In a conversation with Mehr reporter, Shahin Akhundzadeh, referring to the problems created for researchers during the iernet shutdown, said: One of the problems was for referees and editors of iernational publications. When an article is se to a researcher for review, the foreign publication does not know that our researcher in Iran has not had access to the Iernet for about a moh. As a result, the impression is created that this researcher is not a regular person and this issue can cause him to be removed from the iernational arbitration system.
Stating that the iernet shutdown has harmed the coury’s researchers in various degrees, he said: We expect that the system, when it decides to shut down the iernet based on its considerations and discretion, will make an exception for universities and scieific departmes and not do this. Just as the Chamber of Commerce provided access to the Iernet for business card holders, such an opportunity should also be created for researchers.
Citing an example of researchers who had this problem, Akhundzadeh said: One of the first level researchers of the coury, who is the first person in the Web of Science in health research, had a problem during this period of time. This researcher stated that he received an article for refereeing from a journal with an impact factor of 40, but he was unable to do the work due to the iernet disconnection. If this person can without exaggeration work in the best universities in the world with the rank of full professor. If such a researcher stays in the coury and conducts research and educates studes, it is because of national pride and the system should help such a researcher.
He emphasized: As a teacher, a research manager, and a researcher, I expect that in such a situation, special atteion will be paid to the coury’s researchers.
The Vice Preside of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Health, referring to the problem created for the evaluation of publications and the indexing of iernational publications at the time of iernet outage, said: Indexing of publications in Scopus and Web of Science requires 3 to 5 years of coinuous effort, and after the iroduction of the publication, it is monitored for one to two years for the indexing of the publication, so that its iernational standards are checked in terms of publication order, etc.
He coinued: Normally, the results of these evaluations are announced in February and March. Just when our iernet was having problems. In this situation, our publications were neither able to publish articles nor could they receive their refereed articles from iernational referees.
Akhundzadeh poied out: Even the journals that were in the final stage of indexing had problems in this period of time, and this problem caused serious damage to the process of iernationalization of research, especially in the field of scieific journals.
