1001 Nights of Research: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly Magic Carpet Ride

In this chapter, my story is recounted as one who transitioned into academia later in life, navigating a world that was alien to the business field where I had previously worked. I touch on some personal aspects of the reasons for doing a PhD and my journey through the field of distance education, both as a student and then later as a researcher/professor.

Each of my stories concludes with a snippet of advice for emerging distance education researchers based on my personal experiences. This includes developing self-confidence and overcoming sensitivities and self-doubt, aligning with a mentor, and understanding the importance of collaboration and sharing. Finally, I also include publishing aspects relevant to authors from developing countries such as cognitive or confirmation biases of editors towards researchers from "other" countries.

Contributors

Jennifer Roberts

(author)

Associate Professor, Institute for Open Distance Learning (IODL) in the College of Education at University of South Africa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7084-4036

Jennifer Roberts is an associate professor in the Institute for Open Distance Learning (IODL) in the College of Education at the University of South Africa (Unisa). A truly interdisciplinary scholar, she has undergraduate studies in statistics and sociology, and graduate degrees in tourism development and management, and in distance teaching and curriculum design. She is widely published in distance education, discipline in education, metacognition, research trends and staff development and has presented papers around the world. Jennifer was the first South African to be elected to the executive committee of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA), where she was vice president and publications officer and has also twice guest- edited the Distance Education Journal. In 2021, she was acknowledged by the AD Scientific Index as a member of the top 10,000 influential scientists on the African continent and occupied the number three position in Africa for DE research.