Abstract

RAMRATHAN, Labby; CASSIM, Tohida  and  PATHER, Indran. On becoming and being an A-rated researcher: Conversations with South African A-rated scholars in education. Journal of Education [online]. 2024, n.94, pp.161-174. ISSN 2520-9868.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i94a10.

One of the mandates of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is to benchmark research quality through its rating system, through which individuals who exemplify the highest standards of research are recognised by an extensive network of South African and international peer reviewers. There are five rating categories established in the rating system, A-rating being the ultimate rating signifying being internationally leading scholars in their field. In this reflective paper, three A-rated scholars in education, through a webinar conversation, spoke about their personal journey on becoming A-rated. Their conversation highlighted several affordances and challenges along their journey, whilst also cautioning emerging scholars on some of the pitfalls that they may encounter or should avoid. We argue, in this paper, that the journey to becoming exemplary researchers is entangled among the intra-actions of the research community, the context, the research focus, and the individual.

Keywords : A-rated scholars; NRF rating system; distinguished researchers; intra-actions; politics of rating.

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