Research Management Guidelines

These guidelines are established and maintained by the Research and Publications Committee (hereinafter called “the Committee”) to ensure the process of determining a research topic is done systematically, efficiently, without prejudice and covering wide range of areas affecting Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (hereinafter called “Pustaka”).The guidelines also define the processes of handling a research or a study in a manner that is transparent, systematic, regulatory-compliance and fair to all parties involved.

Selection of Research Topics

Areas to be studied shall be determined from the following sources:

1) Inputs, comments, and suggestions from Members of the Board of Management of Pustaka and the Sarawak Government.
2) Issues and concerns resulting from in-house analysis of data of all major products and services, including customer satisfaction surveys and customer feedbacks.
3) Issues and concerns resulting from in-house risk management activities on all major products and services.
4) Major breakdown of a core product or service.
5) Issues and concerns faced by the public libraries in Sarawak.
6) Issues and concerns in records management and archives management in Sarawak.

Invitations for Submission of Research Proposals

1) Invitations for the submission of research proposals shall be extended to all public and private institutions of higher learning in Sarawak.
2) Invitations for the submission of research proposals may be extended to all public and private institutions of higher learning outside Sarawak when deems necessary by the Committee.
3) Invitations for the submission of research proposals may be extended to public and private research institutions in Malaysia when deems necessary by the Committee.
4) Invitations for the submission of research proposals shall not be extended to research institutions outside Malaysia.
5) The standard closing date for the receipt of submission of research proposals is two (2) months from the date of invitation. The closing date may be extended for a period as deems necessary by the Committee.
6) The invitation document shall include a research brief that defined that the following elements:

a) Statement of the problem.
b) Objectives of the research.
c) Scope and depth.
d) Methodology.
e) Contributions.
f) References.
g) Duration.
h) Year of commissioning.
i) Ceiling cost.

7) Submission of a research proposal must include curriculum vitae of all the researchers and may be hardcopy or softcopy.
8) Submissions received after the closing date will be rejected.
9) Upon receipt of a research proposal, the Secretariat to the Committee shall notify the sender or proposer of the research proposal via email.

Evaluation of Research Proposals

1) The Committee shall convene a meeting to:

a) evaluate all the accepted proposals based on the Research Proposal Evaluation Criteria to determine the score of each proposal; and
b) select the proposal with the highest score.

2) The Secretariat to the Committee shall notify all the proposers about the status of their proposals via emails or letters.
3) The Secretariat to the Committee shall inform the proposers of the selected research proposal to revise and update their proposal.
4) The Secretariat to the Committee shall make arrangements for the proposers of the selected research proposal to present their updated research proposal to the Committee.
5) Upon acceptance of the updated research proposal by the Committee, the Secretariat to the Committee shall prepare a decision paper for the proposed research to be presented in the Jawatankuasa Pembelian Terus (JPT) Meeting..

a) If the decision paper is approved by the JPT, the Secretariat to the Committee shall prepare a draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the research and send it to the proposers for their first read. Appropriate amendments will be made in the draft MOA if there are comments and suggestions from the proposers. The duration date for the first read is two (2) weeks.
b) If the proposers accept the draft MOA, it shall be finalised and a formal session for the signing of the MOA between Pustaka and the proposers will be arranged.
c) If the proposers do not accept the draft MOA, the deal shall be cancelled, and new invitations for submission or research proposals shall be initiated.
d) If the decision paper is not accepted by the JPT the proposed research is cancelled, and new invitations for submission or research proposals shall be initiated.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria		Descriptions/Elaborations		Weightages
Researchers (Research Team)		a) Strong academic background on the subject matter, preferably doctorate and master levels. b) Ample experiences in research of similar subject matter. c) Ample working experiences related to the subject matter. d) Full CVs must be attached.		35%
Relevancy		The proposed research must be relevant to the area to be studied: a) Problem statement. b) Scope and location. c) Research methodology		25%
Literature Review		a) Stated and cross-referenced in the introduction, problem statement and objectives. b) Wide range of types and formats of sources of references. c) Recency of the sources of references. d) Authoritativeness of the sources of references		10%
Model / Framework		a) Use of a research model. b) Suitability of the research model.		5%
Duration		a) Time taken to complete the research. b) The shorter the duration the better.		5%
Estimated Cost		The total estimated cost of conducting the research: a) Professional fees or renumeration. b) Travel and transportation. c) Communication. d) Stationaries and printing.		20%
		Total Score		100%

Sealing the Agreement

1) When the proposers accepted the MOA, a formal session to seal the MOA.
2) The Secretariat to the Committee shall do the following for the signing process:

a) Prepare the MOA in two (2) copies.
b) Determine a suitable date.
c) Prepare the place for the signing ceremony.
d) Send invitations and confirm attendance of the signatories.
e) Administer the signing ceremony on the day of the event. The date of the MOA is the commencement date of the research.


3) After the signing of the MOA, the Secretariat to the Committee shall get all copies, original and duplicates, sealed with stamp duties at the Inland and Revenue Board within one (1) week.
4) A copy of the sealed MOA shall be given to the proposers.

Monitoring of the Research

1) The research shall be monitored via a series of discussions between the Committee and the researchers to discuss the followings:

a) The Inception report – the initiation of the research
b) The Interim Report – the pilot test and the data collection and preliminary findings
c) The draft Final Report – major findings of the research and preliminary recommendations

2) The Secretariat to the Committee shall make arrangements for the discussion and notify all parties involved.
3)The Secretariat to the Committee shall record down discussion notes during the discussion and distribute the notes to all parties involved within two (2) weeks after the discussion.

Preparation of the Final Report

1) Upon acceptance of the draft of the final report by the Committee, the researchers shall prepare the final report that complies to the following requirements:

a) Paper: White A4 (210 mm x 297mm
b) Print: Colour
c) Line Spacing: 1.5 line spacing for main contents; 1 line spacing for bibliographies, captions, illustration titles and footnotes
d) Margin: 25 mm top, 25 mm bottom, 30 mm left and 25 mm right
e) Font Types: Times Roman or Times New Roman or Book Antiqua or Bookman Old Style
f) Font Sizes: 12 for main text and bibliographies; 11 for captions and illustration titles; 10 for footnotes
g) Pagination: Arabic Numerals for main contents and Roman Numerals for preliminaries and auxiliaries
h) Hard copy

• Two (2) stitched hardbound volumes
• Black covers with silver or gold coloured title of minimum 18 font size on the front cover

i) Softcopy

• One (1) Portable data file (pdf) in Digital Video Disc (DVD)

j) The report is to be written entirely in English

2) Failure to comply with the requirements may cause the final report to be rejected by the Committee.

Payment Arrangement

Payment for the research work shall made in four parts based on the following schedule:

Payments		Percentage
First Progress Payment Upon completion of the Research outlines and tools (questionnaires).		25
Second Progress Payment Upon completion of data gathering via questionnaires and/or interviews.		25
Third Progree Payment Upon completion of the draft final report of the Research (survey result).		25
Final Payment Upon completion, submission and acceptance of the final report of the Research in print and electronic form.		25