22nd Pattaya International Conference on Economics, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences (PEEHSS-19), Aug. 12-14, 2019
Re-calibrating Writing Skills of Research Enthusiasts for International Publications Prof. Dr. David Cababaro Bueno Dean of Graduate, and Director, Research, Innovation and Knowledge Development at Columban College, Inc., Olongapo City, Zambales, Philippines Abstract- This paper provides facts in re-calibrating the
writing skills of research enthusiasts for possible international journal publications. It was presented during the international conference organized by the International Association of Humanities, Social Sciences & Management Researchers (HSSMR). It focused primarily on the basic principles and guidelines for writing a publishable research article for journal publication. It provided guidelines in writing the abstract and keywords, and the Introduction, Methodology, and Results and Discussion (IMRaD), as well as suggestions in writing conclusions and recommendations for future research. Keywords- Educational research, writing skills, research enthusiasts, international publications
I. INTRODUCTION Writing has always been regarded as an important component of the communication skill engineering students must acquire while in college. Writing for publication is considered essential to the advancement of engineering profession (Hasan, 2016). Getting your paper published can be a satisfying and rewarding experience. Writing and publishing in entails diligence and perseverance and can be just as difficult as the research itself (Thompson, 2015). As an author, your task is to present your research results in a form that can be used by other investigators. It is expected that publishable papers provide readers with new information or new ways to think about a topic (Sadiku, Musa, & Nelatury, 2018). The International Association of Humanities, Social Sciences & Management Researchers (HSSMR) is primarily dedicated to the research in Humanities, Social Sciences & Management. It promotes research by organizing conferences as well as workshops with the aim to bring together Researchers, Scientists, Professionals, Scholars and Students in the various areas of Humanities, Social Sciences & Management, and provides a forum for the dissemination of original research results, new ideas, Research and development, practical experiments, which concentrate on both theory and practices, for the benefit of society. We cordially welcome professors, Researchers and professional from Industry who want to join us or contribute. HSSMR is associated with Universal Researchers (UAE). Higher Education Institution (HEI) is the pathway to the empowerment of people and the development of nations.
Knowledge generation has replaced ownership of capita assets and labor productivity as the source of growth and prosperity. Innovation is seen as the melody for development. This realization is pervasive that nations are scrambling to create institutions and organizations that would facilitate the process of knowledge creation. Knowledge creation requires a network of scholars actively engaged in its pursuit because the search for the unknown is a product of engaged minds, and constantly challenging the known in an enabling environment. The modern university is the ideal space for the ecosystem of scholars to search for new ideas in a spirit of free inquiry. In human history, the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has been one of the prodigious institutions that has emerged and endured. Its structure; however, has changed over the centuries. The primacy of research over teaching was solidified as evidenced by the research productivity within the university, with the quest for knowledge as an ongoing enterprise. The discernable aspect of the modern university was the provision of substantial funding to support research. The modern research university has also encouraged deep specializations structured around disciplines. Dividing knowledge into disciplines and fields provides depth of understanding in an increasingly complex world. However, a growing understanding has appeared that the problems of the 21st century require a holistic understanding of knowledge in various aspects. New knowledge materializes at the boundaries of existing disciplines; and crossfertilization of disciplinary understanding occurs in numerous ways. The necessity to relate research to the needs of society has also emerged as a dominant paradigm of the policy discourse in higher education (Sibal, 2011). Thus, world-class research universities are essential in developing a nation’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. These universities, at the pinnacle of the higher education hierarchy, play key roles in creating and disseminating knowledge, educating a highly skilled workforce for technological and intellectual leadership, and serving the needs of society (Altbach, 2009; Van der Wende, 2009). In the past few years, it can be argued that an increasing number of countries, regions and higher education institutions in different parts of the world have joined the same battle for academic excellence. This trend to create and enhance globally competitive universities can be traced not only in developed countries but also in developing ones. While emerging countries and their universities make every effort to enhance their capacity and to boost their research
