Focus on Original Research

Over the years there has been the development of a trend to restrain research to conferences and academic discussions. Conventional methods have been applied for organizing the conferences where the motto for the paper presenter’s is just to obtain the certificates and get these added to their CVs. When looking on these trends from the operational point of view one is appalled to note that in these conferences whether organized by the colleges or the universities thrust is on the copy book fashion of the presentations and there is a pressure to adhere to the research tools and methodologies even if they are not in sync with the research proposal to be discussed. This can be easily witnessed, when the so-called experts who chair the sessions lay stress on the tools for the study that are not required. Pressure to use statistical tools for the sake of using the tools has become the norm. There is no place for the original research that goes beyond the conventional norms and explores the areas that require development of new methodologies. It must be clearly underlined that there are certain areas that   require exploration based on the accuracy of the opinion sought from the stakeholders. But unfortunately, the conferences that are meant to inculcate the innovation and new area development are mired in the logjam of Ph.D. synopsis presentation mode as if the chairpersons are assessing the presenters for the registration in the Ph.D. program. Thus killing the scope and development of new innovations that are based on novel ideas to bring in freshness. There is a need to overhaul the process of organizing the academic conferences that are otherwise being reduced to generation of revenue through registration and seeking academic points having no use for the society and the nation. The two day international conference being organized by the G.G.M. Science College ,Jammu on the theme “International Conference on Emerging Trends in Multidisciplinary Research” from 20-21 August 2025 is indeed an initiative that must be emulated for the holistic sensitization of the academicians and the society at large. But the effort gets discredited when the session chairs try to impose and kill the flight of innovation of the presenters who have a vast experience in the narrative building and policy making paradigms at various levels. Things become discouraging when the keynote speakers are not good communicators and lack the language skills and adhere to Ph.D. synopsis mode. The aim of the conferences is to widen the horizons and develop a new human resource for the research. Conferences are not class room teaching when the session chair has to act as teacher and paper presenter as a student. A research paper presenter is at par or even more than the session chair, who is meant to catalyze the discussion for a conclusion that has an applied utility. One must appreciate that the keynote speaker in the inaugural session of this two day conference Prof. Rajni Kant, former Vice-Chancellor of  Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh an eminent physicist, renown academician, administrator  of repute from Department of Physics, University of Jammu struck the right note  by saying that there is a need to go beyond the  conventional methodologies and explore new ways of research and teaching by looking beyond the disciplines; allow multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research to take off by breaking the conventional barriers and crossing the unwanted academic boundaries. He made a valid point that there is a need for a top down and bottom-up approach to be adopted by making the teachers of university contribute to colleges and college teachers in schools. He needs to be applauded for this much needed policy. Such visionaries must be taken seriously and they must have a say in the policy making of higher education. We must also appreciate Dr. K.S. Chandrashekhar, Vice-Chancellor of the Cluster University of Jammu for his right assessment that before talking about sustainable development, we must talk about sustainable human beings. After all it is the human being who is the beneficiary and stakeholder of sustainability in all sectors. All sustainability can sustain when humans are made sustainable. This introspection is a must to overhaul the stagnated and outdated methods being used for the so-called research that has been reduced to classroom teaching and curtails the imaginative flight that is the cardinal principle of the original research.