Competition in Research Environment: Getting out of millions of publications, etc.

The age of explosive discovery in the academic arena seems to be upon us. The sheer quantity of millions of publications appearing every year across a multiplicity of journals and disciplinary domains serves as ample evidence that a robust, worldwide research environment is present in our world. However, in the modern world, as it is not enough to do cutting-edge research in terms of one's own field, the fact also becomes a quandary for every researcher. How does the lone researcher avoid being buried under millions of papers?

This question has two-pronged answer: Good research AND high visibility. While the former is still the basic element for success in research, its own effort is not sufficient in today's information-rich world to garner the needed visibility for a researcher.

Visibility takes place at the level of discoverability. Academic databases, search engines and the online literature databases rely on titles, keywords and abstracts for indexing scholarly publications. One must think about how he/she can effectively employ the use of appropriate title, as well as well-chosen keywords, for his/her paper to be found by interested people.

Other means at the disposal of researchers are the building up of professional networks. It enhances not only the reach to the public at large but also a broad spectrum of national and international peers, enabling a researcher to be exposed to different methodological and theoretical approaches.

Conferences, seminars and workshops continue to serve as important vehicles for enhancing visibility; offering opportunities for discourse before publication and providing networking opportunities. They are, for one thing, the places for a researcher to discuss his/her findings before going for the final submission of a paper to a journal or before coming up with a research project.

It should be also noted that digital communications offer new avenues to increase a researcher's visibility; professional networks, blogs, webinars and digital contents serve to spread new knowledge to wider circles of both academics and the general public, making the work last longer and extend beyond their mere appearance in the academic literature.

Above all, a researcher should not be so boastful of his/her contributions. Enduring impact will only come from creating credible research; visibility serves only to place work in circulation. Researchers seeking to build influence have to plan their academic careers, aiming at an ever-increasing level of accomplishment and continuous improvement, throughout their careers with sustained learning, multiple publications, and an energetic presence in the scholarly sphere. Researchers will only prove effective scholars of the future when they are adept in the environment and when their work is well-positioned therein by combining academic substance with adeptness in communication, international collaboration and dissemination techniques. Ultimately, making one's work visible is as important a research skill as ever in this age of exponentially increasing information.

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