Most early career researchers feel pressured to get published, which can be overwhelming for them. Because publications are a pivotal part of research and the course of a researcher’s career, having a smart academic publication plan in place is necessary to improve effectiveness and productivity. At the same time, it is important to approach the process with a positive and eager mindset rather than getting weighed down by fear or anxiety. What if I told you publication planning can be fun and not a burden?
Let’s use an analogy of baking a cake. While you have the final result (a yummy cake) to look forward to, you also enjoy flipping through a recipe book (or scrolling online), choosing a recipe, listing out the ingredients and buying them, putting it all together according to the given steps (maybe even modifying the recipe a bit, to your taste), and waiting in anticipation while the cake mix is in the oven. You enjoyed the planning and the experience, learnt something in the process (your idea of adding orange zest with blueberries wasn’t great; you’ll try something else the next time), and got to enjoy and share your cake!
Planning and executing a research project and publication is not very different. You as an early career researcher might as well enjoy it and make the most of the process and the learnings on the way, and not focus on the end result: a published paper!
Planning requires organizational skills and discipline, while spontaneity involves intuition and a willingness to take risks. People with the “planner personality” enjoy planning out a detailed strategy for a task. They are decisive and like to stick with created plans. As opposed to this personality type, people with a “spontaneous personality” live in the moment. They tend to look at a project from all sides, considering innovative approaches. They are not afraid to do things differently and change course in an ongoing project. One type isn’t better than the other. Whether you are a planner or prefer doing things on the fly, as an early career researcher, you should encompass both planner and spontaneous habits! Louis Pasteur famously said, “Fortune favors a prepared mind.”
Getting started
For early career researchers or first-time authors, a sense of dread can take over just thinking of the long and arduous journey ahead. Stress and anxiety can lead to a vicious cycle, wherein fear makes you procrastinate and push your plans and tasks further and further away, till things get a bit unmanageable. Planning when you are stressed or anxious might make you lose focus of your priorities. Take your time rather than diving right in. Try to adopt a positive mindset toward planning (think of the cake example!) instead of fearing the process.
As an early career researcher, remember that you need to adapt your plans and strategies in the face of unforeseen situations. If you overshoot deadlines, don’t let it affect you too much. Try and understand what went wrong and why; this will help you tweak your next set of plans accordingly.
Factor in plenty of downtime. This is the most underestimated aspect of an academic publication plan, so when you are exhausted or unable to focus, avoid writing or creative tasks. Stop and rest or do something altogether different, e.g., answer emails, organize your desk, or catch up with colleagues. You will come back refreshed and ready to take on something that you were not able to put your mind to.
Keep the academic publishing cycle going
To be prolific, you need to maintain a reliable rate of scholarly productivity. In other words, early career researchers should try to have more than one manuscript (typically at various stages of readiness) along this pipeline in various stages of completion. For every manuscript you prepare, you must plan these aspects of academic publishing to ensure success at execution.
1. Choose your journals wisely
It is important to have a journal selection strategy according to your prioritization of journal prestige and speed of publication. Researchers, especially early career researchers, must not only focus on the number of publications but also ensure that their work is reaching reputable venues. In other words, balance quality and quantity.
2. Create an impeccable publication package
The submission package should include an impactful cover letter; a well-formatted and edited manuscript; display items formatted according to journal requirements; and additional elements like highlights, graphical abstract, supplementary material, etc. Cross check your submission package with the submission checklist to ensure you are not missing anything.
3. Include preprints in the publication pipeline
As an early career researcher, posting a preprint before submission or acceptance is a great way to circulate your work and receive critical feedback that can help you improve your paper. Such feedback might help you resolve issues early on in your academic publishing journey and speed up the revision phase during peer review.
Tried-and-tested practices for publication planning and time management
Here are some tips for early career researchers to consider before you chart out your academic publication plan. You can try these publishing tips, tweak them to your advantage, or be inspired by them to generate your individual planning style.
1. Create realistic goals
A great tip for early career researchers is to create a writing “goal hierarchy” from long-term to short-term, for example:
- Annual writing target: Projects that you can complete to mark progress in a year.
- Weekly target: Realistic goals for a week, e.g., proposal, an abstract, a part of the Introduction
- Daily target: Writing __ words from __ am to __ am (or pm, if you are a night owl!)
2. Multi-task but know when to prioritize
Working on multiple projects daily (even for a few minutes) will move them up in your academic publishing pipeline. However, while it is important to have several projects running, occasionally, you may need to focus on one task at a time. But in your bid to publish journal articles, don’t forget to explore venues other than journal articles, such as conference abstracts, blog posts, social media, and book chapters. You might already know this, but just a quick reminder to always back up your work! Create safe backups on the cloud and/or multiple devices. All early career researchers should make this a habit.
3. Get creative (and crafty!)
Don’t we all love retail therapy? And colorful stationery? Well, why not combine both guilty pleasures and buy some colorful planners, post-its, bright highlighters, chalkboards, and soft boards and start building your own personalized publication planner. Add a zing to the academic publishing journey; you could come up with what works best for you (and looks fun and pretty to boot!)
If you like tech more than old-school hacks, you could maximize the use of a host of publishing planning tools and apps! Specialized to-do apps and project management apps can help researchers, especially early career researchers, create a prioritized list of tasks, maximize efficiency, and monitor progress.
You are not alone in this
Early career researchers who don’t know how to begin their foray into the academic publishing arena should pick up handy tips and best practices used by seasoned researchers. Don’t be afraid or shy to ask for help when you need. You can learn from the experiences of peers, collaborators, mentors, and other academics. Online forums are a great place for early career researchers to hang out and share queries or problems and pick up tips and hacks from experienced peers. Explore relevant handles (e.g., @PhDVoice, @MindfulAcademix) and hashtags (#AcademicTwitter, #AcademicChatter) on Twitter, as well as discussion forums.
Be a plan-tastic researcher!
Adopting good academic publishing and planning strategies involves maintaining a growth mindset. There is no “one-size-fits-all” plan. While you need to have a long-term vision, don’t forget the smaller goals. Most importantly, while having an ultimate aim in mind, remember to enjoy the journey and keep learning along the way!
We hope that the academic research tips to plan better will motivate you as an early career researcher to develop your unique planning style. Make a plan that works best for you and create your own path in this academic publishing journey! Get creative and create your own way to break down tasks and schedule them.
If you haven’t yet updated to the latest version of the R Discovery app, please do so now to get access to the latest features.
We would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions on what you’d like for us to work on. Do let us know what you think of the latest updates from R Discovery! You can either write to us if you have any ideas to share, or choose your preferred slot to talk to us.
