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  • Unknown's avatar

    Dr S Loretti 10:59 am on January 18, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Is the peer review process flawed? 

    This has been the hot grossing topic of the research community. I have been reading numerous articles and opinions by authors worldwide embossing on the flaws cropping in the peer review process. Did the traditional widely-used process had loopholes since inception or has it lost its significance with the emerging number of researches?

    Actually the issue of concern is the growing percentage of paper rejection by many leading journals. With the rapidly growing number of submissions, the journal editors and peers are bound to reject quality studies to focus on relevancy and the journal scope. I too believe that many quality articles are not getting the deserved acknowledgement but at the same time it is also true that these rejections are paving way for fresh publishing grounds and enhanced researches.

    What would you have to say about this? Do share your suggestions.

     
    • edward99's avatar

      edward99 6:03 am on January 20, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      greetings!
      though i believe peer review is an essential element of paper publishing, as a researcher it gets frustrating at times when a good quality paper gets rejected. i am really not questioning the importance of the process but yes, the process needs to be efficient. rejection may not necessarily facilitate enhanced research. what if it demotivates researchers?

    • Zac's avatar

      Zac 12:36 pm on January 21, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      I completely go with what Edward said- rejection does demotivates the author. Facing a rejection from a journal after putting in immense hard work, time and money seems like a big Failure in Life. Every quality work deserves a better platform to showcase itself.

    • Jonna's avatar

      Jonna 4:20 am on January 22, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      In my suggestion, peer review process is not flawed, it is just facing the drawbacks of being a traditional system. Like everything in the world, peer review too needs a change with the dynamic environment. It was, and to some extend it still is a perfect system to eliminate inappropriate or irrelevant studies. The only difference to contemporary scenario is the growing percentage of researches being held and the even more increasing rate of quality studies.

      With what we are dealing today, I think the process should be fine-tuned with inclusion of multiple quality check criteria and test variables that can be called the Measures of Quality. And with that, the only most-preferred and running measure, being the Citation count, should be significantly given less importance. There is always a chance of improvement and i believe this would incorporate very soon.

    • steve's avatar

      steve 5:15 am on January 22, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      i agree with Jonna. However traditional, this system does maintain quality of journals. But i do believe that the system needs to change in certain ways.Researches are putting in a lot of hardwork and that should definitely be given credit. Journals must incorporate additional quality check measures and ensure that the system is justified and fair.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Rosaline 1:11 am on November 7, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    How to choose a suitable Journal for your paper? 

    While choosing a journal keep the below mentioned points in mind –
    1. See if there is a match between the research paper and the journal’s scope and aim?
    The most common reason for journal rejection is the mismatch between the manuscript journal’s aim and scope.

    2. What si the readership and target audience?
    Have a look at the below example,
    If, for example, your paper could have a bearing on public policy or could change the way nurses handle patient care, then choose a broad-based journal that reaches a wide and non-technical audience.

    3. Is the journal highly visible?
    Is the journal included in electronic databases? Is the journal indexed in ISI’s Web of Science? Is it indexed in the popular subject-specific databases in your field (like EconLit or PsychINFO)? This improves the visibility of your research in your chosen field of research and may also increase the number of times your article is cited.

     
    • 99edward's avatar

      99edward 9:12 am on January 14, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      hello,
      I am writing my first journal paper and very confused about the format that I should follow. Is there a specific format for a research paper? do all journals accept the same format? please help!

    • ThomasJ's avatar

      ThomasJ 10:01 am on January 15, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      Hi Edward! If you have not completed major sections of your paper, I would recommend you to look for a journal first. When you have a target journal to publish your paper in, you would be able to write as per their format. You can go for online journal selection services if you are unsure of the key points that must be looked for selecting a journal. There are various online journal directories where you can look for a journal like http://doaj.org/, http://www.sciencedirect.com/ and similar others.
      If you are through with your paper, then too, you can search for a journal that suits the research domain of your study.

    • edward99's avatar

      edward99 12:40 pm on January 20, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      Hi Thomas
      Thanks for the reply. I have not yet finished writing the paper and i will go by your advice and select a target journal first. I will complete the paper accordingly then.
      thanks for the useful links!

  • Unknown's avatar

    Michael 7:09 am on October 7, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Why do we need to do a Research? 

    A lot of daily activities we do, are either based on common sense or we do the just because we have to or just because we have been told so. But, sometimes common sense is not enough; we have to apply theories and look for facts hidden behind things and to get into that process we have to ‘research’. Because that might just work in one condition and can fail badly in the others or when combined with some other situations. Common sense approaches may overlook the impact of external factors which may contribute to what is observed. Even in the domain of healthcare, there are gaps in knowledge, theories about how something might work better and ideas for improvement.

     
    • Gilbert's avatar

      Gilbert 4:14 am on January 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      i completely agree, there is always scope for improvement. What is important is that we get out of our comfort zone and look for areas that need to be explored. Researchers at times tend to study areas that have already been investigated primarily for the sake of convenience. This tendency however will not add to the academic pool. We as researchers, must aim to contribute to the existing knowledge. Find areas where relationships are still vague and where variables still need definition. Only then do we fulfil the true purpose of a research.

  • Unknown's avatar

    morry1 7:14 am on October 6, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Types of Statistics Samples 

    • Random Sample – Under this every member of the population is equal.
    • Voluntary response sample – Under this the subject of the sample decides, whether they’ll be a part of the survey or not.
    • This type of sample depends on the selection of easy to obtain members from the population.
    • Systematic Sample – It is chosen on the basis of an ordered system.
    • Cluster sample – It involves using a simple random sample of evident groups that the population contains.
    • Stratified Sample – It is used when the population is split into atleast to non-overlapping sub-populations.
    It is really important to know the difference between the types of Samples because though they may sound same with almost similar names but they could be majorly different or even a minute difference to could result in many errors.

