From Potential to Global Impact: Strengthening India’s Research Ecosystem through Capacity Building - Dr Prashant Mishra

The problem is not one of talent or ambition; it is one of infrastructure, mentorship, and skills. Many early-career researchers in India are brimming with ideas but lack structured guidance onhow to take their research from conception to impactful publication. Without the right training, even the most promising research often struggles to clear the rigorous standards of international journals.

Today, far too many young researchers turn to unverified online tutorials, generic templates, or costly third-party editing services to navigate the research process. This points to a systemic gap in accessible, credible, and high-quality research education in India.

The Core Challenges

The reasons behind this gap are well known. There is limited structured training in research methodology, study design, and scientific writing. Mentorship within institutions is often inconsistent, leaving students without an experienced guide to navigate common pitfalls. There is a disconnect between research activity and the successful publication of research in credible, indexed journals. In addition, there is a limited understanding of research ethics, publication standards, and global best practices.

Addressing these barriers is not just about increasing publication counts. It is about embedding a culture of high-quality, ethical, and impactful research that informs policy, shapes clinical guidelines, and improves patient outcomes.

Building Sustainable Research Capacity

Strengthening research capacity requires blended, scalable, and sustainable programmes that equip researchers with the tools, skills, and confidence to succeed on the global stage.

Comprehensive e-learning platforms, practical workshops, and structured mentoring are some of the approaches that have proven effective worldwide. These interventions cover research design, methodology, ethics, scientific writing, communication, and navigating the peer review process.

Equally important is building publishing pathways in conjunction with training. Researchers need guidance on journal selection, open access options, responding to reviewer comments, and strategies to improve manuscript clarity and visibility after publication. When combined, training and dissemination support ensure that the investment in capacity building translates into credible, impactful publications that contribute to national health priorities. 

Connecting to the Broader STM Ecosystem

In recent discussions on the future of scientific publishing in India, I emphasised that access alone is not enough. Initiatives like the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) have been transformational in providing access to research literature. But for India to truly lead, ONOS and the wider ecosystem must evolve into an enabler of the entire research lifecycle — reading, researching, writing, publishing, and measuring impact.

Capacity building should be a central pillar of this evolution. Alongside this, we must explore equitable open access models, institutional publishing partnerships to strengthen Indian journals’ editorial capacity and reach, and better impact analytics to track how research influences practice, policy, and patient outcomes, moving beyond traditional citation metrics.

A Call to Action

India’s healthcare challenges are complex and urgent, from managing non-communicable diseases to preparing for future pandemics. High-quality research is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It must be driven by researchers who are equipped, confident, and globally connected.

We now have an opportunity to close the gap between research potential and research impact. By investing in structured, high-quality training and supporting researchers through the entire publishing journey, we can empower thousands of young clinicians and scientists to produce work that meets international standards, increase the visibility and influence of Indian research in global health debates, and create a self-sustaining research culture within our medical institutions.

This is not a challenge any one institution can solve alone. It calls for collaboration between universities, health systems, professional bodies, and policymakers, with the publishing community as an active partner. Encouragingly, organisations such as BMJ are already contributing to this cause through initiatives that build research capacity and provide dissemination pathways. If we align on this vision, India can not only meet its research potential but also set a benchmark for other countries in the Global South. The time to act is now.