ISI · Scopus Q1 / Q2 publication advisory, our signature service. Manuscript structuring, journal selection, response to reviewers.
Direct answer: Fit the manuscript to a journal that actually wants it, then survive peer review. MAAS EdTech advisers screen your study against Q1 and Q2 scope, restructure the argument into the form the journal expects, draft the cover letter, and prepare your reviewer responses. You remain the sole author and submitter throughout.
What is MAAS Publishing Advisory?
MAAS Publishing Advisory is a Scopus Q1/Q2 and ISI-indexed publication advisory service that guides researchers through journal selection, manuscript structuring, cover-letter drafting, and reviewer response, while the researcher remains sole author and submitter throughout.
MAAS EdTech, registered as MAAS Education Technology JSC in Ho Chi Minh City and operating since 2015, is one of the few academic mentoring companies in Vietnam with a dedicated Scopus Q1/Q2 publishing advisory practice. Every advisor on the roster holds multiple Q1 or Q2 publications under their own name.
This is Group B · Quality-Committed · Signature: we commit to expert process quality. Final acceptance depends on the journal's editorial decision, which is out of MAAS's control.
Who is Publishing Advisory for?
PhD candidates facing a publish-before-defense requirement make up most of the roster, alongside postdocs, industry researchers, and academics who need a structured route from a raw manuscript to an indexed journal.
- PhD and DBA candidates required to publish before defense
- Postdocs and early-career researchers building publication track records
- Industry researchers turning thesis chapters into journal manuscripts
- Academics returning to publishing after a hiatus
Does any of this sound like where you are?
- You have a manuscript in a specific field such as international law, nutrition or history, and you want to know whether anyone at MAAS actually works in it before you go further.
- You are starting a doctorate and already plan to publish internationally, so you want the papers planned alongside the thesis rather than after it.
- You have a finished draft and no idea which journal it realistically fits.
- Your institution now requires an indexed publication and you are working out how long that actually takes.
- You want to know honestly whether your idea can reach the tier you are aiming at, before you spend a year on it.
This is not for you if you want MAAS to be listed as an author or to submit on your behalf. You remain the sole author and sole submitter.
What do you get with MAAS Publishing Advisory?
Six deliverables carry a researcher from a raw draft to a submission-ready package: manuscript structuring, journal selection, cover-letter drafting, reviewer-response coaching, resubmission strategy, and a citation audit that checks every reference is verifiable, current, and compliant with the target journal's rules.
- Manuscript structuring: title, abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, aligned with the chosen journal's house style
- Journal selection: shortlist of 3–5 fit journals by impact factor, scope, acceptance rate, and review timeline
- Cover letter drafting: editor-targeted pitch that frames the contribution
- Response to reviewers: coaching on how to address Reviewer 2's hardest objections without sacrificing the argument
- Resubmission strategy: when to revise-and-resubmit vs reposition the manuscript elsewhere
- Citation and reference auditing: ensure every citation is verifiable, current, and rule-compliant
Why choose MAAS for Scopus advisory?
Most academic-support providers stop at undergraduate assignments, while MAAS runs a dedicated publishing practice staffed by advisors who hold their own Q1 or Q2 publications across Business, Education, Public Health, Engineering, and Law.
- Niche expertise: most academic support companies don't touch publishing. MAAS has a dedicated practice with track record across Scopus indexing tiers
- Real publication experience: every Publishing Advisor on the roster has multiple Q1 or Q2 publications under their own name
- Multi-discipline coverage: Business, Education, Public Health, Engineering, Information Systems, Law, Psychology, and more
How it works
Publishing Advisory runs in two tracks, and which one you take depends on where you need the paper to land. The international track targets Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals across 26 one-to-one sessions, typically 4 to 10 months. The domestic track targets Vietnamese ISSN journals recognised by the State Council across 14 sessions, typically 2 to 4 months. Both tracks move through the same five phases, and both open with a project kick-off that is free and not counted as a paid session.
Phase 1 · Kick-off and research direction
Agree the goal, the working style, how often you meet, and the channel you use. Your advisor then appraises the idea or the draft you already have and assesses honestly how far it can go at your target journal. If you do not yet have a topic, this is where you settle one.
Phase 2 · Idea and research framework
Develop and sharpen the idea, fix the research question, and build the outline. Alongside that your advisor teaches the method for surveying the literature and pinning down a research gap that a reviewer will accept as a gap.
Phase 3 · Methodology and data
Design a method that fits the journal you are aiming at, choose the analysis tooling that suits it, whether SPSS, R or Python, then work through collecting, cleaning, and analysing the data. For authors in AI and computer science an optional block covers experiment design, building the code pipeline, and running the experiments.
