Research Methodologies for Beginners

Kitsakorn Locharoenrat

• Publisher: Jenny Stanford Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315340890
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Mathematics
• Subtopic: Games in Mathematics
• Index: Mathematics

This textbook introduces the general points of view of research methodology in the scientific and engineering fields of studies and presents an overview of the technical and professional communication needed for article publication in journals. It comprises several practice exercises that will give beginners the confidence to move on the communicative activities. Every chapter provides problem sets that will help readers check their understanding of each concept. The book will also help readers formulate specific research topics, research questions, and hypotheses; conduct literature reviews relevant to the research topics; develop applicable research methodologies; and write and present their research outlining the key elements of the proposed projects. It is very useful for students and researchers opting for a course on research methodology and for seminars at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Chapter 1

Introduction

In this chapter, I introduce a general viewpoint of scientific research methodology to help you explore new information and analyze the relation between causes and effects of specific problems. This is a systematic way to find out useful data on scientific and engineering issues.

1.1 Overview

For writing scientific and engineering papers, first you have to determine which field you are interested in. You should find the journals that publish papers in your field of study. Then, you must read about 5–10 papers published by the journals in the past 5–10 years to be familiar with the type of publication, writing style, and format. You can access the website of publishers (Table 1.1) and submit your manuscript according to author guidelines. Papers can be submitted to an independent journal with an ISSN or to a special issue of conference proceedings having an ISBN. After the manuscript is submitted, you have to address the comments made by several reviewers. The paper is accepted and published after it is finally revised. In general the journal metrics are SNIP, SIR, IF, and Q.

Table 1.1 Global ranks of publishers of some scholarly journals

No.	Name of publisher	Rank
1.	Elsevier	1
2.	Springer	2
3.	Wiley	3
4.	Taylor & Francis	4

1.2 Impact Factor

You should not send your paper to predatory journals and publishers, as per Jeffrey Beall’s list. You should send it to authentic journals having an impact factor. The impact factor is considered the number “one” ranking value for authentic journals and has become a substantial part of any journal development discussion.

Eugene Garfield introduced it in the late 1950s. The yearly developments in Impact Factor are reported in the Thomson Reuters. Impact factor is a benchmark for a journal’s reputation and reflects how frequently peer-reviewed journals are cited by other researchers in a particular year. It will help you to evaluate the journal’s relative importance, especially when you would like to compare your work with others in the same field by checking a link at the ISI Web of Knowledge and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) (see Table 1.2).

Table 1.2 A JCR summary

Abbreviated journal title	ISSN	Total citation	Impact factor
ACTA PHYS POL A	0587–4246	2080	0.604
ACTA PHYS SLOVACA	0323–0465	273	2.000
ADV COND MATTER PHYS	1687–8108	200	0.862
ADV MATER SCI ENG	1687–8434	428	0.744
CHEMIJA	0235–7216	124	0.357
CHINESE J CHEM ENG	1004–9541	1572	0.872
CHINESE J PHYS	0577–9073	433	0.413
CROATICA CHEMICA ACTA	0011–1643	1026	0.556
ENVIRON ENG MANAG J	1582–9596	1137	1.258
J CHEM	0973–4945	998	0.696
J NANO RES-SW	1662–5250	248	0.564
J SPECTROSC	2314–4920	80	0.538
MACED J CHEM ENG	1857–5552	86	0.533
MATER TEHNOL	1580–2949	324	0.548
MATER TRANS	1345–9678	6792	0.679
MATERIA-BRAZIL	1517–7076	23	0.074
OPT REV	1340–6000	658	0.546
POLYM-KOREA	0379–153X	325	0.433
REV METAL MADRID	0034–8570	152	0.355
REV MEX FIS	0035–001X	526	0.328
ROM J PHYS	1221–146X	450	0.745
SCIENCEASIA	1513–1874	278	0.347
TURK J BIOCHEM	0250–4685	128	0.173
TURK J CHEM	1300–0527	1230	1.176
UKR J PHYS OPT	1609–1833	90	0.558

1.3 Research Criteria

An authentic paper is generally composed of the following criteria:

1. Necessity of research. If your answer to one of the following questions is YES, your published paper is required:

• Should the area be addressed because it has been neglected?

• Would the area fill a gap in current scientific knowledge?

2. Significance of research. If your answer to one of the following questions is YES, your published paper is important:

• Does your paper advance understanding?

• Does your paper make a useful contribution?

• Can you show a specific instance of the possible useful contribution?

• Are your findings original?

3. Relevance of research. If your answer to one of the following questions is YE...