Iranian Scientific Journals in the Global Knowledge Value Chain: Strategies for Science Diplomacy and Economic Competitiveness

Purpose: This study aims to examine strategies for enhancing the position of Iranian scientific journals in the global knowledge value chain, emphasizing science diplomacy and the economics of scholarly publishing. Although Iran contributes about 2% of global scientific output, its participation in the international publishing economy remains around 0.3%. This sevenfold imbalance reflects institutional, policy, and infrastructural barriers that prevent the translation of scientific productivity into measurable economic and diplomatic influence. Accordingly, the study addresses three central questions: (1) What is the position of scientific journals in the global knowledge economy? (2) What gaps exist between Iran’s scientific production and its participation in the publishing economy? (3) What institutional, technological, and structural factors limit Iranian journals’ international competitiveness? Understanding these questions is vital for improving visibility, ensuring financial sustainability, and strengthening Iran’s role in global science diplomacy.

Methodology:
The research employs an analytical–review approach that combines bibliometric analysis with policy evaluation. It draws on data published between 2015 and 2025 and statistics from the Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) database, covering 27 subject categories. The study evaluates publication volume, economic value, and disciplinary concentration of Iranian scientific journals while comparing them with global benchmarks from major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley. Trends in open-access publishing, article processing charges (APCs), and digital infrastructures DOI, ORCID, standardized XML, and Crossref integration are analyzed to identify systemic gaps. Descriptive and comparative assessments highlight medicine, engineering, and life sciences as dominant and high-value fields in Iran’s publishing ecosystem. The analysis focuses on how disciplinary concentration influences both economic potential and international impact, emphasizing the need for structural modernization and sustainable funding models.

Findings:
The findings show that Iranian journals are predominantly concentrated in medicine, engineering, and life sciences, together representing more than 70% of total estimated monetary value. According to Scimago (August 2025), the overall economic value of Iranian journals indexed in Scopus is about USD 200 million—just 0.3% of the USD 53 billion global market. This disparity demonstrates that despite Iran’s scientific productivity, its economic share remains marginal. The most valuable journals are often affiliated with medical universities and engineering faculties, benefiting from higher citation rates and broader readership. However, limited international authorship, minimal foreign review participation, and dependence on government or university funding weaken global competitiveness. Systemic inefficiencies such as non-standard peer-review timelines, editorial inconsistency, limited technological integration, and weak international marketing remain critical challenges.

Subject-specific analysis indicates that pharmacy, biochemistry, and health sciences achieve higher value per article compared to agriculture or social sciences, suggesting that targeted investment could enhance profitability. Fields indexed in higher SJR quartiles (Q1–Q2) exhibit greater economic and academic visibility, while journals in lower tiers contribute little to national publishing revenue. Moreover, inadequate adoption of scientometric analytics, lack of professional training for editors, and absence of transparent performance indicators limit evidence-based decision-making. Collectively, these findings underline a need for strategic policy reform, technical modernization, and international cooperation to convert Iran’s publication volume into measurable economic and diplomatic outcomes.

Conclusion:
Bridging the identified gaps requires a coordinated national strategy. Establishing a National School of Editorial and Publishing Leadership with mandatory professional certification can professionalize editorial and managerial roles across disciplines. Integrating artificial intelligence into editorial workflows would optimize manuscript screening, plagiarism detection, and peer-review management while ensuring adherence to ethical standards. Developing a national integrated publishing platform supporting DOI, ORCID, standardized XML, Crossref interoperability, and scientometric analytics would strengthen digital infrastructure and interoperability among universities and publishing institutions.

Furthermore, standardizing peer-review timelines and transparency metrics can improve reliability and attract international contributors. From a policy standpoint, the Iranian Academic Publishing Center and the SAMT Institute, in partnership with the private sector under a public–private framework, should establish knowledge-based publishing enterprises capable of global competition through investment, innovation, and equity acquisition. Strengthening science diplomacy via joint special issues, international guest editors, and cross-border collaborations would expand Iran’s academic presence and enhance its soft power. Regional cooperation with Asian and Middle Eastern partners could further increase visibility and journal impact.

Achieving these goals depends on synergy among policymakers, universities, and publishers. Coordinated efforts must link technological infrastructure, transparent regulation, and specialized human capital. Transitioning from state-funded to self-sustaining, market-oriented publishing models will be essential for long-term resilience. Implementing these recommendations would enable Iranian journals to evolve into credible, revenue-generating, and diplomatically active actors in the global publishing economy. Ultimately, such transformation would enhance Iran’s scientific visibility, economic contribution, and participation in the sustainable development of global knowledge.