On 17 September 2026, over 170 student-researchers from the School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies (SAMCIS) joined the first part of their online research training session via Zoom. The session was facilitated by SAMCIS faculty member Ms. Lorraine B. Ngaosi and the RISE Center’s Research Capacitation & Services Officer, Laarni Natividad, PhD.
Ms. Ngaosi began the session with a prayer, followed by opening remarks and a brief introduction of the resource speaker, Dr. Natividad, who shared her insights on selecting articles and journals for publication.
Dr. Natividad explored the areas of publication workflow and journal selection, including the role of literature reviews. Her presentation centered on the role of scholarly literature in the research process and the importance of carefully evaluating sources before using them in academic work. The discussion encouraged participants to use credible databases such as Scopus, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, and PubMed when searching for related literature. She emphasized the importance of evaluating articles based on relevance, recency, peer review, methodology, citation information, and journal reputation rather than simply collecting sources that appear relevant.
The first part of the session ended focusing on identifying and avoiding predatory journals, which may make misleading claims about indexing, peer review, or impact factors. Participants were advised to independently verify journal credentials and indexing claims and to be cautious about unusually fast publication, suspicious websites and invitations, and questionable research practices. This discussion emphasized responsible journal selection as an essential part of research.
The second part of the training session was held on 19 September 2026 via Zoom as well. Facilitators: Ms. Ngaosi and Josephine Dela Cruz, PhD of the SAMCIS Faculty were present to give the opening remarks, prayer, and introduction, with SLU RISE Center Institutional Studies and Research Methods officer, Engr. Harold Lagto as their resource speaker.
Engr. Lagto’s presentation centered on the importance of maintaining clear alignment among the research problem, questions, objectives, hypotheses, and methodology. The SAMCIS student-researchers learned that each part of a study should connect logically, with variables consistently reflected in the research problem, data collection, and statistical analysis. The session emphasized that poor alignment can lead to revisions during research evaluation and defense. Researchers were also encouraged to create SMART research questions that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
The discussion also covered different research objectives, including descriptive, correlation, comparative, and developmental objectives. The students learned how to identify independent and dependent variables and determine their levels of measurement to select appropriate statistical tools. Engr. Lagto explained that hypotheses must be clear, neutral, testable, and consistent with the research questions and objectives.
The training further introduced the major components of the methodology, such as research design, locale, participants, sampling, instruments, data collection, ethics, and data analysis. Quantitative research focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis, while Qualitative research examines experiences and meanings. Engr. Lagto stated that successful research depends on maintaining consistency and logical connections throughout the entire study.
These capacity-building sessions were directly aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4: Quality Education) as it fostered research competence, academic integrity, and lifelong learning skills among student-researchers. (Photos and Article by Joey G. Glemao, SLU RISE Center Intern)
