SHODH CHAKRA: A Gateway to Researchers for Resources

Research is a systematic investigation of a problem or question. The process of research implies various components in accordance with appropriate research methodology based on the type of research problem or question. It is a continuous process to bring societal changes and ease the life of human beings. Research allows researchers to pursue their career in their area of interest. There are 950+ universities in India. Each of these universities are involved in teaching and research in a variety of disciplines. Managing and monitoring research activity is a time-consuming task that requires a lot of effort to aggregate various information at one platform. It is a need of an hour to manage research activity with the use of the latest tools and techniques to complete the research work within the stipulated time.

Shodh-Chakra is an initiative of Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre under the guidance of University Grants Commission (UGC) to help the academic community during their research life cycle. Shodh-Chakra provides a unique space to the researcher, guide/supervisor and university to manage the research lifecycle of a research scholar. This will work as a digital workspace wherein researchers can collect, store, organize and cite their research work. The Shodh-Chakra would help researchers to create their profile and manage their preferences. The process of using the portal starts with signing an MoU between University and INFLIBNET Centre. The university/institute has to provide valid information of the researcher and supervisor. Further, researcher can login into system and avail the features of Shodh-Chakra. The system will generate login credentials to researchers, supervisors and universities.

 

Source: https://shodhchakra.inflibnet.ac.in/Download/index

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रिसर्च पेपर्सचे कारखाने!

 Source: https://maharashtratimes.com/editorial/article/iit-roorkee-launches-project-to-develop-advanced-packaging-research-laboratory/articleshow/96695124.cms

पेपर मिलच्या अनैतिक प्रथेच्या उच्चाटनासाठी जगभरातून प्रयत्न चालू आहेत. भारतात संशोधनातील फसवणूक ओळखण्यास सक्षम तज्ज्ञ तयार करण्यासाठी नवीन प्रशिक्षण व जागरूकता कार्यक्रम युद्धपातळीवर आवश्यक आहेत.

 डॉ. शुभदा नगरकर

खरे तर मानवी जीवनाचा दर्जा सुधारणे हाच संशोधनाचा मुख्य उद्देश; परंतु पदोन्नतीसाठी संशोधन अनिवार्य केल्यानंतर ते करण्यापासून ते त्याच्या प्रकाशनापर्यंतचे चित्रच पालटले. लवकरात लवकर संशोधन उरकणे व ते छापण्यासाठी वाङ्मयचौर्य केलेले बोगस पेपर बनावट जर्नलमध्ये छापण्यास सुरवात झाली. अशा बनावट जर्नल्सना आळा घालण्याचे काम सध्या सुरू आहे. बनावट पेपर लिहिण्यापेक्षा तयार पेपर दर्जेदार जर्नलमध्ये प्रसिद्ध करण्याची संशोधाकांची गरज लक्षात घेऊन 'रिसर्च पेपर मिल्स' अस्तित्वात आल्या. संशोधनातील भ्रष्टाचाराचा हा एक पुढचा टप्पा! उत्तम संशोधन करणारे संशोधक मात्र या सर्वांपासून दूरच असतात.

या 'रिसर्च पेपर मिल्स' काय आहेत, त्या कोण चालवतात आणि त्यांची कार्यपद्धती कशी आहे?

साठच्या दशकात जगभरात, विशेषत: अमेरिकेत 'टर्म पेपर मिल्स' अस्तित्वात आल्या. तेथील कॉलेजात पदवीसाठी 'टर्म पेपर' लिहावा लागतो. ते खूप कष्टप्रद असते. ग्रंथालयात जाणे, अनेक संदर्भ ग्रंथ व इतर साहित्य वाचणे, टिपण तयार करणे याचा मुलांना कंटाळा येत असल्याने याचा फायदा घेऊन काही कंपन्या कामाला लागल्या. त्या भरपूर पैसे घेऊन टर्म पेपर्स तयार करू लागल्या. मग पुढे 'एसे (निबंध) मिल्स', 'पीएचडी थिसीस मिल्स', 'प्रकल्प मिल्स' असे कारखाने तयार झाले. त्यात आता रिसर्च पेपर कारखान्यांची भर पडते आहे. इंटरनेटमुळे मागणीदार आणि पुरवठा करणाऱ्यांचे काम सोपेच झाले आहे. अशा पेपर मिल्स भूछत्रासारख्या जगभर मोठ्या संख्यने उगवल्या.

