The majority of the submissions received for this third volume of Carpe Diem originate from postgraduate students; this is a significant development for the journal and I am extremely excited about this. The topic areas are diverse and include SME Financing, Human Resources (HR) matters such as Fair Pay and HR Professionals Competences, Subliminal Advertising and International Accounting Standards to mention a few. However, in reviewing the contents of the journal and the associated authors stimulated me into thinking a little more deeply about the postgraduate students who publish or potentially will publish in the journal.
There are many challenges that postgraduate students face, whether they return to commercial practice after being awarded their degrees or if they choose the path of Academia. It is however those students who choose the latter that are the focus of my note. The challenges faced are many but also include the impact of the dynamics of the Higher Education Sector (HES) on the students, expectations in terms of research output and associated publications, the quality of journals which will house the publications and promotion opportunities. To review all of these would unfortunately, take another 40 pages and so I would like to consider the expectations with regards to publishing. As a young researcher just completing my PhD, I recall walking into a senior staff members’ office who winked at me and said, “Publish or Perish!” I was decidedly shaken at the thought of dying an Academic death too early in my career without achieving my full potential; it is clear is that a degree of mentoring, hard work and nerves of steel are needed to deal with the challenge of publishing one’s work. There are some dilemmas that face students or young academics who have completed a research project, and then look to achieve the publishing expectations are laid out by there particular University. I have merely raised a few of them; my list is by no means exhaustive. Where does one publish? If in journal which one? What is considered to be a high quality journal? What publication rate should be strived for? I will attempt to briefly address these dilemmas.
One can publish in research books, textbooks, conference publications, professional journals or a refereed journal. It is however a peer-reviewed or refereed journal which is the optimal home for a publication; the provision of evidence of peer review on research output is important and this constitutes a peer review system that can be easily audited, thus such a journal is a top ranked publication medium. There are a couple of thoughts on the matter of criteria that are used to determine the quality of a journal. These criteria can include average rank position, citation analysis, journal familiarity, rejection rate, the topics covered, quality and effort of the referees, where the “best people” publish, the composition of the editorial board, the research methods employed in the articles that are published and so forth. The general rule of thumb for Business students is that it is preferable to have at least two refereed journal articles published annually.
Publishing is a daunting process and yet the absolute joy we experience seeing one’s work in black and white appears to balance the scales. Carpe Diem is a forum for students to appreciate the trials and tribulations of publishing and share their work with their peers and enlighten the wider academic community of their potential.
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