Abstract
The Indian dental fraternity (orthodontics included) has, over the years, slowly increased the number of research items being published, which based on the number of actively functioning and growing postgraduate departments makes logical sense. But despite the obvious gain in sheer quantity in comparison to the rest of the world, we are still not a major player in the global orthodontic scenario; and unfortunately, our publications generate fewer citations than our international counterparts, including developing countries. 1 The news gets further murkier as India takes the global top spot in publishing in predatory journals, with a whopping 27% overall contributing stake for the same, constituting 10% of the country’s research output. 2 A major factor is the ever-existing academic pressure on staff and students to either “publish or perish” in lieu of assessments by statutory bodies in inspections, or by employing institutions prior to recruitments or promotions, or by conferences during speaker selections more so after 2010, when the University Grants Commission (UGC) introduced the Academic Performance Indicators (API). 3 This constant pressure often leads to the researcher being burned out and with India offering one of the lowest pay scales to pure academic researchers (especially in the private sector); those few who possess the talent and fervor for the same often migrate to other countries to obtain better financial remunerations, thus allowing their work to be added in that respective country’s research repository.1 Given the sheer volume of postgraduate research work in the country done in the form of thesis work, the same is not translated into published research. This represents a huge loss to our fraternity’s contribution to the international orthodontic community. Reasons for the same may be lack of time, apathy, “losing the moment/spark,” getting worn down by the lengthy peer reviewing process, lack of confidence, sometimes excessively critical reviewers and supervisors, and so on.
This editorial intends to look at “orthodontic research focus areas” in India, to better this situation. The first and foremost aim being the promotion of Indian orthodontic research in publications and talks sent and presented internationally. We, first, must introspect inwards and ask ourselves when we send in our research work to journals such as American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and European Journal of Orthodontics how many times do we quote articles from the Journal of Indian Orthodontic Society. An honest insight would tell us all that it is far less than we care to admit. We must hold pride in our work, our society, and its published research in our journals akin to the “Jai Hind, Jai IOS” slogan. A second line of thought would be for senior researchers to motivate and mentor novice researchers who, due to lack of experience, face rejection and get demotivated. The newly appointed Indian Orthodontic Society (IOS) Research Foundation is a great step in that direction and one can hope that younger researchers reach out in larger numbers. The foundation can be an excellent resource center for fresh postgraduate students looking for potential thesis topics. Topics chosen should reflect the current and upcoming trends in the field; by doing so the research increases its chance of being not only published but also cited which is as important. In vivo research is the need of the hour as opposed to in vitro research, which most of the postgraduate institutes pursue mainly because of lack of funds or lack of required patient numbers.
The said foundation is also intended to increase collaboration amongst the centers in the country, which is usually the norm in other countries. Such partnerships not only improve the quality of the research but permit a plethora of data to be collected and stored for the use of future generations. Postgraduate students should be explained and counseled about the long-term merits and benefits of publishing their research, without it being turned into a rat race. The research work done by postgraduates should not be limited to a single department or the thesis alone, which happens to be the case most of the time. On an average, the PG conventions receive well over 500 papers and posters combined, but sadly, very few of those translate into published research. Students should be encouraged to finish the research cycle by ensuring its publication in a reputed journal. This requires commitment from the associated faculty to keep encouraging the student to do so. Additionally, small talks in meetings, conventions, conferences similar to the Indian Board of Orthodontics (IBO) awareness program by established researchers in our fraternity could help in this regard. We must also convince our peers not to fall for predatory journal invites, enlightening them of the potential pitfalls that may occur. Furthermore, a clear consensus on sound research methodology must be disseminated pan India so as to prevent rejection of our manuscript based on technical grounds, with our orthodontic stalwarts and lead researchers leading the way. Just like no country is perfect, no country’s research scenario is perfect; it has to be made that way, through persistence, perseverance, and endeavor for academic excellence.