Starting A Career In Research? Here’s A Step-By-Step Guide!
May 31, 2023 |
11 Mins Read
Research is the systematic study of knowledge or information on a specific topic of interest. The advancement of technology we see in our world today across the fields of engineering, medicine, architecture, agriculture and more is possible because of the contribution of researchers. If you have a natural curiosity for exploring new ideas, a career in research might be the perfect fit for you. However, getting started in this field can seem daunting, as there are various paths you can take.
In this blog, we will guide you through the steps you can take to start a career in the ever-growing field of research, from identifying your research topic to obtaining the necessary qualifications and exploring different job opportunities.
Educational Requirements to Have A Career in Research
A career in research is immensely beneficial for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers. The beauty of having a career in research is all the different branches of subjects that are open to exploration; scientific research and a plethora of commercial and public sector research are great examples of the variety. To excel in research, the key quality is to have knowledge and dedication towards your chosen specialism; since research is a field heavily associated with academia and education, a strong educational background is also required, you must have a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree.
A career in research can also be obtained with just a bachelor's degree. As you progress within your education, you may also climb up the career ladder within research, most positions in the field of research require a master's degree and experience with research coursework.
Potential Jobs and Industries To Pursue
Starting a career in research opens doors across various industries like educational institutions, government entities, industrial laboratories, corporates, hospitals, private companies and industries. These fields can advance their policies, technology and progress because of the research conducted to find solutions and further improve practices.
Listed below are the positions you can take on to build your career in research.
- Research Psychologist: As a researcher in psychology, you will be working across studies and research projects specialising in the study of human and animal behaviour. This area of study is usually beneficial to the health sector and experiments are typically conducted under the supervision of universities and relevant health organisations.
- Medical Research Scientist: The field of medicine is always evolving. As a researcher in medicine, you will be tasked to develop medicinal cures for diseases; the responsibilities that come with this role are to plan, conduct, record & derive solutions from relevant experiments. This area of study is typically required in research institutions, hospitals, and government laboratories.
- Biological Science Researcher: The field of biology leads you to discoveries and explorations that are directly connected to organisms. The scope of research within this field is to closely study the life cycle of organisms and find effective solutions to issues they may face. This area of study is usually utilised in government agencies.
- Market Research Analyst: This role assesses consumer behaviour to analyse and predict the suitability of a product or service within the relevant market and demographic. This role also delves into the financial information of companies to analyse and derive profits and losses.
- Agriculture and food scientist: This role is dedicated to researching methods to improve the efficiency and safety of agricultural establishments and products. Agriculture and food scientists usually work in food manufacturing facilities, research & development in life sciences and universities and government entities.
- Physical scientist: Specialising in sciences dedicated to non-living objects, physical scientists are involved in physics, chemistry, astronomy and geology. The research involved in these disciplines focuses on physical properties and energies. Physical scientists usually work in academic settings and private industry or research organisations.
- Research mathematician: As a research mathematician, you would be involved in providing abstract theorems, and developing mathematical descriptions to interpret and predict real-life concepts. You would also be involved in the application of mathematical principles to identify key trends in data sets. This role presents the opportunity to pursue a particularly diverse range of pure and applied maths like algebra, combinatorics and numerical analysis to name a few. Research mathematicians usually work in research or commercial organisations.
- Economic research analyst: The role of an economic research analyst is to review and analyse economic data to prepare reports detailing the results of executed research. This role also requires you to conduct surveys to determine and analyse occupational employment statistics, wage information, labour supply and demand, tax revenues, agriculture production and insurance and utility rate structures. Being an economic research analyst is a well-rounded role that is in demand in an array of sectors.
How can you conduct effective research within your discipline?
Conducting adequate research is a crucial skill for academics and professionals. The process of conducting research can be complex and time-consuming, requiring careful planning, attention to detail, and critical thinking skills. To execute effective research, you must be able to identify your research question or objective, locate and evaluate relevant sources, and synthesise information into a meaningful and coherent body of knowledge. However, to stay on top of the exchange of information and research within your area of study, you must implement the following practices and strategies:
- Work on important problems
To build a successful career in research, it's imperative to develop an acute sense of importance to assess which problems are worth solving. As conducting research is not simply answering a question, it is a deep exploration of all aspects of a single issue; with limited resources, the most pressing issue is awarded a solution. Furthermore, the research you take on builds your portfolio as a researcher. Addressing and working on important and prevailing issues gives noteworthy results that can improve your leverage as a researcher within your field.
- Be welcoming to new issues
While researching a specific topic, as a researcher, you may encounter another issue that does not have as much research on it. It’s important to look for new questions and aspects of research within problem areas in your respective field as these are usually motivated by current affairs within the discipline. You will need to acquire the skill to explore something entirely new within an area of study, not only will this bring your research more visibility as it will give new insight and perspective but it will also be a topic that you explored first.
- Know the literature
The best practice to stay informed within your discipline is to read the available academic literature. This will sharpen your ability to not only write your own research but also recognise which topics are emerging and what has been previously done. As a researcher, the best habit you can create for yourself is to read. Any research paper that is accessible to you will potentially provide not only new aspects of research to you but also become more knowledgeable of your discipline.
