Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this project was to appraise the scientific mental health journals publish-ed in Iran and also to present a general profile of their characteristics.

Method: The journals evaluated in the study were published from 1990  to 2003. The scientific journals in the domain of mental health published in Iran and circulated until the implementation of this study were identified by library references, data banks, internet sites, and the editorial offices of the publications. The variables in the study were divided into three main groups: publication cha- racteristics of the journals, distinctiveness of journals’ license holders and personnel, and finally specificities of journals’ contents.

Findings: 23 out of 800 evaluated journals met the inclusionary criteria for this project. Less than 1/3 of the journals possess the official academic ranking of Publication Commission granted by Mi- nistry of Science, Research, and Technology or Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Edu-cation. None of these periodicals are indexed in any of the credible information banks. Nine journals did not have International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and five journals had no English abstracts. Eleven journals were published by universities five were published by governmental organiza-tions and seven were funded by private organizations or scientific societies. During the study period, 1008 research articles were published in the journals. The average number of articles binded in each issue was 2.70(±1.2).The average number of articles in journals with official academic rank- ing certificate was higher than the journals without the certificate.

Results: There seems to be a relatively adequate number and variety of scientific mental health journals in the country,but too few articles are printed in them. For further progress in the upcom- ing years, the followings are suggested: quality improvement of the journals, more publication of indigenous research articles, publication of domestic periodicals in English, and indexing them on cre- dible international information banks.