The RESEARCH HUB Story
In 2014, I made a mistake that changed the course of my career — and eventually led to something far bigger than I could have imagined.
I was at the time doing masters at WU Vienna, Austria. I had just published a journal article based on my bachelor’s thesis that I wrote for my bachelor degree in Bangladesh in 2011. Like many early-career researchers, I was eager to publish. I found a journal, submitted my paper, and it was accepted. I was thrilled.
Then I learned the truth: it was a predatory journal.
My research — months of work, genuine findings, real contribution — was now sitting in a publication that no one in the academic community would take seriously. It wasn’t indexed properly. It had no rigorous peer review. It was, for all practical purposes, invisible.
And I wasn’t alone. Thousands of researchers around the world were falling into the same trap, publishing good research in fake journals, wasting their time, money, and intellectual effort.
That’s when I decided to do something about it.
The Birth of RESEARCH HUB
RESEARCH HUB started as a simple idea in 2015: create awareness about predatory journals and help researchers — especially those in developing countries with limited institutional guidance — understand where and how to publish their work properly.
I started making YouTube videos. Short, practical tutorials. No jargon, no gatekeeping — just honest guidance on how to navigate the academic publishing landscape. Topics ranged from identifying predatory journals to choosing the right publication venue, and eventually expanded into research methodology, statistical analysis, and academic writing.
The response was immediate and overwhelming.
Researchers from Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Indonesia, and dozens of other countries started watching. They left comments sharing their own experiences with predatory publishers. Many had lost money. Some had lost years of work. A few had their academic careers permanently affected.
It became clear: the problem was bigger than I thought, and the hunger for reliable, accessible research education was enormous.
Where We Are Today
What started as a YouTube channel with a handful of tutorials has grown into a comprehensive platform for research excellence. Here’s what RESEARCH HUB looks like in 2026:
YouTube Impact
- 4 million+ views across our content library
- 42,000+ subscribers and growing
- 379 videos covering everything from SPSS basics to advanced Structural Equation Modeling
- 56 Shorts for quick research tips
- 33.2 million impressions — that’s how many times YouTube has surfaced our content to researchers worldwide
- 39.3% of our traffic comes from YouTube search — researchers actively looking for help find us
Platform Growth
- 1,886 registered users on researchhub.org as of March 2026
- Users from 100+ countries across 6 continents
- 187+ university affiliations identified through institutional email addresses — and the actual number is certainly much higher
Courses & Resources
Our course offerings have expanded far beyond predatory journal awareness:
- Full courses in Academic Writing & Publishing, SPSS, PLS-SEM, LaTeX, and the Best-Worst MCDM Method
- Short courses on Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), AHP, and Statistics with STATA
- Premium courses with live instructor sessions on Bibliometric Literature Review, Panel Data Analysis, and SEM in R
- Industry courses for professionals transitioning into data-driven roles
- Coaching services for PhD thesis writing and research project development
Many of these resources are available for free, because the mission has always been about access, not profit.
A Truly Global Community
One of the things I’m most proud of is the geographic diversity of our community. When I look at where our users come from, it tells a powerful story about who needs research education the most — and who is most underserved by traditional academic institutions.
Our top regions include South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines), Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia), and Europe (United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Italy). We also have strong representation from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas.
Universities That Trust Us
Our users come from institutions you’d recognize from any global ranking — and many more that are doing incredible research without the spotlight. Here’s a glimpse:
- University of Oxford, University of Tokyo, Nanyang Technological University, University of Melbourne, University of Manchester — world top-50 institutions
- IIT Bombay, BITS Pilani, Jawaharlal Nehru University — India’s premier research institutions
- BUET, University of Dhaka, North South University — Bangladesh’s leading universities
- Universitas Gadjah Mada, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember — Indonesia’s top research universities
- KU Leuven, Heidelberg University, University of Warsaw — Europe’s academic powerhouses
- Binghamton University, University of Rhode Island, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech — major US research institutions
And many, many more. In total, we’ve identified researchers from 187+ universities across 44 countries — and since most users register with personal email addresses, the real number is likely several times higher.
The Problem Hasn’t Gone Away
A decade after I started this journey, predatory publishing remains a massive problem. If anything, it has gotten worse. The number of predatory journals and publishers has grown. Their tactics have become more sophisticated. They now mimic legitimate journals so convincingly that even experienced researchers sometimes can’t tell the difference.
But the ecosystem of harm extends beyond just predatory journals. Researchers in many parts of the world still lack access to proper training in research methodology, statistical analysis, and academic writing. They produce valuable research but don’t know how to present it properly, choose appropriate methods, or navigate the publication process.
This is the gap RESEARCH HUB fills.
What’s Next
We’re not slowing down. Here’s what we’re working toward:
- More free content — because every researcher deserves access to quality education regardless of their financial situation
- Expanding our course library — with new topics in data science, qualitative methods, and emerging research tools
- Building community — creating spaces where researchers can connect, collaborate, and support each other
- Amplifying research voices — through our YouTube channel’s research presentation series, where scholars can share their work with a global audience
A Personal Note
When I think back to that moment in 2015 — sitting in Vienna, Austria, realizing my first publication was in a predatory journal — I never imagined it would lead here. To a community spanning 100+ countries. To researchers at Oxford and IIT Bombay learning from the same platform. To 4 million views from people genuinely trying to do better research.
Every number in this post represents a real person. A PhD student figuring out SPSS at 2 AM. A professor in Nigeria learning bibliometric analysis to publish in a top journal. A master’s student in Indonesia choosing a legitimate journal over a predatory one because they watched one of our videos.
That’s what keeps me going.
If RESEARCH HUB has helped you in any way — whether it was a YouTube tutorial, a course, or just learning that the journal you were about to submit to wasn’t legitimate — I’d love to hear from you. Your stories are the real measure of our impact.
Ziaul Haque Munim is the founder of RESEARCH HUB (researchhub.org), a platform dedicated to research excellence and academic integrity. He is based in Norway and holds a passion for making research education accessible to everyone, everywhere.
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