For the first time, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) organized an activity titled “Science Camp 2018.” This event represents a tangible effort to enhance UMY’s academic quality. Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budianto, M.P., the Rector of UMY, stated that one of the goals of this activity is to cultivate a habit among lecturers to improve the quality of academic products at the international level. “This is also part of our effort to establish UMY as a reputable university,” he said during the Science Camp 2018 event on Tuesday (February 14) at Griya Persada Convention Hotel Bandungan, Semarang.
Gunawan further explained that the program was conducted to increase enthusiasm for writing or publishing lecturers’ research findings. This way, the research results will not just sit idle in drawers but can be read and utilized by the wider community outside the campus. “Thus, it is hoped that more academic works can be recognized globally. Additionally, this serves as training for lecturers to promote themselves to higher functional positions,” he added.
Gunawan also set a target of 250 academic works published in international journals by UMY lecturers in the 2017/2018 academic year. This target is expected to rise to 350 works in the 2018/2019 academic year. Furthermore, by the mid-2018/2019 academic year, the goal is to have 10 accredited journals. Currently, six journals have already been accredited. “This is a logical consequence of the credo ‘Young and Global.’ Not only in terms of collaborations with overseas universities but also in the publication of international journals,” he elaborated.
Echoing this, Dr. Ir. Sukamta, M.T., IPM, the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at UMY, stated that by February 2018, there were already 240 Scopus-indexed documents consisting of 183 scientific articles and 57 papers presented at international conferences and included in proceedings. “The main focus of this activity is to finalize draft articles for international publication. Participants will also be guided on how to write quality articles in English, with substantial content and precise analysis. If successful, a similar event will be held again in June. In each session, the target is to produce 136 articles from participants, 12 articles from mentors, and 8 articles from leaders, making a total of around 312 Scopus-indexed articles each year,” he added.
Sukamta also mentioned that out of the total 636 lecturers at UMY, only 147 are Ph.D. holders, while the rest are either master’s degree holders or currently pursuing their doctoral studies. Therefore, this activity aims to motivate lecturers to write while simultaneously improving academic quality. UMY also plans to provide recognition for every author whose article is indexed in Scopus Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4. “Both the first, second, and third authors will be appreciated, but participants are encouraged to be the first author,” he stated.
For authors whose articles are not yet Scopus-indexed, it is the responsibility of the 12 mentors involved. Authors will receive mentoring outside of this event. Each participant’s progress will be recorded by the mentors to identify specific issues faced by the authors. “The participants attending this event are very diverse. Some are ready to submit, some are still undergoing internal review, and some have not yet started the review process. However, I hope that the 136 participants involved can become pioneers and motivate other lecturers to write international scientific articles,” he concluded.
