Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 1 Research and publication/dissemination strategy Overview: Why conduct academic research Research strategy Overcoming some of the difficulties in research Publishing strategy Other dissemination methods Building a network and reputation – esteem

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 2

3 Confusion, confusion and confusion – Choosing a research topic In part dictated by where you are coming from but need to have an idea of the landscape of your field How timely and promising is your chosen area? Is it worth maintaining multiple themes –Trade-off between spreading too thinly and increasing opportunity Are there senior colleagues or resources in your institution which will help you to advance more quickly along a particular track Is there any synergy between your research and your teaching?

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 4 Ways of accessing and utilising empirical data – examples of how to get round the problems 1.Using published journal articles as secondary data 2.Using national statistics as secondary data 3.(Mature) students can be your research targets 4.Using your own experience to inform your research – the value of pre-understanding

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 5 Skills and information Are there any techniques you need to master to engage with an area –Opportunities for staff/PGR training in the University/school Information –What do you need? –Will you have to travel to get what you need? –Is fieldwork involved? – mostly probably yes –Do support do you need (e.g. research assistants)?

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 6 Resources, resource and resource Time and money Time is a key constraint for research –Essential to have good personal time management –Distinguish between quality of time and time – some research needs uninterrupted blocks of time –Group your teaching and/part-time work into no more than two days a week

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 7 Publish or perish – Publication strategy Increasing emphasis upon refereed journals in most fields In some a major monograph is also essential Publication is not usually about rewriting your PhD

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 8 Publishing journal articles Most but not all fields have some sort of hierarchy May be difficult to get into the top echelon early in your career but important to target the best journal that you think is realistic All journals have a certain style – sing what they want to hear

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 9 The Journal Mission Private Journals: Editors and Editorial Board shape the agenda Association Journals. More open, tend to have broader agendas.

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 10 Aims and scope of the journal Read this carefully Choose journals that are valued in your subject area Are there any recent changes in these? – Often as a result of changes of editors or editorial board

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 11 Conference volumes and special issues Try to get involved with the conferences to network and get to know the field and gain experience and confidence Often quicker turn around of reviews Special issues tend to be focused on specific topics so if you have a good paper on the topic go for it!!

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 12 Citations matters a lot Editors and reviewers get grumpy if your paper does not cite relevant papers in their journal Editors love papers that are likely to be cited a lot – try to make your work appeal to this agenda

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 13 Get advice and be proactive Try to get colleagues to comment on your draft Ask colleagues who have published in/rejected by the journal to hear their experience with the journal Develop it as a conference/seminar or working paper Can be useful to contact the editor in advance for advice if what your proposed article fits the journal Try to meet the editor, e.g. chat with them at conferences It is important that they know who you are and that you are serious about your work Flirting with the editor rarely works!!

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 14 Review process Check out how many referees are used and if these are anonymous Never send a paper to two journals at the same time – it could seriously damage your reputation Try to find out the normal review time and the publication lag from acceptance Contact the editor in charge of your paper after normal review time is up to speed up the process Sometimes you might be able to guess who the editor might use as referees – so think carefully about whether there is anything in your paper that might upset or excite the potential referees

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 15 Rejection Be prepared for knock backs – the best journals reject 90% of the papers If you get a negative reference do not be afraid to argue back, but not too much, if the editor offers you the opportunity If rejected consider other outlets for a reworked paper – refereeing has a certain random element Seek advice from your colleagues about the rejection letter and the review reports

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 16 Revise and resubmit Read the editor’s letter carefully. It may reinterpret the reviewers’ reports and point to specific issues that you need to address A passive editor will rely on the reviewers and act as a postman/woman, esp. if the work is outside their own area of expertise So need to carefully read the reviewers’ reports It is not uncommon for the same person to be asked to review the paper by two different journals, as three or four obvious people may be approached to review a paper

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 17 Dealing with reviewers’ reports The reviewers might be wrong and write in an outraged manner. Before challenging a report consult more than one senior colleague for advice. It rarely works. Try to make a list of all the points and think about how you can address them Often a major issue will be the motivation for the paper and/or the theoretical core of the paper. Such issues are difficult to deal with. Research design issues are a common problem. Think about things you can do to build up the credibility of your results.

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 18 Contribution, contribution, contribution Above all you need to differentiate your paper from the published literature AND any related working papers currently in circulation. You need to be able to show how your paper makes a novel contribution.

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 19 Issues to be aware of when using journal articles the sole/main source for your paper Time consuming to process and analyse data – coding of qualitative data Read some methodological papers before you start processing and analysing the data – to refresh your memory High risk strategy to use secondary data published in journals – not all journal editors and reviewers are happy with this approach, good review papers are challenging for new researchers The literature review chapter of your thesis does not necessarily make a good review paper in a good journal

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 20 Dissemination strategy When you have publications send copies to key people in your field with a (short) polite note. They may be your future referees for promotion Ensure that you maintain a personal website and put as many things as are legal to be available for download Give your colleagues a hand – cite them if their work is relevant Ensure that your paper has your university’s name as part of its institutional address – so people know where/how high you are based Build up quantity (of publications) to build up your confidence and experience, quality and reputation will follow

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 21 Building a reputation - esteem We are judged by the company we keep –Look for good collaborators at home and abroad Emphasis on international referees means that you have to take steps to make your work known outside your country Target prestigious international conferences Time spent developing your research community pays off so within reason volunteer for roles in learned/professional societies and review papers, etc Look for ways to increase the impact of your research through application Keep a record of all you do for your CV

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 22 General lessons There are different reasons for conducting research projects Research projects can be big or small – small projects can be more focused, more interesting and more manageable Research topics are not that difficult to find – always have a critical mind when you read literature to see what you can add to it Always be open-minded and broad minded – this gives you new ideas of research topics You can gain access to data in many ways and use them effectively for your research – always keep an open eye to your surroundings

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 23 General lessons (cont…) It is sometimes easier to gain access to organisations if you are a junior researcher – no potential threat to firms/managers Try to get data from different sources to make up for the deficiency of data from one single source Multiple methods for data collection can be more interesting and enhance the validity and reliability of the findings through triangulation – findings from different methods do not have to point to the same conclusion but you have a task to explain why this is the case! Always be critical when interpreting your research findings! Conceptualise your findings – key task to add value to your research and sell it to the examiners and reviewers!!

Fang Lee Cooke, MBS, UK ANBS Fellow, Australia 24 Any questions …. and do you want to share your experience with us????