Research, passion and bias

Passion in research is a good thing. It is a critical ingredient in making things happen and trying to make a difference in practice. The danger though with passion is that we ignore other possible ways of doing things as we start to believe that the thing we are passionate about is the "only" way of doing things. So rationality is required to be objective in exploring alternative ways, methods and philosophies. Research is continually evolving and we should not be custodians of methods and techniques since these should be allowed to evolve and develop. In a way, these are things that should be messed with since this can lead to new developments and ways of doing things.

What makes a good reviewer?

People have different views on what makes a good reviewer. Some people measure the quality of reviews by the number of words with a longer review being seen as better. For me a good review has balance, it states what is good as well as what needs to be improved or added. A completely negative review is destructive and the good points are lost on the author who will only see criticism. To me a good review stresses a number of things that need to be improved, the key things to get the article published. This does not necessarily mean it has to be several pages. In fact it can be quite succinct and hence more manageable for the author to understand and follow.

www.CompletePhD.com

New Centre for Innovative Practice

We have developed a new research centre at ECU. The theme is innovative practice and it is a Faculty wide entity that draws on researchers from accounting and finance, marketing, justice, law, management and information systems. We have have some research projects already underway. One in particular is related to "individual innovation" and examines how organisations can support their employees in being more innovative. We intend to collaborate with international organisations so if you have a proposal to put to us and would like to collaborate on a joint project please contact me about it. Craig Standing

Large research project anyone?

At the start of the year I invited people to get involved in a large research project. I wanted a large team (hundreds) to tackle a large project. I floated the idea of offering help and collaborating with groups needing advice. These could be villages in developing countries as an example, or groups anywhere. We have expertise that we do not always put to use and so I thought it might be a way of collaborating, using this knowledge and solving real issues and problems. Is anyone interested?

People Matter

I had wanted to do a PhD for a long time. Bill Black, my supervisor from my Masters, really put the idea into my head when we met a couple of years after doing my Master of Science in computing. I was coming back to Oldham on the train and we bumped into one another. He said, "why don't you take a Masters?" The fees were high but I thought maybe my College could partly sponsor me. As it turned out I came to Australia and enrolled in one here. Geoff Roy became my suprvisor and I was lucky to have such a good mentor. Since then I have collaborated with a large number of people and each one in some way has motivated me. So people matter a lot in research as they give you energy,ideas and make opportunties for you.

Call for Papers

Journal of Systems and Information Technology



Special Issue on Technology, Information Systems and Collaboration: Social Media and Beyond



Special Issue Editor: Helene Delerue




The use of social media is becoming increasingly important. This leads to several research issues: Why do some companies use social media whilst others do not? How are firms using social media? What are the consequences of using social media?
Few scholarly studies have considered how social media may benefit firms and the majority have focused on social media as marketing tools. Nevertheless, social media can have cognitive, strategic, and managerial consequences. Other key issues are: How can we measure the effect of social media on firm and social media effectiveness? How can firms monitor social media? What are the challenges and opportunities of social media in collaborative projects?



The special issue aims to foster information system research in understanding, illustrating, and explaining the business use and consequences of social media.



Target topics that are relevant to this special issue of JoSIT include but are not limited to:


- Social media - and beyond- and business social network;
- Social media - and beyond- effectiveness;
- Social media - and beyond- and innovation;
- Social media - and beyond- and human resources management

- Current approach to and practices of using social media -and beyond- for firm growth

- Social media development among industries
- Information security and social media



Publication Guidelines:
All papers will undergo a blind refereeing process by at least two referees.



Timeline: Submission deadline: 30st Nov 2011

Reviews returned: Jan 15th, 2012

Resubmission of papers: March 1st
Final decision: April 10th, 2012

Publication: 2012



All submissions must be original works which have not appeared elsewhere and which are not being considered for publication with another journal. As the reviewing process will be conducted anonymously, please do not include your name(s) on the submission.

People are encouraged to send their papers in by email to:


Helene Delerue

vidot-delerue.helene@uqam.ca

Taking ownership of your PHD

The most important thing about taking a doctorate is taking ownership of it. Students often feel, especially at the start, that it isn't their project but rather owned by the supervisor or the university. It is important for the candidate to take ownership as early as possible, if not right from the start. Some supervisors may create a dependency culture which inhibits the student from making decisions. Over supervision can also lead to a dependency culture and like most relationships the more one partner does the less the other may do!

The student has to gain a research voice and this will show through in the final thesis but without taking ownership early on they writing may lack confidence. Even worse when they have completed they may lack the confidence to fly solo.