Prove it! A Practical Primer to Positioning Theoretically

Abstract

A key issue when planning and writing up research is explaining what the expected or actual contributions are. It is often particularly difficult to identify what theoretical contributions the research hopes to make. When authors submit work for publication, reviewers and editors often ask them to ensure their work “engages with and/or contributes to ongoing conversations” in their target journal. What they are really asking is “what is your positioning? Why does your work belong in this journal?” This paper takes a practical approach to explaining what positioning means, why it is important to identify and position research as fitting into and extending prior work, and what positioning involves. It concludes by providing practical tips to help researchers who are not yet confident authors position their work more theoretically. Full paper available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2019.12.001

Keywords: Positioning, Theoretical, Contribution, Publishing