The issue of research inequality between the Global South and the Global North is still a hot topic in the academic sphere. Developed regions such as Europe and North America dominate the Global North. As a result, the Global North acts as the world’s leading producer of knowledge, unlike the Global South, which includes countries such as Indonesia. The South is still struggling to gain equal recognition from the International scientific publications. So, the question is: Have the Global North and South gained the equality they needed? Or is it still unequal?
The Inequality in Research Access and Production
This is one of the most noticeable inequalities we can find. Publication and citation patterns in international journals clearly show this inequality. Based on global data, the Global North continues to dominate the most reputable journals. It’s not only about the quantity, the acces of research funding, laboratory facilities, and the International collaboration networks also be the main challenges for Global South researchers.
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Global Collaboration: Between Opportunity and Dependence
The research collaboration between Global South and Global North is actually increasing. But based on the most case happened, the Global South still become a data providers, not being a research leader. This can bring up a question about the inequality and knowledge ownership roles in a collaborative research.
The Role of Journal and Academic Policy
Indexation systems, international journals, and publication policies also contribute to this inequality. The writing standard, publication fees (APC) and topic bias often not support the Global South local context. In fact, local research has a huge contribution to the Global problem solution.
Moving towards More Equal Research
To create an equitable research ecosystem, a policy support, capacity building for researchers, and strengthen the Journal and research institutions is needed. The equality of Global South and Global North research is not only based on the quantity of publications, but also on recognition, strategic roles, and fair participation in global knowledge production.
Until this day, Global South and North research are facing a persistent inequality, particularly in raising funds, research leadership, and the domination of scientific articles by the Global North. Even though the International collaboration has become more open, equality is partly achieved, because of the lack of the Global South’s researchers’ role. Therefore, more inclusive academic policies and the strenthening of the local research ecosystem is needed, so the contribution of the Global South is recognized in global knowledge production.
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