Difficulties faced by early career student researchers from Low and Middle Income Countries
Research and publication in most Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), especially by student researchers, is not easy. Once achieved, it is considered a real accomplishment that should be celebrated. This is because of many reasons, which may include the following:
- A lack of early career guidance and mentorship: Usually, supervisors do not have the time and/or flexibility to support their students; therefore, students will decide to look for knowledge from other sources. As a result, they may get their answers late with respect to those who have mentors. They may not be able to write academic papers, or they may not be able to find or choose a suitable journal. In addition, they may lack the ability to distinguish prestigious journals from fake or predatory outlets. AuthorAID supports early career researchers a lot in this area. However, most students are not aware of AuthorAID's online courses. When I registered for the first time for an AuthorAID writing course, I noticed limited Sudanese participation in comparison with other developing countries. AuthorAID's online courses are available for free.
- Authorship and ethical issues: Because of the more limited experience of students in academic writing and publishing, supervisors and more senior colleagues may be tempted to commit ethical violations. I remember a student who found that her research had been published in a journal without her name having been included; another found his name as second author, with the head of his department in his (first) place. In addition, a student decided to include a corresponding author who never contributed to the study – because that corresponding author would pay the article processing fees. Such scenarios occur regularly, and students usually don’t know whom to consult. COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics, is one of the best resources providing support for such people.
- Insufficient funding for research: In most cases, student research is not supported by any funding, especially in LMICs, and so students must pay from their own pocket for instruments, reagents, travel, as well as publication fees. That would be too much for them because of the often high inflation in these countries. In addition, they might not be able to write grant proposals due to a lack of skills and/or guidance.
- Unavailability of advanced technology and reagents: In most LMICs, researchers will usually need to obtain reagents for laboratory research from other countries, with the associated high costs. This is generally not affordable for all students and/or researchers.
- Political and economic instability: Most LMICs are struggling with war and poverty. Such major problems make it difficult to reach the targets and needs of their research communities. Consequently, other researchers may be afraid to consider researchers from LMICs for collaboration on important projects.
These are some, but not all, impediments to doing high-level research in LMICs. I hope that these issues can be minimized in the near future so as to facilitate better research outputs.
Nosiba E. M. Abd Elhaleem is a brand ambassador for Innovate Africa and an Official Campus Ambassador for the International Model United Nations. She is interested in cancer advocacy and research, women's health and international human rights. You can view her AuthorAID profile here and her LinkedIn page here.