     
    • martha's avatar

      martha 6:02 am on January 27, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      hello!
      can you please explain a bit more about systematic sampling? I am researching about employee engagement and its effect on organizational commitment and job satisfaction. I intend to interview managers as well as employees. My supervisor suggested I go in for Systematic sampling for the survey. But i am not quite clear with how to go about it.

  • Unknown's avatar

    jackthomas01 7:16 am on October 5, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Ways of Citing 

    There are two ways of citing references – Author Prominent and Information Prominent
    1. Author Prominent –
    This way gives prominence (importance) to the author by using the author’s surname as part of
    your sentence with the date and the page number in round brackets.
    Direct quote example
    Cowie (1996, p. 91) ‘sdheudj dhidkkl ewdwls dwlokd mndewkmu’.
    Paraphrase example
    Cowie (1996) feslklenhejj dewhwd ewhdhlas dwwaidjil dwwkrwjd rewajkw dnhkjasndiwel.
    2. Information prominent –
    The other way of citing references gives prominence (importance) to the information, with all the required referencing details in round brackets at the end.
    Direct quote example
    bjuwdnhrhnd ‘djkiejdoij djewidi jniqwine nhiwqjk enjwiqjo ewnk ewqiojia ’
    (Cowie 1996, p. 91).
    Paraphrase example
    rdnejuhdsnajknhj ‘ndesjaknhi dbwjas bdwuiqdsj dbwuisnjm’
    (Cowie 1996).

     
    • Laura's avatar

      Laura 11:07 am on January 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      Are these formats valid for all types of resources like books or journal articles or working papers?

    • Lucas's avatar

      Lucas 5:39 am on February 2, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      Yes Laura, these are valid for all sources of information.

  • Unknown's avatar

    morry1 7:15 am on October 3, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    How can you avoid plagiarism? 

    Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else’s ideas, words, concepts in your work/assignments. It is considered as a serious misconduct at all the Universities and should be avoided at all times.
    Central Queensland University (CQU) also has a policy on plagiarism and students are strongly
    encouraged to familiarise themself with it.
    Committing plagiarism carries very serious penalties for the students, including expulsion from a
    university.
    Regrettably, students have been known to commit offences of plagiarism by not understanding what acceptable paraphrasing, summarising or quoting techniques are.
    The best way to avoid being accused of plagiarism is to acknowledge the resources upon which
    you have based your ideas.
    Note: Expulsion, for some international students, may mean having to return to their
    own country because this forfeits their student visa.

     
    • samanthaJ's avatar

      samanthaJ 11:13 am on January 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply

      I totally agree! one of my friends got expelled from a university in Canada and had to return back to Saudi Arabia because of visa issues. The university however had issued him 3 warnings before taking such a serious step.
      I wonder why students find it so difficult to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism does not necessarily discourage you from using facts and conclusions drawn by others, but merely requires you to interpret those facts in the particular context you are working and giving credit to the author whose work you have utilized. It is really beyond my understanding why students do not wish to give credit to someone who has worked hard in finding useful results.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Lucy Watson 7:13 am on October 2, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Types of Descriptive Statistics Research 

    a.) Numerical Statistics: This type is generally used in case of measurements, such as a person’s height, weight, heart rate, number of times one performs a task like – reading a book, smoking a cigarette, going for a walk etc. Numerical research is also known as quantitative research.
    b.) Categorical Statistics: It describes a person’s characteristics such as – gender, marital status, place of birth, hometown or type of food they like. Though it can take on numerical values but those numbers do not have mathematical meaning. One cannot do any sort of calculations with them. Other names for categorical statistics are qualitative or yes/no data.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Rosaline 7:10 am on October 1, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    General form of a journal paper 

    Generally submission of a manuscript to a editorial requires to follow the below guidelines –
    To make paper readable-

    • Use a 12 point standard font, such as Times, Geneva, Bookman, Helvetica, etc for writing and printing.
    • Text should be double spaced on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper with 1 inch margins, single sided
    • Number the pages consecutively
    • Start each new section on a new page
    • Recommended the page limits
    Mistakes to avoid
    • Placing the heading at the bottom of a page with the following text on the next page (insert a page break!)
    • Dividing a table or figure – confine each figure/table to a single page
    • Submitting the paper with pages out of order

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Michael 7:09 am on September 30, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Some common mistakes in reporting style 

    1. Verbs
    2. Tenses and grammar
    3. No proofreading!
    4. Unnecessary background and highlights
    5. Spellings and typos
    6. Inaccurate quotes, phrases or words
    7. Over simplification. Sometimes use of jargons or technical words is necessary.
    8. Superficiality i.e., Re-writing something in a different way
    9. Anthromorphism. Being short of words or the exact terms and using loads of words to explain things.
    10. Other common mistakes and reporting of results
    11. Not understanding the significance of ‘significance’. Yes, it is really important to tell about the significance of doing a research in the particular topic because if you will fail to convey that to the evaluators they will probably have no interest in reading further.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Dr S Loretti 4:45 am on September 29, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Who can help you with Editing? 

    – Your supervisors are the best to consult with. They can guide you throughout the whole process though, but it is really good if you go to them for help as they have all the updates.
    – Look for Library catalogues or even browsing internet would work well.
    – Try to attend available Workshops/tutorials on Thesis Writing and Editing.
    – Graduates in your group or work colleagues could also be a great option, as they’ll available at any time you need an advice.
    – A professional editor is also a good option available these days. If your pocket allows you to spend some extra pounds.
    Going for any one of these options will work great for you and you’ll surely be able to get an error free work with some useful suggestions to improve.

     

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