Phase 4 · Manuscript review, section by section
Your advisor reviews and guides revision in a deliberate order, starting with the abstract together with tables and figures, then methods and results, then introduction and discussion, and finally the whole manuscript read as one piece.
Phase 5 · Submission and reviewer response
Analyse and shortlist the journals that actually fit, then work through the cover letter and the mechanics of submitting. When the reviews come back, your advisor reads the reviewer comments with you and guides the response letter. Once the paper is accepted, the final manuscript is formatted to the journal's requirements.
How the two tracks differ
| International track | Domestic track | |
|---|---|---|
| Indexing system | Scopus Q1–Q4, ISI/WoS, SCI/SSCI | Vietnamese ISSN, State Council recognised |
| Language of the paper | Academic English | Vietnamese, or bilingual |
| Peer-review process | 2–3 rounds, each 2–4 months | 1–2 rounds, each 2–8 weeks |
| Submission to publication | 4–12+ months | 1–3 months |
| Sessions | 26 | 14 |
⚠️ Article Processing Charges are collected by the journal directly and are not part of the MAAS fee. Where a target journal levies an APC, you pay the publisher, not MAAS.
What has publishing advisory actually looked like?
A new AI architecture for predicting neonatal jaundice, aimed at a Q1 medical-imaging journal (in progress). The researcher was combining blood indices with image processing, already met a supervisor weekly, and already had a plan: 2 to 3 months building the model, then 3 to 4 months writing. What they did not have was an independent read on whether the idea, as framed, could actually reach Q1, and that is the question worth answering before 7 months are spent, not after. The engagement was scoped around exactly three things they asked for: critique the idea hard enough to confirm it is genuinely pointed at Q1, give technical feedback on the architecture and the draft, and assess whether the target journal is the right one. An advisor with Q1 and Q2 papers under their own name was assigned. Where it stands: the advisor is assigned and the research is at the literature-and-dataset stage. The researcher writes the paper and remains sole author and submitter.
Read this and the other engagements in full on our success stories.
Who will actually work with you?
Every Publishing Advisor carries multiple Q1 or Q2 papers under their own name. That is the entry condition for this service, because reviewer-response coaching from someone who has never survived Reviewer 2 is theory. Advisors span business, education, public health, engineering, information systems, law and psychology, and they know their own field's journals rather than a general list.
See the anonymised expert roster on our experts page.
What decides your quote?
Publishing Advisory is quoted per engagement, and four things move it.
- Which track you take. The international track runs materially longer than the domestic one, because the journals demand more and the review cycles are longer.
- What you arrive with. A finished draft needing structural work is a different engagement from an idea with no manuscript yet.
- Whether your field needs the experimental block. Authors in AI and computer science can add experiment design, code pipeline and experiment runs, and that block is optional.
- How many revision cycles the journal puts you through, which is the journal's decision rather than ours.
⚠️ Article Processing Charges are not part of the MAAS fee. Where a journal levies an APC, you pay the publisher directly.
No two briefs price the same, so MAAS quotes per case rather than publishing a flat rate. Send the brief and you get a figure back; you do not need to commit to anything to see one.
What does MAAS commit to?
MAAS commits to assigning a qualified advisor from the Publishing Advisory pool, holding manuscript quality to the target journal's tier, and keeping every unpublished research file confidential throughout the engagement.
- Expert assignment from the Publishing Advisory pool
- Structural and content quality consistent with the target journal's tier
- Confidentiality of unpublished research
What does MAAS not do?
MAAS does not guarantee journal acceptance, promise a specific publication date, or submit, co-author, or ghost-write the manuscript, because the researcher remains sole author and submitter at every stage of review. That caution is grounded in the literature on publishing timelines: a large-scale study of the submission-to-publication gap across scholarly journals found the delay varies enormously by discipline and by journal, which is exactly why MAAS quotes a range for each track rather than a fixed date (Björk & Solomon, 2013).
- Guarantee journal acceptance, because that decision is made by the editor and peer reviewers
- Promise a specific publication date, because review timelines vary widely by journal
- Submit, co-author, or ghost-write any part of the manuscript
Deep dive
For our full narrative on Scopus Q1/Q2 publishing, journal-matching strategy, reviewer-response coaching, realistic timelines and acceptance rates, see our Scopus Q1/Q2 Publishing resource hub. For the editor's first impression of your manuscript, see our guide on how to write a journal cover letter.
Targeting Scopus Q1 / Q2? Book a free 15-minute consultation, support@maasedtech.com or +84 979 422 393.
Not ready to book a call? That is a normal place to be. Send the brief on Zalo or Messenger and ask for a figure, no call, no form, no commitment. If the answer is that MAAS is not right for your case, you will be told that too.
