Meaningfulness and Impact of Academic Research: Bringing the Global South to the Forefront

2021 ◽  
pp. 000765032110597
Author(s):  
Premilla D’Cruz ◽  
Ernesto Noronha ◽  
Sudhir Katiyar
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Global South ◽  
Authentic Inclusion ◽  
Societal Dimensions

Alongside scholarly and societal dimensions of research impact, the meaningfulness of research, emerging from the link to context, is crucial. Authentic inclusion of Global South scholars based in the Global South aids these objectives.

Communication and the Global South

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Ashwell ◽  
Stephen M. Croucher
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Global South ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Alternative Development ◽  
The South ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
The North ◽  
Global North ◽  
A Site ◽  
Development Trajectories

The Global South–North divide has been conceptualized in political, cultural, economic, and developmental terms. When conceptualizing this divide, issues of economic growth/progress, technology, political and press freedom, and industrialization have all been used as indicators to delineate between the “North” and the “South.” The North has traditionally been seen as more economically, technologically, politically, and socially developed, as well as more industrialized and having more press freedom, for example; the South has been linked with poverty, disease, political tyranny, and overall lack of development. This conceptualization privileges development efforts in the Global South based on democratic government, capitalist economic structures with their attendant neoliberal agenda and processes of globalization. This negative view of the South is a site of contest with people of the South offering alternative and more positive views of the situation in the South and alternatives to globalization strategies. While there may be some identifiable difference between some of the countries in the identified Global South and Global North, globalization (economic, political, technological, etc.) is changing how the very Global South–North divide is understood. To best understand the implications of this divide, and the inequalities that it perpetuates, we scrutinize the Global South, detailing the background of the term “Global South,” and examine the effect of globalization upon subaltern groups in the Global South. We also discuss how academic research using frameworks of the Global North can exacerbate the problems faced by subaltern groups rather than offer them alternative development trajectories by empowering such groups to represent themselves and their own development needs. The culture-centred approach to such research is offered as alternative to overcome such problems. The terms usage in the communication discipline is also explained and the complexity of the term and its future is explored.

scholarly journals COVID-19: what is not being addressed

2020 ◽  
pp. 095624782096396
Author(s):  
Jaideep Gupte ◽  
Diana Mitlin
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Global South ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Cultural Responses

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nears 27 million, there is a rush to answer (what next) and a rush to act (to solve the immediate problems of COVID-19). This paper discusses, with a specific focus on urban areas in the global South, what is missing to date from this response. That includes an identification of things that there are too much of, things that are not being done at all, and things that are unbalanced. There has been an enormous upsurge of academic research papers and opinions on COVID-19. “Technological” and “scientific” solutions tend to overshadow other approaches, even if people know that “social is important”. Based on our analysis to date, our primary concern is that there is too little understanding about the importance of building dialogue, exploring collaboration and co-producing solutions. There is too little understanding as to why social and cultural responses are important, and how the recognition that they are important can be actioned.

Open access publishing: A developing country view

First Monday ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer I. Papin-Ramcharan ◽  
Richard A. Dawe
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Open Access Publishing ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Internet Connectivity ◽  
Open Access Journals

This paper presents the experience with open access (OA) publishing by researchers in an academic research institution (The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus) in a developing country — Trinidad and Tobago. It describes the two parallel but complimentary paths for authors to enable open access, i.e. of publishing in open access journals and/or self–archiving. The benefits to researchers of free access to information, increased research impact and possible solution to the “serials crisis” are highlighted. It suggests that advocates of OA should consider all possible difficulties that researchers may have with OA, so that these could be ameliorated. To this end, it considers the UWI researchers’ knowledge of OA, their access to the scholarly literature, open access archives/repositories at the UWI and related issues of research and library funding, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and infrastructure/Internet connectivity. It concludes that there are indeed obvious and well–documented benefits for developing country researchers. There are though some disincentives that make it difficult for researchers in developing countries to fully participate in the OA movement. Apart from author–side or “page” charges, the limited number of open access journals in many fields of study and inadequate and unreliable ICT infrastructure and Internet connectivity often limit access and publication in OA journals. Thus, because of technical, financial, human and infrastructural limitations, OA via self–archiving is sometimes difficult for developing country researchers. It concludes that much more should be done to ensure full participation in the open access knowledge community by developing country researchers, including direct technical assistance in implementing institutional repositories (IRs) and more financial assistance and support from international agencies to build the necessary human resource capabilities.

