Motivation
Your publications advertise your skills, areas of interest, and expertise. Recker (2021, 164)
Opening remarks
Research process
Good research starts with a problem and requires the following steps to address the problem:
Step 1: Motivation (relevance, scope, and research question)
Step 2: Theory (concepts and interrelations)
Step 3: Method (approach to knowledge generation)
Step 4: Analysis (evaluation of data)
Step 5: Interpretation (implications)
If the research was successful, the process ends with the dissemination of the knowledge generatedâthe publication.
Discuss
What do you think, how important are publications to a academic career?
Publish or perish
Publications are key to any academic career
- Publications are key for universities (reputation, funds, etc.)
- Papers make research outcomes last as additions to the body of knowledge
- Papers are the main proof of valid research activity
- Papers are the best way for you to market your skills and creativity
- Papers are the best mechanism for getting feedback about your research
- Papers helps you become a member of a research community
- Writing helps clarify your ideas and fit them into the discussions in the field
You are what you publish
Publications are the most important KPIs of a researcherâthey shape the career path in academia (Recker 2021).
- Number of peer-reviewed publications
(e.g., Assistant Professor in the US requires minimum 8+ journal articles in 6 years to achieve tenure; German universities usually expects around 6 or more A+ journal articles for a W3 professor) - Quality of peer-reviewed publications
Citations to your paper (e.g. H-index[^Hi]) and the type and quality of the outlet in which your paper is published (e.g., journal impact factor, journal ratings)
Academics are ranked, literally, and publications are the most important factor (e.g., AIS Research Ranking)
What do you publish?
Scientific papers are about research.
- Papers cover the process and, importantly, the outcomes of a scientific activity.
- Writing papers typically means that the research has been completed1.
Good papers require good research, good research requires good writing (Recker 2021, 168)
- Purposive and objective
- Replicable procedures
- Appropriate conclusions
Impact matters
Dissemination is not impact: You do not succeed as a scientist by getting papers published. You succeed by creating impact.
What is impact?
Resonance in a cumulative tradition, which indicates that a paper helps to actually solve the problem being researched.
Few publications create impact (Recker 2021):
- 30% of papers are never cited
- 20-30% of papers attract 80% of citations
Success requires a strategy
In this chapter, we touch three important strategic considerations that will impact your writing:
- Preparation: How to prepare to write a successful paper?
- Process How to set up the process of writing?
- Publication Where to publish good research?
Preparation
How to prepare to write a successful paper?
Read before you write
Reading is not only required for doing good research, also to get familiar with the âvoiceâ of studies published in the journals you want to submit (Recker 2021, 171).
Write early and write often
Donât wait until the research is fully completed.
Start with targeting a conference and then a reasonably good journal.
Additional tips
- Treat the proposal of your research as being your first paper that will be reviewed (see assignment for this lecture)
- Write from the middle out, at least for the first draft. Work through drafting (or listing and then drafting) the background section and theory building, first. Then, draft the rest of the paper and the introduction last (Baird 2021).
Staff a team
In scientific publications, co-authored articles are the rule, not the exception.
Look for complementarity of skills and alignment in working styles (Recker 2021, 172).
Process
What does the process for writing a scientific paper look like?
Writing process
Baird (2021, 1202) proposes following step-by-step process for writing IS papers
- Identify and clarify your core message
Area of focus, background, tension, resolution, and contribution - Draft the outline of your future manuscript
- Outline the introduction
- Create a literature review synthesis table
- Create table and figures in the findings section
- Add relevant details to the methods section
- Outline the discussion
- Draft the body of the paper
- Write a draft of the abstract, introduction, and discussion
- Go back through the entire paper
Recker (2021) adds to these points
- Put it in a drawer, take it out, read again, revise again
- Send it to a friendly reviewer and (professional) copy editor
- Submit
Baird (2021, 1202) has created a planning workshop for empirical IS papers. I recommend using the worksheet to draft and refine the core message for your master thesis. This should facilitate the work on your extended proposal.
Exercise
Read section 4 âGeneralized Guidelines for Writing IS Papersâ in Baird (2021) (download here).
Write down one or two lessons that you think are most relevant to the work on your masterâs thesis.
Publication process
Scholarly publications âcountâ as scientific publications only if they are peer-reviewed:
- Before a paper is published, it is reviewed by experts in the same field.
