Academics at a national roundtable in Dhaka have called for greater responsibility and reform in research assessment, publication practices and institutional policies in Bangladesh’s humanities and social sciences.
The national roundtable on “Responsible Research and Publication in the Humanities” was organized by the Department of English and Humanities at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at the ULAB campus. Scholars and academic leaders from public and private universities took part.
Convened and moderated by Dr Abu Saleh Mohammad Rafi, Associate Professor at ULAB, the discussion examined research quality and purpose, publication choices, citation practices, authorship and mentorship, generative AI, research assessment and institutional responsibilities.
Professor Shamsad Mortuza, Vice Chancellor of ULAB, inaugurated the roundtable by discussing changes in research in literature and language. He noted that formal research training had historically received less attention in humanities disciplines such as English, while scholarly publication has grown, particularly in applied linguistics.
“Our first generation scholars did not actually focus on this trend of publication…because they were more interested in expanding knowledge in humanities,” Professor Mortuza said.
He discussed pressure on university departments to meet publication benchmarks set by “institutional masters” and “ranking markets,” noting that ranking bodies often treat arts and humanities departments as a liability because their publication metrics are generally lower than those of the sciences.
He warned against unethical practices including purchasing affiliations, publishing in predatory journals and buying citations. He also suggested interdisciplinary collaboration to increase publication output and share resources, particularly in response to what he described as systematic gatekeeping in academic publishing and distribution.
Professor Shaila Sultana of BRAC University said meaningful research should address specific problems and bring changes within communities to create real-world impact. Professor Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, PhD, of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said research helps develop an understanding of human existence and reinterpret existing knowledge.
Dr Nazia Manzoor of North South University said research should challenge hegemonic assumptions and generate new insights into social phenomena and policymaking.
The participants discussed publication choices and national journal indexing, noting that Bangladesh currently has no Scopus-indexed journals dedicated to the humanities or social sciences.
They also discussed the emphasis on journal articles in university promotion, while book chapters and monographs published by prestigious presses such as Oxford and Cambridge may receive less recognition. Professor Sultana said the tension between metric-driven promotion requirements and deeper qualitative inquiry remains a challenge for Bangladeshi academics.
Professor Islam said publication in leading journals of established presses is often rigorous and demanding, while the publishing industry in South Asian countries significantly lags behind global practices.
Professor Sultana and Dr Manzoor questioned why scholarly communication such as blogs and newspapers should necessarily be considered inferior to academic journals. They also questioned the emphasis on Scopus indexing and citation-based university rankings, as well as why creative writing and translation are not treated as serious scholarship in academic promotion systems.
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury, PhD, of the University of Dhaka, said balancing national and international publication remains difficult because many scholars consider local journals inherently inferior.
He shared his experience of editing and managing national journals, saying submissions are often insufficient. He also noted that papers co-authored by senior scholars and graduate students can sometimes fall below expected standards.
Professor Anwar H Joarder, PhD, Director of the Office of Faculty Research at ULAB, said: “Citation counts are not necessarily a reliable measure of the depth or breadth of intellectual contribution.”
Professor Farzana Yesmen Chowdhury, PhD, of the University of Chittagong, said citation rates often vary by research domain and noted that limited access to open-access journals in public universities may hinder citation rates for some faculty members.
The discussion also covered article processing charges (APCs), with participants discouraging researchers from publishing in journals with high APCs. Professor Sultana said pressure on young scholars to publish rapidly can push them toward questionable paid journals.
The participants also discussed authorship ethics, particularly the balance between supporting students and maintaining academic integrity. They advocated incorporating research ethics into university curricula.
Generative AI was also discussed, with Professor Chowdhury reflecting on its implications for research practices and integrity. Speakers suggested that universities develop clear policies defining acceptable uses of AI in research and require researchers to acknowledge its use where applicable.
The discussants emphasized stronger institutional support, including adequate funding, travel grants and research facilities before research begins, rather than focusing primarily on completed research outputs.
They noted that heavy teaching loads can limit faculty members’ time for quality research and suggested that universities establish 2 tracks—one focused on teaching excellence and another on research intensity. They also emphasized that research should inform teaching practice, creating a symbiotic relationship between teaching and research.
Dr Rafi concluded the discussion, followed by closing remarks from Arifa Ghani Rahman, Head of the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB.
Rahman said: “We seem to be losing sight of the real purpose of research – not just to add new knowledge but to also solve real-world problems because of institutions’ needs to be ranked which requires publications from faculty members, often causing duress.”
She thanked the speakers and encouraged the conversation to continue.