Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; Background to book; Focus and scope of current volume; Part 1: The place of research in higher education institutions; Introducing the section (include challenges facing institutions and researchers); Chapter 1: Locating research; Competing priorities; What kind of research?; Teaching and research; "Research led"; Institutional research management; Research management tools (e.g. Scopus; Research Professional Africa); Capacity-building collaboration; Chapter 2: Supporting research and researchers: creating a milieu for growth; Research mentoring; Research incentives; Fostering communities of practice; Chapter 3: Research benchmarking; Internationalisation (incl. quality control; rankings); The South African National Research Foundation (NRF) rating system; Part 2: Welcome to academia: Understanding the terrain; Introducing the section (incl. locating research both locally and globally, with reference to Part 1); Chapter 4: Research as part of the academic portfolio; Why research?; Universities are concerned with generation, communication[teaching, publishing, etc] and application of knowledge; The teaching-research relationship; Becoming research-savvy (know what's required and available; plan well; assume responsibility; take initiative); Cornerstones of the academic enterprise; Peer-review; Networking; Collegiality; Chapter 5: Identifying a research focus; Your research story; The place of primary research; Local need and individual passion; Socially responsive and responsible research; North-South and South-South discourses; Indigenous knowledge production and Africa-centred research; Availability of resources; Institutional agendas; Part 3: Developing a research profile; Introducing the section (coherence in research; developing research skills; include reference to research KPIs: Higher degrees, peer-reviewed output, sourcing and managing external funds, successful Masters and PhD supervision, ad hominem promotions); Chapter 6: Tools of the researcher: An introduction; Cultivate communication and writing skills; Plan ahead, manage time and anticipate needs; Academic dovetailing: Teaching, research and other responsibilities; Integrity in research: Ethical issues; Chapter 7: Getting research into the public domain; Types and stages of research output; Creative (non-textual) output; Entering the publishing world; Engaging with theory and structuring an argument; Constructing an article (generic + discipline perspectives); Evaluating written research: Reviewing an article; Dissemination and impact; Choosing a journal and understanding impact factor and H index; Open access publishing; Alternative metrics; Managing on-line presence; Chapter 8: The value of conferences; Why are conferences important?; Optimising attendance (preparation, presentation, feedback, post-conference); Chapter 9: Raising funds and managing grants; Identifying an appropriate funding agency and grant; Principles of grant-writing; Managing the grant; Chapter 10: Sabbaticals and research visits; Part 4: Higher degrees: Writing a thesis and supervising its production; Introducing the section (include rationale for dealing with writing and supervision together i.e. many emerging researchers both supervisors and students themselves; both perspectives relevant); Chapter 11: The PhD process; Chapter 12: Supervision strategy; Taking on a student; Relationships, roles, responsibilities and styles; Co-supervision; Chapter 13: Thesis production and examination; Conclusion; Bibliography; Appendices.

About the Author

Lyn Holness was Cluster Manager for Research Development and Manager of the Emerging Researcher Programme at the University of Cape Town, South Africa until 2009.