Publishing Extension ResearchBeyond Journal Papers

Rasheed Sulaiman VCentre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy

Workshop on Good Practices in Extension Research and Evaluation29 Nov-2 Dec 2016, NAARM, Hyderabad

Why Publish?

Who are you in your professional life?

Beyond performing teaching, research and extension functions?

Beyond R-T-E, are we these too…..

• Analyst

• Expert

• Consultant

• Advisor

• Reviewer (of programmes)

• Evaluation specialist

• Developer/Designer

• Blogger

• Manager

• Coordinator

Why researchers publish?

Why publish? • Vital for progress of science

– Free exchange of information,

– Builds on new findings

– Review process placing his/her work in the literature and suggest new paths to be taken

– Get feedback

• Career improvement

– Identifying the best in the discipline

– Recognition

• Accountability

To the money spent on a project

• Provide Policy Advice

Publishing in scientific journals • Write a paper

• Mail the copy to editor/ publisher of a selected journal

• Editor makes a quick assessment (whether it should be send for review or reject at that stage)

• At least two anonymous reviewers examine the paper

• Recommendations to the editor

• Editor reads these reviews and make a decision on publish or not– Accept as such– Accept with revisions (major/minor)– Reject

• Resubmit with more evidence to the same journal or another journal

Reviewers spend considerable time in reading your paper and it is unpaid (in most cases)

Review Process• JAEE- (example)

• Few things I have noted

• Introduction (Introduction to the topic or paper ?)

• Review of literature Discussion

• Discussion Conclusion

• Language issues (sending before language editing)

Where can we publish extension research?-The following questions bother many who are keen to publish their

research on extension.

• Can we publish our papers only in journals having “extension” in their title?

• Which are the other journals where we could publish findings of extension research?

• Why many other social science journals that publish articles related to extension not being considered for career advancement purpose by organizations like ICAR and SAUs (in India)?

• As professionals, should we do something to include many more professionally rated high impact social science journals in indices which are used for judging professional achievement?

• But are we sufficiently aware of the wide range of available journals where we could publish our work?

http://www.aesa-gfras.net/Resources/file/Where%20we%20can%20publish%20ex

tension%20research%20-%20Final%20Note.pdf

Types of journals• Extension • Communication• Education and Information

Sciences• Management • ICTs• Pshychology• Gender• Rural Development• Social Science Research• Other social sciences• General Agricultural Journals

that also publish extension research

Review Papers: Policy Review

Review Paper: ICTs in South Asia

Other research publications

Books

Book chapters

Policy Papers

Policy Briefs

Discussion Papers/

Working Papers

Blogs

Good Practices (GFRAS/AESA)

Consultancy Report Conference proceedings

Manuals,

Guides

AESA BlogsOur experience with editing

blogs

Writing skills vary considerably

Limited motivation to write blogs-What I gain by writing a blog? (this is changing now)

Often needs several iterations

Need help with style and presentation

Need to devote time to help identify and support potential bloggers

Blogs

• Personal publishing

“a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis”

It is a place to express yourself to the world. A place to share your thoughts and your passions.

Every human has a voice and wishes their voice to be heard.

Promoting your work through social media and as blogs

• Social Media

– Posting in social media not considered as web publishing, but it can promote web publishing

– AESA groups in Facebookand LinkedIn

Policy Papers/Book chapters/Thematic Notes

Good Practices in Extensionwww.betterextension.org

Good Practices

Consulting

• Consulting is also research (demand-led/generation of new knowledge relevant to the user)-multiple ways to do research (beyond numerical data)

• Different types of consulting: Lead consultant, Individual consultant, National consultant, part of a team

• In Social science and policy research, the critical skills include:

– Ability to review, synthesize, link with other source of knowledge,

– articulate in macro terms (policy, sector, operational terms)

Diagnosis

Analysis of the current and possible institutional arrangements for scaling out intensification of smallholder farming systems in 8 Districts (4 in India, 2 each in Bangladesh and Nepal)

What are the major institutions and policies that currently constrain development of small holder dairying in Bihar?

Agricultural Innovation System: Diagnostic tool

To conclude

• Publishing needs quality research, good presentation and also luck

• Rejections rates are generally high (to ensure quality)-don’t worry

• Good journals provide you a lot of suggestions on improving your paper (even if they reject), learn from these

• Publishing in journal articles is important, but many decision makers rarely read the journal articles

• Beyond journal articles, there are several ways to publish and promote your work and we should fully use these

Key capacities (for publishing)

• Knowledge related to:

– Advances in social science research methods

– Advances in extension, communication and innovation studies

• Skills related to:

– Writing for different formats (including use of social media)

• Attitude

– Passion for strengthening extension

Thankswww.crispindia.org

www.aesa-gfras.net

Increasingly electronic and open access

Advantages; , No offset printing, reach wider audience, reduce time, content online, downloadable as PDFs, Printable