The Research Environment in Developing Countries: Contributions to the National Development of the Discipline

Resources and the intellectual climate for research are important for quality scholarly work. Within the context of a national discipline, these factors play important roles in both facilitating and impeding its development. Peer review and feedback and productive role models shape new investigators, and thereby the course of the discipline. A strong national association and quality journal editing set standards for the discipline. The availability of journals and other resources, academic accountability, and a system to reward research contribute to an environment that encourages identification with the science and a commitment to research. In contrast, the absence of these factors promotes a diminished commitment that contaminates the intellectual climate and has serious consequences for the entire discipline. Consideration of the intellectual climate and the strategies to foster its development must give special consideration to the collectivistic nature of some cultures.