From Research to Reader: Turning Academic Knowledge into Books That Reach People

Associate Professor Dr Farizah Mohd Hairi from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (SPM), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, was invited as one of the speakers at Science Café – Brewing Ideas into Books: Research, Writing & Publishing, held on 29 October 2026 at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.

The programme brought together experienced academics, clinicians and authors to share practical insights into developing, writing and publishing books.

Dr Farizah delivered the session “Success Strategies in Book Publications: How I Completed”, which she presented under the theme “From Research to Reader: How I Completed.”

Rather than focusing only on how to start writing a book, her presentation addressed a challenge familiar to many academics: how to actually complete one.

Opening with the observation that “the hardest part of writing a book is not always writing; it is finishing it,” Dr Farizah invited participants to consider why so many promising book ideas remain as unfinished manuscripts, draft folders or projects waiting for the elusive period when academic life becomes less busy.

Her central message was simple:

Books are completed not by waiting for more time, but by creating a system for finishing.

Purpose, Process and People.

Dr Farizah structured her sharing around a practical 3P framework: Purpose, Process and People.

Purpose begins with defining the reader. Authors should be able to answer three fundamental questions: Who needs this book? What problem does it solve? What will be different for the reader after reading it? As she emphasised during the session:

“A book for everybody is usually a book for nobody.”

A clear reader and a clear purpose help authors decide not only what should be included, but equally importantly, what should be left out.

Process involves breaking the seemingly overwhelming task of “writing a book” into smaller, finishable components. Instead of working on “the book”, Dr Farizah encouraged participants to work on the next finishable piece —> a section, a page, a paragraph or even the next 30 minutes of focused work.

She shared a six-stage completion workflow:

Dump → Group → Outline → Draft → Review → Freeze

The approach begins by gathering existing research, lecture materials, references, field experience and ideas, then organising them into a logical chapter structure before drafting and reviewing. The final stage, Freeze, was highlighted as particularly important for academics who may continually revise a manuscript in pursuit of perfection.

As Dr Farizah put it:

“A manuscript improved forever is also a book published never.”

The third element, People, recognises that successful books are rarely produced in isolation. Co-authors, subject experts, communities, reviewers, designers, publishers and readers all contribute different perspectives that improve the relevance and quality of the final work.

From CHEF-3 to Perubatan Kulinari untuk Warga Emas

To illustrate the framework, Dr Farizah shared the development of her recent book, Perubatan Kulinari untuk Warga Emas, co-authored with Dr Ng Ai Kah and Dr Siti Idayu Hasan.

The book did not begin with a blank page. Instead, it grew from work that was already taking place through research, teaching, healthy-ageing activities, community engagement and the CHEF-3 culinary medicine programme.

This formed another key message of the session:

“Your book may already exist. It may simply exist in the wrong form.”

Academic knowledge may already be embedded in years of lectures, research findings, clinical experience, workshops, guidelines, patient education materials or community programmes. The task of the author is often to recognise that knowledge, organise it, translate it and make it accessible to a wider audience.

For Perubatan Kulinari untuk Warga Emas, three qualities became the editorial “guardrails” for the entire book:

Praktikal. Mesra Budaya. Berasaskan Bukti.

Every section had to be useful in practice, relevant to Malaysian food and culture, and supported by credible evidence. These principles helped transform specialised academic and health knowledge into a resource intended for older adults, caregivers, healthcare professionals and community facilitators.

Progress Before Perfection

The session also addressed perfectionism, a common barrier to completion among academic writers.

Dr Farizah encouraged participants to ask whether a manuscript is accurate, useful, responsible and ready to serve the reader, rather than waiting indefinitely for it to become flawless.

Her practical completion formula was:

Decide → Deadline → Deliver

“Version 1 can be published. Version 0 cannot.”

Participants were encouraged to leave the session with more than an intention to write “someday”. Instead, Dr Farizah challenged them to take four concrete steps within the following week:

Choose one book.
Write one promise.
Create one outline.
Complete one section.

She concluded with a reminder that academic work has value beyond conventional scholarly outputs:

“Your research deserves more than citations. Your experience deserves more than PowerPoint slides. Somewhere outside this room may be a reader who needs what you already know.”

And with one final call to action:

“Don’t just start the book. Finish it.”

The Science Café programme also featured sharing on idea conceptualisation, clinical guidebook writing and patient stories, followed by an interactive panel discussion and a session on book publishing with UM Press.