Last month, I was invited to give a guest talk at the University of Alberta on how I managed to pump out publications while I was a Ph.D. student. This talk was for a grad seminar called “Academic and Professional Writing,” which is currently being taught by Dr. Micah True in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies. In this month’s blog, you’ll find a summary of this presentation and some useful tips on publishing while writing your thesis! Download the free PDF tip sheet below to get started!
The life of a Ph.D. student is busy. From morning to night, I remember how my schedule was jammed packed with attending classes and meetings, teaching and grading, preparing for conferences, and so on, while at the same time trying to balance a life outside of academia. Even after graduating, I continue to publish consistently, but how can Ph.D. students find the time to publish in addition to all their other life commitments?
The answer is simple: in the so-called “publish or perish” world, as grad students, you have to learn how to work smart, not hard.
Over the course of my Ph.D. years at the U of A, I published a total of 8 works—of which 6 are academic (and include peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters)—and 2, which are more creative (poetry and a blog for U of A’s Quad). Some of my forthcoming publications are ones that I was working on at the end of my graduate studies, which haven't been published yet, so I'm excited to see them soon!
Each of my publications has a story. Today I'll be focusing on just some of them in the hope that it will inspire you and so that you may learn from my own experiences.
What to Publish
Your publication record should tell a narrative about you as a researcher. It should tell other scholars what type of work you do. So try to publish in the fields that matter to you.
It's important to know the field of your research and to know where prominent scholars of your field are publishing, so follow in their footsteps. It might seem ambitious to chase "star scholars," but you never lose anything in trying.
You also want your work to be read by scholars in your field. So what you publish will determine where you publish and how to go about finding the venue of publication.
You don't necessarily have to think outside of the box, per se, but you also don't want to double-dip. In other words, utilize the topics, approaches, themes of what you're currently working on and apply them in different ways. Often if you want to submit an article for publication, you need to tailor your paper to the Call. And in doing so, you will produce a paper that is inevitably different from your thesis work although there may be some similarities.
Where to Publish
The question of where to publish depends on what you publish, as I said before.
Look at the bibliography of the papers you read for your own research to give you an idea of where you should consider publishing
Try to look for a venue that is also widely acknowledged. For example, for the work that I did on Jane Austen's novels, I knew that I wanted to publish it in a venue where scholars of Jane Austen have also published their works, so I aimed for JASNA and I’m glad for it. The paper I published with them is one of my favorite ones! Read it here!
A really great point that was addressed by Dr. True during my talk was that you should also consider publishing for smaller journal venues, especially if the venue, for example, is doing a special issue that features a prominent scholar in your field as the guest editor!
Keep in mind that every publication venue has its own team of editors and depending on whom you publish for, the editing process might be really encouraging and motivating and at times quite disappointing. There is one valuable lesson I learned while publishing my work as a grad student: “just because something is published by a big publisher, it doesn't guarantee professionalism.” Depending on the state and stage of the publication process of your manuscript, I think it’s OK to back out if you notice any red flags. It’s OK to be protective of your material because you will find a fit somewhere else.
How often should you publish?
I was so afraid of having a blank space on my CV, so I tried to have at least two publications on my CV per year. But you'll notice that in 2016, I didn't publish anything. And this doesn't mean that I wasn't working on something. In fact, the papers that were published in 2018 were ones that I was working on in 2016, it just took THAT long to get them published.
So I learned that it's OK to have a "gap" so as long as you have projects lined up so that can provide an explanation for that gap.
I think looking back, I would’ve made sure that in 2014 or 2015, I would have had something to publish in 2016. But you can learn from my mistakes!
When to Publish
From my experience, the sooner you find a CFP that is relevant to your topic, the better because the whole publication process can take up a year or more depending on what you're publishing. Usually, for articles, it takes about a year or so.
This is because you have to write and submit the abstract, then sign the contract, then go through the editing process, which can take anywhere between one to three stages, and the editors always give you a reasonable deadline to complete those revisions.
How to Find a Venue for Publication
Looking back, I think the reason why I was able to consistently publish my work while writing my thesis, and being a busy-bee-grad-student was that I made time to attend conferences that mattered to my research field(s).
By attending these conferences, I had to get out of the shell and make connections with academics in my community. And, through those connections, I earned a chance to collab with other academics. I was also invited to contribute an article to a journal venue and eventually became an editorial committee member for this particular journal. Making connections is one way to set yourself up for success.
When you participate in a conference, you often pay a registration fee or a membership fee. These organizations sometimes distribute emails about upcoming projects, CFPs, workshops, etc so take advantage of them.
I also found CFPs through Facebook groups that are managed by scholars/advisory committee members of official associations that I am a member of. These informal spaces become a hub where people who are in your field share relevant information. So, become a member.
Finally, I think it’s important to be collegial. To this day, my colleagues send me emails about exciting CFPs and I do the same for them. In fact, just a month ago, a friend and my former research supervisor sent me the exact same CFP for a really exciting book about videogames! I took this as a sign and gave it a try. Even though I didn’t have much time to put together an abstract and I was worried that it might not be impressive or strong enough, lo and behold, the abstract was accepted. And, I can’t wait to write the full paper! Never let self-doubt hold you back because you never know what the outcome will be.
At the End of the Day
Ask yourself why you want to publish? Is it to land a tenure-track job or to secure future employment in academia? Do you write because you love it or because of something else? Understanding why you feel the need to publish and having a clear set of goals in terms of your publication record will set you up for success regardless of whether you choose to stay in academia or not.
Share your success stories with me and leave a comment!
Happy writing everyone!