Eric Kunto Aribowo is an Assistant Professor in Sociolinguistics at the Universitas Widya Dharma Klaten (Indonesia). His research highlights the language phenomenon of Arab descendants in Indonesia. Between 2016—2018, he received research grants from the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education. His last three publications are Disparity of the Arabic name: the spotlight on children of endogamous and exogamous marriages among Hadrami-Arabs in Indonesia, Arabic, Islamic, and Economy Linking: Onomastics on Business Name of People of Arab Descent in Indonesia, Trends in Naming System on Javanese Society: A Shift From Javanese to Arabic.

Later Eric Kunto Aribowo pursued open science and became involved as a Mendeley Advisor, Figshare ambassador, and INA-Rxiv contributor. In his spare time, he writes stories and shares his ideas at www.erickunto.com/blog.

How did you get into your field and what is your research story?

I am interested in Sociolinguistics, especially highlighting the language used by Hadrami- Arabs in Indonesia (Arabic descent), both oral and written. I’ve researched linguistic landscapes in Kampung Arab (like Chinatown for Arab descend), their personal name (onomastics), language spoken in religious and economic contexts, and the endogamy marriage patterns they do.

Where do you do your research/work the best? What kind of environment suits you?

Most of the research I did was not in the laboratory but where the data was gathered, especially in the Arab Village in Surakarta (Indonesia). Data collection is often done by participant observation, interviews, discussions conducted in their stores, coffee shops, their homes, sometimes in mosques. The research that I did made me have to be skilled at adapting to all situations and possibilities.

How long have you been on Mendeley? 

I have known about Mendeley since 2014 and started actively using it a year later. I became a Mendeley Advisor in mid-2018.

What were you using prior to Mendeley and how does Mendeley influence your research?

Before using Mendeley, I used RefMe to compile a list of references. Since I was active using Mendeley, I find it easier to do research, especially in reading and reviewing references, marking research findings, finding research gaps, and composing a web of mind when composing manuscripts. First, I read and gave Mendeley’s annotations and highlights in the iPad application, synchronized, and moved to Mac when writing a proposal or manuscript. The annotations I previously did manually (by paper), will now be saved safely thanks to Mendeley.

Why did you decide to become an Advisor and how are you involved with the program?

Most writers and researchers in my country still use manual/traditional ways to manage references. This causes a lot of time to be spent on this work, making us less productive. I’m eager to disseminate and teach the best experiences. I manage references using Mendeley to students, colleagues, lecturers, and researchers in Indonesia. This is the reason I joined the Mendeley Advisors.

Since becoming Mendeley Advisor in the middle of 2018, I have carried out a couple of trainings attended by approximately 160 participants who are students, doctoral students, and lecturers. One or two weeks before the training, I ask the participants to read and learn the material that I have made online and written in Indonesian at https://sites.google.com/unwidha.id/mendeley. In addition, I also provided a group on social media which was attended by the trainees as a forum for consultation and question-and-answer about Mendeley.

What researcher would you like to work with or meet, dead or alive?

I would love to work together and learn from researchers who are able to collaborate with other researchers who are outside the field and different countries, researchers who adopt technology in the research done, and most importantly, researchers who apply open science.

What book are you reading at the moment and why?

The book I am currently reading is titled Citizen Science Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy by Susanne Hecker, Muki Haklay, Anne Bowser, Zen Makuch, Johannes Vogel & Aletta Bonn (editors), as I am now starting to apply open science in my research.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned this week?

Open Access Week!! It is motivated me to keep research available to everyone so the people will get benefit from the research and take it further.

What is the best part about working in research?

The best part when doing research is getting to meet and know new people, getting new experiences from them, contributing to the world of science, and being part of a group of people who want to make this world better.

And the worst/most challenging part about working in research?

The most challenging part when doing Sociolinguistic research is the stage of data collection. At this step, researchers will often dive into certain communities which researchers often are outsiders. There will be a lot of energy coming out if researchers do not have strategic ways to enter the community.

What is the one thing you want people to know about Mendeley?

Mendeley is a freemium software (free but with premium features) that can help researchers to conduct research, ranging from tracing references, giving annotations and highlights, making quotes and bibliographies, collaborating with other researchers, and joining the global community in Mendeley social media.