ब्रिटनमधील 'रॉयल सोसायटी ऑफ केमिस्ट्री' प्रकाशित करत असलेल्या आर. एस. सी. ॲडव्हान्सेस या जर्नलमधून २०२१ मध्ये ६८ पेपर्स मागे घेतले गेले. याचे मुख्य कारण म्हणजे ते 'पेपर मिल्स'च्या मदतीने तयार केले होते. त्यामुळे हा विषय जास्त चर्चिला गेला. तपासणीअंती असे दिसले, की या सर्व पेपर्समधील बराचसा मजकूर, तक्ते आणि छायाचित्रे यांची एक सारखीच होती. अमेरिकेतील संशोधनातील सत्यता तपासणाऱ्या तज्ज्ञ एलिझाबेथ बिक यांच्या मते, चीनमधील डॉक्टर्स रिसर्च पेपर मिल्सचा वापर मोठ्या प्रमाणात करतात; कारण त्यांच्याकडे संशोधनाला वेळच नसतो. अत्यंत घाईगडबडीत त्यांना पेपर्स प्रकाशित करायचे असतात.

बनावट टर्म किंवा रिसर्च पेपर्स तयार करण्याच्या दोन पद्धती आहेत.

- तज्ज्ञ (?) व्यक्तींकडून लिहून घेणे.

- कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्तेवर (एआय) आधारित संगणक प्रणालीचा वापर करणे.

इतर तज्ज्ञांच्या मते काही व्यक्ती प्रकाशित पेपर्समधून 'कट अँड पेस्ट' तंत्राचा वापर करून नवीन पेपर तयार करतात. 'सायजेन' आणि 'मॅथजेन' या संगणक निर्मित प्रणाली आहेत. यात काही शब्द दिले की लगेच काही सेकंदांत संगणक विज्ञान आणि गणित या विषयांचे पेपर तयार मिळतात; परंतु यात बरेच पेपर निरर्थक असतात.

इंटरनेटवरून अशा कंपन्या सहज शोधता येतात. रशियन, इराणी आणि चिनी रिसर्च पेपर मिल्स संशोधकांना शेकडो लेखांमध्ये सह-लेखकत्व खरेदी करण्याचा पर्याय देते. अनेक पेपर्स लिलावासाठी उपलब्ध असतात. या वेबसाइटवरून एखादी व्यक्ती रिसर्च पेपर खरेदी करू शकते आणि विकतेसुद्धा. पेपर मिल्सद्वारे तयार केलेले शोधनिबंध ओळखण्यासाठी तज्ज्ञांनी बऱ्याच युक्त्या शोधून काढल्या आहेत. यावर पुढील संशोधन चालू आहे. 'नेचर' या सुप्रसिद्ध विज्ञान मासिकासाठी काम करणाऱ्या पत्रकार होली एलिस यांच्या मते मशीनद्वारे तयार केलेले बनावट रिसर्च पेपर्स शोधणे खूप कठीण आहे; परंतु त्यातील असंबद्ध वाक्यरचना, अर्थहीन मजकूर, अशास्त्रीय भाषा, ग्राफिक्सचे डुप्लिकेशन, शंकास्पद पीअर-रिव्ह्यू प्रक्रिया याच्या अभ्यासानंतर हे पेपर ओळखता येतात. अनेक परिषदांमधून असे पेपर्स स्वीकारले जातात. असे पेपर संपादकांच्या नजरेतून सुटतात व प्रसिद्धही होतात; परंतु लक्षात आणून देताच मागे घेतले जातात.

एलिझाबेथ बिक यांनी चीनमधील पेपर मिल्समधील चारशेहून अधिक पेपरची यादी तयार केली. प्रयोगशाळेत 'वेस्टर्न ब्लॉट' चाचणी केल्यानंतर मिळणाऱ्या छायाचित्रांसारख्या प्रतिमा संगणकाद्वारे नक्कल करून तयार केलेल्या त्यांना त्यात आढळल्या. या चाचणीचा उपयोग विषाणूंमुळे होणाऱ्या 'एचआयव्ही'सारख्या रोगांचे निदान करण्यासाठी होतो; तसेच या चाचणीने विशिष्ट प्रथिने शोधण्याची एक पद्धत आहे, जी फक्त प्रयोगशाळेतच केली जाते. मात्र, पेपर मिल्सने याची भ्रष्ट नक्कल करून हुबेहूब छायाचित्रे संगणकाच्या मदतीने तयार केली. याचा संशोधनावर विपरीत परीणाम होऊ शकतो म्हणूनच बिक यांनी शोधलेले बरचसे पेपर्स प्रकाशकांनी मागे घेतले. परंतु अशी छायाचित्रे शोधणे अत्यंत जिकारीचे आहे. बिक प्रत्यक्ष डोळ्यांनी व संगणकप्रणाली वापरून अशी छायाचित्रे शोधतात.

