A single mistake in choosing a research method or identifying the right target journal can send a research project far off course. For researchers, such missteps can even lead to a manuscript being rejected before it reaches the review process, a situation commonly known as desk rejection.
This challenge was at the heart of a workshop jointly organized by the Library and Archives of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Sage Publications. The two institutions brought academics together for the online workshop “Strengthening Research Ecosystem with Sage Publications” on Friday (September 11), focusing on strategies for navigating the research process and publishing in reputable international journals.
Head of the UGM Library and Archives, Arif Surachman, SIP., MBA., emphasized the importance of making the most of the information resources available within UGM when opening the event. He noted that access to scholarly databases is more than simply a facility; it is part of an effort to build an academic ecosystem that supports learning and research.
“We encourage the entire UGM academic community to actively explore and make use of the databases we have subscribed to, such as Sage Journals and Sage Research Methods. These databases are provided to support the learning and research activities of the UGM academic community,” Arif said as he officially opened the workshop.
The message set the stage for the main session, which featured Mutiara Choiriyah, Senior Library Sales Executive at Sage Publishing. She invited participants to view the research process as a whole—from developing an initial idea and determining the appropriate methodology to identifying the right path to publication.
According to Mutiara, research challenges often stem not from a lack of information, but from how researchers navigate and use the information available to them. Two recurring issues, she noted, are selecting statistical tests that do not align with the data’s characteristics and choosing target journals without sufficient consideration.
“Conducting research requires an understanding of the right process so that you do not lose direction along the way. Every stage of research comes with its own challenges. The key is simply to use the right guidance and tools from the beginning,” Mutiara said.
To help researchers navigate each stage, Mutiara introduced two key Sage platforms with different yet complementary functions.
SAGE Research Methods was presented as a kind of “research workshop” or learning platform. It provides a range of guides and interactive tools to help researchers structure their research process more systematically. One of these is Project Planner, which can be used to plan research and writing stages from the outset. Another is Which Stats Test, which helps researchers determine the most appropriate statistical test based on their data characteristics and research needs.
Once the research has been developed, the next challenge is finding the right publication outlet. At this stage, SAGE Journals serves as both a publishing platform and a scholarly reference source, enabling researchers to discover and access hundreds of thousands of research articles across a wide range of disciplines.
Sage also provides several features to help researchers navigate the publication process. Sage Path and Journal Recommender, for example, can help identify relevant journals and support article transfer to more than 400 reputable journals without article submission fees.
An article’s journey does not end once the manuscript is published. Researchers also need to understand how much attention their work receives once it enters the public domain. During the session, participants were introduced to Altmetrics, a tool that measures the online attention an article receives in real time.
The workshop demonstrated that conducting research in the digital era increasingly requires researchers to make informed decisions at every stage—from selecting sources and interpreting data to determining methodologies and choosing the right publication outlet. Technology and scholarly databases may offer a wide range of options, but researchers remain responsible for determining the direction of their work.
Efforts to strengthen these research capacities also contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4, Quality Education, by improving data literacy and research quality. The collaboration between UGM and Sage Publications also reflects SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals, through a strategic partnership between a higher education institution and a global publisher to expand access to knowledge and support the international dissemination of research findings.
Ultimately, the quality of research is determined by more than simply completing a research project. The journey—from developing an idea and selecting a methodology to analyzing data and choosing where to publish—plays an important role in determining how far the resulting knowledge can be trusted and how much impact it can make.
As access to digital information resources continues to expand, the challenge is no longer simply finding information. The real challenge is knowing which information is right, how to use it, and where that knowledge can lead.
Contributor: Wasilatul Baroroh