Chapter 1 The debates and the long-awaited reform Trung Tran, Phuong-Thao T. Trinh, Thu-Trang Vuong, Hiep-Hung Pham Economic reforms and growth in Vietnam With a per capita GDP of USD2,343 in 2017, Vietnam has since become a lower-middle-income country (LMIC). Official statistics for 2018 indicate that Vietnam's nominal GDP expanded at an onyear rate of 7.08% to hit USD240.5 billion (VND5,555 trillion), putting its per capita income at USD2,587 (Vuong, 2019b). The strong and continuous growth of the economy over the past 33 years has brought the country's poverty rate down to just 5.8% out of its population of 96.5 million. This economic reality alone represents a spectacular development, especially considering the fact that merely two decades prior, in 1993, the economy produced as little as USD36 billion (Vuong, 2019a). The rapid economic development of Vietnam implies profound changes for the public and the government, as well as the nation's academics. On the one hand, just as a well-known Vietnamese proverb goes, "có thực mới vực được đạo" (lit., only with food can one achieve enlightenment), improved socioeconomic conditions have enabled more people to move beyond the day-to-day concerns to pursue scientific and intellectual careers. On the other hand, such pursuits, while laudable, have not yielded many remarkable results at the international level. The field of social sciences and humanities (SSH) in Vietnam, in particular, presents multiple issues that require systemic and comprehensive reforms. Scientific standards: Vietnamese versus international One of the biggest debates when it comes to academic publishing in Vietnam is the adoption of international scientific standards (Vuong, 2019c). Many social scientists are reluctant to embrace publishing their articles in international journals because of the language barrier, the lack of knowledge about international publishing practices, and most importantly, the absence of proper incentive, whether that be financial or professional promotions. Authenticated | manhho212@gmail.com Download Date | 11/5/19 3:21 AM 30 ACI Secretariat. (2019). List of ACI journals (587 Journals). ASEAN Citation Index. Retrieved July 31, 2019, from http://www.aseancites.org/index.php?r=contents%2Findex&id=9 Ho, M.-T., Nguyen, H.-K. T., Vuong, T.-T., & Vuong, Q.-H. (2017). On the sustainability of co-authoring behaviors in Vietnamese social sciences: A preliminary analysis of network data. Sustainability, 9(11). doi:10.3390/su9112142 Ho, M.-T., Nguyen, V.-H. T., Vuong, T.-T., Dam, Q.-M., Pham, H.H., & Vuong, Q.-H. (2017). Exploring Vietnamese coauthorship patterns in social sciences with basic network measures of 2008-2017 Scopus data. 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Retrieved July 31, 2019, from http://www.kmutt.ac.th/jif/TCI_Collaboration/?page_i d=1368. UKM. (2015). List of Malaysian Journal Indexed by ISI Web of Science, Scopus and ERA. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Retrieved July 31, 2019, from http://www.ukm.my/ptsl/wpcontent/uploads/2015/06/Malaysian-journal-indexed-inISI-WOS-Scopus-and-ERA_24.3.2015.pdf Vuong, Q.-H. (2019a). Computational entrepreneurship: from economic complexities to interdisciplinary research. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 17(1), 117-129. Vuong, Q.-H. (2019b). The financial economy of Viet Nam in an age of reform, 1986-2016. In U. Volz, P. Morgan, & N. Yoshino (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Banking and Finance in Asia (pp. 201-222). London, UK: Routledge. Vuong, Q-H. (2019c). The harsh world of publishing in emerging regions and implications for editors and publishers: The case of Vietnam. Learned Publishing 32. doi:10.1002/leap.1255 Vuong, Q.-H., Ho, M.-T., Vuong, T.-T., Napier, N. K., Pham, H.-H., & Nguyen, V.-H. T. (2017). Gender, age, research experience, leading role and academic productivity of Vietnamese researchers in the social sciences and humanities: exploring a 2008-2017 Scopus dataset. European Science Editing, 43(3), 51-55. Vuong, Q.-H., Ho, M.-T., Vuong, T.-T., Nguyen, V.-H. T., Napier, N. K., & Pham, H.-H. (2017). Nemo solus satis sapit: Trends of research collaborations in the Vietnamese social sciences, observing 2008–2017 Scopus Data. Publications, 5(4). doi:10.3390/publications5040024 Authenticated | manhho212@gmail.com Download Date | 11/5/19 3:21 AM 32 Vuong, Q.-H., La, V.-P., Vuong, T.-T., Ho, M.-T., Nguyen, H.-K. T., Nguyen, V.-H., . . . Ho, M.-T. (2018). An open database of productivity in Vietnam's social sciences and humanities for public use. Scientific Data, 5, 180188. doi:10.1038/sdata.2018.188 Vuong, Q.-H., Napier, N. K., Ho, M.-T., Nguyen, V.-H. T., Vuong, T.-T., Pham, H. H., & Nguyen, H.-K. T. (2018). Effects of work environment and collaboration on research productivity in Vietnamese social sciences: evidence from 2008 to 2017 Scopus data. Studies in Higher Education, 1-16. doi:10.1080/03075079.2018.1479845 Vuong, T.-T., Nguyen, H.-K. T., Ho, M.-T., Ho, M.-T., & Vuong, Q.-H. (2018). The (in)significance of socio-demographic factors as possible determinants of Vietnamese social scientists' contribution-adjusted productivity: Preliminary results from 2008–2017 Scopus data. Societies, 8(1). doi:10.3390/soc8010003 Authenticated | manhho212@gmail.com Download Date | 11/5/19 3:21 AM