Comments on: Nature’s Coverage of Higher Education Reform in Pakistan: A Conversation with Athar Osama

By: Zafar Fatmi

Zafar Fatmi — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:29:57 +0000

HEC has made a significant contribution after years of stagnant and stale situation in Pakistan. At the least, it has given a ray of hope for the development education and science. There are obvious concerns related to “how much” and the “quality”, however there is no ambiguity to the contribution and the right direction HEC has taken. Critics should also note the (baseline quality/quantity) where we have taken a start. The strategies may need to be fine tuned and weak links need to be strengthened. Overall, it has made a very positive contribution, however as with all endeavors all indicators are not positive which need a revisit.

By: Salman Baset

Salman Baset — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:24:34 +0000

It is easy to determine the impact factor of a Journal from ISI database or total citation count for a conference. These empirical metrics can be used to determine whether the journal or conference is ‘top-tier’. Obviously, each field has its own notion and perception of ‘top-tier’, determined by researchers in that field.

The difficulty with using citations as a metric to evaluate publishing performance across different time periods lies in the fact that recently published papers will likely have a low citation count. However, by comparing number of papers published by Pakistani researchers in ‘top-tier’ journals and conferences across different time periods, and in this case b/w 1999-2003 and 2004-2008, it is possible to get a good sense of whether quality research publications by Pakistani researchers is on the rise.

By: Affan

Affan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Good point Salman, however there is the problem of adjudicating which conferences/Journal are truly “top-tier”. Personally the issue discussed here and in the Hoodbhoy/Ata-ur-Rehman debate centers around the metrics that can quantify research progress. If we do have an agreed upon ranking for each domain/area then your suggestion would be a very good indication of performance. One such ranking/hierarchy is the CORE ranking done for Australian academics(http://www.core.edu.au/rankings/Conference%20Ranking%20Main.html). However how much the ranking procedure is suitable for Pakistan.
The biggest challenge, in my mind, is to factor in the nascent stage of research in Pakistan to develop rankings and metrics that can indicate any progress (not smear out/obfuscate any incremental progress).

By: Nature’s Coverage of Higher Education Reform in Pakistan: Comments by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman | STEP - Science, Technology, and Education in Pakistan

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:25:34 +0000

[...] Nature’s Coverage of Higher Education Reform in Pakistan: A Conversation with Athar Osama [...]

By: DISCUSSION: What are the correct metrics to measure higher education reform in Pakistan? | STEP - Science, Technology, and Education in Pakistan

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:26:31 +0000

[...] reform, evoking strong responses from both supporters and critics of the HEC. Recently, we interviewed the lead author Dr. Athar Osama, to learn more about his wider conclusions, and his response to [...]

By: Nature’s Coverage of Higher Education Reform in Pakistan: A Response from Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy | STEP - Science, Technology, and Education in Pakistan

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:25:14 +0000

[...] I find the response as unsatisfying as the original article. Since Nature is unwilling to accord me a chance for a [...]

By: Salman Baset

Salman Baset — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:04:45 +0000

This is in reference to Pervez Hoodbhoy’s comment about Mathematics self-citations and your response to it. You mentioned that the average of self-citations for Pakistani papers across all disciplines is around 25% for the 2003-2008 period; however, it is not clear whether a similar trend can be deduced for Mathematics. Also, it is not clear that the self-citation numbers for basic sciences which you mentioned (1964 and 1986) still hold.

Nevertheless, I think that there is another way to look this issue which is by comparing the papers published in top tier conferences and journals in the 1998-2002 and 2003-2008 periods. It will be useful to compute this statistic for other disciplines.