Publish or Perish: Reflections on the realities of writing for a journal.

30 November 2009

By Fay Huntley

As an early-career researcher, I wanted to kick-start my professional development by writing up my MSc research for a peer-reviewed journal. When I began the process I (naively) thought that it would be a straightforward task involving cutting and pasting parts of my 15, 000 word dissertation into a 5, 000 word article, I was wrong!

Over the last four months I have learnt the realities of writing up research for publication and it has been a huge learning curve! For others about to begin academic writing I’d offer the following tips:

• Communicate with your supervisors or collaborators regularly: Their advice and feedback is essential and mine have really helped me to focus my paper and develop a style.
• Look in to what training is available. I had some great training from the University of Manchester who invited a journal editor to talk to us. The Vitae website also has some brilliant resources.
• Be realistic about how long it will take but don’t let it put you off. I’ve found that the process has re-ignited my passion for the area and motivation to develop my academic career.

Overall, whilst it’s been difficult, I’ve enjoyed the challenge and am proud of the finished piece! I’ve learnt so much about the process by getting ‘stuck in’ and I’d encourage anyone who is putting it off to start, soon! The process has made me a better writer and opened my eyes to the realities of communicating academic findings and what a fine art it is! Its early days for me but hopefully this is the first step to finding my ‘academic voice’. I just have to get it accepted by my journal of choice now!