Vision and Mission of a Scientific Journal (part 2 )

Previously, we introduced the mission and vision of the Scientific Journal. Today, we talk about the questions that the editor-in-chief of a journal should answer to develop its vision and mission.

What is the purpose of publishing a scientific journal? (Existential philosophy)

The topic that is of great importance in this consideration is the philosophy of the existence of a scientific journal. Founders must have a precise argument and logic in this consideration.

The reason behind founding a journal can be a scarcity of journals in the field or maintaining the identity of a community. Therefore, the editors need to look more closely at that topic and the journal’s vision is to provide more accurate and extensive information to readers and audiences. Although this topic may seem very general, it is one of the foundations of any scientific journal.

Who is the audience of a scientific journal? (readers )

Determining the audience of a scientific journal is not an easy task. The audience of a scientific journal includes scholars from any field, so what is important here is where these communities exist and how this scientific journal is best achieved. It is also helpful to consider the language of a journal and its publication period.

The language of the scientific journal includes the full text of the article and the abstract of the article. However, it is important to translate the title of the article and the names of the authors, and the abstract of the article to English if the language of the journal is not English.

What does the scientific journal publish? (Journal subject)

The subject of a scientific journal is not very important. What is important is the way of presenting articles and communicating with the audience, which distinguishes a scientific journal from other journals. Accordingly, the founders of a scientific journal must determine not only the subject but also the publication mode of a journal.

How to present the content of a scientific journal? (Release type)

After going through the steps, it is time to review and select the publishable articles. Most scientific journals try to dedicate the largest volume of each issue to original articles. However, we must always keep in mind that readers’ tastes are different and some audiences prefer a particular type of article, such as a letter to the editor, case study, or short interview, etc.

Needless to say, different types of articles do not have to be published in a scientific journal. The editor-in-chief of a journal may decide to publish a limited number of articles.

One of the most important considerations for any scientific journal is a matter of translated articles. Most authors prefer to publish their articles in their native language and English. More importantly, author should declare the original articles previously published in any other languages.

However, each scientific journal has its own policy. It may not be acceptable for a journal to have its articles translated into another language or they prefer their articles to be published in only one language.