ABOUT OCIR
The pandemic has affected students and researchers as they are studying from their homes. Due to this, especially the researchers are finding it difficult to work on their research studies. To extend a helping hand, some like-minded Library professionals wanted to volunteer to assist Indian researcher scholars to solve their information/ reference queries concerning their research and publications.
This is how Open Consultancy for Indian Researchers (OCIR) was formed with the sole aim to assist researchers (on email) in their personal capacities. OCIR is a not-for-profit and self-motivate noble cause by the Library professionals.
1. Volunteers: Who are we?
We, the like-minded Library professionals, are working in universities/ colleges as University Librarians, Deputy Librarians, Assistant Librarians and Assistant/Associate Professors in Library and Information Science departments in different Indian states. Many of us have more than 10-20 years’ professional experience,skills and expertise in handling information/reference queries of research scholars.
2. Who can avail assistance?
Any research scholar pursuing doctoral degree (PhD/ MPhil) or undertaking any minor/ major research project from any Indian educational institute.
3. What do we offer researchers?
We answer researchers’ reference/ information queries and also assist them in getting information sources available in the public domain or open access platforms. It is a mega opportunity for the volunteers to promote free and open access/ educational resources and other scholarly literature available on invisible web. Moreover, we also try to give referrals for resources or experts or answers. (Note: During the process of assistance or while sharing open resources, we do not infringe copyright rules or rules/ regulations of the parent organisations of the researchers or our professionals/ volunteers).
4. What kind of assistance do we provide?
We provide possible solutions/answers to researchers’ general queries on literature search; online search techniques; literature review; using academic search engines, library catalogues and open access databases; methods and methodology; sources of data collection; building questionnaires; tools to circulate questionnaires online; building bibliography/annotated bibliography, citation standards; citation metrics; citation tools or reference managers; report writing; preparing research proposals/reports; writing for standard journals; identifying reliable/listed journals; all plagiarism related issues; full-text resources (papers/books/theses) on any theme/topic available in open/public domain; creating author IDs; copyright/Creative Commons Licenses related issues, etc.
5. How do we assist?
Researcher mails a query to any one of the volunteers listed under the respective themes/areas;
Volunteer replies to the mail with necessary/possible solution/answer;
If the volunteer does not have an answer or is not in a position to respond to the query, he/she may forward the query to the other volunteer or may offer referral (shares the contact details/ reference of a expert/ institute/ any source).
6. How can researchers share their queries?
Mail us your detailed query. Please refer to the sample mails added in page number. (Note: We prefer to provide assistance only on email. Please read this ‘entire document carefully’ before contacting us).
The professionals/ volunteers reply to your mail with possible answers. They may speak to you on phone in case they find it necessary to discuss or understand the query better or guide. They may also give you a referral (direct you) to a source/institute/professional for further help.
In case, the particular volunteer has received voluminous queries or is busy with any other work, may forward your query to the other volunteer to respond.
By providing the little possible assistance from our side, we no way undermine the role of research guides/ supervisors/ your teachers/mentors/ your library staff who are the primary contact and guidance point for research assistance. It is highly advisable to keep them updated about what you ask us and what assistance you get/got from us.
To know how to email us and raise your query, please see the model mails added below.
7. What are the themes/areas of assistance?
We aim to provide answers/solutions concerning the following themes/areas:
E-resources (open access papers/ projects/ theses/ books), open access databases, pre-print archives, archives, repositories, etc.
Literature review/search techniques, research methodology, citation metrics (Impact Factor, h-index, i10, i20, etc.)
Writing: Abstracts, executive summaries, research proposal, synopsis, research report/ thesis, etc.
Paper writing for journal and conferences, peer-review process, article processing charges, publishing in standard journals (Scopus, Web of Science, UGC-CARE, etc. listed journals), etc. and avoiding the unreliable ones.
Sampling techniques, field survey, questionnaire building, floating questionnaire online, interview techniques.
Referencing techniques, bibliography compilation, citation standards (APA/MLA), citing print and web-resources, etc.
Building automated references using MS-Word, Mendeley, Zotero, , etc.
Plagiarism/ Plagiarism detection tools/ similarity index/ UGC regulations on plagiarism/ similarity index (Note: We answer plagiarism related queries only and do not check your document/s for plagiarism using any free/paid software)
Copyright and Creative Commons Licenses related queries.
Being motivated about research, being positive to continue/do research, positive thinking, seeking guidance from supervisors, maintaining honest and trustworthy relation with guide/mentors, etc. (Note: Please share the problem but not the complaints/ names of anyone while asking your query/doubt. Our sole intention is to listen to your problem and share/suggest possible solution).
About OCIR | Email Your Query | Do's & Don'ts | Themes & Volunteers