'International publication is not the only criterion to evaluate social sciences and humanities'
Sharing at the meeting, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy, acting President of Hue University, said that the school's team of highly qualified teachers and scientists continues to be strengthened and developed. The ratio of PhDs to the total number of lecturers reached 43.4%. During the period 2021-2025, the school will carry out 35 national science and technology topics and tasks.
Prof. Dr. Huy said that in recent years, the school has implemented many policies to encourage lecturers to research and publish internationally. In 2025 alone, for the first time, the number of prestigious international scientific publications under WoS and Scopus of Hue University will reach nearly 900 articles. From 2018 to 2022, Hue University ranks second among higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education and Training in terms of the number of publications in the ISI category (WoS) rewarded by the Ministry. During the period 2021-2025 and the first 6 months of 2026, the school implemented 47 technology transfer and consulting service contracts, with a total revenue of more than 6 billion VND; granted 11 patents for useful solutions, 5 trademarks and 9 copyrights.
However, Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan said that it is impossible to fully evaluate the contributions of social sciences, humanities and arts based only on the number of international publications. According to him, works in this field can create great value but are not necessarily represented by international articles.
Social sciences, humanities and arts not only produce research results but also clearly demonstrate practical contributions to the development of the country and social life. Many works do not stand out in terms of the number of international publications but have great value in consulting, criticism and policy making; preserve and promote cultural values; create literature and art and improve the spiritual life of the people.
The Minister emphasized the need for a more comprehensive assessment, which must consider the practical impact and level of contribution of the project to society. He proposed researching, developing and piloting a program on social sciences, humanities and arts nationwide, and establishing an expert council to evaluate projects based on the practical impact and value that research brings.
For higher education institutions, the Minister said that in addition to promoting autonomy and developing the team of professors and associate professors, it is necessary to research and supplement criteria for recognizing works that have a positive impact on policy, culture and social life.
"Even the evaluation of professors, associate professors, and direct contributions is much greater," the Minister said.
According to him, the pilot can be implemented on an initial scale that does not need to be large, then evaluate and perfect the mechanism before expanding. Universities, when given autonomy, also need to be responsible for fully reporting the contributions of their scientific staff, instead of just focusing on international publication index.
Minister Vu Hai Quan said that during his business trip to Singapore at the end of August, he realized that this country also has expert councils participating in evaluating the contributions of the scientific community. This is an experience that can be studied in the process of building an assessment mechanism suitable for Vietnam.
Vo Thanh