या विषयातील अमेरिकी तज्ज्ञ ब्रायन आणि क्रिस्टोफर यांच्या अभ्यासाअंती लक्षात आले, की पेपर्स मिल्स विश्वासार्ह जर्नल्समधील पेपरचे डिझाइन नकली पेपर्स तयार करण्यासाठी करतातच, परंतु मायक्रोग्राफ, छायाचित्रे, स्कॅटर प्लॉट, बार आलेख, स्टॉक प्रतिमा आणि संख्यात्मक डेटा सेटचा गैरवापर करतात. हे नकली पेपर्स तंतोतंत उत्तम पेपर्ससारखेच दिसतात. त्यामुळे त्यांना ओळखणे खूप अवघड असते. इतर तज्ज्ञ मंडळींनी व्याकरण्यातल्या चुका व असंबद्ध वाक्ये असलेले पेपर मिल्सने तयार केलेले व दर्जेदार जर्नल्स मधून प्रसिद्ध झालेले अनेक रिसर्च पेपर्स शोधून काढले आहेत.

भारतात अशा पेपर मिल्स अस्तित्वात आहेत. पीएचडी ही शिक्षण क्षेत्रातील उच्च पदवी आहे; परंतु या साठीचा प्रबंध विकत घेणे सर्रास होते. २००६पासून आणि विशेषतः भारतातील सहाव्या वेतन आयोगानंतर प्रिडेटरी जर्नल्स, डॉक्टरेट अभ्यासाची गुणवत्ता आणि भारतातील संशोधन यावर वाद होत आहेत. प्रबंधाबरोबरच अनिवार्य असलेल्या संशोधन पेपरही (अलीकडे ही अट काढून टाकण्यात आली आहे) भारतातील पेपर मिल्स करतात. असे चुकीच्या संशोधनाचे उत्पादन व त्याचे प्रकाशन शालेय आणि महाविद्यालयीन विद्यार्थ्यांच्या रेडिमेड प्रकल्पांच्या मागणीतून सुरू होते. रशियन पेपर मिलच्या वेबसाइटवर भारतातून पेपर्सची खरेदी-विक्री होते, हे अत्यंत खेदजनक आहे.

पेपर मिलच्या अनैतिक प्रथेच्या उच्चाटनासाठी जगभर प्रयत्न चालू आहेत. भारतात संशोधनातील फसवणूक ओळखण्यास सक्षम तज्ज्ञ तयार करण्यासाठी नवीन प्रशिक्षण व जागरूकता कार्यक्रम युद्धपातळीवर आवश्यक आहेत. संशोधन करताना जमा केलेली माहिती सर्वांसाठी खुली ठेवण्यासाठी; तसेच पेपर मिलद्वारे केलेले तयार पेपर्स उघड करण्यासाठी ऑनलाइन मंचाची आवश्यकता आहे. यामुळे या प्रकाराला आळा बसेल. असे त्वरित न झाल्यास मात्र पुढील पिढ्यांची संशोधनाबाबत घोर दिशाभूल होत राहील.

Why Research Matters

                                          Source: THE HINDU - 21st November'2022

Publishing research papers in established journals and presenting at conferences has many benefits for a scholar

How to Uncover Inventions for Patent Filings: A Simple Guide

 Source: https://www.bananaip.com/ip-news-center/how-to-uncover-inventions-for-patent-filings-a-simple-guide/

 Identifying and generating inventions for patent filings can be a daunting task, especially for larger companies with multiple divisions and products. However, uncovering new inventions for patent filings doesn’t have to be difficult – with a little bit of organisation and some creative thinking, you can uncover a wealth of potential inventions that are waiting to be patented.

Here are some simple tips for uncovering inventions for patent filings:

1. Organise and Review your patent portfolio

Before you even start looking for new inventions to patent, you need to make sure that you have a good understanding of your current portfolio. This isn’t because you need to find new inventions, but because you need to make sure that you don’t overlook something that you already have. Organising your current portfolio gives you a good foundation on which to build new patents.

Read through your current patents – If you already have a number of patents, take a moment to read through each one. This helps you to understand the types of inventions that your company is currently patenting, and can provide you with some inputs for identifying new inventions.

2. Review your existing and future products

Once you have a good understanding of your current patents, you can begin to look for new inventions that you can patent. The best way to do this is to break your research down into two categories: existing products and future products.

