Reliable research – Where are we going wrong?

Like any field and probably contrary to beliefs, life in research is very frustrating. The chances of success are minimal. The scientists not only need to worry about the failed experiments but also worry about the peer pressure, the rat race to publish and publish for the sake of getting new grants and also continuance of the old grants. After all a scientist is worth how much grants he has or how many publications he has.

But in doing all this, we as scientific community are doing a great disservice to the field of science. Many of the published articles are either not genuine or are not reproducible. The beauty of research is that an observation in one part of the world can and should be faithfully reproduced anywhere else provided the reagents are of the same quality and of course the experiments are repeated as were done in the original research. However, still, most of the research goes the non-reproducible way!!! Now this is a big blot on the credibility of the scientific research community. The basic research is the template on which newer medicines would be based. And one recent article in Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/us-science-cancer-idUSBRE82R12P20120328) highlights the pitfalls of such a alarming scenario.

There needs to be a mechanism that would and should delink a scientists’ credibility from the number of research articles published otherwise this problem can take a serious turn for the worse!!!!

Predicament of a researcher

Researcher is like an artist, getting pleasure from his creations (discoveries or inventions). And like artists, the researchers at heart are more worried about the theories and pathways rather than the business of it.

However, in this day and age, research needs a lot of capital to start with and to sustain. And in the rush of producing “data”, the real focus shifts from good research to just noise. Thousands of papers are published in as many journals but most of them are not even worth the paper they are printed in.  But in this “kalyuga”, it is important to get the recognition and the grant going hence the odd saga continues.................

When the world economy is going for a spin, who bothers about the research or researchers. People who bring business become more important for an organization. But we all forget, that society, economy and life for that matter is dependent on constant innovation. Science and scientific innovations are making our lives worth living but scientists are the least paid and looked after.

Isn’t it time we realized this folly? Corrective mindsets are need of the hour or else as falling sex ratio in many regions of India is a major problem, soon dearth of people taking up research or scientists leaving research would push India back..............