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Article published In:
Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes
Vol. 4:1 (2023) ► pp.56–79

Challenges early career academics of ELT face in publishing in international journals

ORCID logo | Yildiz Technical University

The aim of this study is to examine the challenges of early career academics working in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Türkiye while publishing in international journals, which will contribute to the growing number of studies in different countries. In line with this thought, an online survey was administered. Semi-structured interviews were held to collect data for the study. Four main problems emerged from the findings: lack of institutional support, problems in collecting data, difficulty of planning research writing for the long term and under-training during postgraduate studies. From their suggestions, it is evident that early career academics should be offered training in writing for publication in the form of structured courses, seminars or workshops as part of the preparation for their academic careers. In addition, they need mentorship opportunities from experienced professors. It is also evident that their teaching hours should be reduced to allocate more time to their research and writing practices. Overall, highlighting the barriers to writing research articles and possible suggestions from the perspectives of early career academics can help graduate programme developers, supervisors and deans of faculties see the obstacles encountered and provide solutions for them.

Keywords: academic writing, early career academics, English language teaching, higher education, research, research articles
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Academic life of ECAs as reviewed in the literature
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1The survey
    • 2.2The interviews
    • 2.3Participants
  • 3.Findings and discussion
    • 3.1Demographic profile of the participants
    • 3.2The challenge of finding time to do research
    • 3.3Lack of training in research writing
    • 3.4Difficulties the participants face when writing manuscripts
    • 3.5Lack of institutional support
    • 3.6Lack of strategic planning
    • 3.7Language-related problems
    • 3.8Suggestions from ECAs
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Disclosure statement
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 20 July 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jerpp.21022.eko
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