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Why High-Quality Regional Journals Remain Invisible Despite Meeting International Standards
Every editor dreams of seeing their journal indexed in internationally recognized databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. The aspiration is not driven by prestige alone. International indexation increases the visibility of locally generated evidence, attracts better submissions, encourages collaboration, and ultimately strengthens research from regions that remain underrepresented in global scientific literature. Like many editors working in Pakistan and other developing countries, I have spent years pursuing this goal. The journey has been both rewarding and sobering.
Strengthening Editorial Quality
Over the years, our editorial team has systematically strengthened every aspect of journal publishing. We aligned our editorial policies with international recommendations, adopted publication ethics frameworks, improved peer-review workflows, strengthened plagiarism screening, implemented persistent identifiers, enhanced metadata, refined our Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, expanded archiving practices, and continuously revised our author and reviewer guidelines. Every improvement demanded time, patience, and an unwavering commitment to quality. Each milestone reinforced our belief that quality must remain the foundation of scholarly publishing.
Yet one question continues to trouble many editors in developing countries.
If quality is improving, why do so many regional journals continue to struggle for international visibility?
The answer, I believe, extends beyond editorial standards. There is an uncomfortable reality that deserves greater discussion.
The Internationalisation Paradox
International indexing agencies rightly expect journals to demonstrate international diversity. They look for geographically diverse editorial boards, internationally recognised reviewers, contributions from authors across different countries, strong citation performance, and evidence that a journal influences its national boundaries. These are reasonable expectations and important indicators of scholarly impact.
However, for many regional journals, achieving these expectations presents a paradox. To attract international authors, reviewers, and editorial board members, a journal is often expected to already possess international visibility. Yet without those very contributors, attaining that visibility becomes considerably more difficult.
Many established researchers understandably choose to submit their best work to journals that are already indexed internationally. Likewise, invitations to serve as reviewers, advisory board members, or editors are frequently declined, not because of doubts about editorial integrity, but because scholars naturally prioritise journals with greater international recognition and academic visibility.
The result is a cycle that many editors quietly experience.
Limited visibility makes it difficult to attract international participation. Limited international participation makes it difficult to demonstrate the diversity expected for broader visibility. The cycle then repeats itself.
This challenge is compounded by realities that are seldom visible outside editorial offices.
Editorial Work Under Resource Constraints
Many journals in developing countries operate with modest financial resources. Editorial work is frequently undertaken voluntarily alongside demanding academic and clinical responsibilities. Reviewer shortages are common. Editors spend countless hours mentoring inexperienced authors, improving manuscripts, verifying references, addressing ethical concerns, and maintaining publication schedules, not because these responsibilities are optional, but because they are essential for maintaining quality.
None of these challenges diminish our commitment to excellence. If anything, they strengthen it.
The Missing Infrastructure for International Engagement
What concerns many of us is that editors in resource-limited settings are often expected to build internationally recognised journals while working within publishing ecosystems that provide comparatively few opportunities for meaningful international engagement.
Recently, while attempting to participate in an international Open Access policy initiative, I was informed that requests should be submitted through a national coordinating body. The recommendation itself was entirely understandable. The difficulty was that no such national body exists in my country. That experience highlighted a broader issue.
Many editors in developing countries navigate international publishing almost entirely independently:
- We learn through trial and error.
- We seek mentorship wherever it can be found.
- We build policies from international guidance documents.
- We invest in editorial training.
- We strengthen our workflows.
- We revise our websites.
- We improve transparency.
- We prepare application after application for international databases.
Yet there remains no coordinated national infrastructure to represent many of our journals in global publishing initiatives or policy discussions.
This is not a criticism of international organisations. It is an invitation to recognise that the playing field is not always level.
What Regional Journals Need: Stronger Partnerships
Editors in developing countries are not asking for lower standards. We are asking for stronger partnerships and greater opportunities for international collaboration. Experienced editors can mentor emerging teams, researchers can serve as reviewers, senior academics can join editorial boards, and authors can support credible regional journals through quality submissions. International editorial organisations can also include editors from developing countries in policy discussions, capacity-building initiatives, and collaborative networks.
Internationalisation Requires International Participation
Internationalisation cannot be achieved by regional journals alone. It requires meaningful international participation. Science advances through collaboration across borders, and scholarly publishing should reflect the same principle.
A Fair Opportunity to Be Heard
Editors in Pakistan and other developing countries do not seek preferential treatment. We welcome rigorous evaluation, maintain high editorial standards, and remain committed to research integrity and internationally accepted benchmarks.
What we ask is simple: recognition that visibility cannot precede opportunity forever.
Supporting credible regional journals is not an act of generosity; it is an investment in a more representative global scientific record.
Regional journals are not asking for easier standards. We are asking for a fair opportunity to meet them. Visibility should be the reward for quality, not the prerequisite for it.
Keywords
Regional journals International visibility Scholarly publishing Journal indexing Editorial quality Research integrity Open access Research visibility
Dr. Mariyah Hidayat is the Managing Editor of the Journal of University College of Medicine and Dentistry (JUCMD), Pakistan, a Member of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and Professor of Anatomy and Director of Postgraduate Programs at the University College of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Lahore. Her interests include publication ethics, journal development, research integrity, editorial capacity building, and advancing the international visibility of quality regional journals.
View All Posts by Mariyah HidayatDisclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of their affiliated institutions, the Asian Council of Science Editors (ACSE), or the Editor’s Café editorial team.