performance, the academic superpowers endeavor to maintain, if not further improve their global positions. The International Conference on Economics, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences scheduled today, is for the scientists, scholars, professionals and students from the Universities all around the world and the industry to present ongoing research activities, and hence to foster research relations between the Universities and the industry. This conference provides opportunities for the delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. The conference is sponsored by Universal Researchers (UAE). All the submitted conference papers are peer-reviewed by the program technical committees of the Conference. All accepted papers of the conference are published in the printed conference proceedings with International ISBN number registered at London, UK and will be archived in UR's Engineering & Technology Digital Library. Each Paper will be assigned Digital Object Identifier (DOI) from CROSSREF. Later, the proceedings of the conference will be submitted to ISI Thomson/ SCOPUS for review and possible indexing. In addition, the proceedings will be indexed at Google and Google Scholar and all major search engines. Thus, a number of papers are focused on economics, education, humanities and social sciences, law, business, environmental, chemical, biological and medical sciences, recent trends science, engineering, technology and disaster, and interdisciplinary studies. II. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This paper aims to provide facts for re-calibrating the writing skills of research enthusiasts for possible international journal publications. It focuses primarily on the basic principles and guidelines following the Introduction, Methodology, and Results and Discussion (IMRaD), as well as suggestions in writing conclusions and recommendations for future research. III. METHODOLOGY It utilized document reviews and analyses. Major references, journals’ guidelines for authors and writers, as well as online publications were consulted by the author to come up with a consolidated suggestions and recommendations for future research writers and authors for possible international publications. The approach involved the provision of highlights that authors need to pay attention to in carrying out the production of a journal-length article from researches. It is vital for expository studies and tends to offer insight on how to execute a design or an engagement including those relating to how to prepare papers by amateur
academics. Additionally, the approach used tend to demystify issues that would otherwise become unclear to new authors, in the making reducing more elaborate documents to relatively smaller ones equivalent of journallength articles. Thus, the method employed sought to underline the necessary guideposts as well as rudiments that would be beneficial to potential authors of articles and also make it easy to get the articles approved for publication (Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018). IV. DISCUSSION Abstract. An abstract should be presented on a separate page immediately preceding the text. The Abstract should concisely inform the reader of five vital information: introduction of the topic, chief purpose, objective, method, results and conclusions. Only recommendations with universal or wider application could be included but optional only (Thompson, 2015). Moreover, an abstracts must include sufficient information for reviewers to judge the nature and significance of the topic, the adequacy of the investigative strategy, the nature of the results, and the conclusions. The abstract should summarize the substantive results of the work and not merely list topics to be discussed. An abstract is an outline/brief summary of your paper and your whole project. It should have an intro, body and conclusion. It is a well-developed paragraph, should be exact in wording, and must be understandable to a wide audience. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words (Abreh & Amenorvi, 2018; Pickett & Mcdonnell, 2017; Shidham, 2012). Keywords. The abstract must be followed by keywords in four parts: discipline of the study, concepts/ variables, methods, process, and geography of the study, country, and continent (Pickett & Mcdonnell, 2017; Jensen, 2017; Singh, 2015). Introduction. The introduction is the part of the paper that provides readers with the background information for the research. Its purpose is to ascertain a framework for the research, so that the readers can understand how it is related to other researches or studies". In an introduction, the researcher should create reader interest in the topic, lay the extensive foundation for the problem that leads to the study, place the study within the larger context of the scholarly literature to illustrate the global and local perspectives, and reach out to a specific reader (Singh, 2015). Thus, the researcher/ writer needs to consider the following in formulating the framework of the study: (1) existing literature and previous research and its relevance to the current investigation; (2) and relevant theoretical or conceptual perspective or perspectives based on the previous research studies/ conducted and literature review ranging from global to local perspectives; (3) key ideas/
