Abstract
Academic research remains a prime source of knowledge and innovation for higher education institutions (HEIs) that strive to grow, expand and develop their academic reputations and standards. Yet, research informs teaching practices, shapes social changes and it has financial outcomes for HEIs. Therefore, it is imperative to develop institutional policies and strategies for promoting and sustaining quality research in HEIs in Oman. There are a number of international frameworks and models which have been developed to measure research quality in HEIs around the world. For example, bibliometrics were used to assess research quality in HEIs in the UK because bibliometric data can provide a number of component variables. An appropriate bibliometric model may include components such as output volume, diversity of outputs, citation volume, journal impact factor and average citations per publication, etc. Moreover, other popular examples of models for assessing research quality are Multidimensional Research Assessment Matrix (MRAM) used in Europe and the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). However, neither of the above mentioned models is adopted by HEIs in Oman. Thus, the current study is an attempt to explore some institutional, international, logistic and pragmatic factors that impact academic research and publication quality, review popular international research quality assessment models and explore the possibility of applying them in the Omani context. To achieve the study objectives, 20 teacher researchers were surveyed and the findings and recommendations were presented. Keywords: Quality Research, HEIs in Oman, International Models, Factors, Teacher Researchers' Views
Highlights
As higher education (HE) expands, the public expects universal access to higher education institutions (HEIs) and more quality in HEIs (Chang, Nyeu and Chang, 2014)
It is important to ensure quality in such HEIs by considering quality of the progrmmes they offer to students and the research they produce
It is vital to ensure quality of research in HEIs by adopting international models used in assessing research quality and address factors which could affect the quality of academic research and publications
Summary
As higher education (HE) expands, the public expects universal access to HEIs and more quality in HEIs (Chang, Nyeu and Chang, 2014). Chang et al (2014) point out that the increase in the number of HEIs and students does not necessarily improve educational quality. It is vital to ensure quality of research in HEIs by adopting international models used in assessing research quality and address factors which could affect the quality of academic research and publications. To realize this aim, this present study reviews some existing international models and explores factors that may affect the quality of research in HEIs in Oman such as institutional factors, logistic factors, international factors and pragmatic factors. Some possible ways for promoting quality research in the growing Omani HEIs were suggested
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