Category Archives: Research Tips

Academic Finance as a Career: by Don Chance

Posted on by

In my earlier post on “What’s the Fuss about KPI?” (click here), I speculated that those who made a big fuss about KPI is because they have been misinformed about academic life.

For those who are considering a career in academia, I strongly recommend this essay “Academic Finance as a Career: The Good, the Bad, and the Not-so-Pretty” written by Don Chance. Even though the discussion is on finance, the information provided is relevant to other disciplines as well.

If the original link does not work, then click here.

A Guide to Publishing in International Peer-reviewed Journals: III

Posted on by

Nowadays, with Google, it is not difficult to find materials on publishing tips. From the many materials that have been downloaded, I recommend the following five:

  1. “How to Publish in Top Journals” by Kwan Choi (if the original link does not work, click here then).
  2. “Tips for Publishing in Finance Academic Journals” by Don Chance (if the original link does not work, click here then).
  3. “How to Prepare a Manuscript for International Journals” from Elsevier Author Workshop (if the original link does not work, click here then).
  4. “The Challenges of Publishing in Top-Tier Finance Journals” by Michael Lemmon (if the original link does not work, click here then).
  5. “Tips for Preparing and Publishing Research Papers” by Karl Whelan (if the original link does not work, click here then).

A Guide to Publishing in International Peer-reviewed Journals: II

Posted on by

Wiley Chinese Scholars Network (CSN) provides text, audio, and video resources to support the journey to publication for Chinese authors in an English-language journal.

In CSN’s website, you can interact with experts and your peers, access detailed explanations of the peer review process, and discover the latest news from your discipline.

Even though the objective of CSN is to support Chinese scholarship, I find that the materials on the site are useful for most researchers, in particularly the Audio Presentations and Video Lectures.

Check it out here. This is cool!

A Guide to Publishing in International Peer-reviewed Journals: I

Posted on by

Nowadays, greater weight is being given to publications in good quality journals, especially those indexed by Thomson ISI/WoS. Researchers, especially early career or those from developing countries, are eager for publishing tips.

I came across this useful page of Wiley-Blackwell on the Opportunities for Publishing in International Journals in Economics. This page publishes videos from the recent Econometric Society World Congress in Shanghai. The speakers are all editors of international journals.

To get some publishing tips, listen to those videos here.

Academic Advice from Sanjiv Das

Posted on by

I came across the blog of Sanjiv Das after reading his 2007 paper published in Management Science (click here).

I find that his posting on “Need PhD?” provides some useful thoughts for early career researchers, prospective PhD students, and academics in general (click here).

I like the concluding remark: “If you “know” that you enjoy research and will love teaching, don’t mind working all the time, anytime, for small money but great personal satisfaction, then sign up now. But don’t do it because you think the lifestyle is great, or you believe some rosy picture of an academic in an ivory tower“.

Enjoy your reading!

The Ten Commandments for Academics

Posted on by

Why indeed would anyone want to become an academic? What an academic actually does?  A paper jointly written by Michael McAleer and Les Oxley provides some understanding of an academic job description, as well as the associated responsibilities and enjoyment of being an academic. Their paper entitled “The Ten Commandments for Academics” is published in Journal of Economic Surveys, one of the leading economic journal with a current impact factor of 1.228 (click here for full paper, but requires subscription).

Their Ten Commandments are:

  1. Choose Intellectual Rewards over Money
  2. Seek Wisdom before Tenure
  3. Protect Freedom of Speech and Thought Vigorously
  4. Defend and Respect Intellectual Quests Passionately
  5. Embrace the Challenge of Teaching Undergraduate Students
  6. Acknowledge the Enjoyment in Supervising Graduate Students
  7. Be Generous with Office Hours
  8. Use Vacation Time Wisely
  9. Attend Excellent Conferences at Great Locations
  10. Age Gracefully Like Great Wine

Submission Fees I

Posted on by

When submitting a manuscript to an international journal, it is  not unusual to read from the Guide for Authors (especially for journals in the area of business):

“Each submission must be accompanied by a submission fee of US$ XXX“.

At present, it is unclear what is the university’s policy on submission fees. Nevertheless, I have compiled a list of journals, related to the field of economics and finance, in which no submission fee and page charge are imposed. The list is here.

Research Tips from Professor Rob J Hyndman

Posted on by

Rob Hyndman is a Professor of Statistics in Monash University. Through his blog, he constantly discusses some important and latest research issues, which are useful for early career researchers and postgraduate students.

I strongly recommend subscribing to the RSS feed of his research blog.  You can also visit his personal website to see his academic credentials. He is truly a world-class scholar. Continue reading →