.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/ban-hanh-tieu-chi-danh-gia-xep-loai-tap-chi-khoa-hoc-viet-nam-197251115194913081.htm