Enhancing Research Mechanisms and Institutional Processes in Malaysia: A Case Study of Universiti Malaya (UM)

Malaysia’s research and development landscape has grown tremendously over the last decade. The growth of scholarly output in Malaysia has also risen significantly compared to countries such as China, Singapore and Australia. Malaysia has made it a target that research output and quality will increase through an expenditure of 1.3% of the GDP allocated to Research and Development (R&D). Thus far, Malaysia has achieved phenomenal growth within the research sector, with a four-fold increase in the number of citations and has generated approximately RM1.25 billion through 11% yearly growth in the number of patents from Malaysian Universities. This case study aims to provide, firstly, an overview of research governance in Malaysia, and secondly, a discussion of research governance practices at Universiti Malaya (UM). Data is obtained from the 11th Malaysian Plan (2016-2020) and linked to the Malaysian Transformation Program. The Malaysian Education Blueprint for Higher Education (2015-2025) launched in 2015 also outlined a comprehensive transformation for research in higher education programmes. In addition, other published documents on research governance practices by agencies providing research funding were also reviewed. This case study highlights best practices in research management and governance to strengthen and further enhance the current research management and governance in support of the Malaysian government’s initiative towards achieving a high-income nation status.

The Bullshit Cartoon Abstract: In Praise of Creative Academic Writing

This article introduces and discusses a novel form of scholarly output, the bullshit cartoon abstract, which can be used to illustrate summaries of fictitious research papers for both scholarly and lay readers. Presenting five self-authored examples that meticulously deal with trivial research subjects, from the use of visual mnemonics in education to disaster marketing, the article classifies these abstracts along seven dimensions (analytic, aesthetic, existential, satirical, pedagogical, recreational, and opportunistic) to illuminate how bullshit is enacted in academic writing. Building on this classification, it reappraises academic bullshit(ting) as potentially generative of new and multi-textured expressions of creative scholarship.

Pelatihan Penggunaan Learning Management System (LMS) bagi Guru Sebagai Mitra Asistensi Mengajar Program MBKM Prodi Pendidikan Fisika FKIP Universitas Tadulako

Program Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) merupakan program nasional bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kualitas output pendidikan dengan melakukan sejumlah aktivitas seperti asistensi mengajar di satuan pendidikan oleh mahasiswa. Learning management system (LMS) sangat dibutuhkan untuk melaksanakan program asistensi mengajar khususnya dalam melakukan evaluasi. Tujuan program ini adalah untuk melatih guru di sekolah mitra dalam menggunakan LMS sehingga dapat mendampingi mahasiswa dalam program asistensi mengajar. Kegiatan ini dilakukan dalam bentuk pelatihan dimana guru dilatih menggunakan LMS. Mitra kegiatan ini adalah SMP dan SMA di Propinsi Sulawesi Tengah. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah lembar observasi dan wawancara. Dari hasil pengamatan diketahui bahwa guru dapat memanfaatkan dengan baik aplikasi evaluasi berbasis LMS yang dirancang oleh tim pengabdi. Hasil wawancara memperkuat hal ini, dimana guru tidak mengalami kesulitan dalam menggunakan aplikasi penilaian bagi mahasiswa program asistensi mengajar karena dilengkapi petunjuk yang jelas. The Independent Learning Campus Independent Program is a national program that improves scholarly output quality by carrying out activities such as teaching assistants in academic units by students. A learning management system (LMS) is needed to carry out teaching assistance programs, especially evaluations. This program aims to train teachers at partner schools in using the LMS so that they can assist students in teaching assistance programs. This activity is carried out in training where teachers are trained to use LMS. Partners of this activity are junior and senior high schools in Central Sulawesi Province. The instruments used are observation sheets and interviews. From the observations, it is known that teachers can make good use of the LMS-based evaluation application designed by the service team. The results of the interviews reinforce this, where the teacher does not experience difficulties in using the assessment application for students in the teaching assistant program because it is equipped with clear instructions.

Scholarly Achievement versus Editorial Board Membership. The Case of the Top Ten Polish Pedagogical Journals

An invitation to become an editorial board member (EBM) of an academic journal should be regarded as evidence of recognition of a scholar’s research achievement and impact on his discipline. This is a requirement of Merton’s norm of universalism in science, which proposes that awards and prestige ought to be held to objective and pre-established impersonal criteria that depend exclusively on the quality of scholarly output. This principle is particularly important in the context of editorial teams of academic journals. The aim of this paper is to present an empirical case study of the academic achievements of the EBMs of the top ten Polish pedagogical journals, in 2020. For research purposes, the author assumed that the criterion for nomination to the editorial board was the scholars’ output, as evidenced by their publications indexed in the WoS and Scopus databases and also the number of corresponding citations. The results put into question the idea that the editorial nominations examined were indeed grounded in the publications indexed in the WoS and Scopus databases. Based on the record of EBMs output indexed in these databases, most EBMs analysed were not proven to be the most productive or cited scholars.

