Georgian Geographical Journal (https://journals.4science.ge/index.php/GGJ) is an international English-language journal founded by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography and Aleksandre Javakhishvili Geographical Society. The first issue of the journal was released in 2021. The journal will be published biannually from 2023 and quarterly from 2024.
 

What prompted the need to publish this journal especially since there is no shortage of scientific journals? Nana Bolashvili, Director of the Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography, Academic Doctor of Geography, co-editor of the journal, answers this question as follows:
 

“Today, there is no shortage of scientific journals. In every scientific field it is possible to find a journal with a relevant profile. However, many aspects related to publishing, including the financial ones, are a separate issue. The policy of the Georgian Geographical Journal is to promote regional research. The journal pays special attention to the promotion of young researchers. It tries to contribute to the academic advancement of young scholars and to the international visibility of their research.
 

The Institute of Geography periodically published collections of works. The materials published in them were mainly in the Georgian language and naturally were not available to the international community. Developing the concept of an international journal allowed us to disseminate the results of our research to a wider public. Articles are accepted in English in the fields of geography, geology and anthropology. The journal publishes both scientific research and review articles. In addition, it is a niche of the journal to publish dedications to honored researchers. This is a kind of differentiation from other international journals.
 

This direction of the journal allows us to provide the general public, especially foreign readers, with information about those researchers whose works were known only to a limited number of readers due to the political situation. At this stage, Georgian authors predominate in the journal, although we also have foreign authors. We want to deepen international cooperation and are actively working in this direction.”
 

Professor Revaz Gachechiladze (geographer, doctor of geographical sciences, orientalist, historian, member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences) is the editor-in-chief of the journal. Its editorial board, whose composition will be further increased from the second half of this year, unites Georgian and foreign experts in the field https://journals.4science.ge/index.php/GGJ/editorial.
 

“Georgian Geographical Journal” is an online, English-language publication. Published articles are assigned a DOI and are easily accessible to readers, increasing their citation potential. The journal is published with the full financial support of the Institute of Geography. Everyone working on the journal is a volunteer with no financial interest. A minimum fee, which the authors have to pay additionally, is related to the operations of putting the journal online. There are two main reasons for the decision to be in digital format only, one is ecological and the other is economic, says Mariam Tsitsagi, the executive secretary of the journal, a research fellow at the Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography.
 

Representatives of the Institute of Geography explain that the existence of the journal, in addition to the promotion of the authors of its materials, directly contributes to the increase of awareness of the Institute of Geography in the international scientific community. “When citing materials published through TSU affiliation in the journal, TSU ratings also increase. The Google Impact Factor, which Georgian Geographical Journal already has, is the first stage of further development of the journal. The first step a journal takes to increase its ranking is the Google Impact Factor. It is based on the number of citations of the articles. For example, articles from our journal have been cited in highly ranked publications such as Forest.
 

The journal is published online and accepts articles in English in the fields of geography, geology and anthropology. “The published articles are assigned a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) ​​and are easily accessible to readers, which increases their citation potential,” explains Nana Bolashvili.
 

In addition to the scientific community, the journal is actively working to attract ordinary readers. The journal has a Facebook page, where information about articles published in the journal is regularly posted.