RIYADH: King Saud University (KSU), which is leading the vanguard in promoting and supporting scientific research in the Kingdom, will host the Saudi international conference on scientific publishing for 2015 to discuss issues and challenges surrounding scientific publishing in the Arab world with specific focus on difficulties faced by Arab researchers to publish in globally recognized journals.

The international conference will discuss issues and challenges surrounding scientific publishing in the Arab world with specific focus on indexing and ranking of journals as well as the difficulties faced by Arab researchers.

To be held here Oct. 11-13, the conference will assess scientific publishing in the Kingdom and also demonstrate global key performance indicators in this respect.

“This will act as a guide to the development of Saudi journals, enhancing the quality of their publications; helping Saudi research scholars with the proper guidelines; qualifying journals to be indexed in international databases; and helping researchers to get published in globally recognized journals,” an official at the KSU media department said on Sunday.

He added that the conference seeks to assess the reality of scientific publishing in the Arab world by studying challenges and obstacles, and finding ways to overcome them; highlighting the tasks of heads and members of editorial boards of scientific journals; reviewing local and international performance indicators for the process of scientific research and publishing; and promoting the culture of outstanding scientific publishing in the region.

“It becomes incumbent upon all universities and research institutions in the Arab world to not remain complacent toward developing and improving scientific publishing domestically and internationally. Ways to overcome obstacles to developing appropriate solutions should be identified,” he noted.

According to organizers there was an overwhelming response for research papers for the conference, for which May 13 will be the deadline for submission.