When I gave a talk based on a book in a university in Indonesia, colleagues there asked me to take an additional session to give a few tips on publishing research. 

Frankly my publication record in conventional academic outlets is not that high. There are only 7 books and about 20 articles in peer reviewed journals or edited volumes. The late-entry into academics, my hobbyhorse riding in terms of the selection of research topics (instead of lifelong devotion to one particular area), and the insistence that I will not put my name on the publications of my research students, and possibly a lower productivity may have reduced this number. But colleagues in that university in Indonesia may have thought that I could give a few tips on how to publish research. 

I have never started any research with the primary goal of having a publication (a peer reviewed article or book). I start studying an issue when I find it intrinsically valuable. It is not that I could do research on all such issues, but I may have picked up a few when time and resources (sometimes through a project) are available. However almost all projects (funded or otherwise) have led to a research publication. 

Hence my first tip is that we should do research that motivate us intrinsically, and publication should happen at the end, but it should not motivate us to do research. (This is important since universities focus on publications for recruitment/promotion, and that is motivating their faculty to do research. This in my view is not a healthy route for either publication or research.)

Though money is needed to do research, it should not motivate us to do research. I have seen people chasing and getting money through research, and that may not lead to a publication (and quality research output). This is primarily due to the lack of internal motivation and excitement. 

Research collaborations helped publications in my case. Some of these are through unconventional ways. I developed a half-cooked model with basic bargaining theory to analyse a legal/policy instrument, but a professor from a US university could give an empirical context. That led to a paper in a least explored area. I had direct empirical exposure to a context and a few analytical cases, but a professor from a university in another part of the developed world contextualised it in the literature of a discipline and that led to another book.

In my view, Indonesian sociologists and educationists should focus on important issues of their country. There is no point in struggling to get these published in Australian or Singaporean journals. The absence of good quality national journals is a major challenge. It is important for different universities to come together to start/sustain a few good quality journals which primarily focus on issues of the country and publish peer-reviewed articles. Though India also faces this problem, I gave them examples of a few good journals which are based in India, and recognised globally. That is a strategy that other populous countries like Indonesia can adopt. 

We should note that academic publishing industry is falling apart. The availability of materials online makes books and journals less attractive as a communication tool. It is becoming merely a signalling tool for academic recognition (for recruitment and promotion), and hence its value for readers has come down. Hence these publications are struggling to recover their costs. If journals ask money for publication, it can lead to perverse incentives and harmful outcomes. 

I have also realised that peer-reviewed publications, though are useful for academic recognition, are grossly inadequate to communicate your research. A good journal article may take a minimum of 15 months to get published. A book may take 2 years. Very few people read these works. If you have something genuine to tell the world based on your research, you should find other forums for communication. I have evidence of the effectiveness of communication of the same research in different forums. An article which is published in the university-practice connect may be read by thousands of people whereas the same stuff that is published in a conventional academic journal may reach hundreds. 

Let me end this essay by listing a few other tips that I have mentioned to Indonesian colleagues. Develop the habit of regular writing. It may be something like 200-300 words per day. Initially these may be useless and leading to nowhere. Overtime you will have materials that may communicate an idea or your research. One can think about the platform for publication later on, but having written materials which can be reviewed and edited regularly is a lot more important. 

Develop reviews of literature on an issue or a domain that is of interest to you. There are important benefits from such reviews. First, it can improve the quality of review of literature over time. Secondly, it will help us to be in touch with the latest developments in one discipline; Thirdly , it will bring to light some relevant gaps in the literature. If we do this whole process genuinely, we may get excited in doing research on some of these gaps. That may help us to convince potential funders and publishers after doing research. 

Communicate our research to those who may have an interest and get their views. When you write to 100 people, 20 people may respond, and 2 may take it seriously to give some observations. Even when we are not sure of the value of our work to a journal, there is a merit in sending it to the editor. Some may send it for review, and these reviews are useful even if all may not be relevant to our purpose. 

There is no short-cut path to have publications. We may have to derive joy from research and be continuously immersed in it. 

End Note: The content and opinions expressed are that of the author, and are not necessarily endorsed by/do not necessarily reflect the views of Azim Premji University.