The current status of science journals in Indonesia

Indonesia is the fourth most highly populated country in the world. Every year, there are more than 1.5-million students enrolled into universities across Indonesia. This large number of students is a potential source of scientific publication, as all students are required to publish a paper before they take their final examination. To accommodate this publication demand, good-quality journals need to be established in Indonesia. Therefore, this paper will describe the current status of scientific journals in Indonesia and some other information related to Indonesian scientific journals. The data presented in this article were obtained from the websites of government institutions such as Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Indonesian Scientific Journal Database. Currently, there are 5,900 scientific journals in Indonesia that are grouped into three classes, namely non-accredited journals (5,579 titles), accredited journals (342 titles), and international journals (16 titles). Most journals are published by universities, faculties, or departments. Other journals are published by research centers and scientific associations. In recent years, the number of journals indexed in Scopus has increased substantially, from only 2 journals before the year 2000 to 16 journals in 2013. In addition, the number of journals registered in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) increased sharply from 3 titles in 2009 to 109 titles at the end of 2013. In the year 2012, the number of papers published in the abovementioned journals was 145,000, but only 1,314 papers were published internationally. This number is still very low, even when compared to some Southeast Asian countries. To improve the quality of journals and to increase the number of papers published, a high commitment from the government is required, particularly in terms of regulation formulation and funding provision.