This first volume of the brand-new Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews (PJSRR) made its debut in December 2015. It offers research review articles by postgraduate students. PJSRR should prove to be an apt means of encouraging scholarly writing among new researchers as well as providing an avenue for them to learn and apply techniques and conventions of professional, scholarly writing for publication. The journal will also help students towards the completion of their postgraduate theses and nurture skills and knowledge necessary for their careers in research and education.
The first volume, available online, contains 10 articles ranging widely in topic from Internet and Facebook use among university students to soil stabilisation to data processing to renewable energy to robot locomotion and plant defence.
PJSRR, which is an open-access journal, will focus on critical summary of current literature in the fields of agriculture, the arts and humanities, engineering and science and technology. Published three times a year by the School of Graduate Studies together with Pertanika, it will be edited by an international team of scholars. Submission of papers for the next issue in June 2016 is now open.
Pertanika also hopes to welcome this June a new journal for the legal fraternity. Pertanika Journal of Law and Syariah will combine theory and practice related to Law and Syariah (Islamic Law). Providing in-depth analysis, research and thought on a broad spectrum of topics covering Law and Syariah, it will especially benefit legal and Syariah academics, judges and court officers, lawyers and law firms and policy makers.
The journal is believed to be necessary because of the increasing pressure to publish, which is compelling researchers to turn to journals not specific to Law or of questionable standard. Its authors are expected to be legal and Syariah academics, postgraduate students, lawyers, associate lawyers and policy makers. The journal is expected to draw interest from international academics and readers.
Research published in this new journal will cover a wide range of legal issues and perspectives ranging from Environment and Forestry Law to Food and Drug Law, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Law, Corporate Governance, Medical Law and Medical Ethics to Family and Child Law and Islamic Jurisprudence as well as Islamic Family Law and Waqf.
This new addition to the Pertanika family is expected to do well as it will benefit from the established reputation of Pertanika as a professional and ethical research publication that is indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. None of the present 10 peer-reviewed journals on Law and Syariah is indexed in Scopus.
Two issues per year are being planned with each to publish 10 papers. After the first-year review of performance, the number of publications per year may be increased. The proposal is pending final approval.
Pertanika JSSH & IFRJ Cream of the Crop
Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (JSSH) and International Food Research Journal (IFRJ) received the coveted CREAM status from the Ministry of Higher Education in September 2015 for consistent high quality of editorial professionalism and research content in academic publication. The prestigious recognition, in the category of “journals indexed in Scopus” in the field of the Arts, Social Science and the Humanities, and Science, Technology and Medicine came with an award of RM12,500 (about US$2,900) each and a certificate under the Ministry’s scheme to recognise and reward professional publication of academic content by local academic publishers.
Chief Executive Editor of the UPM Journals, Dr Nayan Kanwal, acknowledged that the government award, presented by Minister of Higher Education, Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh, during the launching ceremony of the National Conference on High Impact Journal Publications, was “an important recognition for us.” He added that the recognition would “lead to more citations and eventually, a higher impact factor for the journal.” He looked forward to receiving more papers of good quality and innovative trend from local as well as international researchers.