The purpose of the workshop is to provide guidelines, tips and tricks, do’s and don’t’s when preparing a paper for submission to an academic journal and when performing a peer review of a paper that was submitted for publication.

Attention will be devoted to demonstrating relevance and fleshing out the contribution of an article, developing a conceptual framework, research questions and hypotheses, developing and describing a research method and the results of empirical work, and writing a compelling discussion section. The purpose of peer reviewing will be explained, and the duties and tasks of an academic peer reviewer will be discussed. All these principles and guidelines will be illustrated by means of real-life examples.

Participants are expected to actively contribute to the discussion and are invited to share their own publishing and reviewing issues with the other participants.

​Prof. Dr. Patrick De Pelsmacker is professor emeritus connected to the marketing department of the Faculty of Business and Economics.

Doing a PhD can be exciting, but also mentally exhausting. Long periods of uncertainty, isolation, performance pressure and blurry work-life boundaries can wear down even the most passionate researcher. In this session we explore how you can take care of your mental health while navigating the ups and downs of academia. Through examples and practical tools, we’ll discuss how to recognize and manage stress, build healthier boundaries, and maintain a more balanced relationship with your work. This session is not about “doing more” or “fixing yourself”, but about finding ways to stay grounded and connected, even in the messiness of academic life.

​Dr. Brecht Polspoel is student counselor at UAntwerp. Students can contact him for both study guidance, study choice guidance, and psychological guidance (e.g., stress, anxiety, self-confidence). Brecht Polspoel has a degree in clinical orthopedagogue (KULeuven, 2015) and is doctor of pedagogical sciences (KULeuven, 2019). 

How do Large Language Models (LLMs) really work, and what do they mean for academic research? This talk highlights their potential to simplify literature review, support writing, enable content analysis, and automate routine tasks, while also exposing the risks of unreliability, bias, and ethical challenges. Attendees will leave with a clear-eyed view of both the promise and the pitfalls of using generative AI in academic research.

Luna De Bruyne is a professor at the department of Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, University of Antwerp.