Research Publications at the University of Latvia

Research Publications at the University of Latvia – Challenges and Opportunities Indra Dedze, Ph. D. University of Latvia Academic Department e-mail: indra. dedze@lu. lv

Structures supporting research publications Publisher Library Author Editor

Key functions of the library at the UL Library • Providing access to the research literature databases through KIS consortium (currently access to 19 data bases, e. g, EBSCO, Sage, Pro. Quest, etc, ) • Developing and maintaining the catalog of the titles of the research publications of the academic staff.

Key functions of the publishing house “Akadēmiskais apgāds” at the UL • Publishing research literature, textbooks, conference proceedings; Publisher • Providing the UL library with 5 copies of each published unit; • Providing editors and authors with the. pdf format of the publication; • Distributing the publication through bookstores and internet bookstores.

Key functions of the editors of the research journals at the UL • Responsible for the choice of the submitted research papers; Editor • Responsible for the content of the journal including language editing; • Responsible for representative and efficient editorial board; • Responsible to offer the journal to the scientific paper data bases.

Research Journals at UL • Journals published by the UL Publisher “Akadēmiskais apgāds”: – Baltic Journal of Psychology (bi-annually); – Baltu Filoloģija (bi-annually); – Ceļš (annually); – Proceedings of the University of Latvia;

Proceedings of the University of Latvia • Established in 1921 as Acta Universitatis Latviensis; • Since 1929 is published in series, approximately 10 volumes per annum until 1940; • Renewed in July 1 st, 2002 in 23 series • Since 2004 are published 86 volumes (ISSN* 1407 – 2157). *ISSN =International Standard Serial Number

Proceedings of the UL

Proceedings of the University of Latvia Datorzinātne un informācijas tehnoloģijas Matemātika 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 xxx x x x Zemes un vides zinātne Bioloģija Medicīna (Medicīna un farmācija) Ekonomika Vadības zinātne x x xx x x x x xx x x x x x Ekonomika un vadības zinātne x xx x Zinātņu vēsture un muzejniecība Vēsture Filosofija Juridiskā zinātne Politikas zinātne Komunikācija (Komunikācija un informācija) Socioloģija Bibliotēkzinātne Pedagoģija (Pedagoģija un skolotāju izglītība) Psiholoģija Izglītības vadība Literatūrzinātne (Literatūrzinātne, folkloristika, māksla) Valodniecība Orientālistika Teoloģija x xx x x xx x x x xx xx x x x x x xx x x x

Research Journals at UL • Journals published by the research institutes at the University of Latvia: – LU FSI – Reliģiski – filozofiski raksti; – LU LVI – Latvijas Vēstures institūta žurnāls (quarterly); – LU LFMI Letonica (annualy); – LU FI Mageto-Hydro Dynamics (quarterly); – LU PMI Mechanics of Composite materials (six times per year); – LU Center for Cognitive Sciences and Semantics. The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication (with Kansas State University);

Research Journals in Research data bases Database • Proceedings of the University of Latvia: Biology • Baltic Journal of Psychology • Baltu Filoloģija • Ceļš • Reliģiski – filozofiski raksti • Latvijas Vēstures institūta žurnāls • Letonica • Magneto-Hydro Dynamics • Mechanics of Composite materials • The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication www. lu. lv Google Scholar; ------; CEEOL; Ulrichweb; ------; ISI Web of Science+16; DOAJ;

Science Citation Index (2003 -2008) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Latvia 380 404 371 260 421 588 University of Latvia+ 288 198 160 169 173 233 Institutes University of Latvia 56 52 42 55 84 99

Social Sciences Citation Index (2003 -2008) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Latvia - 32 17 6 36 39 University of Latvia+ Institutes 7 13 5 3 1 14 6 13 5 2 1 10 University of Latvia

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (2003 -2008) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Latvia - 2 2 4 0 0 University of Latvia+ Institutes 1 2 2 3 0 0 1 2 2 2 0 0 University of Latvia

Conclusions • Academic staff of the University of Latvia annually publish on average 3000 research papers; • Only fraction of them are available on the ISI Web of Science and other research databases; • Journal editors insufficiently contacted research databases for placing there the research papers; • Most of the UL research journals are published regularly, but not all series of Proceedings of UL are published regularly; • Limited availability to purchase or subscribe the research journals published by the University of Latvia and its Institutes (particularly for the readers from abroad);

Recommendations (1) • For the management of the University of Latvia: • To facilitate the library with the institutional repository to collect the research papers developed by the academic staff of the University of Latvia; • To facilitate the publishing house with the opportnity to distribute research publication throgh the UL webpage paying with Credit Cards; • Ask the publishing house to contract DOI* registring agency to obtain DOI index for each published unit; *DOI index – Digital Object Identifier

Recommendations (2) • For the publisher “Akadēmiskais Apgāds”: • On the AA webpage for each journal or book make direct link to the Internet bookstore, so the reader can purchase the unit without search the title again; • To find the possibility for distributing research publication through the UL webpages paying with Credit Cards and in different languages – Latvian, English, Russian; • Become the distributor of DOI* index for each published unit at UL; • In order to better facilitate research papers for Sciences, attract the specialist familiar with La. Te. X environment; • Publish Proceedings of UL as a Digital Printing using short print runs.

Recommendations (3) • For the library: • Continue to develop and maintain the catalog with the titles of the research papers of the academic staff of UL; • Continue facilitating the access to the research databases tthorough the KIS ; • Ensure at least one access to the ISI Web of Science in Latvia; • Develop and maintain the institutional repository to collect the research papers developed by the academic staff of the University of Latvia.

Recommendations (4) • For the journal editors: • To ensure the quality of research papers through blind reviews; • To ensure regularity of the journal by using the advantages of e-publishig – each new volume start with one or two articles and then gradually add other papers; • Search the opportunities to cooperate with the research data bases – offer papers to CEEOL, EBSCO, Google Scholar, Scopus, etc. ; • Estimate the approximate number of DOI needed annually and inform publisher “Akadēmiskais apgāds”.

Recommendations (5) • For the authors: • To publish research fingings in the internationally recognized journals, that are included in the ISI Web of Science; • Encourage editors to offer papers to the research data bases such as CEEOL, EBSCO, Google Scholar, Scopus, etc. ;