Crafting a research paper

Abstract

Since the inception of the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics about three years ago, we have made significant inroads in terms of registration, of faculty staff particularly, for research degrees. A university context, however, also demands publication of research particularly in scholarly journals. Research is regarded as being complete only when it is published. You should not allow your work to sit in the university library and bend the shelf over the years. Writing up your research and getting it published in academic and professional journals allows others the opportunity to see your work and enables them to engage with and challenge it. Hence you must insert your work, via publication, into the slipstream of scholarly debate. Writing for publication is no doubt an intimidating task. Have no illusions. It is not simple and straightforward, especially for the novice research writer. However, you can overcome feelings of vulnerability and lack of confidence by doing your research well and writing it up well so that it can stand up to public scrutiny. Hence the purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of what is involved in crafting a research paper for publication in journals. While there are other forms of research publication, this presentation will focus on journal publication as this is the medium via which many of us, as academics and researchers, cut our teeth in research writing. Some of the areas this presentation will touch on include: Why the need to publish in journals? What can be published? What characteristics make a paper publishable? Understanding the journals market and Stages in getting a paper published.