The ever-changing face of Chinese Interpreting Studies

Target ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyun Xu
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Influence ◽  
Over Time

As the discipline of Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS) has continued to expand rapidly over the past twenty years, scientometric research has been applied increasingly often to analyse its trends and patterns. Drawing inspiration from Social Network Analysis (SNA), this study aims to quantify academic research impact and identify patterns of influence at an institutional level in Chinese Interpreting Studies (CIS), by seeking answers to the following questions: Which are the most influential publications? Which institutions carry the most weight? How have their respective levels of influence evolved over time? By analysing a near-exhaustive corpus of 59,303 citations from CIS literature, the study reveals that the majority of influential publications are monographs and theoretical in nature, though many Chinese textbooks on interpreting are also highly influential. It also finds that an institution’s ranking in research productivity does not necessarily translate into high academic influence.

Research on Mobile Phone Data in the Global South

2018 ◽  
pp. 487-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyram Avle ◽  
Emmanuel Quartey ◽  
David Hutchful
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Global South ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Popular Discourse ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Constrained Environments ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Economic Ties

The rapid uptake of mobile phones in the global South—that is, developing countries located primarily in the Southern Hemisphere—is a fact that is often repeated in popular discourse as well as academic research. In the years since it became a favorite factoid, there have been shifts in some of the most well-known patterns of use, with new data being created and collected. To a large extent, communication and information researchers have yet to fully address the opportunities and challenges regarding these changes. This chapter outlines some of the shifts in usage trends, what kinds of data they generate, and what kinds of questions they can help answer about social and economic ties, mobility and location, and innovation and design. These can strengthen theorizing new communication practices and generate greater knowledge about life in a networked age for those in resource-constrained environments.

The effect of funding on academic research impact: a case study of Iranian publications

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 593-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdolrasoul Jowkar ◽  
Fereshteh Didegah ◽  
Ali Gazni
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact

scholarly journals Improving Research Impact Through the Use of Media

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Czaran ◽  
Malcolm Wolski ◽  
Joanna Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Media Development ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Media Professionals

AbstractIncreasingly researchers and academic research institutions are being asked to demonstrate the quality and impact of their research. Traditionally researchers have used text-based outputs to achieve these objectives. This paper discusses the introduction and subsequent review of a new service at a major Australian university, designed to encourage researchers to use media, particularly visual formats, in promoting their research. Findings from the review have highlighted the importance of researchers working in partnership with in-house media professionals to produce short, relatable, digestible, and engaging visual products. As a result of these findings, the authors have presented a four-phase media development model to assist researchers to tell their research story. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for the institution as a whole and, more specifically, libraries.

scholarly journals Australian Social Work Research: An Empirical Study of Engagement and Impact

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Tilbury ◽  
Christine Bigby ◽  
Mike Fisher ◽  
Mark Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
End Users ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Academic Impact ◽  
Social Work Research

Abstract Internationally, non-academic research impact is assessed by governments as part of evaluating the quality of publicly funded research. A case study method was used to investigate the non-academic impact of Australian social work research. Interviews were conducted with fifteen leading researchers about outputs (research products, such as publications and reports), engagement (interaction between researchers and end-users outside academia to transfer knowledge, methods or resources) and impact (social or economic contributions of research). Twelve case studies were prepared using a standardised template. Content analysis highlighted examples of impact, and theoretical and in vivo coding uncovered processes of engagement and impact. Different types of engagements with research end-users influenced impact in three areas: legislation and policy; practices and service delivery; and quality of life of community members. Engagement and impact were intertwined as research altered policy discourses and illuminated hidden social issues, preparing ground for subsequent, more direct impact. Likewise, academic and non-academic impacts were intertwined as research rigour and academic credibility were perceived to leverage influence. There was no evidence of achieving impact simply through the trickle-down effect of scholarly publication. The findings broaden understandings of how research influences policy and practice and iterative and indirect relationships between engagement and impact.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document