International visibility of Armenian domestic journals: the role of scientific diaspora

Abstract Purpose Nearly 122 scientific journals are currently being published in Armenia—of which only six are indexed by WoS and/or Scopus databases. The majority of the national journals are published in the Armenian language, solely possessing abstracts written in English, although there are also English-language and multi-language journals with articles not only in Armenian but also in other foreign languages. The aim of this article is to study the visibility of the (non-indexed) national Armenian journals in the WoS database through citation analysis. In consideration of the existence of a relevant Armenian “diaspora” in the world, this article also attempts to estimate its impact in terms of citation statistics. Design/methodology/approach For this end, we have identified citations to the national/domestic Armenian journals in the WoS database in comparison with the share of citations received from “diaspora” researchers (researchers of Armenian origin born in foreign countries and those originally from Armenia who have emigrated to foreign countries). Findings Among the 116 Armenian domestic journals analyzed (not indexed by WoS), only 47 were found to be cited in WoS. Of these journals, almost 12% are citations by “diaspora” researchers, most of which concern Social Science and Humanities journals. Research limitations Although the surnames of Armenians end with -i(y)an, sometimes, the Diaspora Armenians, surnames are changed or modified or they are not ending with -i(y)an, in this case we may fail to identify them. Practical implications This study can help to build new, more deep and comprehensive relations with scientific diasporas. Originality/value This study offers a new understanding of multifaced research collaboration with scientific diasporas and their role in internationalization of domestic journals.