When coral reef research encounters "airborne troops"

In the three countries with the largest warm-water coral reef habitats in the world—Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines, there is an interesting phenomenon: about 40% of the papers published and conducted on-site coral reef research in Indonesia or the Philippines did not involve scientists from the host country.

Among the top 10 countries that have published the most coral reef papers, two countries (Canada and Germany) do not even have coral reefs at all.

These data come from a paper published in "Contemporary Biology" on February 23, and what is hidden behind it is the so-called "airborne science" in coral reef research.

"Airborne" in research

"Airborne science" mainly refers to scientists from high-income countries conducting field trips in low-income countries, and then completing research in their own countries, and not cooperating with researchers in relevant low-income countries.

Researchers believe that this will cause low-income countries to rely on external experts and hinder local research.

“As a global hotspot of marine biodiversity, low-income countries in the tropics have long been affected by unfair research practices.

"Unfortunately, for decades, it has been normal for researchers in high-income countries and wealthy institutions to practice'airborne science' and establish a successful academic career.

Here, the researchers hope to prove through systematic literature search and analysis that the practice of "airborne science" still exists widely in ocean research, and put forward some suggestions to help change the status quo.

Part of the difficulty in quantifying "airborne science" is that it can take many different forms, depending on the researcher and the country.

The unfairness behind the data

Researchers looked at which countries in the world published studies and compared it with the number of coral reefs in each country.

In addition, for coral reef studies conducted in a certain country, the authors of that country were not included, as in 22% of studies conducted in Australia.

Researchers found that similar patterns exist in research leadership (defined as publications of the first author and/or senior author from the host country).

In fact, from the 1980s to the 1990s, it was more common for host country scientists to be excluded (or to list them as intermediate authors).

"The reason why I emphasize the Western'intellectual colonialism' is that in our coral reef biodiversity research, the evidence shows that some high-income countries in Europe and North America dominate the number of coral reef studies even though they have fewer coral reefs.

"As a person of color from Oceania, I must have experience in'airborne science'.

Eliminate the effects of

"'Airborne science' is still common in marine science, but it will not benefit anyone in the long run," Stefanoudis said.

Although "airborne science" is difficult to fight due to its large historical heritage often associated with colonialism, the researchers have provided a series of recommendations for scientists conducting research in other countries, including contacting local governments, communicating with host country researchers, and Stakeholders jointly design research agendas, collaborate with early career researchers, and share data to promote knowledge exchange.
They also hope that the research will lay the foundation for the development of more detailed guidelines and help academic, research, and funding institutions eliminate the practice of "airborne science" in the future.

"'Airborne Science' is complex, multi-layered, and historical.
The solution is not only to include more local scientists in publications, but also to establish partnerships and knowledge exchanges between host country researchers and international researchers Activities, mutual trust and respect.
" Talma told reporters, "Local scientists can provide foreign scientists with a lot of things, and establishing these partnerships makes it possible to share technology and enable local people to continue research after foreign scientists leave.
"

Recently, the United Nations announced the "United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) Implementation Plan".
Its mission statement includes building capacity, developing scientific knowledge, building and sharing infrastructure, and promoting partnerships among member states to Build a sustainable and healthy ocean.

"We believe that these goals can only be achieved by adopting a more ethical and fair research culture.
In this culture, in the face of urgent human challenges, true collaborative research practices will build resilience for people who rely on coral reefs.
It’s very important,” the researcher wrote.

Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
cub.
2021.
01.
029.