In conclusion, starting a career in research can be daunting, however, with these key strategies and roles; you can map out which sector and position your abilities and qualifications are best suited for. Due to research being an ever-growing field, there are endless discoveries to be made and with the growth of the open access movement; the field of research is becoming more diverse and open to the contribution of all relevant demographics.
Research Integrity, Partnership, and Societal Impact
Research integrity extends beyond publication to include how scholarship is discovered, accessed, and used, and its societal impact depends on more than editorial practice alone. In practice, integrity and impact are shaped by a web of platforms and partnerships that determine how research actually travels beyond the press. University press scholarship is generally produced with a clear public purpose, speaking to issues such as education, public health, social policy, culture, and environmental change, and often with the explicit aim of informing practice, policy, and public debate. Whether that aim is realised increasingly depends on what happens to research once it leaves the publishing workflow. Discovery platforms, aggregators, library consortia, and technology providers all influence this journey. Choices about metadata, licensing terms, ranking criteria, or the use of AI-driven summarisation affect which research is surfaced, how it is presented, and who encounters it in the first place. These choices can look technical or commercial on the surface, but they have real intellectual and social consequences. They shape how scholarship is understood and whether it can be trusted beyond core academic audiences. For university presses, this changes where responsibility sits. Editorial quality remains critical, but it is no longer the only consideration. Presses also have a stake in how their content is discovered, contextualised, and applied in wider knowledge ecosystems. Long-form and specialist research is particularly exposed here. When material is compressed or broken apart for speed and scale, nuance can easily be lost, even when the intentions behind the system are positive. This is where partnerships start to matter in a very practical way. The conditions under which presses work with discovery services directly affect whether their scholarship remains identifiable, properly attributed, and anchored in its original context. For readers using research in teaching, healthcare, policy, or development settings, these signals are not decorative. They are essential to responsible use. Zendy offers one example of how these partnerships can function differently. As a discovery and access platform serving researchers, clinicians, and policymakers in emerging and underserved markets, Zendy is built around extending reach without undermining trust. University press content is surfaced with clear attribution, structured metadata, and rights-respecting access models that preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. Zendy works directly with publishers to agree how content is indexed, discovered, and, where appropriate, summarised. This gives presses visibility into and control over how their work appears in AI-supported discovery environments, while helping readers approach research with a clearer sense of scope, limitations, and authority. From a societal impact perspective, this matters. Zendy’s strongest usage is concentrated in regions where access to trusted scholarship has long been uneven, including parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In these contexts, university press research is not being read simply for academic interest. It is used in classrooms, clinical settings, policy development, and capacity-building efforts, areas closely connected to the Sustainable Development Goals. Governance really sits at the heart of this kind of model. Clear and shared expectations around metadata quality, content provenance, licensing boundaries, and the use of AI are what make the difference between systems that encourage genuine engagement and those that simply amplify visibility without depth. Metadata is not just a technical layer: it gives readers the cues they need to understand what they are reading, where it comes from, and how it should be interpreted. AI-driven discovery and new access models create real opportunities to broaden the reach of university press publishing and to connect trusted scholarship with communities that would otherwise struggle to access it. But reach on its own does not equate to impact. When context and attribution are lost, the value of the research is diminished. Societal impact depends on whether work is understood and used with care, not simply on how widely it circulates. For presses with a public-interest mission, active participation in partnerships like these is a way to carry their values into a more complex and fast-moving environment. As scholarship is increasingly routed through global, AI-powered discovery systems, questions of integrity, access, and societal relevance converge. Making progress on shared global challenges requires collaboration, shared responsibility, and deliberate choices about the infrastructures that connect research to the wider world. For university presses, this is not a departure from their mission, but a continuation of it, with partnerships playing an essential role. FAQ How do platforms and partnerships affect research integrity?Discovery platforms, aggregators, and technology partners influence which research is surfaced, how it’s presented, and who can access it. Choices around metadata, licensing, and AI summarization directly impact understanding and trust. Why are university press partnerships important?Partnerships allow presses to maintain attribution, context, and control over their content in discovery systems, ensuring that research remains trustworthy and properly interpreted. How does Zendy support presses and researchers?Zendy works with publishers to surface research with clear attribution, structured metadata, and rights-respecting access, preserving integrity while extending reach to underserved regions. For partnership inquiries, please contact: Sara Crowley Vigneau Partnership Relations Manager Email: s.crowleyvigneau@zendy.io .wp-block-image img { max-width: 65% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Beyond Publication. Access as a Research Integrity Issue
