Research Outputs
This article considers “research outputs,” or the end products that Fulbrighters plan to create after their project. While research outputs may seem fairly clear at the beginning of the project (and often are for PhD level researchers who plan to publish a dissertation), about half of the survey respondents did note that their experience in India made them rethink their research output. In particular, many researchers realized that the advent of new media platforms and the strength of connections with home institutions made them consider additional contexts outside of academic journals. In a way, even this Fulbright blog is a research output from many helpful researchers who came before! (you’re welcome 😁)
In this section, there were just three key questions:
- Do you plan to publish your research (regardless of the format of publication?)
- Where did you/do you plan to publish your research?
- How did your thoughts about publication change over the course of the project?
The first two questions were very straightforward, and the results are shown in the two charts below.
As shown above, about a third of the respondents noted that they planned to share research with local organizations or through their own blog. They arrived at the output in several different ways, and more detail regarding this was provided in the third question: “how did your thoughts about publication change over the course of the project?” For example, here are some important thoughts that were shared:
- “At the beginning, I 100% intended on publishing. But then I realized that would only be accessible to a small portion of people and may not be the most worthwhile goal. I then decided to do a mix of documents for the organization hosting me as well as free online publishing to try to make my work more accessible.”
- “I never was sure and still am not. But I began to focus more on what stakeholders needed and they became my audience.”
- “I came into Fulbright thinking I didn’t want to publish because I wasn’t convinced I would have something substantive to say that an Indian scholar wasn’t already saying (better). I approached this year as an opportunity to learn about research practice and build relationships for future PhD research. Now, I think I might publish a reflective article about research methods and practice that explores how I, an American researcher, crafted research methodology and navigated field work in a rural Indian setting.”
- “For a while I didn’t think anyone would care, but then I met a local leader who asked me to make a specific intervention in the academic literature which would be beneficial to the community (and academically interesting). So I feel like if that’s something I can do for the community, I am obligated to.”
- “I wanted to not only publish in academic journals but in forums where NGOs and implementing institutions would be more likely to read/engage my project and findings.”
There are many ways in which work can be published outside of academic journals, often in places that can be more accessible. It is important to understand the range of stakeholders who your work might affect, and the places where they look for information. Other forms of research outputs outside of academic journals include: workshops, lectures, blogs such as Medium or Wordpress, Indian or US news organizations, performances or artwork, local discussions and meetings, powerpoints posted on ResearchGate or Linkedin, and even contributing well-cited information to open informational platforms such as Wikipedia.
Compared to academic journals, the lack of peer-review for these other formats does imply the work may not be formally recognized by some institutions. Particularly when information is unique or new, it is often better to have it publicly available than to not be published at all, especially when it is work that may help stakeholders outside of the academic sphere. Even if individuals do not feel comfortable with the validity of their research outputs, sharing “lessons learned” or methodology can be extremely useful to future researchers.
At the same time, a large of number of respondents did plan to publish in an academic journal, and particularly the PhD researchers noted that their plans to publish did not change over the course of the project. These experienced researchers noted that surveying relevant academic journals before the project was instructive, since it showed a template for the type of work that was likely to be accepted. In addition, IRB is almost always required for US journal publication, so it is important to consider this in parallel with research design and ethics.
Several respondents noted that research outputs were important topics of discussion with friends, advisors, and stakeholders over the length of the project. If nothing else, most stakeholders are keen to know your motivations for research prior to collaborating, and may often have their own input on what is most useful. These stakeholders often enlightened researchers on more informal outputs that could still be extremely impactful. Possibly the best example of this is the “soft diplomacy” that Fulbright supports. Engaging in discussions about your work, critically discussing differences between the United States and India in various subjects, or creating simple resources for organizations can be considered another form of “research output” in and of itself. Providing your local NGO or research institution a soundboard for new ideas or past frustrations, then working to amplify this with important local stakeholders, can also be invaluable. These outputs may often lead to more direct change on the ground. Therefore, it is worth considering the output as a malleable item — or think of it as “journal and…” — in order to best play your part as both a researcher and cultural ambassador.
