UEW Enhances Global Research Visibility Through a Workshop
The University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing research visibility, performance and impact through a workshop that brought together senior academics, university administrators and research experts under one roof at the Jophus Anamuah-Mensah Conference Center, North Campus, UEW.
The Research Visibility Workshop, themed on advancing scholarly visibility, ethical research practices and global competitiveness, was graced by notable speakers including Mr. Jacob Kilbertson Zuttah of the University of Ghana and Prof. Samuel Asiedu Owusu of the University of Cape Coast. The event also featured strategic insights from UEW’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Jobson Mitchual and the Acting Registrar, Mrs. Wilhelmina Tete-Mensah.
Mrs. Wilhelmina Tete-Mensah welcomed participants with a call to action: “This workshop is not merely an exchange of ideas; it is a reawakening of our creativity and an unending search for knowledge.” She emphasised the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the need to showcase UEW’s intellectual outputs on global platforms.
Prof. Mitchual delivered a powerful message on the centrality of research to the Uuniversity’s mission. “If there is anything worthy of your attention and energy, let it be research,” he urged. He noted that research productivity, not administrative roles, often determines success in academia and called on faculty to develop grant-writing skills, publish in high-impact journals and embrace strategic partnerships. “Teaching without research becomes obsolete,” he stressed, cautioning against an overreliance on outdated teaching materials.
Delivering a data-driven presentation titled Promoting the Visibility of University Research and Monitoring Research Performance and Publications, Mr. Zuttah highlighted that UEW publications from 2020 to 2025 with 46.2% being open access and a respectable h-index.
However, he noted the need for more international collaboration, greater industry partnerships and enhanced author profile accuracy on platforms like Scopus, ORCID, and Google Scholar. He also challenged UEW to boost its digital presence, stating, “In today’s world, if you are not online, you do not exist.”
The workshop also tackled ethical dimensions of research. Prof. Owusu underscored the significance of integrity and responsibility in scholarly work. He outlined four core ethical pillars--autonomy, informed consent, non-maleficence and justice as non-negotiable standards for all researchers. “Ethical research improves institutional credibility and citation impact,” he said while recommending that UEW establish a fully independent and well-resourced Institutional Review Board (IRB).
The questions and answers (Q&A) sessions revealed pressing concerns from faculty about high publishing costs, language barriers, limited access to platforms like Scopus and misassigned author profiles. Speakers advised on practical solutions including open-access publishing funds, institutional support for grant applications and maintaining research repositories.
Other speakers also made contributions during the Q&A session, spotlighting how media and digital tools can amplify academic visibility. Ideas such as launching a UEW Research Podcast, simplifying research findings for public communication and leveraging blogs and social media were proposed to bridge the gap between academia and the public.
In his closing remarks, Prof. Mitchual pledged urgent steps to improve disbursement from the UEW Research Fund and reiterated plans to establish an IRB and a research performance tracking desk under the Quality Assurance Directorate. He assured staff of open communication, institutional support and a shared vision of positioning UEW as a research powerhouse.
The workshop ended with expressions of appreciation to the Vice-Chancellor of UEW and guest speakers for their invaluable contributions. UEW is not only teaching the next generation; it is redefining its global relevance through research, ethics and innovation.
