People often struggle to select a research topic, considering the timeliness of the topic, relevance in the research arena, and the prospect for the career. Combining all the aspects in a research topic is tricky, but not anything hectic. I know many people have published several papers, yet they have not made a considerable impression to get a scholarship or research funding. Some people say that publishing in a high-quality journal is the key. Wait, nowadays, so many people publish in Q1/Q2 journals, but a handful of them get a real impression from the researcher community. At the same time, you have to keep in mind how worthy the topic is for your future career! In this piece, I will talk about selecting a research topic based on my experience.
Well, a research career field that lasts until someone dies. It’s time-consuming, takes plenty of affords. Hence, one should consider different aspects of it when choosing the topic. If your first research is on such topic that loses its appeal over time will suffer in the next step. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people immediately rushed to publish on this topic. It’s fine, but if your research does not link up the issue with a broader spectrum, this piece of research would be outdated once the hype of the issue decays. Now, the big question is, how to choose a topic that is doable, substantial, timely, and timeless at the same time! Let’s see.
First, you need to identify a problem. A real problem that suffers people. If you identify a problem where you can contribute to resolve it, you have done the first step. Once you identified the problem, you have to locate your focus because a problem is a vast territory, you cannot resolve all aspects of it. Think, corruption is a burning question a system faces, you cannot suggest an immediate solution to it. But you can explore which aspect is crucial and corruption can be minimized if it is corrected. Similarly, there are numbers of problems the world faces today, it can be a pharmaceutical issue, energy efficiency issue, social, political and what not. So, think of a problem at the beginning.
I assume you have selected a problem, narrowed your territory. But, is it worthy? Not always! You have to examine its academic and professional value. Browse academic journals, existing literatures and university websites. It will help you to understand the actual gap remains to study. Further, if you cannot equip the topic with academic resonance, you cannot get academic credibility. The saliant feature of a research topic is that it fits with academic debate, doable debate rather than a wishful or illusive thinking.
You may choose a noble idea but be mindful of the practicality of the topic. A research topic should be practical, that you can complete within the timeframe. I am not rejecting the theoretical research, a theoretical research also has a practical aspect in terms of the debate it produce and the feasibility. You cannot do a research that does not align with your resources, be it your academic resource, financial resource or human resource. Sometimes you can hire someone or outsource equipment, it depends on funding and your experience. If you are a novice researcher, you have to be careful of the issue.
Finally, a research topic should be professionally beneficial. In this case, a research topic should be timely and timeless! It means your topic touches the contemporary aspects and classical aspects simultaneously. It’s not easy, a continuous brainstorming is essential to grab it. Hundreds of thousands of research became outdated overtime because of not having “timeless” feature.
So, let’s see how you utilize these ideas!