Editorial

Citation

Evans, L. (2011), "Editorial", International Journal for Researcher Development, Vol. 2 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrd.2011.53202aaa.002

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal for Researcher Development, Volume 2, Issue 1

Three years ago an academic development consultant at Cambridge University brought to fruition an idea that she had been nursing for many months. Her name was Denise Dear, and her idea was to create a forum where fellow academic developers – and others interested in or responsible for developing researchers – could disseminate their ideas and report their experiences in the form of articles that would be freely available in the public domain. Thus, the International Journal for Researcher Development was born. It started life as an open access online journal, with Denise as Founding Executive Editor, supported by a small editorial board of academic developers and academics from the UK and Australasia, including Gerlese Åkerlind, one of the field’s academic pioneers.

And make no mistake, despite its infancy, researcher development is a fast growing field. It is perhaps more accurate to describe it as a sub-field, since it branches off from wider fields such as professional development, situated learning, (occupational) psychology, academic practice, and the very broad field of research into higher education. It overlaps with fields as diverse as educational leadership and management, professional studies, the sociology of the professions, doctoral education, and careers studies. It is cross-disciplinary in contextual applicability: it has the potential to – indeed, it should – inform academics, academic developers, teachers, institutional leaders and managers and policy makers representing any discipline and any subject. Most importantly, it is of course global in its reach and its relevance.

It is such breadth that the editorial board wants to see reflected in the articles that are published. Although the International Journal for Researcher Development is categorised as a social science journal, we welcome articles from scientists, engineers, medics and clinicians, linguists, historians, geographers, geologists, psychologists, mathematicians, and philosophers … indeed, from anyone, representing any subject, who can contribute meaningfully to our understanding of what researcher development is, how it occurs, and the nature and extent of its usefulness and relevance as a field of study. In forthcoming issues, I shall discuss in more detail the kinds of questions that I hope will be addressed in the articles that we publish. I shall share my views about where I hope the journal will allow us – the community of researcher development policy makers and practitioners (for that is what we are if we are engaged in research ourselves, and/or if we are in the business of facilitating and enabling others to engage in research) – to take ourselves. For now, I prefer to focus a little more on the journey so far than on the journey ahead.

The publication of this issue marks a defining moment in the journal’s evolution. We have travelled far. I say “we”, but in fact the International Journal for Researcher Development owes its conception and its survival to one person: Dr Denise Dear. It was Denise’s vision that kick-started the whole process of getting the journal off the ground, and although others shared her vision and enthusiasm, it was sheer hard work and focused determination on her part – and her immense efforts (often single-handed) – that ensured that not only were four online issues published under her editorship in 2009 and 2010, but also that the journal continues to exist, against the odds. For in 2009 its future was in the balance. Denise had secured a free 12-month trial to an online journal submission and publication service, through which the 2009 issues were placed in the public domain. Then, when the 12-month trial came to an end, the small editorial board (which by this time included me) was faced with three options: pay the fee (of several £100 per year) for continued use of the online system; find an alternative online “home” for the journal; or pull the plug on the whole project and allow the International Journal for Researcher Development to be consigned to the annals of history as a journal that was trialled, but failed.

To Denise, the last of these options was unacceptable – so much so that she announced her decision to pay, out of her own pocket, the renewal fee for the journal’s continued online presence. There was no other source of income available, she observed; either she paid the fee or the journal would go under. Tony Bromley and I raised objections: Denise had already given so much to the journal, she should not now have to fork out several £100 to keep her vision alive; there must be another solution.

And there was. After much discussion, it was decided that Denise would arrange for the journal to be located on the web site of Cambridge University – her alma mater and, at the time, her employer – so this then became the journal’s new home. But by this time Denise had higher ambitions for the journal. Encouraged by those of us who realised that, as long as it remained an open access online-only journal, tucked away discreetly in the corner of a university web site – even if it was the University of Cambridge’s website! – the International Journal for Researcher Development would be most unlikely ever to achieve the kind of status and reputation as a high-quality journal that would consistently attract contributions from leading, internationally renowned academics and academic-related colleagues across the globe, Denise decided that it was time for a change of direction – and strategy. In the interests of the journal’s future development, she made the difficult decision to hand over the reins to a new editor, and she suggested that I take over the role.

Today, thanks to Denise’s selfless dedication, persistence, and, above all, her vision, the International Journal for Researcher Development is entering a new, exciting phase in its development into a world-leading, peer-reviewed journal. We are delighted to join Emerald’s portfolio of journals and are confident that, with such a distinguished publishing house behind us – and supported by the excellent Emerald staff – we have raised the journal’s profile, and shall continue to do so with each issue that is published. This – the publication of our first issue under Emerald – is a proud day for the editorial board. It should be a particularly proud day for Denise. This issue’s appearance is a little later than scheduled because, refusing to compromise on quality, we were determined to accept only articles that met our demanding standards. I am pleased to present you with four such articles.

In the Research and Theory section Carole O’Byrne, an early career academic from the Republic of Ireland, applies sociologist Margaret Archer’s work as an analytical framework for her study of academics’ struggles to develop as researchers within an Irish Institute of Technology – an issue that remains as topical today as when O’Byrne carried out her research, with the Irish tertiary education sector struggling to do more with less within a climate defined by the austerity measures that represent the government’s response to the financial crisis that has hit Ireland particularly hard. Arwen Raddon’s paper provides a fascinating insight into how different “generations” of researchers learn about researching, against the backdrop of the changing climate within which they must work, and therefore develop, and which is defined by the audit culture that prevails in the HE sector. Professor Lynn McAlpine’s international reputation as a leading academic in the field of academic and researcher development – particularly doctoral education – goes before her, and I was delighted when she agreed to serve on the international editorial advisory board. Co-writing with Oxford researcher, Gill Turner, she contributes to this issue a highly original examination – informed in part by research subjects’ own logs – of the development journeys undertaken by social science doctoral students and research staff. Finally, in the Researcher Development in Practice section, Kath Houston and Peter Lumsden disseminate what they learned about how researchers develop employability-related skills and aptitudes from a module piloted at the University of Central Lancashire. All four articles contribute to the field’s knowledge base by combining to provide windows into the minds of individuals who are developing as, or into, researchers.

Denise Dear, I am pleased to report, remains a key member of the editorial team: as Associate Editor, she shares responsibility with Tony Bromley (the second Associate Editor) for the journal’s Researcher Development in Practice section. Our editorial board now includes four new members: Erik Borg, Peter Kahn, Lowry McComb and Elaine Walsh. We are also delighted to boast an international editorial advisory board that includes some of the most distinguished names in the international research and researcher development community, representing Australia, North America, South Africa and Europe. With such support behind us, I am convinced that we can only go from strength to strength.

Linda Evans