Circular No. 27/2025/TT-BKHCN on scientific articles and the evaluation and classification of Vietnamese scientific journals

CIRCULAR

Regulations on scientific articles and evaluation, classification of Vietnamese scientific journals

Vietnamese science

Pursuant to the Law on Science, Technology, and Innovation dated June 27, 2025;

Pursuant to Decree No. 55/2025/NĐ-CP dated March 2, 2025 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP dated October 14, 2025 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Science, Technology, and Innovation regarding information, statistics, evaluation, digital transformation, and general issues;

At the proposal of the Director of the Information and Statistics Department;

The Minister of Science and Technology promulgates this Circular on scientific articles and evaluation, classification of Vietnamese scientific journals.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates the criteria and methods for selecting scientific articles and evaluating, classifying Vietnamese scientific journals.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to organizations and individuals conducting activities related to the selection of scientific articles, publication, evaluation, and classification of scientific journals, as well as other relevant organizations and individuals in Vietnam.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. Scientific article presents the results of original research or scientific analysis, published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, contributing new knowledge to the community.

2. Scientific citation database is a system for storing bibliographic data and citations of scientific articles, allowing tracing the citation relationships between articles, authors, journals, organizations, or fields of research.

3. APA, IEEE, Chicago, Vancouver standards are international standards specifying how to cite and present references in scientific works, ensuring consistency and transparency in source citations.

4. DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a unique identifier code assigned to each scientific article to identify and reference that article in electronic environments.

Article 4. Publicizing scientific articles on the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation

1. Within three months from the date of issuance, scientific journals are responsible for updating bibliographic information of scientific articles; full-text information for scientific articles funded by state budget or those published in journals funded by the state budget onto the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

2. Encouragement is given to scientific journals not funded by the state budget to update the full text of scientific articles onto the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Chapter II

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES

Article 5. Principles for selecting scientific articles

1. The content of scientific articles must ensure academic quality, legality, and be verified using plagiarism detection tools.

2. Adherence to scientific integrity and professional ethics as prescribed in Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP dated October 14, 2025 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Science, Technology, and Innovation regarding information, statistics, evaluation, digital transformation, and general issues.

3. Compliance with the submission guidelines of scientific journals.

Article 6. Structure of scientific articles

1. The basic structure of a scientific article includes the following components:

a) Title (in Vietnamese and English);

b) Author(s)/Author Group and contact information;

c) Abstract (in Vietnamese and English);

d) Keywords (in Vietnamese and English);

e) Introduction/Problem Statement;

f) Materials and/or Research Methods;

g) Results and Discussion;

h) Conclusion;

i) Appendices (if any);

j) Declaration of Scientific Contribution (if any);

k) Conflict of Interest Disclosure (if any);

l) Acknowledgment of Funding Agencies and/or Related Organizations and Individuals (if any);

m) References according to one of the international standards APA, IEEE, Chicago, Vancouver.

2. Based on the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, scientific journals establish their own regulations on the structure of scientific articles based on their specialty and target audience. It is encouraged to publish scientific articles in English with attached appendices (Vietnamese title, abstract, keywords) to serve international ranking processes.

Article 7. Citation of Scientific Works

1. Scientific articles are calculated for citation indices and usage volume to serve the work of evaluating and ranking scientific journals and other related purposes.

2. Scientific citations in articles are verified through the DOI identifier code.

3. The agency responsible for information, statistics, evaluation of science and technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology shall establish and manage the scientific citation database.

Article 8. Scientific Citation Database

1. The scientific citation database is established to collect, store, analyze, and provide information on the quantity and quality of scientific articles to serve the work of evaluating and ranking scientific journals and other related purposes.

2. The scientific citation database includes the following information:

a) Information about scientific articles: title, author name, ORCID identifier (if available), workplace, keywords, research field, journal of publication, year of publication, issue number, page number, citation list and cited articles;

b) Information about scientific journals: journal name, press agency, managing authority, publisher, time range, publication frequency, ISSN number, e-ISSN, research field, publication language, total number of scientific articles, impact factor, CiteScore, FWCI, and other parameters.

3. The scientific citation database is a component of the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

4. A citation recorded in the scientific citation database must meet the following conditions:

a) It appears in the reference section of the article, formatted according to the international standard citation format specified in Clause 1, Article 5 of this Circular, with complete bibliographic information, indicating the source of the cited material;

b) It can be checked, compared, and verified using academic analysis tools or electronic manuscript management platforms.

5. The scientific citation database is used as a basis for:

a) Calculating citation indices of articles, journal impact factors, CiteScore, FWCI, and other parameters;

b) Supporting the analysis of research trends, influence level, and reach of journals;

c) Providing data to serve the work of ranking, funding, planning, and developing the system of Vietnamese scientific journals.

