Indonesian–Malaysian academics' collaboration on research to strengthen scholarly publications

Indonesian and Malaysian researchers are collaborating through coaching and international research partnerships to strengthen scholarly publications in Scopus-indexed journals and to build a strategic forum for cross-border academic networks. In Tangerang, Banten, on Friday, Muhtadi, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Da’wah and Communication Sciences at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, said such collaborative activities are crucial to strengthening academic culture and the publication productivity of lecturers at an international level. ‘Indonesian–Malaysian research collaboration is a strategic space for mutually strengthening academic capacity, especially in improving the quality of scientific articles to compete in internationally reputable journals,’ he said. Meanwhile, Asep Shodiqin, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Da’wah and Communication at UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, stressed that international publications are not just academic requirements but also part of scholarly contributions to the global community. Ahmad Sunawari Long, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Islamic Thought (IJIT) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), added that strengthening regional academic collaboration is an important step in building a tradition of high-quality, sustainable research. He noted that reputable international journals require not only high-quality research methodologies but also strong networks of collaboration among cross-border researchers. ‘Through coaching and collaboration like this, we hope to produce more high-quality articles from Indonesian and Malaysian academics that can compete at the international level and benefit society at large,’ he said. In the coaching sessions, participants received guidance on techniques for preparing scholarly articles that meet the standards of reputable international journals, including strategies to increase citations, manage academic references, and strengthen the novelty of the research. The activity also served as a forum to discuss global publication trends and the challenges faced by Southeast Asian academics in breaking into reputable international journals, such as Scopus. ‘The coaching and research collaboration activities are part of efforts to strengthen the internationalisation of higher education through high-quality scholarly publications, the development of collaborative research, and enhancing academic capacity to meet the dynamics of global higher education,’ he said.