WKU Undergraduate Students Achieve New Heights in Research: 20 Students Successfully Publish in International Journals from a Single Thesis Course!

Among the 2022 cohort of Finance undergraduates, 63 students participated in a thesis writing course taught by Professor Jianing Zhang. Of these, 20 undergraduates successfully published their undergraduate theses as first authors in international journals, including SSCI journals. For many undergraduates, writing a research paper is no easy task, and publishing an undergraduate thesis in mainstream international academic journals is even “harder than climbing to the sky.” A publication rate of one-third for the class is a nearly unrepeatable achievement, highlighting WKU’s exceptional performance in cultivating undergraduate research.

The Story Behind the Breakthrough Achievement

The high publication rate of WKU undergraduates in international journals is a result of the university's unique teaching model and strong resource support. First, WKU employs a process-oriented, project-based teaching approach, breaking the thesis writing process into several phased tasks, from topic selection, literature review, data collection and analysis, to final writing and revisions, guiding students step by step. This systematic teaching approach significantly enhances students' research skills and the quality of their papers. Secondly, the university provides students with ample research resources, such as Bloomberg terminals and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Research Database Services, enabling them to access high-quality data and literature. WKU also emphasizes cultivating students' self-learning and independent thinking abilities, for example, using tools like STATA for data analysis and leveraging AI tools such as ChatGPT for programming assistance. The solid foundation in English that WKU students possess allows them to smoothly read and write academic papers in English, providing a crucial advantage in publishing in international journals.

Student Stories

Shuyi Yao conducted research on whether the top ten holdings of Chinese equity funds could predict future stock performance, and her paper was eventually published in the SSCI journal “International Journal of Emerging Markets”. During the writing process, she faced skepticism from reviewers about the impact mechanisms and continuously refined the theoretical framework, proposing new hypotheses such as price pressure. This ultimately made the paper more convincing. Shuyi Yao stated that this research experience not only taught her rigorous research methods but also helped her develop perseverance and problem-solving skills when facing challenges.

Jiongye Jin’s thesis explored the impact of green bond issuance on corporate stock returns during the pandemic. After completing the paper, she submitted it to the 3rd SEBI Research Conference in India and won a prize of 10,000 Indian Rupees. During the conference, the organizers recommended that she submit the paper to the ABS-2 journal “Asia-Pacific Financial Markets”. After submission, she received 41 revision comments from reviewers. Following multiple rounds of revisions, the paper was successfully published. She remarked that the interactions at the international conference greatly boosted his research confidence.

Kangyi Wang’s thesis focused on the impact of the board female fraction in Japan on corporate performance. Throughout the publication process, she, along with Professors Jianing Zhang, Chunxiao Xue, and Jing Ma, underwent numerous revisions. In response to 30 revision comments from reviewers, their team worked together during the holidays, expanding the sample and increasing the paper from 7,000 to 13,000 words. The reviewers highly praised their revisions, and the paper was eventually published in the ABDC-B journal “Journal of Risk and Financial Management.”

Qiongqiong Zhang’s thesis on carbon pricing and the stock performance of China’s carbon emissions trading pilot regions was eventually published in the ABDC-B journal “Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies”. From submission in May 2022 to final publication in October 2023, the process took 17 months of revisions. She expanded the scope of the research, manually collected information from over 3,000 companies, and used Python for data processing, ultimately achieving success.

Question: What advice and tips do you have for Finance undergraduates publishing papers in journals?

Prof. Zhang: Undergraduates face some significant challenges when publishing journal articles. The first is topic selection. Many students tend to choose topics based on intuition, but this can lead to a situation where they have no solid data to support their research. I recommend starting with data and identifying potential research ideas through data analysis, which makes it easier to discover new research directions. The second challenge is data organization. Merging data from different databases is a technical task that requires learning database programming tools like SAS and SQL to efficiently handle and manage data. Third, statistical analysis is a key step. Mastering classical econometrics software like STATA can help students use statistical regression and other methods to generate high-quality analytical tables. Fourth, in terms of literature review, students need quick reading skills and the ability to build an overall framework. Making full use of existing literature reviews to trace relevant literature can yield twice the result with half the effort. In summary, undergraduate research requires not only diligence, patience, and attention to detail but also the development of complementary skills such as proficiency in English, computing, and mathematics. 

WKU’s Research Support and Future Prospects

Wenzhou-Kean University provides abundant research resources and support to help undergraduates succeed in their academic journeys. The Office of Research and Sponsered Programs offers annual conference grants ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 RMB to each undergraduate, and promotes faculty-student collaboration through initiatives such as the “Student Pairing with Faculty (SpF) Research Program," fostering students’ innovation and academic skills. Since 2015, more than 500 students and 130 faculty members have participated in this program, with nearly 7 million RMB in funding awarded. Additionally, the university hosts an annual Student Research Day (SRD), showcasing the collaborative research achievements between faculty and students, greatly enhancing students' research capabilities and academic exchange skills.

Undergraduate thesis publications

Text: Jianing Zhang, Shenxuan Xiang

Images: Shuyi Yao, Jiongye Jin, Kangyi Wang, Qiongqiong Zhang

Layout: Jianing Zhang

Review: Sujie Lu