Viewpoints on synergising ASEAN academic visibilities through research collaboration and the establishment of an ASEAN Citation Index Database

This opinion article expresses two key viewpoints regarding the options for Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) universities in pursuit of fulfilling the demand for greater research visibility and academic reputation. The first viewpoint outlines the importance of promoting research collaboration among ASEAN researchers and their international peers in increasing the visibility and impact of ASEAN research. The second viewpoint examines the ASEAN research characteristics, the challenges and existing best practices of its journal publishing landscape, the potential role of non-ASEAN international journals in improving the profile of ASEAN research and explores the needs and benefits of establishing an ASEAN Integrated Journal Publishing Network (IJPN). It is through these combined approaches, we believe, that effective policy change, the standardisation of publishing structure, procedures, and systems to drive journal development, improvement of journal quality, and establishment of a consistent framework for measuring researcher performance will result. This article also includes a proposal for the IJPN structure and implementation plan, and highlights the key benefits of taking a collaborative approach to achieving this common goal. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]