Open Access in Iran: an Editor Q+A with Masoud Arzaghi

Read below for more from the Deputy Editor of Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders about the rise of open access publishing in Iran. This is part of a series on Open Access in Iran.

MasoudDr Arzaghi earned his medical degree at Jondi Shapour University and obtained his general psychiatry certification from Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2010. He specialized in psychosomatic medicine in 2014 and now is assistant professor of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

His clinical work and research has focused on psychosomatic medicine, psychogenetic and neurocognitive science.  He serves on a number of editorial boards of medical journals and is Deputy Editor of Journal of Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders. He has published over 40 scientific articles and is an active writer on general websites and magazines.

Why do you think open access publishing is important in Iran?

As we know, science production has revealed growing increment over the past decade in Iran, particularly in the field of medicine. Nonetheless, we underperformed on pivotal issues of scientific impact which signifies the need of greater visibility and citation of work; one solution for such an issue could be open access publishing.

Is there enough information for young Iranian scientists to get their research published?

I think medical journalism has slightly outpaced the medical science production during the past decade in Iran. As a result, I think researchers now have abundant information to choose from and it enables them to publish their work more knowledgeably.

What would you like to achieve with your journal over the next five years?

I’d like to carry on promoting the excellent quality of work published in the journal. In addition, achieving greater impact is a matter of concern. Evidently the higher the visibility of the journal, the more likely researchers within the field would be to cite to the articles, therefore again demonstrating the importance of open access.

How do you see the field progressing in the future?

Diabetes and related complications, as well as metabolic disorders, are increasing in prevalence within the region and a growing body of funds will be allocated to them resulting in more publications; so providing an appropriate publishing ground is crucial.

View the latest posts on the On Health homepage

Comments