On the morning of October 21st, the 859th Sunshine Forum of Wuhan Textile University in 2025 was successfully held in Southlake Campus. Professor Wang Chenglu, a tenured professor of marketing at the School of Business of the University of New Haven in the United States and a Doctor of Marketing, was invited to deliver an academic lecture titled "Demonstrating Contributions through Storytelling - From an Editor's Perspective" to teachers and students. During the lecture, he conducted in-depth explorations of issues related to academic paper writing and offered valuable guidance. This forum was chaired by Professor Wang Haijun, the dean of the School of Media. Nearly 50 teachers and students from the School of Media participated in the lecture.

Integrating his own experience in manuscript review, Professor Wang Chenglu analyzed common issues encountered when publishing papers in SSCI journals from the perspective of an editor. He emphasized that during the first-round review by the editor-in-chief, two main aspects are of concern: whether the introduction raises genuine research questions and whether the hypotheses are novel and falsifiable.

Professor Wang Chenglu illuminated the research value from multiple dimensions, including "innovative theories," "intriguing hypotheses," "substantive contributions," and "robust research methods." Regarding the theme of how to elaborate on the research contributions of a paper through storytelling, he indicated that an excellent paper should tell a story that defies common sense and contains suspense. It should convert data into a theoretical framework, thus avoiding empty and superficial descriptions.

During the interactive session, teachers and students present engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussions with Professor Wang Chenglu on topics such as "when a paper challenges existing theories and the researcher questions the significance of their own findings" and "the importance of quantitative research."

Professor Wang Haijun, the dean of the School of Media, expressed heartfelt gratitude to Professor Wang Chenglu for his academic sharing. He emphasized that Professor Wang Chenglu's sharing, which combines his personal manuscript review experience and cross-disciplinary research insights, reaches a high theoretical level and provides strong practical guidance. It not only clarified the key concepts regarding academic paper writing and submission for the teachers and students present but also inspired profound reflections on research innovation and rigor. Through this academic sharing event, it will strongly propel the high-quality development of research work in relevant fields within the school.