How to Get Published

Cluster

Communication skills

Target group

PhD students and beginning postdocs of all faculties taking their first steps in international academic publishing.

Aim

The aim of this workshop is to guide young researchers through all stages of the publication process, allowing them to plan their writing and publication methods, and ultimately their career, with much greater care.

Firstly, academic publications have become a vital part of scientific evaluation. They are no longer merely a means of communication, but are increasingly used as a criterion for quality control. As a result, publishing has become a vital part of scientific research: to be a (good) scientist is to publish. Secondly, academic careers are becoming shorter and more precarious: the majority of PhD students move on to a different kind of employment, which means they have less time to get their results into the open. The result of this twofold situation is the following: publishing has become vitally important, but people have less and less time to learn how to do it.

This workshop is meant to help them overcome this problem. It offers a guide through all principles of publication, using a broad variety of tools and principles which can be used to take control of one’s publication strategies. This allows PhD students to take off on a flying start: knowledge and skills that would otherwise be the result of a long process of trial and error are now ready-at-hand for them to use at the very beginnings of their academic career.

Preparation

Participants are expected to bring their laptop, a recent paper or draft (text editor version (e.g. your final word version) and printed version), a recent abstract (digital and printed), and one or more rejection letters (digital and printed).

Dates and Venue

How to get Published Dates Time Room/Venue

PUB-1920-02

Wed 8 + Thu 9 April 2020

from 9h00 - 17h00

leslokaal 5.1 (5th fl), Faculty of Psychological and Pedagogical Sciences, H. Dunantlaan 2, Gent

PUB-1920-03

Wed 3 + Thu 4 June 2020

from 9h00 - 17h00

leslokaal 5.1 (5th fl), Faculty of Psychological and Pedagogical Sciences, H. Dunantlaan 2, Gent

 

Students are first presented with the necessary tools and principles, and are then asked to apply their tools to their own subjects, papers, abstracts and rejection letters, which they are asked to bring to the workshop. Throughout the workshop, there is a heavy emphasis on the use of real scientific research papers and abstracts as examples. Students are asked to actively participate, and there is ample room for assignments and discussion.

Programme

  • Day 1:

1) How to pick a journal
In this part, we tackle the subject of how to pick the right journal for a given paper. The students are introduced to the different factors that determine journal choice (such as journal rankings, subject matter, acceptance rate, review time, ...). One by one, these factors are analyzed, after which a number of online tools are presented to help the students select a journal. The result is a general method or algorithm which can be used to pick the best journal for their publication. Finally, students are divided into small groups, and asked to apply this method to their own papers.
2) How to write your paper
This part addresses the actual writing of the paper. It offers a large number of tips on how to write clearly and concisely, and how to avoid being misunderstood. The approach to writing is top-down, starting from the general explanatory structure of the paper, before moving on to explain how this structure can be translated into concise and consistent writing. All writing tips are illustrated with examples of real research papers, and students again receive assignments to apply these tips to their own papers.

  • Day 2:

3) How to write an abstract
In this part, we take a look at the writing of an abstract. We discuss why it is important to have a good abstract. The focus is on the relation between the structure of an abstract, a paper, and the research presented there. Again, this part contains an ex cathedra teaching moment based on real examples drawn from ISI Web of Science, and an assignment in which the students work on their own and each other’s abstracts.
4) Paper written, what now?
This part treats the process and events between the stage of the writing process and the eventual acceptance of a paper by a journal. It offers advice on how to get quality feedback, and how to integrate this feedback in your paper. It also focuses on the review process itself, with particular emphasis on the ‘decoding’ of rejection letters, the importance of which is often underestimated. Again, students are asked here to work on their own rejection letters.
5) Paper published, what now?
At this stage of the workshop, we focus on the afterlife of the research paper. The students are introduced to the general academic context, the essential role of citations (including a discussion on the H-Index), why it is important to get cited, and how to track your citations. It also offers a number of different tips and tricks on how to get cited more.
P.S. I) Your PhD: papers, monograph, or both?
In this part, we briefly discuss the writing of papers in combination with the writing of a PhD. What are the advantages or disadvantages of writing papers in combination with a traditional PhD monograph, and how should one go about integrating research papers in one’s PhD trajectory?
P.S. II) How to publish books
In the final part of the workshop, we discuss the differences between book publishing and article publishing. We talk about the rationale behind book publishing, and we focus specifically on the writing of good book proposals.

Teacher

dr Anton Froeyman, Department of Philosophy and moral sciences. Contact:

Registration fee

Free of charge for Doctoral School members. The no show policy applies: no-show policy UGent

Registration

Follow this link: https://webappsx.ugent.be/eventManager/events/howpubl Your registration will be confirmed by separate e-mail from the Doctoral Schools. If the course is fully booked, you can ask to be added to the waiting list by sending an e-mail (mentionning your ID student nr) to

Please read the cancellation policy: cancellationpolicycourses

 

Maximum 15 participants

Language

English

Evaluation methods and criteria (doctoral training programme)

100% active participation
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