The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine invites public discussion
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine invites public discussion of the draft order "On Amendments to the Procedure for Forming the List of Scientific Professional Publications, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated January 15, 2018, No. 32."
The draft act proposes to set out the Procedure for Forming the List of Scientific Professional Publications in a new version.
In January of this year, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine established a working group to update the Procedure for Forming the List of Scientific Professional Publications. The main goal is to develop new, clearer, and higher-quality requirements for publications seeking to be assigned category “B”.
This decision was driven by several current challenges in the field of scientific publishing, including:
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a significant decline in the quality of scientific publications;
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the spread of unethical practices among media participants, in particular the growing popularity of so-called predatory practices and journals;
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the lack of effective tools for controlling and monitoring the quality of publications.
After nearly two months of careful work and analysis of international experience, the working group developed new approaches to assigning category “B” status to the best scientific periodicals in Ukraine.
Among the proposed changes:
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digitization of the application and evaluation process for inclusion in the List of Scientific Professional Publications of Ukraine and for assigning category “B”;
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the introduction of 14 scientific clusters with a limited number of category “B” journals in each;
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the establishment of clear mandatory and additional requirements for journals applying for category “B” status;
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a mandatory requirement for free publication opportunities for PhD students in category “B” journals;
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a three-year term for category “B” status, with annual monitoring of compliance with requirements;
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the creation of a specialized commission on publication ethics and the formation of the List of Scientific Professional Publications;
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prevention of unethical and predatory practices among category “B” journals, including cooperation with so-called “paper mills”;
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encouraging Ukrainian periodicals to be included in international databases such as Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection.
Among the key innovations proposed in the draft act for public discussion are:
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changes to the principles for forming the List of Scientific Professional Publications of Ukraine;
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the establishment of a new advisory body under the Ministry of Education and Science — the Commission on Publication Ethics and the Formation of the List of Scientific Professional Publications;
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a simplified application procedure for publishers to have scientific publications considered for inclusion in the List;
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categorization of scientific professional publications of Ukraine in category "B" into clusters;
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changes to the principles of forming editorial boards of scientific publications;
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the formation of ranking lists of scientific publications within clusters based on evaluations by the Commission;
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a list of indicators of predatory practices of scientific periodicals;
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removal of publications from the List in cases of predatory publishing practices or cooperation with paper mills.
Proposals and comments on the mentioned draft are to be submitted by April 13, 2025, to the following email address: .