In recent years, the Vietnamese government has put significant effort into the internationalization of research in the higher education system via the use of international publications (i.e., publications indexed by citation databases such as ISI Web of Science and Scopus) in evaluating their academic staff and doctoral students. Academic staff in Vietnam, who traditionally have low numbers of international publications, have thus been pushed to improve their competencies in order to meet the new requirements for research productivity. However, we have little understanding of the factors influencing international publication as perceived by Vietnamese academic staff. This study aims to fill the gap by using the Delphi method. Academic staff with at least one international publication were invited, via purposeful sampling, to participate in a two-round Delphi survey. The survey revealed 14 key factors, which were further classified into three dimensions: “policy-related factors,” “capability-related factors,” and “networking-related factors”. These factors were the key determinants in the success of international publishing, according to the study participants. The findings provide implications for policymakers and university leaders for enhancing the research capacities of Vietnamese universities, forming a basis for the sustainable development of the higher education sector in Vietnam.

Seventeen sustainable development goals (SDG) by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda have been nationalized and implemented in Vietnam. One of the country’s priorities is making educational provision accessible to all of its residents, especially for marginalized groups, while enforcing their human rights. In this context, this article examines the implementation of SDG4 (quality education) in combination with the practice of human rights for ethnic minorities in Vietnam. With access to jurisprudence, this research provides a detailed assessment of the compatibility between SDG targets and the legal rights to education of ethnic minorities. Additionally, this research employs an exploratory method to investigate the four major conditions for the implementation of quality education for ethnic minorities, namely legal–political, economic, socio-cultural factors, and participation pride. We also investigate three main barriers that hinder SDG4 implementation and human rights practices, namely child labor, language, and gender inequality. The contribution of this study is necessary for establishing more informed strategies and policies towards sustainable development in education for multi-ethnic countries.