Publishing a scientific article in an accredited journal is a goal for many academics,including students. This achievement serves as concrete proof of a student’s capability in conducting research and contributing to academic knowledge. One such student who recently achieved this milestone is Muhammadafi Mulantara, a 2023 Communication Science student.
Commonly known as Afi, he successfully published an article titled “The Influence of Social Media Addiction on Depression Levels Among University Students: A Quantitative Study at Universitas Padjadjaran” in the Jurnal Penelitian Inovatif (JUPIN), an academic journal accredited under SINTA 5. His research explores whether addiction to social media use correlates with a person’s depression levels.
Afi shared that his motivation to explore this topic stemmed from how deeply social media is embedded in our daily lives, alongside the growing discourse around mental health. This made him curious about whether there was a connection between the two.
“The writing process took place over the course of one semester as part of the Survey Methods course. It started with learning how to conduct a literature review, processing data, designing a questionnaire with two sections (focused on media addiction and depression levels), analyzing the data, and finally writing the article,” said Afi when asked about how the article was developed.
One of the main challenges Afi faced was finding respondents, especially since his study focused on students across Universitas Padjadjaran. To overcome this, Afi distributed his questionnaire to friends beyond the Faculty of Communication.
The results of Afi’s study showed a significant and positive correlation between social media addiction and depression levels among university students. Afi hopes that these findings can raise greater awareness about the risks of excessive social media use and that these risks should not be taken lightly.
To fellow students who aspire to publish their research, Afi shared: “When you want to publish a journal article, make sure the journal aligns with your topic. And prepare your article neatly and thoroughly.”
May Muhammadafi Mulantara’s journey inspire other students to be brave, take initiative, and contribute meaningfully to the world of academic research. [Ed]