The lie that is research and publishing in universities

Kenyan media is currently running a story of a professor who may not have an accredited PhD. Apparently the professor acquired a PhD, fine, but not from an institution that ‘other’ institutions or organizations would approve of. His is not a ‘genuine’ PhD, many commentators argue.

Well, if the accreditation and standardisation body in Kenya were to test the ‘genuineness’ of the millions of certificates that Kenyans have, there would be a real earthquake, in a manner of speaking. Many would be left without even the papers they claim to be bona fide academic or professional qualifications.

The only reason Kenyans get annoyed about someone teaching at the university without proper papers is simply because the academics themselves set the standard of ‘proving’ to one’s peers that one is indeed worth being called an academic.

The standard is captured in the cliché ‘publish or perish.’ This statement has had terrible consequences for many people who wish to teach in universities. It is thrown at young academics, who have barely written the last reference of their MA thesis, as a warning that should they be hired in the university, they might not be promoted that easily. It is issued to PhD holders teaching several courses, supervising tens of graduate students and doing administrative work, just in case they may dream of promotion. It is the ‘mbwa kali’ of the Kenyan academy.

Yet, none of the speakers of this edict ever bother to ask: are our universities and research institutions capable of doing research, and sustaining it? If our universities are perpetually broke, where are they supposed to get money to invest in research? What would a standard laboratory for research in chemistry, physics, biology, computer science, medicine, psychology; or a music studio, or a film editing lab etc cost? What would be the cost of the technical support – which is so crucial to research – and related services? Research is a very costly affair because research permits, specimens, components, reagents, skilled personnel etc are expensive.

But even if money were available, what should our universities be researching? Do critics of research in Kenya ever bother to think about what would or should be the focus of research in Kenya? For instance, should Kenya spend money researching and improving the quality of its coffee and tea, the two major cash crops we export?

Academic research

Or should we spend more in understanding and devising means to control or eradicate malaria – one of the biggest killers of Kenyans? Or maybe we put more resources in improving the quality of the staple foods in Kenya? What about researching more on the genetic pool of Kenyan athletes? What and where exactly should we invest more resources? See, this is actually the first key question about research in Kenya.

I don’t think that there is any government institution dealing with research that has ever asked this question. Consider that this is the mission of the Kenyan National Academy of Sciences: ‘To mobilize the science community in the creation, maintenance and advancement of knowledge in all fields of human endeavor, to effectively inform policy, build capacity in research and innovation, and provide solutions to improve quality of life.’ Its vision is: ‘To be a world class national professional organization for the promotion and effective utilization of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development.’

One would imagine that the Kenya National Academy of Sciences would be the leading inspirer of academic research in the country. Its mission and vision hardly give any direction. Yet, the women and men who are the fellows of the KNAS are supposed to be lead thinkers in this country. The scientific research projects listed in the KNAS website are hardly earth shaking.

The other organization that should give direction to research in Kenya is the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI). This body is mandated by the government to … ‘regulate and assure quality in the science, technology and innovation sector and advise the Government in matters related thereto.’

It has 17 functions listed on its website, including: Develop, in consultation with stakeholders, the priorities in scientific, technological and innovation activities in Kenya in relation to the economic and social policies of the Government, and the country’s international commitments; Lead inter-agency efforts to implement sound policies and budgets, working in collaboration with the county governments, and organizations involved in science and technology and innovation within Kenya and outside Kenya; Advise the national and county governments on the science, technology and innovation policy, including general planning and assessment of the necessary financial resources. This is a mere regulatory body.

To its credit though, NACOSTI has published a document, National Research Priorities 2018-2022, a 27-page document which summarizes 5 priority areas: Food and Nutrition Security; Affordable Housing; Manufacturing; Universal Health Coverage; and Academic Research and Development. In the last priority area, the document says this about research in universities: ‘A great proportion of research funding initiatives focus more on applied research, seen to generate quick gains as opposed to basic research, whose benefits are not always apparent. The research portfolio at universities has been declining over the years due to low funding and greater focus on training.’

Poor research

Then there is the Kenya National Innovation Agency KeNIA. What would be the mandate of this organisation whose vision is to be ‘a key enabler of socio-economic development through innovation.’ Thus, it was ‘set up to develop and manage the national innovation system.’ This is just another administrative unit. Lastly there is the National Research Foundation (NRF). 

This is supposed to be the big funding agency for research in the country. Yet it was allocated Sh323 million in the last budget! This amount would not even be enough to cover the administrative needs of the NRF itself. But this is the money that should fund research and innovation in Kenya.

To publish, one must have done research. So, if there is hardly any money for research, what does one publish? Or where does one publish considering that academic journals are part of the research ecosystem? The one serious consequence of this distorted situation between research and publishing is that university teachers will ‘fake’ research, even earning PhDs in the process, which they will go ahead to publish in journals that can turn an essay into a journal article in a day! This is the consequence of insisting that university teachers have to publish in order to be graded as good teachers. Yet they are originally employed just to teach.

The obsession with publishing, and in the so-called high impact journals, means that some teachers are literally stealing their students’ work and publishing it as theirs. One can fish endless articles from e-repositories, edit, add one’s name and submit it to a journal. If the article is good enough, it will be accepted in a journal with good editorial practices. But should the concerned lecturer need to be promoted quickly, there are several local journals owned by individuals, with fancy addresses in the UK or USA or Australia, which will format the article, convert it into PDF and splash it on its website.

We need to rethink this obsession with research and publishing in our universities. If we must do research, serious research, that is, we should think of establishing research centres, funding them, and asking them to do research in given priority areas. NRF, CUE, NACOSTI, KNAS and research offices in our universities – public and private – should work together on Kenya’s research agenda for the foreseeable future instead of parroting songs about poor or lack of research when they know well that there is hardly any funding and research infrastructure in Kenya. 

Also, promote lecturers who teach and graduate students but have little time for full time research because they are actually producing measurable results.

The writer teaches literature and performing arts at the University of Nairobi. [email protected]