Nikolay Antsiferov. ‘That’s our life in letters’: Letters to family and friends (1900s — 1950s)

The collection prepared by IMLI RAN contains letters of the eminent specialist in local history N. Antsiferov and focuses on the biography of this St. Petersburg Imperial University alumnus, who, despite many arrests by the Soviet regime on trumped-up charges, incarceration in prisons and guarded camps and exile, preserved his inner freedom and, therefore, his scholarly potential. The book details the political context that brought about the outrageous persecution of this highly skilled and staunchly apolitical scholar aswell as the abrupt clearance of charges. Also included is a summary of his scholarly output in literary history, local history and cultural studies. The book lists the scholar’s acquaintances and correspondents, e. g., M. Bakhtin, V. Vernadsky, M. Lozinsky, A. Meyer, K. Chukovsky, B. Eichenbaum, and many other members of the intellectual elite. The book is celebrated as a landmark scholarly publication; highly praised are the text preparation efforts and explanatory notes.

Social Networking Trend in Improving Educational Leadership Competency in Higher Learning: Systematic Data Analysis

This study examined social network trends in improving educational leadership quality and higher learning outcomes through systematic data analysis. Forward or backwards, the quality of human resources and scholarly output in the academic environment is closely related to social networking, which is increasingly becoming a phenomenon today. The researcher has carried out a series of data collection through electronic searches in several international publications in various scientific communication contexts to understand this. Furthermore, the analysis process includes understanding the study questions, coding, analysis, and in-depth interpretation to obtain valid and reliable study findings that answer this study's questions. Our e-search, especially on the Google Scholar data source, ERIC publications, and other online data sources from the 2010 to 2021 publications, was prioritized. Based on the discussion of results and observations of current social networking trends, it can be concluded that social networking brings benefits such as building social relationships, communication, keeping up with renewal, more personal relationships, more genuine connections, advertising, and other networking among educational leaders worldwide.

Bibliometric Analysis of Scholarly Output on Cardiovascular Disease- Related Research in Qatar: A Preliminary Analysis

Background: Qatar is facing an increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). CVDs research is one of the country's priority research areas according to Qatar National Research Funds (QNRF) and Qatar University research roadmaps. Tremendous amount of investment and funding has been dedicated to this area. Study objective: This bibliometric analysis study aimed to provide a quantitative and qualitative description of CVD-related research in Qatar over the last 20 years. Method: Literature search was conducted through Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane. Research published between 2000 and 2020 were included. A preliminary analysis was done for the 534 documents published in the period between 2018 - 2020. Results: There was about a 42% increase in publications from 2018 to 2020. Almost half of the publications (48%) were published in first quartile ranked journals (Q1). Stroke was the main covered research area. Approximately 44% of the publications had a main author from a Qatari affiliation, and 56% of the Qatari funded publication received the grants from QNRF. Conclusion: This study will serve as a tool for better allocation of funding and grants in CVD-related research. Upon the completion of the study, we will be able to visualize more clearly and make a conclusion about CVD-related research in Qatar.

Author-level metrics: Its impact on scholarly output evaluation among various publication metrics

Publication metrics indicate the visibility and reach of a research publication. The metrics can be at article-level, author-level, and journal-level to measure the scholarly output and its impact. Bibliometrics is the use of statistical methods to analyze various publications mostly used in the field of library and information science; whereas, scientometrics is the sub-field concerned with the science of metrics for the measurement and analysis of scholarly publications. Readers are not always well informed about the various publication metrics, and use them without knowing how to interpret them, their strength and limitations.

One size does not fit all: the role of mentoring context in proactive individuals' scholarly impact

PurposeMentoring relationships have been proposed as a potential intervention to alleviate gender disparities in scholarly output. Yet, previous research has not provided a systematic understanding of the relationship between mentoring and scholarly output. The authors propose that individuals with a proactive personality are especially suited to leverage mentoring relationships to enhance scholarly outcomes. Structural features of mentoring relationships – gender composition, mentor supervisory status, and mentoring relationship length – provide cues that encourage the expression of proactive personality and result in higher scholarly impact.Design/methodology/approachData were collected via surveys from faculty members in a US university and were matched with objective scholarly impact data. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used for hypothesis testing.FindingsThe impact of proactive personality on scholarly impact was more positive for women protégés with women mentors than for all other mentor-protégé pairings. Results also showed support for two hypothesized three-way interactions with mentor status and mentoring relationship length.Originality/valueThis research provides insights into the contexts where mentorship makes the most difference in protégés' scholarly achievement. Gender composition of mentoring dyads and mentor status are important boundary conditions that impact the effect of proactive personality on scholarly output.