Research requires much effort, but it is tougher for medical graduates.
Recently the Madras Medical College conducted its first research day. Director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research Rajiv Behl, who participated in the event, apprised the students, young and senior researchers, about the demands of medical research.
His 50-minute speech and his interaction with the students was an eye-opener even to senior researchers. Some had concerns about getting their articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Others wanted to know how to frame research proposals. A few others wanted to know how to ensure their proposals are chosen for grants.
Dr. Behl responded to each question as a seasoned researcher. He urged professors to look not to publish in a high impact journal initially. However, a researcher with an impact factor of 20 would get funding from the government to publish their work in high impact journals, he said.
A biochemistry professor wanted to know how a beginner could access grants as they would not have much to show in their CV. “Every proposal will solve a problem,” Dr. Behl said. A person’s CV accounts for a small portion whereas the research idea, methodology, and its feasibility accounted for 80% of the evaluation.
He explained that DG Research offered to teach ways to conduct research but refused to dilute quality. “I am willing to open coaching classes but not reduce the marks,” he said.
It is not easy to get articles published in peer-reviewed journals. That said, researchers would do well to get their article reviewed by their peers not involved in the particular research but have the expertise and time to go through the work and offer comments.
Dr. Behl said one of his articles was rejected multiple times. “But I felt there was something to tell the public.” When articles are sent to a peer-reviewed international journals and they are rejected, a researcher would do well to read the reviews that the article came back with. So, each time an article gets rejected with a review, the team should rework to incorporate the suggestions to add value to the article, he said. “Read the reviews each time,” he advised.
“Today peer review is the only way for me to get a balanced, decent answer about a proposal,” he explained to a radiologist who wondered if the selection of proposals were done by persons with expertise in the discipline of research. “A research proposal should be reviewed by people with multiple expertise. We try to build committees with multiple areas of expertise,” he explained.
“It is about what problem you are solving and what benefit you are bringing to the patients,” he told the radiologist who wanted to know if research project proposals in radiology are reviewed by radiologists.
Researchers should involve researchers in multidisciplinary fields as that would enhance patient care, Dr. Behl suggested.
