Scholarly Research: Writing and Publishing into Journals and Books captures the value, process, and publication of research findings. The core thesis is that conducting research is uniquely significant as it is one of the age-old means of responding to the diverse questions that face humanity. Indeed, systematic, objective and rigorous research form the basis of most cutting-edge discoveries in the history of mankind.
Conducting research is one step in the knowledge construction enterprise; dissemination is the other. Unless research results are disseminated, their significance is considerably undermined. Dissemination ensures that claims made by a researcher are interrogated, shaped, and re-interpreted by peers which form the basis of additional scholarly discourse and calls for further research, ad infinitum. Dissemination also ensures that research findings reach policymakers and inform policy formulation.
While findings from research can be disseminated through a number of outlets, this book focuses on academic publishing in books and journals. It describes the core principles of academic research and its reporting, guided by time-tested conventions that have evolved in the field over time.
We discuss, as a foundation, what scholarly research is and explore writing for scholarly publication in the form of journals and books. It is hoped that this work will generate intellectual conversations, amongst our research peers and beyond, especially with regard to the broad concept of epistemology in practice.
Akama, John S.: - John S. Akama, the current and pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Kisii University and a passionate scholar with regard to publishing research, is a Professor of Geography whose scholarship began at the University of Nairobi, and later at Ohio State and Southern Illinois Universities in the United States of America. His research interests are in tourism, wildlife, sociology, and culture. His wide experience in publishing his own research is a resource for researchers who engage in various types of research and who also wish to disseminate their findings through books, book chapters, conference proceedings, or through journal articles in peer-refereed journals. He has published widely in peer-refereed international journals in his areas of research interest in addition to presenting research findings at international conferences across the world.
Barasa, Margaret N.: - Margaret N. Barasa is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Languages Linguistics, and Literature at Kisii University. She holds a Ph.D. (Applied Linguistics) from Laikipia University, and a Master's (M.A. English Language and Linguistics) and Bachelor's (B.Ed Arts) degrees both from Egerton University. She is an interdisciplinary scholar who integrates the conceptual rigours of applied linguistics with language and society, political discourse, and gender. She is active in discipline, university-wide, and departmental services in addition to teaching and supervising postgraduate students. Within her discipline, she has published widely in journals and books, including co-authoring a research publishing dictionary.
Mose, Peter N.: - Peter N. Mose, is a Lecturer of Languages and Linguistics at Kisii University and a Post-doctoral Fellow at Rhodes University, South Africa, from where he obtained his Ph.D. in African Languages. He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Maseno and Kenyatta Universities, respectively, and his Diploma in Human Resource Management (HRM) from the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM). His post-doctoral training, publishing with peer-refereed international journals, research, and publishing of school and higher education books, has equipped him as a researcher and writer. His specialization is in Language Literacies, Bilingualism, and Language Planning. His current research is in Epistemologies and Language and Scholarly Research Reporting. He is a Language and Education Consultant and a peer reviewer with three peer-refereed international journals published with Taylor and Francis.
