ME-621 Writing and Publishing Academic Research (Autumn 2021)
- ECTS Credits:
- 5
- Responsible department:
- School of Business and Law
- Course Leader:
- Roy Mersland
- Lecture Semester:
- Spring
- Teaching language:
- English
- Duration:
- ½ year
Table of contents
The course is connected to the following study programs
Teaching language
Prerequisites
Recommended previous knowledge
Learning outcomes
- Understand the process of writing academic papers
- Appreciate the academic peer review system
- Understand what is required to get published in reputed international journals
- Select journal outlets for his/her research papers
- Submit and get accepted a research paper in a decent journal or a recognized international research conference
Contents
The course aims at:
- Introducing researchers to the process of publishing academic research
- Improving participants academic writing skills as well as presentation skills
- Engaging participants in writing up a complete research paper
- Engaging participants in giving, receiving and responding to critique
- Engaging participant in submitting a paper to a decent journal or a recognized international research conference
Topics:
- The course is first and foremost a learning by doing course where participants are engaged in writing up an original research paper. In addition the following topics will be covered:
- International quality publications, the modern way to an academic career
- The jungle of journals, how to select a good outlet for your research
- Visibility of research, the need for pre- and post- publication strategies
- Publication ethics and plagiarism
- Identifying your competitive advantage in research teams
- From a research idea to a researchable idea
- The publication process and the peer review system
- Establishing a research pipeline
- Refereeing papers and responding to referees reports
- When and how to plan for co-authorship
- Ideas to consider before deciding between Journals, special issues, book chapters and books
- Defining the story of a paper
- The structure of academic articles
- Complying with journal guidelines
Guest professors may be invited and include additional topics in their lectures.
Teaching and learning methods
The course will consist of three modules covered over a period of around 4-8 months. For the first module (1-2 days) participants should bring a research idea that during the module should be developed into a researchable idea including a research model. For the second module (1-2 days) participants should bring a first draft of a research paper and a powerpoint presentation of this. Between modules two and three the papers should undergo an internal peer review process where participants will referee each others papers. The third module (1-2 days) will be organized as a research conference where the participants should bring their papers, response letters to reviewers and powerpoint presentations. After finishing the course and considering comments received, the participants should have a research paper ready to be submitted to a journal or to a conference.
Student workload (135 hours):
Lectures/seminars: 30 hours
Reading articles and preparing for sessions: 15 hours
Preparing reports (review reports and response to reviewers): 10 hours
Writing up a research paper and journal/conference submission(s): 80 hours
Examination requirements
Examinations
If not otherwise agreed the paper will not be accepted until the candidate has submitted and got accepted the paper to a competitive international conference or journal of good standard. Several attempts in several journals are often required.