Indian
science is increasingly gaining pace. Hundreds of research laboratories,
institutes and university departments are producing new science every day.
Every scientist is trying to publish his/her research in high impact factor
journals, mostly published from the West. High impact factor is increasingly
and apparently being accepted as a trademark of high quality research the world
over. However, this ‘impact factor’ thing has nothing to do with the actual
impact and utility of the science being reported in such journals.
Irrespective
of the actual utility, research publications in the so-called high impact
factor journals is increasingly becoming the basic criterion for recruitments,
promotions and awards/honours in the Indian science institutions. In certain
institutions, it is the only most important deciding factor for recruitments,
promotions and recognitions of scientists. This trend is actually very
disturbing. Now, scientists usually try their best to refrain from all over
activities which do not have impact factor. For example, they don’t like to
report their research in zero or very low impact factor Indian journals. If
they do so, their papers don’t get any value for promotions and recognitions.
This, in turn, makes the future of Indian journals highly vulnerable. They
don’t write for popular magazines and newspapers for the benefit of the general
public. They don’t wish any more, as earlier, to educate the tax payers about
their research and its implications on the society. They don’t want to engage
with the visitors in their laboratories, as involvement in such activities is
not considered for any promotions, incentives or recognitions. They don’t want
to waste their time in facing the media while simplifying their science to
them. Such public and media involvement activities have no impact factor and so
are not so attractive to pull out our scientists from their ivory towers.
Scientists
are not showing any interest in taking their research to the masses who are the
ultimate users of their science simply because our science policies and the
science administrators are not paying any heed to the end-users/consumers of
science. This misleading trend has created a callous behaviour in our
scientists towards the society. They are increasingly becoming cut-off from the
society and so the gap between science and society is now widening at a faster
pace. Science popularization is of no use to our self-centric,
promotion-oriented and recognition-hungry scientists.
Seriously,
when a scientist’s capability and performance is being measured in terms of
impact factor, then why he/she should waste time in activities without impact
factor. I fear how science administrators can measure scientists’ performance
with a simple statistical entity like impact factor. It is making our
scientists socially irresponsive and irresponsible.
Scientists are devising new ways for getting
more papers in high impact factor journals. Be it publishing the same research
in smaller and different fragments or unnecessary self-citation or citing the
papers unwantedly from the high impact journals on advice of their editors or
face rejection of their paper. All their energy and capabilities are being
focused on how to publish more in high impact journals and not in doing
research that can have high impact in terms of utility to the society. This
trend is also leading to exaggeration of claims or unreplicable results.
There is a need to think beyond impact factor
and make the evaluation system of scientists in the Indian science more
realistic based on a holistic approach where scientists are not pushed to
become factories producing papers meant for publication in high impact factor journals
but are considered as socially responsible and responsive personalities doing
real science for the benefit of the society.
