Research is a tedious process of self-dedication, sacrifice and mindfulness that yields a product of appreciation and mass recognition. However, it is a less rewarding job and with every passing day, the proportion of efforts to outcome, is depreciating. Journal call for paper opportunities are all around as open access journals are flourishing with new researchers and academicians, but that also means that a lot of regular content gets published these days, which makes it difficult for a particular work to leave a lasting impact. To make your research more impactful try using the tips below:-
- Plan your initial engagement– The first step to a power-packed research is developing a structured engagement with the work, which also includes effective management of the work within a timeline. Writing comes much later. Project management strategies should be optimized wisely. Take notes at every step, collaborate with fellow researchers for discussing your idea, look for organizations to fund your project, set a proper calendar for every step of the work, and these are just a few tips to manage your project better. Know and accept that you have to commit yourself to a long-term engagement and self-organization is a must.
- Do research on a socially relevant subject– You may have passion for the unknown, the undiscovered, but you have to face it; when your research cannot change something in society, it won’t be meaningful to real people. When you pick a real problem, existent in society as your topic of research, you can make a direct impact on the society by solving the problem meaningfully. Survey the market. An assessment of current scenario, local and global is important in order to decide upon your research topic. For e.g. when a Pandemic like COVID-19 is going on around, and you are a researcher in the field of Psychology, you need to keep in mind the condition of global society and frame, how your research can solve the problems related to mental health during COVID-19. In short, you need to be aware of the problems around you, so that you can find their solutions directly.
- Make your pitch socially meaningful– When you have taken a step forward on the initial steps, you have done your research well and you are ready for your thesis publication, you have to think on how you will pitch your work. You need to pitch even before research, when you need funding for your work. Whatever, your research topic is, make sure you defend it properly in your pitch, such that it makes sense to the society. You have to convince the listeners, that if your research isn’t there, developments in the field of technological innovations and other discoveries that directly solve a societal problem, won’t be possible. Say, your response to journal call for paper is on a hydration machine; if you can pitch your story such that it will convince your audience that it can solve water-scarcity across the world, your research will be directly impactful upon society.
Use the same method and precision to develop a problem statement in your research abstract.
- Use the right Keywords– These days, findings something is not difficult because everything is on the web. But that finding can become too rigorous for readers, if your study doesn’t have the right keywords in the title, because this is the age of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Do a basic research of what are trending on the popular search engines before you decide a title for your research or when you publish your thesis as a book. Right keywords facilitate finding your research easily. When your research is found easily, it gets better visibility and citation.
- Do your literature review before hand– You have to study related researches in your field very wisely. Unless you do that, you cannot define your research question; neither will you be able to identify if your work is important at all. Do not neglect your review of literature before responding to a journal call for paper; do it much before you start off with anything else. That will save you time when you start the research, survey, techniques and analyses.
- Take forward your work to the actual audience– Promotion and marketing in every field hold immense importance. After your academic work is ready, you have to go out into the society and work with real people to make your thesis prominent. You may have to preach and explain the main victims of the problem, how your research is going to help them evolve from situation; how you have worked hard to make a change in the society. That is how, your research will find a place among non-scientists; when they will identify with your work, they will be willing to read it.
