Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 BSc. of Environmental Science and Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute (SCWMRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
3 Researcher, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute (SCWMRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Today, the natural resources of the country face serious problems and threats such as water scarcity, drought, climate change, water pollution, soil and air pollution, desertification, soil erosion, and issues arising from unsustainable and inappropriate land use practices such as deforestation, destruction of rangelands, overgrazing, and unsustainable agriculture. This underscores the urgent need for a more serious focus on the issue of research and sustainable development in the management of the country's natural resources and environment to provide solutions to problems and improve the health and sustainability of the country's ecosystems. Despite the abundance of research articles in the field of watershed management with an emphasis on its technical and managerial aspects published in domestic and international journals, the categorization and thematic analysis of scientific research articles published in domestic journals have received less attention. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the thematic analysis and classification of various types of articles published in the Watershed Engineering and Management Journal, as well as to examine the thematic trends of each category over three five-year periods.
Materials and methods
This study was conducted with the aim of examining and evaluating the articles published in the "Watershed Engineering and Management" journal during the period from 1388 to the end of 1402 (Volume 15, Issue 4). In this regard, the first step was to classify the types of published articles thematically. Additionally, to examine the frequency of various types of articles published in the relevant specialized categories, as well as the frequency of keywords presented in these articles, three time periods were considered, including the periods from 2009 to 2013 (Volumes 1 to 5), 2014 to 2018 (Volumes 6 to 10), and 2019 to 2023 (Volumes 11 to 15). Furthermore, in this study, an investigation was conducted into the perspectives of faculty members and research experts of the five research groups of the Soil and Watershed Conservation Research Institute regarding the submission of articles to the "Watershed Engineering and Management" journal, as well as the quality, characteristics, challenges, and functions of articles published in this journal during the period from 2009 to the end of 2023 (Volume 15, Issue 4). In this regard, after categorizing the types of published articles thematically by the five research groups and designing relevant questionnaires, a survey was conducted regarding the role of selected factors in submitting articles, as well as the types of published articles categorized by each group, based on a questionnaire consisting of 11 qualitative ordinal variables and scoring according to the Likert pentagon spectrum. After examining the validity and reliability of the measurement tool and determining the sample size using the Cochran formula, descriptive statistical analysis was employed in this study to analyze the results.
Results and discussion
In this study, articles were categorized into 12 thematic classes based on their titles. The results indicate that the thematic categories of "Hydrology" and "Horticulture" have the maximum and minimum frequencies, respectively. The findings reveal that the number of articles presented in the categories of "Climate", "Geomorphology", "Management", "Hydrology", and "Hydrogeology" shows an ascending trend over the triennial periods of 2009 to 2013 (Volumes 1 to 5), 2014 to 2018 (Volumes 6 to 10), and 2019 to 2023 (Volumes 11 to 15). The results also show that the five keywords "Geographic Information System", "Runoff", "Soil Erosion", "Sediment", and "Remote Sensing" have the highest frequency in the articles published during the period from 2009 to the end of 2023 (Volume 15, Issue 4). Furthermore, the results indicate that all research groups have given higher than average scores for selecting this journal as the first choice for publishing their articles. Additionally, factors such as "Review and Publication Time", "Review and Publication Costs", and "Ease of Working with the Journal System (Sina Web)" play an important role in encouraging researchers to submit articles to this journal, with average scores above average and more than average. This is while the roles of editorial board members, chief editors, editors-in-chief, internal, and executive managers in submitting articles to this journal have varying degrees of importance, ranging from low to less than high. Moreover, the survey results show that the five research groups have given scores higher than average to less than very high to the alignment of article topics with the journal's focuses.. In this regard, articles related to the expertise of the Watershed Management research group have the highest alignment (from high to very high) with the journal's focuses. This is while the innovation of articles is mostly average, which is evaluated as less than average to average for articles related to the expertise of the Drought and Climate Change research group. Furthermore, the results indicate that the level of application of innovative research tools and methods in the articles of this journal is mostly average to less than high. Additionally, the subject matter of the articles published in this journal is mostly scored higher than less than average to less than high for addressing the country's needs and challenges. This is less than average for articles related to the River Engineering and Coastal Protection group and between average to less than high for other groups. Except for the Drought and Climate Change group, the application of the results and achievements of these articles in the description of detailed-executive watershed studies is less than average. This highlights the urgent need for a review of the description of detailed-executive watershed studies by the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization.
Conclusions
The results indicate that the thematic categories of "Hydrology" and "Horticulture" have the maximum and minimum frequencies, respectively. Furthermore, the number of articles presented in the categories of "Climate", "Geomorphology", "Management", "Hydrogeology", and "Hydrology" shows an ascending trend over the three five-year periods. Additionally, the keywords "Geographic Information System", "Runoff", "Soil Erosion", "Sediment", and "Remote Sensing" have the highest frequency in the articles published in this journal during the period from 2009 to 2023. Regarding the inclination and influential factors in submitting articles by the faculty members of the Soil and Watershed Conservation Research Institute to this journal, the results indicate that all research groups have given scores higher than average for selecting this journal as their first choice for publishing their articles. Additionally, factors such as "Review and Publication Time", "Review and Publication Costs", and "Ease of Working with the Journal System (Sina Web)" play an important role in encouraging researchers to submit articles to this journal, with average scores above average and more than average. The results indicate that the five research groups have given scores ranging from above average to less than very high for the alignment of article topics with the journal's focuses. This is while the innovation of articles and the level of application of innovative research tools and methods in the articles of this journal are respectively at an average and less than high level. Additionally, the results of evaluating the quality of article publication in this journal, in terms of aspects such as editing, formatting, and illustration clarity, suggest a relatively good status (above average to less than very high) for the journal. Furthermore, the subject matter of the articles published in this journal is mostly scored higher than less to less than high for addressing the country's needs and challenges. Also, except for the Drought and Climate Change group, the application of the results and achievements of these articles in the description of detailed-executive watershed studies is less than average. The current evaluation can serve as a model for examining and analyzing other journals and improving the quality of various scientific content published in them.
Keywords
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