Writing a Publishable Article Some Food For Thought

Writing a Publishable Article: Some Food For Thought 12 th TUT Annual Post-Graduate Academy Lecture April 27, 2020 Presenter-Prof KP Quan-Baffour, UNISA

TITLE OF PAPER ¡ A Precise and interesting title that captures what is covered in the article and attracts people to read it. ¡ Title should not be too long and wordy [12 -15 words, better].

ABSTRACT o ¡ Brief abstract indicating context and motivation for study; objectives of the investigation; research approach and methods of data collection; data analysis; findings, conclusions & recommendations. Abstract should be between 250 -300 words or as required by specific journal. [250 – 300 words]

INTRODUCTION (1) Background to Study: q Provide a brief background of problem investigated. E. g. what is happening which shouldn’t happen? Or what is not happening that is suppose to happen? q Convince readers that this is a problem. [i. e. problematize the issue identified] q Justify why the issue is worth researching. q Let your focus be clear and stable. E. g. how you conducted/intend to conduct the research. q Provide brief relevant recent literature on issues related to your study. q Sources shouldn’t be more that 5 -7 years old.

INTRODUCTION (2) q Ideally this section should not be more than 2– 2½pages Significance & Contribution of Study to knowledge q Brief discussion of new knowledge your study brings to your field of study. Here you need to answer the following questions: - How does the study contribute to national or international debate in your field? - Does the study have disciplinary, interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary context? - Has any study been conducted on this problem or subject locally on internationally? Provide sources to support your claim.

INTRODUCTION (3) - How is your study different complement existing studies? from - Is the difference in terms methodological approach? - Which methodology is used in your study and why? In short in closing the introduction say why people should read your article or why it should be published. - At end of introduction state problem to be investigated, objectives of study and research questions. of others or contextual or

Theoretical Framework - A Wiseman builds his house on the rock (Luke 6: 48). Researchers like builders need to anchor their research on solid foundations i. e. a relevant theories. - Dig deeper into theory e. g. origin, principles and lessons. - Discuss its relevance or implications for your study i. e. justification of theory. For example if you chose a social participation in SGB, then establish theory’s relationship to a qualitative inquiry - Can do literature study in addition framework. [2 -2½ pages] to theoretical

Research Design and Methodology o Describe the research approach used in conducting the study e. g. to address the problem, an inquiry using qualitative approach was undertaken to ascertain the views of SGB members regarding corporal punishment; with a view to further inform the research agenda and policy debates. - Study was a case study and employed a variety of data gathering methods e. g. observation, in-depth interviews and document analysis to understand dynamics and functioning of small sample of SGBs in Secondary Schools in Vryburg with reference to corporal punishment. - Briefly describe selection of participants e. g. say how you chose participants. § Use pseudonyms for anonymity and confidentiality[2 pages]

Collection of Data - State and describe the method used. E. g. was it observation, interviews , questionnaire or all the above? - Justify why you used the particular methods for this study. - If you used more than one method provide a sample for each e. g. indicate no of schools, no of SGB members involved. For example: - School A B C D Total Observation 3 3 12 Interviews 3 3 12 If document analysis name the type of documents used.

Data Analysis - Explain how you analysed the data - Give account of every step you took in doing the analysis e. g. transcribing interview data, coding, recoding and arranging data under specific themes - Did the language used for data collection accommodate every participant? If not how was the information explained before the analysis? - Did you code to arrive at themes? Or what did you do to understand interpret the data? [1 page]

Discussion of Findings (1) - Bulk of the work lies here and researcher should show evidence that data were indeed collected. - Start each paragraph by stating the question asked to participants. - Discuss the responses and provide relevant extracts (in case of qualitative research) from responses to interviews to show that data were actually collected. - Look for themes that emerged from the findings, discuss them at length and support them with the literature/theoretical framework. i. e. substantiate your discussion the quotes garnered from interviews in collaboration with the existing literature and theoretical framework.

Discussion of Findings (2) - Discuss findings and collaborate them with existing literature. i. e. do cross referencing. - Discuss the findings for each research method used and sythesize the findings. - Indicate how responses collaborated or differed in terms of the different data collection methods. - In case of quantitative research, provide tables of results and interpret the figures to give meaning to the data. i. e. give evidence of the findings e. g. numbers. - For both qualitative and quantitative study you need evidence to show readers that indeed the research was conducted. - State how your paper contributes the existing knowledge in your area of research. [3 -4 pages]

Conclusions and Recommendations o o These should be based on the research findings discussed in the paper. Do not discuss new ideas but sythesize what has been discussed. - REFERENCES List only sources used in the text - Arrange source alphabetically ¡ THANK U FOR LISTENING!