Summary
Dr. Lin started this hobby project in August 2021 and decided to apply for a funding to do some associated research using this idea. Eventually the associated idea on online journal club got awarded Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists 2022 and becomes the project Impact of Online Journal Club on Educational Research Literacy: Towards New Model, Measurement, and Practice.
Website
An online community to co-create research knowledge
For years, the research expertise is something innate. We have apprenticeship-like training for researcher candidates to learn from their supervisors in universities. But quite often a supervisor can be very busy and not available as you may have expected. We all know that there are many duties on the shoulders of our faculty members: teaching, researching, projects, administrative activities, etc. But nurturing the next generation of researchers is so important that we almost should not put such a big responsibility on one single person.
“To raise a child is the responsibility of a village.”
With this philosophy, ResearchIC was created. It serves the main purpose of research doumentation. But most importantly, it aims to aggregate collective intelligence, which is quite present on the internet, to formulate an integrated database of research knowledge. The database can benefit different audience and the following paragraphs will explain in detail.
For research students
With a community of experienced researchers writing out their research tips and shortcuts, the novice researchers can plug into the database to read these information, print them if needed, and archive them in their bookmarks. It is a good alternative source of training for researcher candidates.
For novice researchers
It aims to build an online community of sharing on the topic of how to become and be a researcher, and to publish open-source knowledge on ten different aspects of activities for researchers. Therefore, early-stage researchers can also use this database to learn new tactics and skills contributed by other researchers.
For busy professors
ResearchIC can help busy professors to deliver a better learning experience for their mentored research students. With more and more educational resources published online, and increasing number of online communities to train researchers, it is no longer necessary to let your students solely rely on your supervision and guidance. Teach them to reach out. Guide them to available channels and communities. Introduce them to established networks. Give content out of your own pocket is valuable but also a limited approach. Show the way to build their own content is a much more feasible and effective way to educate your students.
ResearchIC is an accumulated indexed database of documented knowledge on research activities. It can act as one of the many sources to start showing your students the way to build their own content.
For the public
ResearchIC is not necessarily for only researchers. The general public who are interested in knowing more about research due to different reasons can also use this database to increase their knowledge, and perhaps explore the research activities.