With a View to Enhancing the Standard and Quality of Research...

Research in Literature & Language | Book

What are the basic factors I should bear in mind while choosing a research topic?

What should I choose first: author or approach?

How do I find out if research has already been done on a particular author/topic?

What is research gap and how do I identify it?

When does a researcher arrive at the final title?

What are the differences between Bibliography and Works Cited?

What should the introductory chapter contain?

Which chapter should I write first?

These are just a sample to the 200 FAQs given in such an easy-to-understand format for research scholars working on Literature and Language for their Doctoral/Post-doctoral studies, in the book titled, FAQs on Research in Literature and Language.

The very fact that the book has been written by a Professor of English – Dr. A. Joseph Dorairaj – who has adjudicated more than 75 PhD theses (and counting) in English Language and Literature for quite many Indian universities, and has sat on dozens of viva voce in English and in Humanities, - gives the book its added cachet and credibility.

‘I would like to share with the academic community some of my observations with a view to enhancing the standard and quality of research in English Language and Literature and Humanities in general so that our PhD theses approximate international standards’,

says Dr. Dorairaj, on the purpose behind the book.

True to its purpose, the book gives a profound insight into the various facets of a good literary research, the dos and the donts to be noted, the guidelines to be followed, the deadlines to be observed, the methodology to be adopted, etc., in such a simple and engaging style that can appeal to all and sundry.

From the first chapter titled, ‘What is Research’, where Professor Joseph Dorairaj elucidates on the definition of research and the various types of research, to the second chapter that discusses a frequently confusing question that plagues quite a lot of researchers – How should I choose my Research Topic? to an elucidation on the research concepts and tools, up until the grand finale - the Viva Voce, you get to have a comprehensive insight into every aspect of research in such a legible, graded, structured, coherent and easy-to-understand format. 

And yes! Please don’t forget to read the Appendix to the book!

Written in three parts, the Appendix to the book feels more like Dr. Joseph Dorairaj himself engaging in a scholarly tête-à-tête with you in his inimitable gentle way.

I very strongly recommend this Researcher’s Handbook of FAQs for anyone who is planning to do / doing his or her research in Literature and Language.

Thanks to Ms. Nalini Olivannan, the Emerald Publishers, Chennai have done quite an excellent work in giving the book its present delightful shape and form. The vibrant cover design and the good quality of the paper have an equal say in enhancing the readability of the book.

Copies of the book are available with Emerald Publishers, Chennai on their website.

PS: A few copies (very few copies) of Dr. Joseph Dorairaj’s book titled, Myth and Literature (2001) and Interventions: Essays in Philosophy and Literary Theory (2006) are available. If you are in real, serious need of the books, you may contact Professor Joseph Dorairaj at his email id.

Now for the Blurb to the Book –

This book is in the form of Questions and Answers. 200 questions vital to research have been raised and answered in an easy-to-understand manner. While the existing Handbooks and Manuals focus largely on the mechanics of writing and documentation, this book covers almost all aspects of research – right from choosing a research topic to the viva voce. Significantly, most research queries have been answered from the researcher’s point of view.

About Professor Joseph Dorairaj –

Joseph Dorairaj is a Professor of English & Dean, School of English and Foreign Languages, Gandhigram Rural University, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. 

He was the Vice-Chancellor (Acting) of Gandhigram Rural University in 2013-14. 

He was a Fullbrighter in 2014 and an Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar at KU, Leuven, Belgium in 2015. 

He has authored three books: Myth and Literature (2001), Interventions: Essays in Philosophy and Literary Theory (2006) and Philosophical Hermeneutics (2011). He has edited two books: Critical Essays on Indian English Poets (2015) and Essays on Gandhi (2019). 

He is the Founder-Editor of Gandhigram Literary Review, a peer-reviewed journal.