Most of you are probably aware of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies (http://pakistaniaat.org), which I had launched in 2009. A few years ago, after a long hiatus, we have started republishing the journal with a few modifications. The main change from the previous issues was that instead of publishing three issues per year, we decided to publish one continuous issue over an year, thus ensuring that your articles keep appearing in the current issue as they move through our editorial process.

Until 2012, Pakistaniaat qualified as a category Y journal according to Pakistani Higher Education Commission (HEC) criteria; This inclusion helped us a lot, as it attracted more quality submissions from pakistani scholars. In 2012, however, the HEC changed its criteria for international journals and decided that only the journals with an Impact Factor will be included in their approved journals. Since Pakistaniaat has not yet been indexed by Thomson Reuters, the company that calculates the impact factor of academic journals, we, therefore, lost our inclusion in the HEC approved journals list.

Pakistaniaat: Challenges

As I am about to close the second annual issue of the journal (Volume 7), I am seeking your advice about the future of the journal. Here are some of the things that concern me about the journal:

  • Since we are no longer included in the HEC list, the number of submissions from Pakistan has seriously declined.
  • Other than a few volunteer editors, I do not have a permanent editorial staff to handle the day-to-day affairs of the journal.
  • At this point I do not have any institutional (financial or otherwise) support for the journal.
  • The journal needs to have sufficient citations for us to eventually apply to Thomson Reuters for inclusion into their index.

Some Possibilities

  • I could continue publishing it despite the limitations and lack of institutional support.
  • I could also let a Pakistani University takeover and run the journal if they keep the journal Open Access (This would also depend upon negotiated terms)
  • I could also close the journal and upload all that we have published into my University Repository; This way all the materials that we have published will still be available.

Your Suggestions about Pakistaniaat

Keeping the above in mind, please use the comments section below to share your ideas and suggestions. If you have had a positive experience with pakistaniaat, please share it with us:)