WISEx ... wise up to latest IC4RS initiative!

Building on a decade of effort and intellectual activity focusing on the Pitching Research Framework, PRF (e.g., Faff, 2015; Faff, 2021a; …), the latest in the line of this research stream is Faff, et al., (2023), accepted for publication in Journal of Accounting Literature (ABDC “A” journal).[1] Indeed, Faff et al., (2023) is the primary key paper underlying the current new initiative, linking to an initiating research project and overarching long-term research program.

Faff, et al. (2023) passively applies Faff’s (2022a) researcher profile pitch (RPP) template tool in accounting and across a range of Business School disciplines. Faff et al. (2023) document a diversity of worked examples of the RPP. Using an auto-ethnographic research design, each showcased researcher reflects on the exercise, highlighting nuanced perspectives drawn from their experience. Collectively, these examples and associated independent narratives allow the authors to identify common themes that provide informative insights to potential users.

There are three key insights from that study. First, the RPP tool is helpful for accounting scholars to portray their essential research stream. Moreover, the tool proved universally meaningful and applicable irrespective of research discipline or research experience. Second, it offers a distinct advantage over existing popular research profile platforms, because it demands a focused “less”, that delivers a meaningful “more”. Further, the conciseness of the RPP design makes it readily amenable to iteration and dynamism. Third, they identify specific situations of added value e.g., initiating research collaborations and academic job market preparation.

The RPP tool can provide the basis for developing a scalable interactive researcher exchange platform. Indeed, Faff et al. (2023) discusses various aspects of research collaboration and profiling, with a particular emphasis on the creation of “Worldwide InSPiR2eS Scholar Exchange” (WISEx). WISEx is flagged as a future initiative within the InSPiR2eS network. It is envisioned as a "marketplace" for "researcher information exchange" to facilitate and accelerate cross-, multi-, and interdisciplinary research collaborations. The current paper briefly outlines some basic elements of a proposed online WISEx platform and prospectively pitches an initiating companion research project.

The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 outlines the InSPiR2eS/IC4RS Marketplace vision, transitioning ideas toward the WISEx portal. Section 3 showcases the central role of the RPP in WISEx Platform, while Section 4 proposes some preliminary ideas on the WISEx online platform architecture. Section 5 offers a preliminary and highly conservative 3-year plan for developing the WISEx portal. Section 6 prospectively proposes a companion research project based on the WISEx platform as an initiation of a potentially much larger research program. Finally, Section 7 concludes the paper.

[1] Notably this paper brought together a large and diverse group of 17 international researchers.