Exploration of the Shiraz University Senior Faculty Members' Experiences about Research Ideas Documentation: A Qualitative Study

This research explores the experiences of senior faculty members of Shiraz University. In addition, it designs and illustrates the model of documentation research ideas among senior faculty members.

This is an applied research in terms of objective and To achieve the desired goal, a qualitative approach and a systematic design of Grounded Theory were used. The statistical population of the study includes all retired professors of Shiraz University and also professors who are in the last three years of retirement in this university. 25 faculty members of Shiraz University were interviewed through a semi-structured method. The sampling method of this research is the sequential method of snowball (chain reference). In an introductory interview, the researcher began an interview with a key sample of Shiraz University faculty members who had a wealth of information on the subject; Then, with reference to a series of referrals from the participant in question, request the introduction of other faculty members who were eligible for the interview. Then, the data was analyzed within three stages of coding: open، axial and selective. At last, the findings were drawn in the form of theorems and paradigm model.

Findings showed that the internal and external motivations of idea documentation, including fear of forgetfulness, idea permanence, facilitating the use of the idea and becoming famous, have provided the tendency to document research ideas for faculty members. To document the idea, they used manual and electronic documentation. Also, contextual and environmental conditions Include individual and organizational plans and considerations, and intervening and mediating conditions include respect for intellectual property rights and institutionalization and structuring affected the quality of manual and electronic documentation. There are also two approaches, individual (protection of ideas) and extra-individual (development and maturity of knowledge production, intellectual and information synergy), that are the results and consequences of the process of documenting ideas.

According to the findings, it can be said that achieving organizational goals requires a strong and fundamental organizational culture. Universities as scientific centers really need a rich culture. Therefore , One of the required cultures of universities is the culture of documenting research ideas; so, they should create the culture of documenting research ideas. Also, in order to increase the tendency of faculty members to document research ideas, it is important to provide the necessary context, including the establishment of a separate center for documenting research ideas, training and education of aware and expert manpower; Also, it is necessary to consider appropriate tools for documenting ideas.