Trends in International Research Publications and Predatory Publishers in Thailand: Insights From SciVal Data (2020–2024)
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Abstract
This study is quantitative research that involves data collection from the SciVal database, an analytical research intelligence tool used to assess research performance and citations. The sample for this study includes international research publications affiliated with Thailand during the period 2020-2024. This study focuses on analyzing trends in journal selection for publication and evaluating the quality of selected journals. The findings reveal that the number of international research publications from Thailand has consistently increased. According to the SciVal database, there were 22,542 publications in 2020, 25,830 in 2021, 28,992 in 2022, 27,511 in 2023, and 30,830 in 2024. Over the five-year period, Thailand produced 135,705 international research publications. Most publications appeared in subscription-based journals (67,258 articles or 49.56%), followed by Gold Open Access journals (50,067 articles or 39.89%). Hybrid Gold, Bronze, and Green Open Access formats accounted for smaller proportions. Regarding publications in journals identified as predatory publishers, a consistent presence was observed. In 2020, there were 1,518 such publications (6.73%), increasing to 2,812 (10.89%) in 2021 and 4,252 (14.67%) in 2022. However, the number began to decline with 3,389 publications (12.32%) in 2023 and 2,706 (8.78%) in 2024. In total, there were 14,677 publications in predatory journals over the five-year period, representing 10.82% of all international publications. Trend analysis indicates a rising number of publications in predatory journals between 2020 and 2022, followed by a noticeable decline in 2023 and 2024. This downward trend may reflect increased awareness and greater caution among researchers in selecting reputable and high-quality publishers to disseminate their scholarly work internationally.
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