Previous studies of the use of peer review for the allocation of competitive funding agencies have concentrated on questions of efficiency and how to make the 'best' decision, by ensuring that successful applicants are also the more productive or visible in the long term. This paper examines the components of feedback received from an unsuccessful…

Embarking on a career in research is an exhilarating endeavor, driven by both a passion and a desire to contribute to one's field. However, for early career researchers, this journey is fraught with a unique set of challenges that can test their resolve and determination. In this article, the author identifies some common challenges and…

This article elucidates what narrative inquiry is as a research method, what questions or puzzles it addresses, the research tools used, and ethical considerations in conducting this type of research. Published exemplars are provided to reveal how narrative inquiries are utilized in real-life education studies. As a storied format of personal…

This paper explores the ideological orientations of higher education (HE) researchers in the form of a visual map, including three principal 'islands' -- "Pragmatists Peninsula," "Reformists Rock" and "Dystopians Retreat." The development of the HE research field in general, illustrated by the last 40 years of…

The evaluation system is an important component of the institutional arrangements that may shape the career trajectories of researchers. Using logistic regression and recursive partition models, we analyze the resulting key individual level factors that seem to play an important role in the promotion of researchers through the research evaluation…

Recent debates about qualitative methods have discussed the relative limitations and contributions of interviews in comparison to surveys and participant observation. These discussions have rarely considered how ethnographers themselves use interviews as part of their work. We suggest that Lizardo's discussion of three modes of culture…

In recent decades, higher education has witnessed the development of a series of policies aimed at improving its quality. To this end, accountability measures have been promoted, which are having a major impact on academics. In addition, the precariousness of work in this professional sector is contributing to emphasise its consequences. In this…

In this article, the author will discuss processes used by quantitative researchers to render judgments and decisions about the results of their statistical analyses, highlighting what "'p'-values" represent and how "p"-values became ubiquitous in quantitative social science research. Suggestions for alternative ways to measure…

Scientific or academic publications have become the best accepted media for scientific and academic communities--mainly established in universities or research centers--to share the knowledge they create and give it greater visibility worldwide. That is, these journals are at the core of scientific communication, which requires permanent…

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's in-house science and knowledge service, employing a substantial staff of scientists devoted to conducting research to provide independent scientific advice for EU policy. Focussed on various research areas aligned with EU priorities, the JRC excels in delivering scientific evidence for…

Human ratings are ubiquitous in creativity research. Yet, the process of rating responses to creativity tasks -- typically several hundred or thousands of responses, per rater -- is often time-consuming and expensive. Planned missing data designs, where raters only rate a subset of the total number of responses, have been recently proposed as one…

This paper introduces the concept of 'hyper-ambition' in academia as a contributing factor to what has been termed a 'replication crisis' across some sciences. The replication crisis is an umbrella term that covers a range of 'questionable research practices', from sloppy reporting to fraud. There are already many proposals to address questionable…

Building from established literature and his research, Milner introduces a framework for designing consequential research. The framework is constructed to help researchers design, identify, and assess research as potentially consequential. In particular, the framework is developed for researchers to intentionally include essential elements that…

Chinese higher education institutions are facing an increasing threat of campus crises, especially the academic and sexual misconduct of faculty members, which have caused severe impacts on the reputation and development of universities and colleges. Crisis communication strategies are one of the critical measures for universities and colleges to…

Research in early childhood settings requires careful consideration of the impact on all children in the setting, whether participants or non-participants, and evolving ethical approaches in response to children's needs. However, flexible approaches and, 'in the moment', ethical adaptations are not routinely reported as part of early childhood…