Research rhythm of faculty members of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabaei University

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 MA in Knowledge and Information Science

3 Knowledge and Information Science, Allameh Tabatabaei' University

4 knowledge and Information Science, Allameh Tabatabaei' University

5 Knowledge and Information Science, Allameh Tabatabei' University

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify the research productivity status of the faculty members of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Allameh Tabataba'i University. Research productivity refers to the quantity and trend of academic outputs by faculty members in the form of articles, books, and research projects, which are evaluated over specific periods. This study examined the factors affecting this productivity, such as academic promotion, scientific collaborations, and their impact on faculty members' academic growth. A mixed-methods approach (quantitative-qualitative) was employed in this study. In the first section, a survey-analytical method was used to collect information from the faculty members. In the second and third sections, content analysis was applied to identify the reasons for fluctuations in research productivity and to analyze higher-level documents.

Data regarding the faculty members’ articles, books, and research projects were collected and analyzed from reputable domestic and international databases. To investigate policy recommendations aimed at increasing faculty members’ research output and to identify the reasons behind fluctuations in research productivity at different stages of faculty members' careers, interviews were conducted. The interviews were semi-structured, and precise coding was performed on the text. Four individuals, introduced by the supervisor and advisory professors, were selected for the interviews based on their expertise, skills, and experience related to the interview questions. The interview questions were open-ended, and after collecting the interviewees' responses, the audio files were reviewed, and the full transcripts of the interviews were typed. The text files were then coded for analysis.

In the subsequent section, higher-level documents such as the strategic plan of Allameh Tabataba'i University (2022-2026), the operational plan of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, as well as related university departments, offices, and management (2023) were gathered and analyzed. Additional documents included the university’s employment regulations, guidelines for awarding merit-based raises to faculty members, the promotion criteria for faculty members, and the operational guidelines for the university's research fund.

Overall, demographic information indicated that among the 64 research samples, faculty members with the academic ranks of "Instructor", "Assistant Lecturer", and "Assistant Professor" typically had the fewest academic outputs, while faculty members with the ranks of "Associate Professor" and "Professor" had the highest number of academic outputs. Regarding the types of research reports examined in this thesis, the majority of academic outputs were published articles in scientific journals, while the fewest outputs were related to internal and external research projects. In between, authored and translated books and conference papers ranked intermediate in terms of quantity, but conference papers carried more weight.

The results showed that academic promotion had a direct impact on the quantitative increase in research outputs, and after attaining higher academic ranks, some faculty members experienced a decrease in research production. The study also revealed that the largest share of faculty members' academic outputs was related to scientific articles, with a smaller percentage dedicated to authoring books and conducting research projects.

Keywords

References

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Applied Scientometric Studies
Volume 1, Issue 4
December 2024
Pages 15-47

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