Mastering Citations – Practical Guidance for Early Career Researchers
At African Online & Publications Library (AOPL), one of the recurring challenges we have observed among early career researchers, particularly PhD students preparing their first scientific articles, is the difficulty of managing citations and referencing correctly. These issues often delay publication, create unnecessary frustration, and undermine otherwise solid research.
To respond to this need, AOPL is partnering with the Association of African Researchers in Central and Eastern Europe (AARCEE) to host a focused online webinar titled Mastering Citations: Practical Guidance for Early Career Researchers, taking place during the last weekend of January 2026.
What the session will address
Understanding major citation styles
Using citation management tools (Zotero, Mendeley, etc.)
Avoiding common citation and referencing errors
Ensuring citation integrity and academic honesty
Duration: 60–90 minutes
Format: Online webinar
Host: Dr. Ransom Tanyu Ngenge
President of AARCEE, Founder of AOPL, Editor-in-Chief of the AOPL Journal of Social Sciences
Guest speaker(s): To be announced
Organisers: AOPL & AARCEE
For inquiries, contact info@africaopl.org
Introduction to Scientific Writing and Publishing
Date: Saturday, 28 February
Time: 2:00–3:30pm (Europe/Warsaw)
Format: Online (Google Meet)
We invite early‑career researchers, postgraduate students and emerging scholars to a comprehensive webinar on the foundations of scientific writing and academic publishing. This session is designed to demystify the writing and publication process by offering practical, step‑by‑step guidance grounded in established scholarly standards.
Session Overview
This webinar provides a structured introduction to the essential components of academic writing and the publication pipeline. Participants will gain a clear understanding of how to conceptualize, draft, revise, and prepare manuscripts for submission to reputable journals.
Details
The session will cover the following key areas:
- Principles of Effective Academic Writing
- Characteristics of clear, concise and coherent scholarly prose
- Strategies for developing a strong academic voice
- Common writing challenges and how to avoid them
- Techniques for improving clarity, flow and argumentation
- Structuring Research Articles
- Detailed breakdown of the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion)
- Crafting compelling titles, abstracts, and keywords
- Building a logically organized manuscript with strong internal coherence
- Integrating literature effectively and ethically
- Presenting data and evidence in a clear and rigorous manner
- Navigating the Publishing Process
- Understanding journal scopes, aims, and submission requirements
- Selecting appropriate journals and avoiding predatory publishers
- Preparing manuscripts for submission (formatting, referencing, compliance)
- Understanding peer review: expectations, timelines, and responding to reviewer comments
- Post‑acceptance steps: proofs, copyright, and dissemination
This webinar is ideal for researchers seeking to strengthen their academic writing skills, prepare their first manuscripts, or gain confidence in navigating the publication landscape.