ABSTRACT
An original contribution offers a novel or new perspective. The faculty in the social sciences who participated in the study described an original contribution as something that has not been done, found, proved, or seen before. A significant contribution is defined primarily by its consequences. A significant contribution is something that advances knowledge. There are, of course, levels or degrees of originality. At the lowest level, originality typically involves applying known methods or techniques to new data, materials, or the like. Originality in this sense might make a small or incremental change to the knowledge base and be considered to have little consequence. In experimental or empirical fields, originality usually involves generating novel information or data. The most significant contributions are often ones that initiate a new trend or destabilize a conservative area, thus creating new questions and new research agendas.
