How to choose publishable research topics, mistakes to avoid

1. HOW TO CHOOSE PUBLISHABLE
RESEARCH TOPIC
ASSOC. PROF. DR.HASANAIN FAISAL GHAZI
MBCHB,MSC, PHD, IPFPH (UK)
Public Health Medicine Specialist

2. WHAT IS RESEARCH?
• Research is a journey for information through determined
hunt or examination or experimentation went for the
disclosure and elucidation of new learning" (WHO, 2001).
• Disclosure of new data or use of existing data in a novel
manner and the requirement for "evidence‟.
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3. MORE SPECIFICALLY, RESEARCH
INVOLVES
• A trained way to deal with request.
• A strategy for testing and generating theories.
• A method to test our hypothesis.
• A systematic way of defining and answering
research questions.
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4. RESEARCH CYCLE
• Research cycle start with idea then research
questions, proposal , data collection and analysis
and ended with final product which can be thesis,
dissertation or publication as shown in the figure
below.
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5. 5

6. HOW TO CHOOSE RESEARCH TOPIC ?
• When choosing Research topic, you should
identify the big area of study and make a list of all
possible subtopics.
• Try to search online databases to find if similar
studies has been done before to avoid duplication.
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7. • A solid research topic is a focussed topic. You should
have a clear , specific problem and determine if the
scope of the research is appropriate.
• You should start with an idea of a clear question about
specific problem that can be explored and make a
significant improvement on the knowledge in your
research discipline.
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8. • The topic should be researchable, you should ensure that your
topic is not too large, nor too small.
• Ensure that you have the necessary financial support and
equipment to do the research.
• Make sure that your research topic is publishable, as it will be a
waste of time and money to do a research and then fail to publish
your findings.
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9. IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDERED
WHEN CHOOSING RESEARCH TOPICS
1. Choose something that interests you
2. Choose an researchable and achievable topic
• There are numerous great topics to study, but some topics are more doable compared
to others.
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10. YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
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11. •Do you have the required budget needed to do the
research?
•Do you have the knowledge required to conduct the
study?
•Do you have the needed equipment and resources like
laboratory facilities to conduct this research topic?
•Do you have enough time to conduct the research?
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12. 3. Choose a research-worthy topic
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13. • Try to do research among general populations like in
villages, shopping malls, schools.
• Avoid doing traditional research topics like knowledge,
attitude and practice as the probability of getting publish later
is very low.
• Concentrate more on translational research that can benefit
the society and can be translated to actions. it aims to
"translate" findings in fundamental research into medical
practice and meaningful health outcomes.
• Try to collaborate with colleagues in local and international
institutes.
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14. PUBLISHABLE TOPIC
• Your manuscript title not necessary same as your research tittle.
• Example :
• Research title: living environment and IQ among children
• Manuscript title: the negative impact of living environment on
children IQ
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15. SEARCH ONLINE
• GOOGLE SCHOOLAR
• FIND INTERNATIONAL QUESTONNAIRES FIRST
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16. SUBSCRIBE TO
JOURNAL TABLE OF
CONTENTS
TO GET IDEAS ON
LATEST RESEARCH
WORLDWIDE
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17. EMAIL
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18. NEW RESEARCH AREAS
• Try to do something new
Examples
• Social Media Effects
• Environmental Health
• Elderly Health
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19. Try to do research among vulnerable
Groups
•Children & Adolescent
•Elderly
•Migrant
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20. RESEARCH TITLE
• Should be less than 20 words
• Should contain the 3 W
• WHAT
• WHO
• WHERE
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21. 5 IMPORTANT DECIDING POINTS FOR
MANUSCRIPT TO BE ACCEPTED
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22. 1. TOPIC & TITLE
• Topic must be Interesting and Novel
• Try to use catchy title
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23. 2. STUDY DESIGN
• Case-control , Cohort and experimental
studies have higher chances to be accepted
compared to cross-sectional.
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24. 3. SAMPLE SIZE
• The bigger the best … now journals prefer big
data.
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25. 4. ENGLISH WRITING
• One of the most important points ,especially
for international journals.
• Try to ask your colleague for proof reading.
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26. 5. STATISTICS
• Do not use descriptive statistics only.
• Must use inferential statistics ( chi square, t test and
Anova).
• If you use logistic regression is better.
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27. MISTAKES TO AVOID
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28. KAP Study
Knowledge, attitude and practice
• Unless it is something new and not done before try to avoid
this type of topics as it is very common and publishing it
very difficult.
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29. Study already done before in your country
• If the study done before in other states it is a waste of time
and money as results will be similar to previous one.
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30. Very Specific Population or Location
• International journals will not be interested to publish your
research if findings only applicable to your research
population.
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31. Study done among students
• Better to do among general population as the results
can be generalized and more beneficial to society.
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32. Descriptive study
• Must have at least inferential statistics (chi square, t test , Anova)
• If have logistic regression better chance to be accepted.
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33. Develop own Questionnaires
• Better use International, Standardized and Validated
Questionnaires.
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34. • AVOID using Consequences , complications ,
effectiveness
• To find out effectiveness ……
• To measure the efficacy ……..
• To determine the consequences ………
• HOW TO MEASURE ?????
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35. Small sample size
• Now we are in the era of BIG DATA
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36. AVOID PUTTING UNIVERSITY
NAME IN RESEARCH TITLE
• Can not put University name in the title.
• Example put among Private or Public university students.
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37. CONCLUSION
• Avoid KAP study (Can replace it with awareness)
• Try to do among general population
• Look for new research area
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38. THANK YOU
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