According to Mehr reporter, Shahin Akhundzadeh, at the unveiling ceremony of knowledge-based dental products of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, which was held today, Tuesday, December 16, at the Faculty of Dentistry of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, referring to the historical position of the Faculty of Dentistry of this university in the production of science, he said: The former National Faculty of Dentistry was one of the first cores of international science production in Iran and played an important role in the formation of dental science in the country.
Referring to his experiences in the field of scientific monitoring of Iranian articles over the past five decades, he added: The review of Iranian articles in the past 50 years shows that only a few academic centers, including Shiraz University, Tehran Faculty of Pharmacy, and the former National Dental Faculty and Shahid Beheshti today, have made the main contribution to the country’s science production; Not only in the field of medicine, but in the whole Iranian science have had this The subject shows that the Faculty of Dentistry of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences was one of the main foundations of dentistry in Iran.
The Vice President of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Health stated that in the last three decades, the research situation of the country’s dental schools has improved significantly, and stated: In the evaluations, especially in terms of scientific citations, the average performance of the faculty of the dental schools has in some cases been even better than that of the medical schools; A topic that shows the significant growth of research in this field.
He continued: “When the best students of the country enter dental schools with ranks below 50, if we cannot develop their research capacity properly, we have failed.” These students have the ability to produce science at the border of knowledge, and a suitable research environment should be provided for them.
Emphasizing the role of students in the research progress of dental schools, Akhundzadeh said: Many articles published in the world lack new findings, while our dental students have the ability to obtain articles with scientific innovation from their theses. For this reason, it is necessary for dissertations to lead to the production of articles in a targeted manner.
Warning of the scientific backwardness of the country
Referring to the general state of science in the country, he noted: Unfortunately, in recent years, signs of scientific regression have been observed, and the global rankings of universities also confirm this issue. This issue is a warning bell that should be taken into serious consideration in research policies.
The Vice President of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Health emphasized that the criteria for evaluating science in the world is not just articles, he said: At one point, we went against the article to an extreme. The result of this approach was that we first weakened the production of articles, and then faced a drop in scientific rankings; you fell Today, the same critics ask questions about it.
Referring to the drop in the country’s scientific status, Akhundzadeh added: It is true that the rankings do not show all the reality of science, but these rankings indicate the existence of a dynamic research environment. In the past, despite sanctions and lack of financial resources, our country ranked first in the region, and this gave confidence to the scientific community, but unfortunately, we destroyed this psychological and scientific capital.
He continued: Now it is very difficult to return to that position. Although we have not entered the decline phase compared to last year and even had a slight increase, we are still losing our regional rank because the countries in the region are developing rapidly. We have lost the opportunity to lead the region and we have lowered our position.
The drop in the position of Iranian dentistry in the rankings
Referring to the state of dentistry, Akhundzadeh stated: The country’s dentistry rank has reached 12th from 8th and 9th, while the scientific capacity of the country is much higher than these numbers. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which have been sending their general medical students abroad for decades, are unfortunately ahead of us today.
Referring to the index of scientific citations, Akhundzadeh said: Although our rank in citations is relatively acceptable and we have reached from 15th to 13th, it should be noted that citations do not always depend on the performance of the same year and sometimes reflect the activities of previous years. However, for a country with Iran’s scientific capacities, it is not acceptable for the countries of the region to surpass us.
The scientific development of Saudi Arabia is not unrealistic or doping
He emphasized: We must talk clearly about the scientific situation of the country so that we can reach a solution. The view that we are the best or attributing the growth of countries in the region to unrealistic factors and saying that this country has progressed with doping does not help to solve the problem. Countries like Saudi Arabia are gradually improving their scientific status by planning, investing and creating an academic environment.
Referring to Iran’s scientific position, Akhundzadeh added: H Our index ranks 29. This index is highly subject to time and the countries that are older in the research, H They have a better index. For this reason, even though China has the first rank in terms of publications, but in H The index is far from England, but a decade later H The index also gets high ranks.
Regarding Iran’s regional position in 2024, he said: Iran has reached the fourth position in the region, which is not a favorable situation. Türkiye has always been strong in terms of research, but a country like Egypt does not invest much, but it is higher than us. Although the gaps are still not large and can be compensated.
Referring to the existing capacities in the field of scientific dental publications, he said: Dental journals of the country, including the journals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, have the capacity to be indexed and improve their international status. In some cases, the weakness in policy making and support has caused these capacities not to be used. Despite this, our distance with the countries of the region is still not much, and with targeted investment and right decisions, this path can be corrected.
The need to strengthen international cooperation
The Vice President of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Health considered part of the existing problems to be the result of weakness in international cooperation and clarified: scientific cooperation in the world is such that academic faculty members communicate with each other directly; For example, a professor contacts his counterpart at another university and a collaboration is formed to teach a technique or use laboratory facilities. If these interactions are not facilitated, international cooperation will not be formed.
Criticizing internal strictures, he said: I believe, we ourselves have made the path of international cooperation more difficult than foreign restrictions and sanctions. We have reduced academic interactions by requiring faculty members to provide permission, report where you go and why you go, etc. We ourselves have made the path of international cooperation more difficult than the embargo. Of course, economic issues are also not unaffected, but we should not make the situation more difficult by creating unnecessary restrictions.
Akhundzadeh stated: “I was in a meeting today and the heads of the country came to the decision that they should allocate the equivalent of foreign currency for study opportunities and the attendance of faculty members in international conferences.” It was the same way 30 years ago and it was decided to start this process again.
The vice president of research and technology of the Ministry of Health, referring to the statistics of the last six years of article production, said: Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences still play the main role in the production of dental articles in the country. If the general dental journals are properly indexed, they can significantly increase the scientific weight of the country; As similar examples in other countries have played such a role.
He pointed out: The way to improve the quality and effectiveness of research in dentistry is to move towards teamwork, inter-university work, and especially international cooperation. The presence of foreign authors in the articles is considered a scientific advantage and has a direct effect on visibility and citation It has country researches.
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