Institute of Management, Nirma University - Logo
Institute of Management, Nirma University - Logo

Publish or Perish: Doesnt Change the Rule of Game

Conceptualising, writing and developing a research based empirical paper, research note or an article that is acceptable for publication in a top rated and high-quality journal with proven reputation is not a stress-free chore but surely a rewarding one in academics. If research scholars follow certain ideas, practices and procedures while they put the efforts in right direction it may give better results rather than if they go without much understanding about academic writing. The key ideation in academic or scientific journal writing is to respect the audience in order to be sure that the message goes across clearly without any ambiguity to its stakeholders. In modern academic publishing related matters, the most of the scholars hone their writing skills by following the recommendations of Bem?s (1987; 2004) path breaking work on empirical studies.

Customarily journal editors and reviewers are willing to publish research papers that present a well-supported data driven analysis in the form of well-articulated academic story which makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge not only for the discipline which the target journal intend to cater but also interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary point of views in order to drive the research fervor. At the very fundamental and bear minimum level, publishable papers need to be based on solid scholarship, robust methodology, well-written and sound argumentative academic piece with clear and concise message. The successful authors of research papers know it very well that the academic publishing is often a time-consuming, arduous and potentially perilous research journey.

The first and the most critical step in this journey is ideation that is essentially coming up with an interesting and academically enthralling research question and if this probing question get answered well definitely influence how the author(s) think and act during research journey (Davis, 1971). Thought provoking and well-articulated research questions guide the initial stage of the knowledge-discovery journey comprising choice of enlightening theoretical underpinnings, suitable methodological advancements, and data sources. In any case, a successful research journey requires the positive attitude, endurance for valuable contribution, meticulous execution, refined thinking, and clear vision towards research objective led storytelling in order to survive in tough rounds of peer-review.

Author Dr Pradeep Kautish, Associate Professor, Marketing Area