Languages: 
Over fifty WSU academics from the Faculty of Educational Sciences gathered in October for a three-day workshop geared towards equipping unpublished Faculty academics, as well as Masters and PHD graduates with the fundamentals of writing manuscripts for publishing.
The Writing for Publication Workshop was a strategic initiative driven by Faculty Research and Higher Degrees Committee (FRHDC) in collaboration with the WSU Faculty of Educational Sciences (FEDS), Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD), with financial support from the Quality Management Directorate. The first day sessions were graced by the attendance of Senior Director: Directorate of Research and Innovation, Prof Wilson Akpan.
Academics brought with them their draft manuscripts which would be polished and finalised with the help of designated professors, researchers, scholars, and postgraduate research supervisors, aiming to have 60% or more of their drafts ready for submission to DHET accredited journals on the last day of the workshop.
“We really support faculties and departments to organise things like these. They don’t have to wait for the research directorate. They have to look at their own vision, targets, and operational plans, and come to us as the research directorate where they need guidance. We encourage departments and faculties to do this sort of thing more often, because only through these little efforts will you see the kind of burst in rearch that we are looking for,” said Prof Akpan.
CPTD Head of Department, Doctor Neziwe Mbebe-Mapaangwana said that theirs was to unearth the abundance of valuable knowledge that lays untouched from theses and dissertations of unpublished researchers; and has great potential to solve multiple educational and social dilemmas.
“It is high time that we take this information to the outside world. Our communities need the information, and they cannot get it if we do not take the time to write and publish it. Yes, it is good for us to have qualifications, but our communities, who are usually the subjects of our research need that research to be out in the open and hopefully change their lives,” said Mapaangwana.
Though it is the University’s expectation that upon completing dissertations and theses, supervisors ought to push their students for publication as many abandon their work soon after graduation because they fear criticism or are simply not equipped with the necessary skills to produce publishable papers.
Chairperson of the FEDS FRHDC, Professor Elphina Cishe said that the workshop would offer the necessary mentoring and coaching and would propel mentees to write manuscripts which could be published in Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) accredited journals.
“The problem is that academics have been left in their small corners. Nobody is really taking them to gatherings like this to dispel their fear of research. Our goal for this particular gathering is that when it ends, we must have sent 60% of the draft manuscripts academics and postgraduate students have brought with them to accredited journals to be considered for publishing,” she said.
According to the Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences Dr. Zanoxolo Gobingca, initiatives such as this workshop are set to put WSU amongst the best institutions of higher learning in the country when research and innovation are concerned.
He said: “WSU will benefit from this workshop as papers will be thoroughly worked on for publication, ready for DHET accredited journals. The university is also likely to generate third stream income, which is also one of the important funding elements of the university. Moreover, WSU as well as the faculty will have researchers who could be NRF rated as they are here to acquire the relevant paper writing skills.”
By Yanga Ziwele
