Iranian TEFL Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions of the Essential Requirements of Publishing Research Articles and Their Challenges (Research Paper)

Publishing a research article (RA) is highly significant to postgraduate TEFL students worldwide, particularly for doctorate students in Iran in order to graduate. Meeting the demands of publishing can be tremendously challenging to postgraduate students. In this study, Iranian postgraduate TEFL students' perceptions of the essentials of publishing their RAs were investigated through a questionnaire given to 30 Ph.D. students and M.A. graduates. Besides, the researchers conducted a focus group interview among 12 of the participants to seek concerns and challenges they face during the process of publishing their RAs. The results of the data analysis of the questionnaire indicated a rather high perception towards the essentials required for publishing a RA. However, the results of the analysis of the interview revealed multifaceted challenges students practically face while publishing their RAs, which suggests pertinent implications to practitioners to deal effectively with students’ challenges in publication. Key words: Perception, TEFL Postgraduate students, Research article publishing