Chapter III

CRITERIA, METHODS OF EVALUATION AND RANKING OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS CLASSIFICATION OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

Article 9. Principles of Evaluation and Ranking of Scientific Journals

1. Ensuring the scientific nature, objectivity, transparency, and fairness throughout the entire process of evaluating and ranking scientific journals.

2. Based on the criteria stipulated in Article 36 of Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP dated October 14, 2025, of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Science, Technology, and Innovation regarding information, statistics, evaluation, digital transformation, and general issues (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP).

3. The evaluation and ranking of scientific journals are conducted annually or at the request of state management agencies.

Article 10. Criteria for Evaluating Scientific Journals

1. Scale and method of scoring scientific criteria of scientific journals

Total points: 100 points

The method of scoring to evaluate journals meeting scientific standards based on the criteria stipulated in Article 36 of Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP is as follows.

a) Academic Content Criterion (25 points)

More than 75% are academic research papers, scientific review articles, academic exchange/rebuttal articles: 15 points.

Using international citation and reference list standards such as APA, IEEE, Chicago, Vancouver: 5 points.

Having the title, abstract, and keywords of scientific articles in English: 5 points;

b) Editorial Board Criterion (15 points)

At least 50% of the editorial board members are independent experts outside the managing authority of the journal: 5 points.

The editorial board has appropriate professional qualifications and is publicly disclosed: 7 points.

Having international experts with appropriate professional qualifications as members: 3 points;

c) Peer Review Process Criterion (20 points)

Having a transparent and publicly disclosed peer review process on the journal's website: 8 points.

Publicly disclosing on the journal's website contents related to fees or non-fees for manuscript submission, processing, editing, and publication: 2 points.

Applying blind peer review with a minimum of two independent reviewers for each article: 10 points;

d) Publication Standards Criterion (10 points)

Adhering to the registered publication frequency, having a valid ISSN number; having regulations on international scientific publication standards: 5 points.

Having a public policy on plagiarism detection, retraction, conflict of interest handling, and copyright publication; not accepting articles that violate copyright, fraud, fake data, or incorrect citations: 5 points;

đ) Transparency and Accessibility Criterion (10 points)

Having an up-to-date electronic journal website with full information (mission statement, editorial board list, peer review policy, submission guidelines, author instructions): 5 points.

Publishing full-text articles with abstracts, keywords, and DOI (if available): 5 points;

e) Indexing Criterion (20 points)

The scientific journal must be indexed in the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation or one of the international scientific databases Scopus/WoS: 20 points.

2. Journals meet scientific standards when they score over 75 points and satisfy the criteria set out in Points a, c, and e of Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 11. Method for Classifying Scientific Journals

1. The classification of scientific journals shall be conducted for journals within the same specialized field that have been recognized as meeting the scientific standards as stipulated in Article 10 of this Circular.

2. Scientific journals shall be classified based on their impact factor.

a) The impact factor (IF) of a scientific journal is the total number of citations received in a given year for articles published in the two preceding years, divided by the total number of articles published in those two years.

b) Formula for calculating the impact factor:

c) The classification of scientific journals may also be based on other indices such as CiteScore and Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI).

- The citation score (CiteScore) reflects the average number of citations received per article published in the journal; it is calculated based on the number of times articles from the journal were cited over four years, divided by the number of scientific articles published in the journal during the same period.

- The field-weighted citation impact (FWCI) is the ratio between the actual number of citations received by a scientific article and the expected number of citations for similar articles in the same field, type, and publication time. FWCI = 1 indicates an average citation rate; FWCI > 1 indicates a higher than average citation rate; FWCI < 1 indicates a lower than average citation rate.

2. The method for classifying scientific journals prescribed in this Article serves as the basis for categorizing scientific journals into Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 39 of Decree No. 262/2025/NĐ-CP. Journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science are automatically classified as Type 1.

Article 12. List and Results of Evaluation and Classification of Scientific Journals

1. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall establish a list of Vietnamese journals publishing scientific articles; organize evaluations according to the criteria specified in Article 10 of this Circular to issue the List of Vietnamese Scientific Standard Journals before April 30 each year.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall classify journals included in the List of Vietnamese Scientific Standard Journals according to the method prescribed in Article 11 of this Circular and announce the results of the classification before April 30 each year starting from 2027.

The List of Vietnamese Scientific Standard Journals and the Results of Evaluation and Classification of Scientific Journals shall be issued annually by the Ministry of Science and Technology and made public on the National Information System on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 13. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from December 15, 2025.

2. In cases where the referenced documents in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the new regulations.

1. The Minister, Heads of Ministries equivalent to ministries, Heads of government agencies, Chairmen of provincial People's Committees under the central government, and related agencies, units, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial People's Committees, organizations, and individuals related to this matter are responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall assign the agency performing information, statistics, and evaluation functions under the Ministry of Science and Technology to implement this Circular.

3. During implementation, if difficulties arise, the relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to report to the Ministry of Science and Technology for research, amendment, and supplementation to ensure compliance./.