concepts or constructs in research approach; (4) a gap in existing literature and studies conducted and considerations of inquiry; (5) exposition of the rareness and novelty of the present study; as well as the (6) aims or objectives of the study (Bueno, 2017; Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018). The introduction usually elaborates on what the study is about, the conceptions and assumptions that underline it, literature that inform this current research, frameworks and raised issues that support why the study is worth conducting. Thus, there is the need therefore to put this part in a very logical and orderly manner publication (Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018; Pollard, 2005). Methodology. Methods are tools for data collection, for example, focus group discussions employed in collecting data from a small group of people with a homogenous background. It looks at the approaches and justification for their choice for carrying out the research work. Methodology or procedures applied vary according to the discipline and topic at one level, and the type of journal, conference and audience that the research article targets Abreh & Amenorvi, 2018). Thus, it should explicitly present the specific research design, the sampling technique used, research environment/ site, contruction and validation of instrument, data-gathering procedure, ethical consideration, and data analysis technique (Pickett & Mcdonnell, 2017; Jensen, 2017; Singh, 2015; Bueno, 2017; Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018). Results and Discussion. The results/ findings are based on addressing research questions or testing hypotheses to a broader research topic than it is with research articles. Similarly, findings with research articles come in the same fashion, but with a bit of difference. The difference stems from the fact that the findings of research articles are much succinct. Here again, an author ought to bring coherence and chronological order in the reportage of the findings of a study (Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018; Shidham, 2012; Pickett, & Mcdonnell, 2017). Thus, the presentation of the results in terms of narratives or tables, charts or graphs must be carefully decided at the methodology stage. The discussion must at all times interconnect the chart, tables and graphs and statistical inferences drawn from the data. In other words, the data presentation tools do a secondary role of supporting the arguments and discussions. This will guide the course of conciseness that the author desires to accomplish, while directing the objective of the journal article. Take note that straightforward data are better reported as narratives (Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018). Authors’ perspective and biases must not be introduced at this stage of the work (Rudner & Schafer, 1999), and therefore, useful for the author to allow the research to report without any potentially skewed data (Abreh, & Amenorvi, 2018; Berman, 2017; Brusa, Carter, & Hellman, 2010). Thus, it is also suitable to come up with an interpretation and
explanation that are dependable and reliable with the priorities offered relative to its problem, objectives(s) and research question(s) or hypotheses in line with the methods and procedures and the analysis to draw scientific inferences (Thompson, 1995). Conclusions. Conclusions should briefly answer the objectives of the study. They are not repetitions of the discussions but are judgments of the results obtained. Therefore, the author needs to wrap up by concisely affirming the most substantial information and insight as results of the research. The conclusion is a provision of perspective that the study brings to bear. It indicates a note of finality to the paper, drives home the point by restating the objectives addressed by the study and indicates the significance of the study more clearly why its findings matter to the global readers and future research consumers. It is therefore suggested to use a compelling and captivating statement (Abreh & Amenorvi, 2018; Pickett & Mcdonnell, 2017; Shidham, 2012; Jensen, 2017; Singh, 2015; Bueno, 2017; Brusa, Carter, & Hellman, 2010). This means the extraordinarily new insight must be unpacked and showcased at this section. References. Every journal article must include a “References or Literature Cited� section that contains only those works cited within the manuscript. Each entry should contain all information necessary of the published work. Authors are advised to use references which are traceable online, with Digital Object Identifier, indexed by international databases, written by authors or agencies and not links. The URL must be written at the end of the bibliographic entry and provide the date of retrieval and the link. Sources must be at least five years old except sources of theories, historical documents or chronologic presentations of the literature and theoretical reviews. Writers must refrain from using unpublished research, thesis or dissertation. APA may be the standard format to be used for all social science researches (Berman, 2017; Brusa, Carter, & Hellman, 2010). V. CONCLUSIONS This paper highlighted potential information that research enthusiasts and potential authors can take note of and triumph their attempt to publish in peer-reviewed journals. This significant note will surely guide the choices that authors and researchers would like to consider. Moreover, equally important is meeting the demands and requirements of the target journal for international publication relative to writing the abstract and keywords, and the Introduction, Methodology, and Results and Discussion (IMRaD), as well as conclusions and recommendations.
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