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The Delusion 2 years ago I enrolled into a Ph.D. program at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, thoroughly crestfallen at having received no foreign admits and with no high hopes for my career. The best that could happen to me, I figured, was if I could land a postdoctoral position abroad, because we all know that all good research is carried out abroad . The rhetoric against pursuing a desi  Ph.D. is so loud, Indian students prefer to look for and accept any  positions abroad, rather than consider Indian institutions. From a bird's eye view, it makes sense. Indian science is under-funded and our academia stinks of unethical practices . But under all the muck and mire, there are pockets of hard-working and eminent researchers. Yes, there is something to be proud of, and no, I'm not talking of our ancient heritage. The Data All information presented here is on the basis of the current  Nature Index . At the time of writing this post, it corresponded to th...

←  Day  5 We started the day with a visit to the brilliant coffee shop, Porto Rico, that trades different kinds of coffee from all across the world. BTW, whether or not you're an otorhinolaryngologist (yes, that's a word), it might interest you that coffee aroma does have potential antioxidant or stress relaxation activities on the brain . [Rat brain, just for the record, but I empathize.] Next, we headed over towards East Village .. .. to get me inked. ^_^ Thanks to the folks at Whatever Tattoo, for making my first tattooing experience nice and fun!         Yes, I know it's difficult to make out, so it's a red poppy flower on my ankle. No, it does not have any deep significance, I did not get it with reference to Memorial day or opium, I just find poppies pretty.  Some more clicks from this area with its lovely art (the second picture below is edited):     And I couldn't help but appreciate the c...

← Day 4 The next day was dedicated to all things touristy. We took a (free) ferry to Staten Island to see the Manhattan Skyline and the Statue of Liberty on the way.   The Museum of African American, which still remains on my to-do list after 2 trips: And a park right opposite: The New York Stock Exchange: The Financial District is a surreally beautiful place, where I constantly had a feeling that I was in a movie or on a set, and none of it was real...a  veritable concrete paradise!   ---------------- On an unrelated note, if you've any nerdy cells in your body and have a high school background in Chemistry, you absolutely must check out " Elemental Haiku " by Mary Soon Lee. You'll thank me, I assure you! ^_^ Day 6 →

← Day 3 We started the next day by going through Washington Square Park once again. I sincerely wish we could have parks like this in India. Most parks back home are used either as Lovers' Points or are infested with stray dogs or are just closed to the public. Here, they are clean and green public places where one can do most things that we do indoors (reading, listening to music, working, talking, sleeping, playing with pets) except in the sunshine. Next, we got onto Broadway Street and basically went berserk shopping. Something that hits me everytime I visit the States is the huge spectrum of products available that sort of brings out the worst, consumerist tendencies in me. I wonder if this happens with everyone, and if there is a trend towards greater materialism here. (This is me trying to not jump to conclusions!) I took some breaks to come out and admire the architectural scenery, and my, was it gorgeous! And of course, this trip wouldn't have ...

← Day 2 After 2 days of waking up at 4 and twiddling my thumbs till everyone else wakes up, I decided to go for a morning walk by myself. Should have done it right from the first day! My first stop was the Washington Square Park, which had these nice chess tables (because it's close to NYU..?) And this magnificent Washington Arch, which the NYC erected on the 100th anniversary of the Presidency of George Washington. The area around is peppered with some buildings of the New York University (it doesn't have a walled campus), and this is their library: After that, I mostly roamed around Soho, mesmerized by the beauty of its day-to-day existence.     We decided to go shopping in the afternoon (a prime task of at least the first few days was to set up my brother's apartment) and once again, went completely berserk in Bed, Bath & Beyond. [A sales lady actually offered us a 20%-off coupon when we told her we've shifted to a new place. ...

<< Go back to Part 1 Xia et al. (2014): Who publishes in "predatory" journals? This study tried to figure out if there were some patterns in the author profiles who tend to use this predatory publishing business. The researchers looked for patterns based on publication history and geographical locations of authors. They categorized authors as those belonging to Group 1 (publishing articles in predatory journals) and Group 2 (publishing articles in non-predatory journals). Out of 941 authors publishing in predatory journals, 725 hailed from India. The next contenders were Nigeria (80) and Pakistan (44).   Disturbing, isn't it? Unsurprisingly, 75% of the predatory journal-authors were South Asian. And the credit defnitely goes to India. The Discussion section of this paper elaborates on the status in India. "Noticeably, researchers from India and Nigeria rarely appear in prestigious OA (open-access) journals, while authors from Austalia, Europe a...

Indian academia is sick. It needs to detoxify. Urgently. The context Difference between an authentic journal and a predatory journal, put simplistically Researchers disseminate their findings by having them published in academic journals . Sometimes, a variety of journals related to a variety of fields are published by the same firm, and such firms are called publishing houses . These journals offer the services of having papers reviewed by experts before their publication (so the readers only get authentic science) and the distribution of papers (so everyone knows what discoveries have taken place). In this model, institutions subscribe to these journals i.e. the reader pays to read the papers. (Another noteworthy point is that researchers, after submitting their findings to a journal, also hand over the copyrights to that information to that journal.) The open-access movement aimed to make all knowledge free for everyone, so that researchers with limited funds could al...

I recently came across the following video which describes the discovery of a city off the western coast of Gujarat. The video makers were clearly very excited by the speculation that this city could be 9000 to 32000 years old. The video persuasively discusses how the discovery of such a city could topple all understanding of ancient civilizations. It describes the findings of an expedition by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), and it also features 4 foreign speakers who have written or published books. This video is an excellent example to discuss a very important concept. Pseudoscience: how to recognize it There are no scientific reports that describe this discovery. When scientists make new discoveries, they announce them to the world by writing "papers". These "papers" or simply, scientific reports, are published in scientific journals and are ideally, peer-reviewed. Peer review means that each scientist's claims are...

While I understand that the Internet, and especially social media, are probably flooding you with Women's Day messages, I don't regret that I'm adding to the deluge. Nobelprize.org , the official website of the prestigious Nobel Prize, is celebrating Women's Day by bringing to the fore stories of female Nobel Prize laureates. While the Nobel Prize is not the sole mark of achievement, every single laureate is certainly an epitome of accomplishment and inspiration. A few quick facts: Distribution by field A timeline Distribution by country of birth Distribution by country of residence/affiliation at the time of receiving the award Data source:  http://www.nobelprize.org/ We all like to cite example of great women whenever discussing gender equality and women's contribution to society. I urge you to expand on your list of examples by visiting the website , and especially focus on the adversities that these Amazons...