Choosing a good research topic for premier journals

As a methodology (i.e., process) and a product (i.e., outcome) of an investigation on a topic such as an issue (e.g., challenge or opportunity) or a phenomenon (e.g., an event or a trend), research advances knowledge through the development and validation of ideas that contribute to theory and practice (Lim et al., 2022).

Anyone can do research (e.g., Google, Google Scholar) and publish their research findings (e.g., traditional and social media), but not everyone can do so for premier journals, which are essentially the sentinels of good science (Lim, 2018, 2021) that only publish research that has been established as convincing, valuable, rigorous, and well presented (Lim, 2022a) following detailed scrutiny and multiple rounds of revision as a result of peer review by internationally-recognized disciplinary and methodological experts in the field (Lim, 2022b).1

The starting point of doing research is choosing a topic for the research itself—without a topic, there is no direction on what to research about. While this action is easy to understand, it is often challenging to implement. Most manuscripts submitted to premier journals are rejected (LaPlaca et al., 2018), with the novelty of the manuscript's topic, and by extension, contribution, often singled out as a reason for rejection, which suggests that the research does not contribute enough to new knowledge, be it from a theoretical perspective or a practical standpoint (Lim, 2022b). This could happen for various reasons, for example, when the topic chosen has been previously researched and the decision to research that topic again has not been adequately and convincingly justified (e.g., necessity, importance, relevance, and urgency—see Lim, 2022a; Lim et al., 2022).

Given that research aiming for publication in premier journals is increasingly (urgency) competitive (e.g., agility in publication; countless studies but limited publication space) and resource intensive (e.g., lots of effort, energy, money, time, and sacrifice) (necessity), it is important to choose a good research topic to enhance the chances of getting published in premier journals (importance), which is the hallmark of leading researchers and research-intensive universities (relevance) (Aguinis et al., 2020; Lim, 2018). Therefore, this article endeavors to curates a set of actionable guidelines (how) based on the current author's experience as an author, editor, and reviewer for premier journals (triangulated source of credibility and rigor) that future authors can rely on to choose a good research topic (what) so that they can improve their prospects of publishing in premier journals (so what).

A research topic encapsulates the essence of the research problem(s), research question(s), research objective(s), and research contribution(s). To publish in premier journals, it is important that authors understand what to avoid and what to do in order to arrive at a good research topic.

The present issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence (GBOE) features three diverse studies: one each in the areas of international business, management, and marketing.

Using a taxonomic method to conceptual development (Jaakkola, 2020), Lim and Mandrinos (2023) developed a general theory of de-internationalization. Most definitions of de-internationalization offer a limited perspective while those that provide a richer perspective tend to be less parsimonious. Thus, a comprehensive yet parsimonious theorization of de-internationalization is established, indicating that “the acts of de-internationalization can manifest in the form of adapt and stay or withdraw and exit in international market(s) (the “what”), whereas the characters of these acts can be explained through decoupling and psychic distance (the “how”) for means-ends and needs-ends reasons (the “why”), respectively”.

Using social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and social role theory (Eagly, 1997; Eagly & Wood, 1991), Koay and Lim (2023) conducted a survey of 243 employees from public listed companies to shed light on abusive supervision and knowledge hiding. The study found an interesting moderated-mediation effect, whereby the influence of abusive supervision on knowledge hiding through overall justice is only significant for males but not for females, revealing that men (e.g., take revenge by hiding knowledge from others to restore equity) and women (e.g., do not confront or retaliate openly to avoid violating societal norms; prefer to quit instead of taking revenge) react differently upon receiving unfair treatment from their supervisors.

Last but not least, Shamsudin et al. (2023) did a survey of 200 ridesharing passengers to provide insights into ridesharing passengers’ post-purchase evaluations. Noteworthily, the study revealed that both brand image and price significantly influence customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, only brand image had a significant impact on brand loyalty. Such differences highlight the heterogeneity in consumer behavior, even after the purchase has been made, which extends prior understanding in the field (Lim et al., 2023).

Taken collectively, it is hoped that this article will serve as a useful resource to help authors choose good research topics for GBOE and premier journals at large. It is also hoped that readers will be delighted with the selection of articles in GBOE’s latest issue focusing on de-internationalization (Lim & Mandrinos, 2023), knowledge hiding (Koay & Lim, 2023), and ridesharing (Shamsudin et al., 2023).

Weng Marc Lim is responsible for conceptualization and writing (original draft preparation, review, and editing).

The author declares no conflict of interest.