| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2003 | Volume
: 51
| Issue : 1 | Page : 135 |
Letter
Nair KR
Thiruvananthapuram
Correspondence Address:
Thiruvananthapuram
How to cite this article:
Nair K R. Letter. Neurol India 2003;51:135 |
Sir,
It is sad that Indian references are usually missed out by Indians when they write papers for publication. I have often found that the papers emanating from some centers usually do this purposely. They omit the Indian references and wherever possible quote even second or third rate papers published in foreign journals.
Often as a referee, I have pointed out previously published relevant Indian papers and request the Editors to pass them to the authors for inclusion.
Once an International publisher asked a senior Indian researcher to review the work done on a specific neurological topic. The senior professor did not include a series of papers on that topic, probably because they were from a not so well known Medical College in India. When this was pointed out to the publishers, they were upset and apologized but the response from the Indian professor was rather laconic and a promise to include the same in the next edition which never materialized.
This leads to a vicious cycle and I can quote any number of such examples. The net result is that Indian references are probably seldom quoted in any foreign journal also. The truth is that we seldom respect our own countrymen and unless some Westerner point out the merit of the work done here, we never accept it also- be it in science, literature, art or anything else.
I believe that something must be done to rectify at least about the medical publications. Some Indian Journals like Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, demand that Indian references if available should be included. Neurology India also can insist the same.
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