The Barriers to Producing High Quality Library and Information Science Research in Developing Countries: The Case of Pakistan

Abstract

It is generally recognized that in many developing countries, for a variety of reasons, research output in most disciplines lags behind that in the developed nations. Among the reasons is a range of factors that may hinder good-quality research outputs. This paper focuses on the matter of research quality in library and information science (LIS) in Pakistan as a case study. To test the types of barriers that the researcher believes hinder the production of quality research in Pakistan, a web-based survey was conducted using a questionnaire consisting of structured and open-ended questions. The questionnaire was based on a set of barriers to quality research production, which were identified from the literature. The respondents were asked to indicate their views on the impact of these barriers on the production of quality research. The data was analysed using SPSS. The findings reveal that the lack of critical thinking, a poor research culture, lack of encouragement of research, and inadequate imparting of research skills in LIS education are the most significant barriers. The study suggests that determining the order in which to tackle these barriers will facilitate the production of high-quality research in countries like Pakistan.