Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No. 5, 2015

Editor - Online Haseeb Uddin OPINION The authors have been internationally published. This article will provide sufficient guidance to the new comers in the arena of research, to help them navigate many challenges faced in Pakistan. This article is also an appeal to the concerned authorities to promote research and inspire students towards this area of education. esearch is the backbone of the modern education system. It forms the pathway through which students can translate their ideas, thoughts and skills into inventions and discoveries, establishing new facts and conclusions, as well as challenging old ones. These can have a significant positive impact on technologic, economic and intellectual development of any society, thus being considered the most valuable investment in most developed countries. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the term research has become a meaningless phrase. This has stymied the progress of our education in every field. The dental community is no less affected by this ignorance. Pakistan's contribution to dental research on an international level has been negligible. This can be attributed to the limited scope of research work conducted in Pakistan, which are rarely of international standards. This is quite alarming, considering the abundance of dental colleges in Karachi alone, where there are more than a dozen colleges catering to this field. A University's academic reputation and research output determines its performance and ranking worldwide. Considering this, it is perhaps not surprising that; not a single dental college of Pakistan is within the top 500 in the world. One of the reasons for this lack of acceptance within the global community, is the dearth of contribution to the development of excellence to the dental field. This is bitterly demonstrated by the fact that not a single Pakistani dental journal ranks within the top 200 in the world. Dental colleges are to be solely blamed for this lackluster approach to research work. Rarely are students motivated and/or informed about the importance of research and its methodology. Those few who choose to pursue research, find themselves frustrated due to complete lack of guidance, encouragement and support, both financially and morally. Research is barely featured in the dental curriculum, students lack the basic understanding of research writing, its methodology and its protocols, ethical guidelines and its importance in their undergraduate program. Students pursuing their interest in research are not rewarded for their creative thinking by issuing academic credits and scholarships. These institutions end up producing dentists with acceptable clinical skills, but who seriously lack knowledge and deeper understanding of subject which p r e v e n t s t h e m f r o m f u r t h e r excelling/developing in their field and developing their intellectual capacity. Conducting a research of reputable standards requires time, money, effort, resources and knowledgeable supervisors. Colleges have been reluctant in providing students with adequate motivation and more importantly resources such as a research budget. The basic steps in conducting research includes; background knowledge/creativity, synopsis, ethical approval, data collection, data analysis, write up submission, review process and publication fees. Background knowledge/creativity: Emphasis is placed on rote learning rather than creative expression. Creative expression has in fact been stifled and phased out from our education system. This has given birth to students with little more than robotic knowledge. Referring to the text books rather than short note books should be ensured in all institutions to help build a strong background knowledge. There is no replacement for a sound educational foundation. Coming up with a topic is often an intimidating prospect for anyone new to research. However, novices should realize that research is not simply about producing revolutionary new discoveries or inventions, rather, it is also done to improve upon concepts, techniques and even to challenge established ideas. Simply observing the surroundings with a curious mind, raising questions, reviewing the literature and discussions with colleagues can facilitate one in coming up with a topic. Ethical approval: Ethical approval is essential when conducting any research, particularly experimental studies on human subjects. Researches conducted in Pakistan often bypass this step. Most Institutions often maintain an ethical committee which comprises of many members but only in name. These committees remain non- functional for years and rarely convene, hampering the research process indefinitely, leaving researchers frustrated and demotivated. This results in a large number of papers being published without proper ethical clearance. Institutions should have a strict mandate enforcing vigilance and encouraging regular meetings of the ethical review committee. Data Collection: The stage which perhaps requires the most institutional support. The process can be time consuming and exhausting physically, financially and mentally. Institutions are often not well enough equipped to conduct research of international standards, nor are such institutes willing to allocate resources towards promotion of research work or even provide basic funding to compensate researchers for their time and effort, making research work a purely voluntary pursuit. This makes it difficult not only to conduct projects but also to attract human resources. Both institutions and private companies should come forward by investing resources into this noble pursuit. This will be of benefit not only to institutions but also the