The difficulties of Armenian scholars trying to publish in international journals

Abstract

This study investigates the problems that Armenian scholars and researchers face when they try to publish in international journals. The researchers of the three branches of the National Academy of Sciences participated in the study: the Branch of Natural Sciences, the Branch of Physical, Mathematical and Technical Sciences and the Branch of Physical, Mathematical and Technical Sciences and the Branch of the Humanities. The participants of the study were researchers with a doctor of science degree or candidates for a doctoral degree. The participants’ ages range from 22 to 66 and above. Questionnaires and interviews were used as instruments for data collection. The number of analyzed questionnaires was 96. The number of interviewed participants was 6 (2 researchers from each department). The results of the study show that the main difficulties facing Armenian scholars are language proficiency and lack of material resources (i.e., computers, access to the Internet, printers, photocopies, etc.). In spite of the increasing number of publications in English, the majority of publications are still in Russian, which shows the on-going link between Russian and Armenian scientific communities. However, it is mainly the older generation of scholars who consider publishing in Russian important. No young scholar mentioned Russian as an important language to publish in. The results of the study also show that senior researchers in Armenia are not at an advantage in comparison with junior researchers when they attempt to publish in international journals.