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The digital revolution plays a major role in the condition of political science research in Paraguay. Interaction between researchers through digital channels enhances collective initiatives and working on joint projects, even when members of the same project are outside the country. It also facilitates collaboration between Paraguayan researchers and their peers in other countries, allowing Paraguayan political scientists to be part of international research networks that positively influence their professional development. This is particularly important since Paraguay is among the least studied Latin American countries in this discipline, as shown by the percentage of articles published in journals in the JCR or Scimago indexes that choose Paraguay as a unit of analysis (Basabe-Serrano and Huertas-Hernández 2018: 162).

Like teaching, research is nourished by access to online data and bibliography, so the impetus that research in the area is gaining is largely due to access to these resources. Academic production, however, continues to be limited by the structural conditions in which university professors work. No full-time university professors have been found in either of the revised programs, and the work is limited to teaching a limited number of hours per week, for which they’re hired per semester with contracts that are generally renewable but do not necessarily imply job stability.

On the other hand, up until recently, access to teaching posts didn’t require any verifiable research background. This practice has improved since the National Program of Incentive to Researchers (PRONII) was established. This program takes into account the level of formal education reached by its members, their participation in academic events, and their number of published works in indexed journals and books as criteria for their inclusion [59] in the official list of researchers recognized by CONACYT. Although it is not yet required for university professors to be included in PRONII, this is already valued as a requisite for researchers to work in various projects taking place in the country.

The limited number of published work by Paraguayan political scientists is also related to the absence of academic journals specialized in the area, as well as the scarce availability of journals in social sciences and humanities (Table 2). According to the scientific research journals information system LATINDEX, there are only seven journals in Paraguay that publish work in the social sciences, of which only two –ACADEMO “Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities” and “Studies of Public Policies”– specifically mention political science as one of the areas covered in their published articles. In turn, only two of the seven journals are available online⁷, so the impact of the works published in the other five is very limited.

Table 2: Scientific journals in Paraguay related to political science
Name	Editorial	Starting year	Subtopics	Online
ACADEMO Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities	American University	2014	Political Science and Public Administration, Communication Sciences, Education, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Multidisciplinary	Yes
Public Policy Studies	Public Policy Center, Catholic University “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”	2012	Political Science and Public Administration	No
Paraguayan Studies	Center for Anthropological Studies, Catholic University “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”	1973	Social Sciences and Humanities	No
Novapolis	Arandura	2007	Social Sciences and Humanities, Gender Studies, Local Studies, Sociology	No
REVICSO – Journal of Research in Social Sciences	Ediciones y Artes S.A.	2014	Anthropology, Education, Geography, Sociology	No
International Journal of Social Science Research	Autonomous University of Asunción	2011	Sociology, Education	Yes
Journal on Studies and Research of Academic Knowledge	National University of Itapúa	2006	Pedagogy, Medicine, Finance, Epidemiology, Higher Education, Education, Economics, Culture, Science and Technology, Social Sciences and Humanities	No
Source: Prepared by the author based on information made available by LATINDEX

For these reasons, research done by Paraguayan political scientists is generally published outside the country, either in academic journals or as book chapters. Because it isn’t a common practice to have professional websites to showcase their work, the published works of Paraguayan political scientists are found mainly on online platforms created for that purpose, which are usually of free access.

On the other hand, the digitization of information allows for easier access, which in principle would facilitate the incipient research work done in the country. By way of example, the digitization of Paraguayan legislative documents allows for easier access to them through online platforms, so analysis of recent Paraguayan legislation has benefited from these resources. In contrast, information regarding the management of the Paraguayan bureaucracy is very difficult to access despite a law passed in 2014 that establishes the citizens’ right to freely access public information and promotes government transparency. State agencies still do not have the capacity to provide a lot of the information required [60] for academic purposes, while the little information available so far tends to be incomplete and is insufficient to carry out longitudinal analyses.

Political research in Paraguay has not yet studied the effect of ICT on political practice, although this topic is already being addressed by recent interdisciplinary projects in other areas. In this regard, there is a small number of projects being carried out by the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Catholic University, along with civil society organizations and public agencies, that aim to identify behavioral parameters in citizen participation processes. Early initiatives that look into the role of ICT as channels to enhance citizens’ participation are not followed by analysis in political science. Thus, the links between ICT and the world of politics remain unattended and unexplained from a political science perspective, which is also the case with many other topics relevant to the region’s research agenda.

The main risk posed by ICT to research in Paraguay is related to the unethical use of these resources. On the one hand, there is still no student training for the critical selection of reliable sources; there have been some cases of students that engage in plagiarism by presenting complete sections of articles published online as their own work. The task of training researchers in the proper use of these sources is still pending, with much needed emphasis on the social and ethical value of the original research.