Helping candidates develop a research and publication plan
In which order or at what stage of candidature would you introduce the following ideas to your candidates? Give examples of how you might go about doing this.
Co-authoring
Why author with someone else. E.g.
•
•
•

To learn from them how to write for publication?
To share expertise?
To help keep motivated?

Ethics re co-authoring
•
•
•

How much should an author be expected to contribute to have their name on the article/book?
How to determine whose name goes first and the order of other authors?
When should these issues be discussed, especially with a supervisor?

Using seminars as a stepping stone to conference publication
•
•

Does the university have a seminar program in which a candidate can present work? How is that organised? Or are there seminar programs at nearby universities?
Hint: making sure there is a friend in the audience ready to ask a question the candidate knows they can answer with confidence (just in case things get ‘difficult’).

Using conferences as a stepping stone for publication
•
•
•
•

Which are the most appropriate conferences (e.g. topic, venue, funding) for which to prepare papers? Presenting with a view to revising the paper for publication based on comments (so avoid publishing in conference proceedings if planning to publish in a journal).
Hint: having someone in the conference session to take notes from the discussion (it’s very difficult to present and note comments at the same time).
When are the conferences? Need to timetable preparation and seek funding and then allow revision time to have some sense of when a manuscript might be ready for sending to a journal. Journal publishing
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

How to identify the most appropriate journals for possible publication.
Does the university/government have rules about different types of journals that are considered more prestigious than others?
Making sure that the manuscript meets the formatting and stylistic requirements of the journal
(including word limit).
Finding a colleague to read and critique and to check for grammar and expression.
Dealing with reviewers’ comments, coping with the feeling of devastation and using comments to develop a better paper.
Reading ‘between the lines’ of an editor’s response.
Celebrating when a manuscript is published☺

©Margaret Kiley, CEDAM The Australian National University