From findings to scholarly insights: moving beyond description

A comment often made by reviewers (and editors) is that, despite having an interesting topic, an appropriate methodology, and interesting findings, the 'discussion' section of the manuscript they had to review was disappointing. Instead of offering a critical interpretation of the results or findings, the discussion section did not go beyond a summary of the results, such that the reviewer struggled to see what the study added to the existing body of knowledge. In this Q&Q, the discussion section in academic writing is placed under the spotlight. The role and purpose of this important part of an academic paper are explored, and ways in which authors can do justice to their findings considered.