Existing products are products that are already being manufactured or sold by your company. Future products are products that your company is either currently working on or has plans to work on in the near future. There maybe unpatented inventions in your existing products, and your future products can have several inventions you may consider for patent filings. You have to identify and make a list of these inventions in order to analyse and make a decision on patent filings.

3. Attend brainstorming sessions to identify inventions

No matter what type of business you’re in, brainstorming is the simplest way to uncover new ideas for patents. By attending brainstorming sessions, you maybe able to identify inventions that have the potential for patent filings. Also, Brainstorming notes can be a good source for unidentified inventions.

4. Conduct Interviews with Product development teams

By discussing with different product developments teams in your company, you can gain a good understanding of the work they are doing with respect to different products and their features. Information of their work can give you important inputs for possible inventions and Patent filings. Once possible inventions are identified, you can conduct interviews to get more information for analysis and patent filings.

5. Build a Culture of Invention disclosure

You can identify inventions for Patent filings by building an internal culture of disclosing ideas. If inventors provide details their ideas on their own, you can review and analyse them for patent filing opportunities. Building such a culture requires awareness, robust processes, and transparent feedback.

Conclusion

Identifying inventions can seem difficult, but by following simple steps such as reviewing products, interviewing Inventors & Product Development teams, reviewing research, and attending Brainstorming sessions, you can identify and excavate inventions for patent filings. By building a culture of idea disclosure, you can establish a mechanism that provides you with a pipeline of ideas that maybe be considered for patent filings.

 

Focus On PhD quality, Not publication

                                        Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA - 19th October'2022

Open Access On MUSE

Project MUSE offers open access (OA) books, journals, and digital humanities works from several distinguished university presses, scholarly societies, and independent not-for-profit academic publishers. Through our open access hosting programs, we are able to offer publishers a platform for their OA content which ensures visibility, discoverability, and wide dissemination. These materials are freely available to libraries and users around the world.

Source: https://about.muse.jhu.edu/muse/open-access-overview/

Is it ethical to be friends with research participants?

Helen Kara |  September 29th, 2022

In qualitative research building a rapport and friendships with participants is often presented as a means to gain access and data from research participants. However, as Helen Kara discusses, using friendship in an instrumental way presents serious ethical issues for researchers.

 

we know that people generally agree to participate in research for their own reasons rather than ours. And, where that reason is to get a little human company and kindness, which is lacking from their own lives, the practice of building rapport begins to appear even more suspect.

 

#Courtesy 

What are Research Communities?

 

Online research communities are trending as one of the most popular ways for market researchers to capture qualitative customer data. 

In fact, 60% of respondents in the latest Greenbook Research Industry Trends report say they are using online communities. 82% show interest in research communities and 22% consider using them.

It’s no surprise that market researchers and companies are adopting research communities considering the robust benefits, including the following:

• Real-time access to qualitative customer data.
• The ongoing collaboration of community members for a deep look into customer opinions.
• Quick and easy insights from engagement on social media platforms.
• A cost-effective way to bring customer insights into one platform.

If you’re interested in learning more about what research communities are so you can get started, keep reading.

What is an online research community?

An online research community is a market research technique that uses the internet to capture real-time, long-term and in-depth qualitative customer insights.

Rather than bringing a group of people into a physical location and conducting a focus group, a research community brings the discussion online to be managed via one single platform. With the use of this online platform, participants can offer opinions and feedback regarding a product, service, idea, etc., and the market researcher can observe comments and interactions over time.  

How a researcher sets up an online community is primarily up to the preference of the company or firm that is interested in the data. A researcher can set up an invitation-only, private online community. A private community is advantageous if you’re looking for feedback from a specific customer segment.

If you’re looking for more general feedback, or to find general trends, then you can opt to open a public research community for your whole audience. Researchers can observe how people interact with each other, what they discuss, and what questions and concerns people bring up most often.

Regardless of whether you set up a private community or a public one, you’ll be able to observe your customers’ comments in a natural online setting.

Research community best practices

The best research communities are ones with high engagement levels. Here are some best practices to help you get the most out of your research community.

1. Make it convenient and easy to get involved

If it’s not easy for people to join your community, they won’t. Similarly, if you want participants to provide feedback, you have to make it convenient. The best way to get high engagement rates is to make it easy for people to log in and allow them to access the community from any device.

2. Get as many people involved as possible

When you conduct a focus group, you only get feedback from a few participants. The luxury of an online community is you can engage 100+ people at a time. When you have insights from more people, your data will be better.

3. Encourage members to do the talking

To capture real data and opinions, it’s essential that your participants feel comfortable expressing themselves often and honestly. A good rule of thumb is to set some rules and guidelines from the get-go, encourage them to talk openly and freely, and only prompt and probe when it’s necessary.