If research integrity now extends beyond publication to include how scholarship is discovered and used, then access is not a secondary concern. It is foundational. In practice, this broader understanding of integrity quickly runs into a hard constraint: access. A significant percentage of academic publishing is still behind paywalls, and traditional library sales models fail to serve institutions with limited budgetsor uneven digital infrastructure. Even where university libraries exist, access is often delayed or restricted to narrow segments of the scholarly record. The consequences are structural rather than incidental. When researchers and practitioners cannot access the peer-reviewed scholarship they need, it drops out of local research agendas, teaching materials as well as policy conversations. Decisions are then shaped by whatever information is most easily available, not necessarily by what is most rigorous or relevant. Over time, this weakens citation pathways, limits regional participation in scholarly debate, and reinforces global inequity in how knowledge is visible, trusted, and amplified. The ongoing success of shadow libraries highlights this misalignment: Sci-Hub reportedly served over 14 million monthly users in 2025, indicating sustained and widespread demand for academic research that existing access models continue to leave unmet. This is less about individual behaviour than about a system that consistently fails to deliver essential knowledge where it is needed most. The picture looks different when access barriers are reduced: usage data from open and reduced-barrier initiatives consistently show strong engagement across Asia and Africa, particularly in fields linked to health, education, social policy, and development. These patterns highlight how emerging economies rely on high-quality publishing in contexts where it directly impacts professional practice and public decision-making. From a research integrity perspective, this is important. When authoritative sources are inaccessible, alternative materials step in to fill the gap. The risk is not only exclusion, but distortion. Inconsistent, outdated, or unverified sources become more influential precisely because they are easier to obtain. Misinformation takes hold most easily where trusted knowledge is hardest to reach. Addressing access is about more than widening readership or improving visibility, it is about ensuring that high-quality scholarship can continue to shape understanding and decisions in the contexts it seeks to serve. For university presses committed to the public good, this challenge sits across discovery systems, licensing structures, technology platforms, and the partnerships that increasingly determine how research is distributed, interpreted, and reused. If research integrity now extends across the full lifecycle of scholarship, then sustaining it requires collective responsibility and shared frameworks. How presses engage with partners, infrastructures, and governance mechanisms becomes central to protecting both trust and impact. FAQ: What challenges exist in current access models?Many academic works remain behind paywalls, libraries face budget and infrastructure constraints, and access delays or restrictions can prevent researchers from using peer-reviewed scholarship effectively. What happens when research is inaccessible?When trusted sources are hard to reach, alternative, inconsistent, or outdated materials often fill the gap, increasing the risk of misinformation and weakening citation pathways. How does Zendy help address access challenges?Zendy provides affordable and streamlined access to high-quality research, helping scholars, practitioners, and institutions discover and use knowledge without traditional barriers. For partnership inquiries, please contact:Sara Crowley VigneauPartnership Relations ManagerEmail:s.crowleyvigneau@zendy.io .wp-block-image img { max-width: 65% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Beyond Peer Review. Research Integrity in University Press Publishing
University presses play a distinctive role in advancing research integrity and societal impact. Their publishing programmes are closely aligned with public-interest research in the humanities, social sciences, global health, education, and environmental studies, disciplines that directly inform policy and progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This work typically prioritises depth, context, and long-term understanding, often drawing on regional expertise and interdisciplinary approaches rather than metrics-driven outputs. Research integrity is traditionally discussed in terms of editorial rigour, peer review, and ethical standards in the production of scholarship. These remain essential. But in an era shaped by digital platforms and AI-led discovery, they are no longer sufficient on their own. Integrity now also depends on what happens after publication: how research is surfaced, interpreted, reduced, and reused. For university presses, this shift is particularly significant. Long-form scholarship, a core strength of press programmes, is increasingly encountered through abstracts, summaries, extracts, and automated recommendations rather than sustained reading. As AI tools mediate more first encounters with research, meaning can be subtly altered through selection, compression, or loss of context. These processes are rarely neutral. They encode assumptions about relevance, authority, and value. This raises new integrity questions. Who decides which parts of a work are highlighted or omitted? How are disciplinary nuance and authorial intent preserved when scholarship is summarised? What signals remain to help readers understand scope, limitations, or evidentiary weight? This isn’t to say that AI-driven discovery is inherently harmful, but it does require careful oversight. If university press scholarship is to continue informing research, policy, and public debate in meaningful ways, it needs to remain identifiable, properly attributed, and grounded in its original framing as it moves through increasingly automated discovery systems. In this context, research integrity extends beyond how scholarship is produced to include how it is processed, surfaced and understood. For presses with a public-interest mission, research integrity now extends across the full journey of a work, from how it is published to how it is discovered, interpreted and used. FAQ Can Zendy help with AI-mediated research discovery?Yes. Zendy’s tools help surface, summarise, and interpret research accurately, preserving context and authorial intent even when AI recommendations are used. Does AI discovery harm research, or can it be beneficial?AI discovery isn’t inherently harmful—it can increase visibility and accessibility. However, responsible use is essential to prevent misinterpretation or loss of nuance, ensuring research continues to inform policy and public debate accurately. How does Zendy make research more accessible?Researchers can explore work from multiple disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, global health, and environmental studies, all in one platform with easy search and AI-powered insights. For partnership inquiries, please contact:Sara Crowley Vigneau Partnership Relations Manager Email: s.crowleyvigneau@zendy.io .wp-block-image img { max-width: 65% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
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