Why use a publishing advisor instead of going it alone?
Researchers who go it alone face guesswork on journal fit and self-taught manuscript structure, while a MAAS Publishing Advisor shortlists fit journals, structures the manuscript to house style, and coaches every reviewer response.
| Stage | On your own | With MAAS Publishing Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Journal selection | Guesswork on scope and tier; high desk-reject risk | Shortlist of 3–5 fit journals by impact factor, scope, and acceptance rate |
| Manuscript structure | Self-taught from scattered guides | Structured to the target journal's house style by a Q1/Q2-published advisor |
| Language & clarity | ESL phrasing can trigger reviewer friction | Sentence-level polish that preserves your argument |
| Reviewer response | Reviewer 2 objections feel like a wall | Coached responses across revision rounds |
| Timeline | Months lost to revise-and-resubmit loops | A realistic submission roadmap from day one |
MAAS is advisory only; you remain the author and sole submitter at every stage.
How does MAAS build your adviser profile before the search begins?
Before opening a search, MAAS captures your narrow sub-discipline, where the research currently stands, what the paper is for, the target tier, how far support should extend, and your preferences on adviser style, then builds a profile against academic credentials and a publication record.
- Narrow sub-discipline within your field, not just the broad subject area
- Where the research currently stands, whether an idea, an outline, data in hand, or a draft
- What the paper is for, the target tier, and whether a journal is already in mind
- How far support should extend, from topic and framework through to submission
- Timeline, budget expectations, and your preferences on mentoring style and contact frequency
The profile itself weighs the adviser's narrow sub-discipline, academic credentials and international publication record, relevant practical experience, and softer factors such as mentoring style, contact frequency, and the ability to commit to your timeline. MAAS then either draws from its existing network or opens a search for this specific project.
How does MAAS scope your project before advising begins?
MAAS opens with a demand-gathering meeting, recorded with your permission, covering your academic background, target tier, topic and research stage, timeline, and mentoring preferences, then masks your personal details and your supervisor's details before anything is shared with an adviser.
- Academic background and career stage
- Target tier, and whether a specific journal is already in mind
- Topic, and what stage the research has reached
- How much support is wanted, and the expected timeline
- Budget expectations and preferred mentoring style
Your personal details and your supervisor's details are masked before anything reaches an adviser.
What happens if your timeline or manuscript stage makes the target unrealistic?
MAAS checks whether a project is workable before confirming it: whether the timeline allows for review rounds, and whether the manuscript has reached a stage where advisory work can move it forward.
Where the target tier and the timeline do not fit together, MAAS says so early. That usually means proposing a more realistic target, a longer runway, or a different starting point, such as a stronger draft before journal selection, discussed with you rather than decided for you.
Any change to what was agreed is settled with you, and never by one person at MAAS alone.
Frequently asked questions
MAAS Publishing Advisory provides end-to-end guidance for ISI and Scopus Q1/Q2 journals, covering manuscript structuring, journal selection, cover-letter drafting, and reviewer-response coaching, while the researcher remains sole author and submitter.
What does Publishing Advisory cover?
End-to-end advisory for ISI and Scopus Q1/Q2 journals: manuscript structuring, journal selection, cover-letter drafting, and reviewer-response coaching. Advisory only, MAAS never submits or co-authors.
Does MAAS guarantee my paper will be accepted?
No. Acceptance is the editor's and peer reviewers' decision. MAAS commits to expert process quality, not the journal's verdict.
Who are the Publishing Advisors?
Every advisor has multiple Q1 or Q2 publications under their own name, across Business, Education, Public Health, Engineering, Information Systems, and more.
How are target journals selected?
We shortlist 3 to 5 fit journals by impact factor, scope, acceptance rate, and review timeline, then agree the target tier with you.
Can MAAS help me respond to reviewers?
Yes. Reviewer-response coaching across revision rounds is a core part of the service.
Is there a Scopus Q1/Q2 publishing advisor in Vietnam?
Yes. MAAS EdTech is a Vietnam-based Scopus Q1/Q2 publishing advisor, operating from Ho Chi Minh City since 2015. Advisors guide journal selection, manuscript structuring, and reviewer responses. This is advisory only, and you remain sole author and submitter.
What does Publishing Advisory cost, and how is it quoted?
Pricing is a custom quotation based on manuscript stage, target journal tier, and expected reviewer-response rounds, so request a quote through the discovery call.
References
Björk, B.-C., & Solomon, D. (2013). The publishing delay in scholarly peer-reviewed journals. Journal of Informetrics, 7(4), 914–923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2013.09.001