Publishing during your PhD

A talk for the LeapHub conference at the University of Leeds http://www.leaptraining.leeds.ac.uk/news/a-leap-hub-sponsored-conference-thrive-dont-just-survive-the-phd/

Transcript

1. Publishing during your PhD Pitfalls, Priorities and a Pathway forward Robin Lovelace, April 2014, Leeds Slides available at robinlovelace.net @robinlovelace
2. What I'm going to talk about • Context • Things I've published • Advice • Recommended actions
3. Part I: Context • Context is important - what are you trying to acheive?
4. Where I'm coming from
5. Erasmus year in Salamanca Above: view from my 'piso' and where I leaned Castilian Below: a book that heavily influenced my thinking
6. 1 Yr MSc in Environmental Science (York), 4 yr PhD in Energy Futures (Sheffield) • Growing interest in behaviour + environment • Energy: root of many problems http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/6396
7. Research interests E.g. see Hopkins (2013), Berners-Lee and Clarke (2013) Environmental problems Climate change Recession Energy
8. Part II: Things I've published See my website or Google Scholar page Make sure your work is accessible
9. My first widely read publications See http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/6396 and here http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7212/full/455461a.html
10. 1st academic article: Publication on energy costs of modal shift
11. Anti-CCS article
12. The 'methods paper': spatial microsimulation
13. Modelling commuters paper
14. 'Peak-oil paper' The ‘oil vulnerability’ of commuter patterns: A case study from Yorkshire and the Humber, UK The inspiration: "Towards the end of the 20th century, and thanks to the private automobile, a simple worker could live in one place but carry out their work, daily, 50–60 km away. This fact, which for the citizen formed part of their everyday routine, constitutes, with- out doubt, one of the greatest enigmas of Anthropology and His- tory (Ardillo, 2011)."
15. Part III: Advice
16. Advice - general • Don't overthink your career • Don't isolate yourself to academic publishing alone • Don't sacrifice the present for the future • Do try to 'engage' with non-academics • Do be prepared to go back to basics • Do aim to publish in a wide range of places
17. Dispell the idea of "making it" On one hand, you've never 'made it' On the other, you have already made it! > You are in a priveledged position Use your position to persue your interests NOW Don't think "I'll get to this stage and THEN" write about what I'm interested in
18. Make your work relevant • A major problem with academia is that it's too disconnected from the 'real world' • Seek-out non-academic contacts and collaborators • Communicate exist work to new audiences • Direct the research question towards REAL problems, e.g. – How can we live without burning fossil fuels? – How can evidence better be used in policy? • Make it enjoyable to read!
19. Going back to basics • Assuming NO prior knowledge can be very useful • Be honest about the implications of your research for the 'big picture' • Don't be afraid to 'start over' • Many people in other areas related to your field that would be interested in review-type articles
20. How to ensure publishing diversity • Identify audiences that may be interested in your work, but not necessarily knowledgeable • Write for local newspapers • Don't rely on your personal blog/site - you'd have to be arrogant. Contribute to 'meta-blogs' instead • Write to policy makers/politicians about how you think your work is relevant and important
21. Experiment with formats • Microsoft Word is near ubiquitous, but is a little restrictive • Problematic for very large or complex documents • Alternatives: – LaTeX, my thesis + academic papers are written in it! – HTLM, markdown, other online formats http://rpubs.com/RobinLovelace/11931 • Go open source: it's the future!
22. Collaborate! • Find people with interests most closely alligned with yours AND who can co-author • Intimate exchange with proof readers - create proof reading mutual benefit circles • Try to get other people involved outside normal comfort zone of supervisors
23. Conclusion The motivation can be just as important as the content Academic journals are just one option of many. There have never been more places to publish... So just writing content for one place is a waste
24. Part IV: Recommended actions Start writing to place your research in the wider context Identify the most appropriate channel for communicating your research to the public Write a 'public engagement' type articles Create a publications plan with timeline Have positive motivation Don't waste time