Research is easier said than done. Foremost of all, to do meaningful, relevant and quality research to advance the state of knowledge, funding is required. More so in sciences and engineering than in arts and humanities. In Pakistan, the sole source of funding for university researchers is HEC. (In the US, my own research funding came from highly competitive and prestigious agencies like NASA, NSF, Boeing, Hughes Aircraft, etc). Competition in Pakistan is severe at HEC as funding is limited and there are too many applying. Then it takes a lot of time for its approval, and even more to get the funds released, if at all, because of internal and external bureaucratic hurdles, sometimes upto two years. By that time, the proposed research has already become meaningless which means less chances to get it published when completed. Then very few researchers in Pakistan can hardly write for a journal. The HoDs, Deans and VCs in many cases would ensure their name appears on paper otherwise there are internal bottlenecks created. Finally, most would submit to commercial journals (those who have page charges) to ensure publication. This is again tied to funding, so is to travel to international conferences. Hence the quality and quantity remains low.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 18:41:28 +0000
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