- This requires a community of experts in a narrowly defined field who are qualified to conduct an impartial review
- In most cases, this is a double-blind process: Authors and reviewers do not know each otherâs identity
The review process is managed by an editorial team (usually a senior and an associate editor):
- An editor is usually a successful senior scientist who is familiar with the manuscriptâs subject area
- She makes the decision on whether to publish the manuscript
Confessions
It is natural to feel bad about rejections. Unfortunately, I get them all the time too. Jan Recker
Thesis timeline
Coming back to your masterâs thesis (which might end in an publication)âa focused schedule looks like that:
- Topic identification and proposal (before registration): it depends âŚ
- Literature review and research model/framework: 6 weeks
- Preparation of the empirical part: 2 weeks
- Data collection and analysis: 4 weeks
- Conclusions, recommendations and âfinishingâ: 4 weeks
When planning the timeline, consider holidays and so called freezes (typically from mid December to mid January), in particular, if you need interview partnersâthey might be not available during these periods of time.
Publication
How to find a suitable outlet for publication?
Initial remarks
Publication outlets differ widely in quality (Recker 2021)
- Good outlets will only accept good papers describing good research
- Publish high-impact papers in high-quality outlets
Open publishing process
- Once you publish, your ideas are out there (you canât withdraw them)
- Published research will impact your reputation
Once you published a result, you canât publish it again (one-stop option)
Exercise
What different publication formats exist?
Publication formats
(Edited) books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, workshop papers, technical reports, and many more
There are a variety of different publication formats.
- (Edited) Books
- Book chapters
- Journal articles
- Conference papers
- Workshop papers
- Technical reports
And many more.
Exercise
What are the differences?
Books
Scholars also write entire books or refereed book chapter in edited books.
However, some universities do not count them at all as publications as part of promotion or tenure decisions.
Implications
- Scholars typically contribute fewer to books than they write journal articles because book chapters are not considered as important (even though peer-reviewed).
- This not imply that the quality of these writings is generally worse (or better) than that of a journal article (at least if good review processes are in place).
Conference proceedings
The purpose of conferences is often to allow scientists to present their ongoing research to the community for opinions, feedback, and new ideas.
Papers presented at conferences are usually intended as an intermediate step in the research and publication process, not as an end goal.
Implications
- Conference papers are usually shorter than journal articles and often describe research in progress.
- The review process for most conferences is much shorter and far less rigorous than for a good journal.
Journals
In most scientific fields, the highest-quality publications are those published in a (defined) number of top-tier journals.
Ranking list evaluate journals based on metrics such as impact factor, readership, editorial board composition, and other criteria, e.g.
- In IS, a consortium of reputable scholars has jointly defined a set of eight elite journalsâ the Senior Scholarsâ Basket of Journals
- In Germany, the German Association for Business School Professors ranks a list of journals that are relevant to business school researchersâthe JourQual
- The Financial Times lists the 50 most renowned journals in the field of managementâthe FT50 List
The journal impact factor (IF) is a measure of the frequency with which the âaverage articleâ in a journal has been cited in a particular year 2.
Exercise
Check which journals have published the most interesting papers you have read in the last few weeks. Check their impact factor and consider whether it reflects your perception of quality. And think about why (or why not)?
Which outlet to choose?
Journals are selective in what they publishâthey only look for certain types of contributions (Recker 2021).
Implications
- Inform yourself about the aims and audiences the journal is interested in
- Submit papers only to journals that
- want to publish the type of contribution your research makes and
- address the same audience
- Check if you have cited papers from the journal you aim at
- Read many papers of the journal to familiarize yourself with the style and quality
Deciding on a target outlet
In deciding on a target outlet, consider five questions (Recker 2021, 175):
- What journals did you consult most when doing the research?
- How well do you know the outlet?
- Do you meet the outletâs requirements for submissions?
- What is the audience and pool of reviewers?
Who reads the journal, and who publishes in it?
Who will decide on your submission and how? - How low should you go?
Exercise
Have a look at the AIS Senior Scholarsâ Basket of Journals and select the journal for which you could write a paper that reports the findings of your master thesis.
- Why have you selected the journal?
- Are the oulined requirements for submission helpful?
Homework: Select two papers published in the journal that serves as the inspiration for your study, identify the strengths, and add them to a list that you can use to review your own work later.
Wrap-up
Developing a manuscript takes a good strategy and a lot time and effort.
Recker (2021) reminds us that âŚ
- writing is a process that takes time.
Dedicate resources to this task. Make it a priority. - writing is a skill that must be developed and refined
Spend time on learning how to write better. Read before you write, learn from professionals, editors, and of course engage in learning by doing. - writing benefits from reviewing.
While you can learn a great deal from reading papers that have been published, you can often learn even more from manuscripts that were written and submitted but may never be published. - good writing comes from revising, polishing, and editing, over and over.
Homework
Read following paper draft and reflect on the quality of the submission: Hypothetical AoM micro submission âResponses to Transformational Leadership: Are Some Followers Immune?â