Identifying the factors contributing to quality of academic research in humanities and social sciences

Identifying the factors contributing to quality of academic research in humanities and social sciencesAbstract, identifying the factors contributing to quality of academic research, especially in humanities and social sciences, deserves special attention. Given differences in research quality criteria in different fields, the present study adopted the methods of systematic literature review and thematic analysis to identify the dominant values and themes relevant to research quality in humanities and social sciences. Within the systematic literature review, all the related researchers were retrieved from international and national databases and then filtered. The criteria and themes influencing research quality were extracted from a select number of related researches. The extracted criteria were coded in three stages. This yielded three categories, namely inclusive themes, organizing themes, and basic themes. The themes were validated through consultation with the experts in humanities and social sciences. According to the results, inclusive themes included the research infrastructure, organizational climate, accurate scientific plan, scientific desirability, research productivity, scientific influence and authority, innovative visualization. The results are expected to help researchers conduct quality research. Moreover, the findings can help enhance academic research management systems in their accurate evaluation of researches, particularly in humanities and social sciences.Keywords: academic research quality, humanities and social sciences, systematic literature review, thematic analysis