4. Don’t be afraid to get personal

You indeed want participants to do most of the talking. However, there will be times when you need to step in and ask questions. If you feel like your audience is timid to share and you’re not getting responses, try sparking discussion by sharing one of your own experiences. If participants see you being open, it may make them feel more comfortable sharing too.

5. Stay active as a community manager

A good community manager will engage with the platform frequently. This could mean asking questions, reviewing comments, moderating, and analyzing. As you continually engage with the platform, you’ll start to see patterns and identify themes that will help you make better business decisions.

How to pick a top customer insight panel & online community research tool

There are several tools on the market to help you build customer insight panels and online communities, but not all are created equally. The best way to ensure your community will be successful is to pick the right tool. Here is what to look for in a software.

1. Easy for customers to use and self-service

If you want community members to engage often and freely, you need a platform that makes it easy to do so. This means the community should be accessible 24/7 via any digital platform.

2. Possible to segment community participants

Customer loyalty, satisfaction, and brand advocacy vary significantly across the board. Some customers are high-value, while other customers may only purchase from your brand one time and then seek out the competition. It’s essential to be able to segment your customers based on their value so that you can select the right participants for your community.

3. Mobile capable

Five billion people own smartphones, and 96% of Americans use a smartphone for various tasks, including participating in communities. Do yourself a favor and make your community available on mobile devices.

4. Quick access for internal teams

The most efficient platforms make it easy for internal teams and your research staff to access the platform too. Your team should be able to access the platform on-demand and from any location just as quickly as your participants can.

Wrap Up

There is a reason why online research communities are so popular with marketing and market research teams. They provide a way for organizations to access high-quality qualitative data from multiple people in their target audience. 

As you follow the best practices listed above and choose the right online community and survey software, you’ll glean insights that will help you grow your business.

~Coutesy

UGC launches Shodh-Chakra to assist research scholars and guides in research work

 

University Grants Commission, UGC has launched a new initiative called Shodh Chakra which aims to assist and help research scholar and their guides and mentors with research work and projects. The online platform has been created with the Information and Library Network, IFLIBNET Centre. The initiative was launched by the UGC Chairman. Details here.

Danita Yadav | Updated May 11, 2022 | 12:17 PM IST

University Grants Commission, UGC has launched a new initiative called ‘Shodh Chakra’. Shodh Chakra has been created with the Information and Library Network, INFLIBNET Centre to assist research scholars and their guides, mentors with research work. UGC’s Shodh Chakra was launched by the commission’s chairman, M Jagadesh Kumar.

The platform will allow and ensure that researchers are able to collect, organise, store and cite their research work. As per the IFLIBNET website, the platform “will help researchers to create their profiles and manage their preferences”. The Shodh Chakra platform has been built in a way that will assist and help reach scholars and mentors in managing their entire research timeline and work cycle starting from literature review till the submission of the research.Shodh Chakra platform is available online. Universities and institutions will be required to submit information regarding their research scholars so that they can access the platform on the official website – schakrabeta.inflibnet.ac.in

The online platform will be equipped with a digital, virtual library, data storage, resources for the scholars to refer to, administrative monitoring and dashboards for universities and institutions to track the progress of the study. Workshops will also be conducted on Shodh Chakra on how to use the platform.

Speaking on the launch, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar stated that he hopes that “researchers across the country will use this online platform and benefit from the resources that are available”.

As per the commission, Shodh Chakra will also provide statistics on research work and projects that are in progress in the country. Over 3.5 lakh full text thesis have been made available on the portal along with Google Scholar articles, open access platforms, Crossref and IRNIS, which has been development by IFLIBNET. – Courtesy  

 

Click here:  https://schakrabeta.inflibnet.ac.in/

 

ResearchGate dealt a blow in copyright lawsuit

Court ruling says that the academic-networking website is responsible for papers uploaded by its users — but ResearchGate plans to appeal the decision.

• Diana Kwon | 4 March 2022

A landmark court case in which two major academic publishers sued the popular website ResearchGate for hosting 50 of their copyrighted papers has come to a close — although both sides say that they will appeal. The court in Munich, Germany, has not only prohibited ResearchGate from hosting the papers, but also ruled that it is responsible for copyright-infringing content uploaded on its platform. The decision has the potential to set a precedent for further restrictions on the site, which has 20 million users worldwide.

Neither side emerged a clear winner in this case, says Nancy Sims, a librarian at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who specializes in copyright issues. “Each party got some pieces that were very favourable to them and some pieces that were less favourable to their claims.”

 

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00513-9