Meeting of the Specialized Working Groups of the University Publishing Center was held
According to Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), at the beginning of the session, Dr. Amirmasoud Shahramnia, head of the University Publishing Center, referred to the deactivation of research groups in recent years, considering this issue to cause damage to the center’s activities. He stated the meeting’s goal as “reviving working groups and recreating research and university publishing capacities.” He introduced the four active working groups of the center as: Humanities and Publishing Policy, Technical and Engineering, Environment and Agriculture, and Interdisciplinary Studies, and spoke about the necessity of increasing authored works and reviving the center’s journals.
Subsequently, Dr. Seyed Abolhasan Riazi, a faculty member of the Cultural and Social Institute, emphasized the necessity of using artificial intelligence in the translation process and stated that the publishing center should move towards broader utilization of this technology for producing new content.
Dr. Mohammad Ali Baghestani from the Plant Protection Research Institute of the country, while noting the reduction in article production in the agricultural field, emphasized the need for fundamental transformation in this area.
Dr. Abdolhamid Alizadeh, a professor at Alzahra University, also stressed the importance of strengthening interdisciplinary activities, supporting joint domestic and international publications, and upgrading the level of the center’s scientific journals.
Dr. Sadegh Rostamnia, a professor at Iran University of Science and Technology, deemed the increase of publishing activities in basic sciences and attention to research-oriented books essential.
Furthermore, Dr. Gholamreza Salehi Jozani, head of the TAT Organization, considered the authorship of reference books by professors and the publication of books in English as crucial for strengthening the international presence of university publishing, and mentioned the imminent announcement of a joint cooperation between the TAT Organization and the Publishing Center.
In another part of the meeting, Dr. Zand from the Plant Protection Research Institute of the country, criticized the marginalization of editing and the dominance of a promotional perspective over the book production process, stating that publishing today is more influenced by artificial intelligence than ever before.
Dr. Ishaq Keshtkar from Tarbiat Modares University emphasized the standardization of translation reviews and the formulation of specific regulations for printing books.
Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Zahedi, a faculty member of K. N. Toosi University of Technology, stated that the decrease in the number of printed books necessitates holding training courses to improve the quality of authorship.
Dr. Nejad Ebrahimi, a faculty member of Shahid Beheshti University, cited the strictness and time-consuming nature of the peer-review process as one reason for the decrease in journal publications, and considered future research on books a necessity for today’s publishing.
Finally, Dr. Kambiz Bazargan, a faculty member of the Water and Soil Research Institute, emphasized the need-driven approach for university publishing and said: “It is necessary for a new paradigm to take shape in publishing, and interaction among working groups should be strengthened.”
At the conclusion of this meeting, the members of the specialized working groups were appointed, and their decrees were issued for them to commence their activities.
