The Faculty of Journalism and Media Studies (FOJMS) at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC) has held a seminar on how lecturers can develop individual and group research plans to enhance their profiles.
The event, which came off on Tuesday, provided scholars an opportunity to deliberate on strategies to publish research papers in reputable academic journals.
The Acting Dean of the faculty, Professor Etse Sikanku in opening the session, said research remained central to the career of every academic, hence the need for the faculty to embrace the art and explore ways of making it a cornerstone of its agenda.
The professor encouraged team work among members of the faculty as an effective strategy of consolidating research gains.
“A good way to research is to collaborate. The whole idea is to ground all of us in research. The idea is to steep all of in research so we will all be on the same level as far as research is concerned,” he averred.
Professor Sikanku urged lecturers to identify areas of interest, knowledge and expertise to enhance specialization. “We should all strive to build a researxh identity and narrative we can be identified with. This comes from consistent publication in key identifiable and related thematic areas. Let us be known for something.”
Professor Sikanku took the faculty through the process of creating individual and group research plans. Research groups were formed to enhance tesearxh in the faculty.
Public Relations lecturer at the university, Dr. Noel Nutsugah was invited by the faculty to share insights about publishing research papers in credible academic journals.
During his presentation, Dr. Nutsugah highlighted the central role such publications played in boosting a scholar’s standing in the academic space.
He explained that papers submitted to highly rated journals for publications were routinely rejected, an occurence he said need not discourage further publications.
“Some of the great articles we read may have been rejected multiple times. And when you are rejected, there is no room for appeal. Do not give up. On my way to come and talk about rejections, I got rejected.” he joked about a personal experience.
The seminar was a practical session which presented members of the faculty an avenue for discussing individual and group research plans. Attendees also formed groups for future collaborations.
It was attended by lecturers of the faculty and the media.
The Dean pledged “frequent seminars” in the coming months “to assess our goals”.
