WE have more than 200 universities and 43,000 young faculty, employed or unemployed currently, across the country. Unfortunately, one of the major focuses of any research activity in Pakistan is to get a PhD degree, job and a few research articles for on-job promotions.

In majority of our universities, 10 research articles published in the preceding five years are obligatory for promotion to the next cadre; say, from assistant professor to associate professor. In order to meet the criterion, universities in Pakistan started publishing their own journals with zero impact factor, and not even indexed in Scopus or Web of Science. Later, such journals were recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

As the race began to have a paper published in such journals, internal on-campus politics, friendships and nepotism bloomed. The beneficiaries got the eligibility criterion easily fulfilled, and got promoted without doing any research.

This, in turn, caused resentment among those who failed to get published for reasons other than merit. The work environment became toxic, morale went down, trust in the system took a dip, and job satisfaction went out the window. The people who got ‘promoted’ have in some cases become the head of various organisations with poor leadership qualities. And many more will attain that status with similar attributes in the future.

The fact is that reviews, letters and notes do not involve funding, infrastructure and resources. It can help in dragging national or global attention towards different issues and problems. It also influences the policymakers to get insights so that they may shape and implement new policies.

But herein, the obligatory require-ment for promotion in universities is 10 published research articles, while researchers with 10 reviews, letters or notes published in a world class journal with more than 90 or 100 impact factor are not considered ‘researchers’ and are deemed ineligible for promotion.

Moreover, patents are a form of intel- lectual property which can potentially lead to financial benefits through licensing or commercialisation. It represents innovations with potential real world applications. Recognising and celebrating such innovations can encourage researchers to focus on practical solutions that benefit society.

Patenting often involves inter-disciplinary collaboration, bringing together experts from various fields. This can promote a holistic approach to research and problem-solving. It can further facilitate partnerships with industry, leading to research funding, collaborations and technology transfer opportunities.

Why not consider patents for promotions? In fact, academic and research institutions should place a high value on patents as a measure of innovation and impact. They need to heavily incentivise researchers to pursue patents for career advancement.

Many universities around the world, including the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States, consider both research articles and reviews in their promotion policies for faculty members. The HEC should consider the inclusion of reviews, letters and patents in such matters at the national level. This will encourage academics to contribute at a higher level than what they are doing currently.

Waseem Hassan
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023