Saturday 12 March 2016

“Why is the Quality of Research in India Inferior to Other Developing Countries?” ―Professor M.S.Rao



“Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.” ― Wernher Von Braun


Recently I had the opportunity of attending the authors’ conference organized by a prestigious publication in India. As an author of 30 books with 250 publications in international journals and magazines, I thought it was a great opportunity to attend and interact with others, and to understand the latest trends and developments in the publishing industry. I am aware that the quality of research in India is not as strong as the developed countries. But I came to know in the conference that the quality of Indian research is inferior to other developing countries in the world. Here are my views on this topic:  


Reasons for Poor Research in India

There are several reasons for poor research in India. The funding by government is not adequate. There are politics and bureaucratization in Indian research. Some of the researchers are not equipped with research tools and techniques to pursue quality research in India. Above all, there is a lack of research ambience in India. When you look at some of the Indian researchers, they excelled in western countries especially in America due to ambience, facilities and network. They brought laurels to our country. It shows that Indians have the attitude and aptitude for research for lack the right infrastructure, facilities, funding, ambience and opportunities in India.


Be Visible or Vanish!

“Having instant feedback on twitter to research material I'm considering is an enormous help.” ― Sara Sheridan

It is unfortunate that the visibility of Indians in research is lower than the other developing countries. That means Indians don’t market themselves on social media. In fact, social media is an effective tool to enhance visibility for research. Currently the slogan is ‘be visible or vanish forever!’. Hence, Indians must make use of social media tools and techniques to promote and market their research. There are many websites that help enhance visibility of research including ORCID URL: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1855-7969 and KUDOS. URL: https://www.growkudos.com/profiles/9351. They help enhance visibility and citations for the published research.  They must be aware of altmetrics that helps the authors and researchers to track their research and reach of their articles. Altmetrics assesses the impact of research and publications.


Are Indians Shy to Market Themselves?

Indians are culturally shy to market their goods and services as they often think that it is showing off. There is nothing wrong in marketing themselves. Remember the slogan, ‘more display; more sales’. Hence, they must avoid cultural inhibitions, and must market and promote themselves to get noticed. When American authors start writing books, they immediately market their titles and work on social media. It helps brand themselves and promote their books to become bestsellers globally. In contrast, Indians market their titles and books only after publication of their books. It makes a huge difference in marketing and promoting of their books. Additionally, most Indian researchers and authors think that marketing their research is the job of their publishers. It is not correct. As researchers and authors, they must also be very active on social media to promote their research to enhance their visibility.


Research and Teaching in India

“What is research, but a blind date with knowledge.” ― William Henry

There are too many politics involved in research in India. There is lack of recognition for researchers in India. There is no much importance attached even in educational institutions. Indian educational institutions want research only on paper and CVs, not in reality. They don’t count the amount of time invested in quality of research. Indian educational institutions count only the number of teaching sessions conducted. There is a step-motherly treatment for researchers in India. In fact, teaching and research must go together to add value to education. In western countries, more importance is accorded to research than to teaching and training. In fact, research provides the adequate platform for the educators to share their knowledge effectively in the classroom. When students raise questions in the classroom, the educators do research and come back to classrooms with more confidence to share their knowledge with students. Hence, teaching and research are interwoven. Above all, there must be industry-academia interaction in India.


Conclusion

“Research serves to make building stones out of stumbling blocks.” ― Arthur D. Little

If we emphasize on quality research, India can become a strong country in the world. Research is the foundation of any country. It is the knowledge counts, not money. Currently knowledge workers are more respected globally. And to enhance knowledge, it is essential to emphasize on quality research.


“The color of leadership is bright orange.  The color of leadership research is slate gray.” ―  Jerry Hunt, Texas Tech University



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Life is great!

Professor M.S.Rao, India
Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants India
Recipient of 10th International Prestigious Sardar Patel Award―2015
21 Success Sutras for Leaders: Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year (San Diego University) Amazon URL: http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI




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