Publications?

[TsarandProphet]

Dear colleagues,

I know it is much more "expected" in the "hard sciences" to come with existing publications to grad school, and I was wondering if any of you had anything published before attending grad school. If so, where?

I have a paper in a German journal and two book chapters.

[TheHessianHistorian]

I'm in the process of preparing an article for publication in an academic journal, but other than that I have not published anything during my undergrad (other than a couple of self-published family history books through Lulu Press). I am heading into (most likely) a Master's program, so I imagine the onus will be on me to publish a couple things in the coming 2 years before I make it into a PhD program.

It sounds like you're off to an excellent start! I would say an article and two book chapters is a good place to be at this point.

Edited February 6, 2018 by TheHessianHistorian

[WhaleshipEssex]

1 hour ago, TheHessianHistorian said:

I'm in the process of preparing an article for publication in an academic journal, but other than that I have not published anything during my undergrad (other than a couple of self-published family history books through Lulu Press). I am heading into (most likely) a Master's program, so I imagine the onus will be on me to publish a couple things in the coming 2 years before I make it into a PhD program.

It sounds like you're off to an excellent start! I would say an article and two book chapters is a good place to be at this point.

I'm in a similar same boat. My advisor in undergrad told me going from BA -> MA there isn't a real expectation of publication and that it becomes more important when applying to PhD programs.

[psstein]

6 hours ago, TsarAndComissar said:

Dear colleagues,

I know it is much more "expected" in the "hard sciences" to come with existing publications to grad school, and I was wondering if any of you had anything published before attending grad school. If so, where?

I have a paper in a German journal and two book chapters.

I published a book review in a religious studies journal. An article and two book chapters is quite impressive for a PhD application. If you're going from a BA program to a MA/PhD, as many students do, then it's not a problem if you don't have publications.

Once you're in the PhD program, it's a different story. Publications are apparently an important part of any job application.

[fortsibut]

I'm just finishing up my MA now (defending my thesis this week or next) and hope/plan to try to turn part of it into a publication.  How much I put into doing so sooner rather than later probably depends on whether or not I get accepted this application cycle or not.

[Imenol]

Those of you who have published before grad school... may I ask which journals did you submit to? 

[psstein]

4 hours ago, Imenol said:

Those of you who have published before grad school... may I ask which journals did you submit to? 

Mine was a not very prestigious journal. Since there's about one issue a year, I'd rather not name the journal.

[Tigla]

I have published several book reviews on H-Net, a working paper from my undergrad, and an article in Cogent OA (Taylor & Francis' online journal for grad students and young academics). From my conversations with my advisors, book reviews by MA students are starting to become the norm, but published articles are still the exception rather than the rule.

[lordtiandao]

11 hours ago, Imenol said:

Those of you who have published before grad school... may I ask which journals did you submit to? 

A reputable, refereed journal. My advisor made it a point that I should only publish in peer-reviewed journals.

Edited February 7, 2018 by lordtiandao

[grubyczarnykot]

I mean I don’t think it’s expected to have publications when applying to PhD programs, even if you’re coming in with an MA. I think a lot of post-MA publications comes after its completion, when you’ve had time to fine-tune the work you’ve produced during your program. It obviously doesn’t hurt, and will make your application more competitive, but i wouldn’t put a ton of effort into getting a publication at the risk of neglecting the other important parts of your application. 

However, yeah, once you’re in a program, you’re definitely expected to start publishing. 

[dr. t]

5 minutes ago, grubyczarnykot said:

However, yeah, once you’re in a program, you’re definitely expected to start publishing

Within reason. I wouldn't want to go on the job market without 1-2 peer-reviewed pubs, 2+ talks at one of the major conferences in my field, etc. But the dissertation is the priority.

[grubyczarnykot]

28 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

Within reason. I wouldn't want to go on the job market without 1-2 peer-reviewed pubs, 2+ talks at one of the major conferences in my field, etc. But the dissertation is the priority.

True! That’s good to emphasize. I think I’m also playing into the competitive anxiety this (and any thread like this) tends to engender.