Sword lake turtle and international publication

The discussion around the question of 'tortoise' Ho Guom is a species that raises the issue of international publication in scientific research.

In fact, the question should not be asked, because the publication of research results on international scientific journals is almost inevitable in scientific activities.

Standard in research

Prof. Nguyen Van Tuan, Garvan Medical Institute (Sydney, Australia).

After the turtle was relocated into the 'special treatment' area and again, there was a controversy that should not have been controversial. When asked whether there is a doubt about turtle Ho Guom is a new breed of tortoise in the world, and when asked by the press, it should be announced to the international scientific community, many leading experts explain long to answer. A simple word: no. Not publishing on international scientific journals about turtle breeding (possibly) is new. It is a very strange way of doing science. Strange because of wrong standards of scientific research.

One of the standards in scientific research is that results must be published in peer reviewed journals (peer review) . Articles or results on these journals are considered scientific documents. These documents will be retained in science as knowledge, and will be cited by international colleagues as true data that has been validated and reviewed seriously.

In many cases, these documents can be processed in court sessions. For example, in an earlier trial in the US an expert appeared in court as a witness reporting that he developed a technique that could measure blood pressure and know whether the person was telling the truth or lying. But the court did not accept the evidence, because he never published his initiative on a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

It is necessary to distinguish the journal with the approval and the journal without approval. All international science journals in the ISI catalog have an editorial board that members from many countries around the world, and a good peer review mechanism. Usually, a scientific article sent to the journal must go through two or three times the review of international experts in the industry.

These experts were selected to review the article because they have a reputation in the international arena (demonstrated by personal research achievements) and have an interest in the field of research. The approval mechanism is not yet complete. good, but that is the best mechanism today.

International cooperation opportunities in science

There are many in the world (over 100,000 scientific journals), but only about 16,000 journals are recognized. Being "recognized" here means to be in the ISI directory (Institute of Scientific Information). So far, countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, China, and Korea have a number of scientific journals included in the ISI directory. Vietnam does not yet have an ISI accredited scientific journal.

One of the main differences between Vietnamese and international scientific journals is the approval mechanism. Most Vietnamese scientific journals, especially biomedical industry, do not have an international editorial board, there is no strict approval mechanism. Indeed, most Vietnamese journals do not have international editors and there is no review. Therefore, it can be said that the works published in Vietnamese scientific journals are of low or very low quality.

Put the Sword Lake turtle on the shore to treat the wound.

From that experience, it can be said that the viewpoint of only announcing new species (if really new) on the Vietnamese scientific journal is a view of short and narrow vision. If only published in Vietnamese journals, there will be very few readers, and international colleagues do not have the opportunity to validate the research. A discovery of rare and precious animals - if the analytical method is correct - but only published in Vietnamese journals, how to have the opportunity to exchange expertise with international colleagues.

It should be emphasized that no scientist thinks of publishing in less-read journals if their research is truly valuable, if they are really confident that they have done the right method and are available Ready to deal with peer reviewers. Therefore, international publication is one of the most effective 'fire trials' of new discoveries.

In fact, the international publication of new animal and plant discoveries is not new to the Vietnamese scientific community. In 1993, Vietnamese scientists once announced the discovery of some unique animals in Vu Quang National Park (Ha Tinh) on the Nature journal ( a No. 1 scientific journal in the world).

Go back to the story of Turtle Lake, some people wondered if it was a new turtle. As a 'pagan', I think the simplest way is to draft a scientific article, describe the method and test results in detail, and send it to an international journal. There, people have industry experts who are fully competent and reputable with scientific expertise and can give us answers. Consequently, international publication is also an independent form of appraisal and an opportunity to interact with international experts who may later cooperate with Vietnam.

The sad thing is when we know less about the country, people, and environment in Vietnam than foreigners. For a long time, Vietnam is a place for foreign scientists to build careers, by relying on Vietnamese materials. So far, that situation has not changed much. The scattering around 'turtles' Ho Guom shows that basic information about rare animals is still . rare.

No one knows what kind of species the Ho Guom turtle is. No one knows the basic parameters of Turtle Lake Sword. Even, no one knows how many turtles in Ho Guom's heart! We still don't know about our environment. In that context, discussing whether to publish or not to publish is indeed disgusting.

Let us recall the fact that the presence of Vietnamese science is still very modest in the international arena. Although we have nearly 9,000 professors and associate professors with nearly 30,000 doctors, Vietnam only publishes about 1000 scientific articles every year in international journals. While the number of publications from countries in the region such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore continues to increase rapidly, in our country, there is a view against the trend of the world (calling Vietnam not to encourage scientists. international publication)!

In fact, Vietnam needs to increase the quantity (and quality) of scientific publications in the international arena, and right now is the ideal time to raise the Vietnamese science presence to a scale. higher.

Professor Nguyen Van Tuan