On 16 March 2026, the Doctoral Student Peers’ Research Sharing Forum organized by the Faculty of Finance of City University of Macau was successfully held in Room G2208, 22/F, Golden Dragon Campus. The sharing forum was presented by finance doctoral students Xiaoyuan Yu and Haiyan Li (third-year) and Hanfang Zhang (second-year). They shared their personal experiences during their doctoral studies and practical tips for publishing academic papers. The sharing forum attracted many first-year finance doctoral students as well as several master’s students.
At the beginning, Professor Yonghong Zhou, Director of the PhD Program in Finance, explained the purpose of the Doctoral Student Peers’ Academic Research Sharing Forum, noting that it aims to promote doctoral-student exchanges and strengthen research collaboration. Professor Adrian Cheung, Dean of the Faculty of Finance, then delivered a speech and presented souvenir to three speakers. Dean Cheung encouraged doctoral students to build a healthy academic ecosystem through peer support, thereby improving research quality and academic development.
The sharing forum began with third-year doctoral student Xiaoyuan Yu, who described her three-year study plan and the process of selecting topics for journal publication. She encouraged students to actively participate in academic conferences at home and abroad. In addition to well-known conferences, she recommended searching for doctoral-student conferences hosted by various universities online to gain inspiration, present research findings, and expand academic collaborations.
Next, third-year doctoral student Haiyan Li shared her real experience and practical advice on submitting manuscripts during her studies. Her recommendations included choosing research questions that reviewers will find meaningful, refining and validating raw data, and anticipating editors’ and reviewers’ likely questions in order to strengthen parts of the paper (such as endogeneity issues and proposed mechanisms). She advised maintaining research continuity, and suggested setting aside regular daily or weekly time for research to sustain momentum.
Finally, second-year doctoral student Hanfang Zhang discussed her collaborative workflow with her supervisor and her approaches to academic research. She urged students to develop a personal knowledge repository early in empirical projects to improve research efficiency, to maintain regular communication with supervisors and collaborators, and to report progress promptly to facilitate smooth collaboration. She also shared the tools and editors she uses for data handling and emphasized standardized management of code and raw data. Additionally, she encouraged observing and learning from productive collaborators’ writing practices to enhance one’s own writing skills.
Throughout this sharing forum, the three senior doctoral students generously shared their strategies for time planning during the PhD, key considerations for writing and submitting academic papers, and their experiences collaborating with supervisors. Their sharing helped participants gain greater confidence in future research directions and submission strategies, collectively strengthening peer academic exchange and research capacity.