local community. Students should come up with a meticulous plan prior to entering this stage, and should try to effect the plan to the best of their ability. It's a good idea to start with a pilot study to root out any flaws in the plan and to assess the viability of the research. Students should not be afraid to venture to institutions away from their home institute, to collect data. Visiting different locales without any hesitation, being adventurous and bold are the pre requisites to become a good researcher. However, if you plan on visiting other colleges or hospitals for this purpose, always seek permission from the concerned institution in advance. Teachers or colleagues can provide immense help and support in this regard, as the dental community in Pakistan is small but close, and hence can facilitate your project on their campus. Data Analysis: Data analysis is yet another area of concern. The art of data analysis is of prime significance in compiling results and determining association of different variables tends to be snubbed. Institutions should include basic computer skills and familiarity of their students with relevant software. Ideally access to statisticians should also be provided. Students on their part have to put in extra effort in attending special lectures and workshops in order to develop their skills in biostatistics. Different softwares are available for data analysis, of which IBM SPSS is perhaps the most widely used. Workshops are frequently conducted on the use of this software and tutorials are easily available online as well, including online courses, which are more than enough to give one a basic understanding on the use of this software. However, being dentists we must accede to our own limitations and often require the help of a statistician to make sense of our data in more complex studies, or even to show relationships in less complex studies. In Pakistan, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP) can be a useful first stop, as it houses statisticians who can be contacted for providing help in data analysis and interpretation who are already familiar with the intricacies of medical research. Submission and Publication fees: A credible research can never be considered complete until it has been approved through a vigorous peer review process. On completing a research project, majority of the researchers have no idea where and how to submit their work and ultimately ends up in a local publication.Students should consider this stage from the very conception of their research and plan their methodology to conform to the highest international standards. Each journal also has its own rules, requirements and style. All these things should be very carefully considered from the very beginning. A significant hurdle researchers face when opting to send their work to an international journal is the publication fees which can be very restrictive on researchers working without any funds especially when opting for open access j o u r n a l s w h i c h t e n d s t o b e expensive.Institutions should play their role of helping fund research publication fees and encourage them to make their articles open access so that others can easily benefit from the entirety of their work and institutional prestige can increase in the eyes of international research community. Always set your goals high. Prepare quality work of international standards from the very beginning. Investigate different international journals and understanding their submission guidelinesand reviewing published articles to become familiar with the style of writing before the start of your work can help guide the potential authors in preparing their research accordingly. Reputable journals accept articles of sufficient scientific value or novelty. Selecting a journal and keeping in mind its distribution is also important as the research topic should be appropriate to the journals field of discussion as well as interesting to its readership. Be aware of publication fees beforehand, publication in an international journal can be quite expensive for the authors. One should also consider whether the journal has an open or closed access. Open access articles are easily available in their entirety without any article fee therefore ensuring access to a larger online viewership. However, open access usually results in significantly higher publication fees for authors.Closed access journals tend to have lower fees or may even be free of cost for the authors, however, due to the fees charged for accessing the article, it act as a roadblock to viewership. Lastly, never fear rejection, peer reviewers often give reasons for their objections, take it as an opportunity rather than get disheartened. Improve the research and submit it in another appropriate journal. Never give up, continue to work hard and develop your ideas. This is the recipe for success in the world of research. The Tragedy of Research in Pakistan R Dr Waqas Yousuf Dr Moiz Khan “Emphasis is placed on rote learning rather than creative expression. Creative expression has in fact been stifled and phased out from our education system. This has given birth to students with little more than robotic knowledge” “Always set your goals high. Prepare quality work of international standards from the very beginning. Investigate different international journals and understanding their submission guidelinesand reviewing published articles to become familiar with the style of writing before the start of your work can help guide the potential authors in preparing their research accordingly” 14 DENTAL TRIBUNE Pakistan Edition September 2015

Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No. 5, 2015

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