Publishing to increase chances of admission?

[OctaviaButlerfan]

Any thoughts on trying to get published without a degree higher than a B.A./M.A. and/or while not attending grad school? I get the impression that this is rare, for some reason, but I will admit I do not know much about it. I know it is a long shot, but I have discovered a bit of a gap in the analysis of one of my interests.. and I think that, if not admitted to a PhD program this next year, having a publication could help. I am not talking about student journals. Or should I wait and try to publish this when I am in grad school?

[TakeruK]

I think it is rare to see an author published in a peer-reviewed journal without an affiliation but it's not necessarily rare for people to publish when they are not attending a school at all. For example, I know many people who take a year off between undergrad and graduate school and use that time to write up something they have previously worked on. Usually they do this by keeping in contact with whatever research group they were in before (or making a new connection) so that they are still affiliated with their former school.

 

It might differ from field to field, but in the sciences it's rare that a student will publish a paper as a sole author, especially with only a Bachelor's degree. Whether it's fair or not, having a supervisor on as a co-author will help your credibility to the editors etc. In addition, without any affiliation, you would have very little resources. For example, if you are no longer a student, you might not be able to use your library's database/subscription to find articles, etc. Some journals also charge fees for publication and/or colour pages.

 

I think it's common and a good idea for people who are taking a "gap year" to try to publish since it should help your applications. But, I would recommend talking to someone you know at your current/former school and showing them your idea. They could "hire" you as a research assistant (or volunteer) so that you can use the resources of the school and so they might be able to use any grant/funding they have on the project as necessary too. They can also help you with the development of the manuscript -- maybe you are already an expert at writing for journals, but I would think most people would benefit from mentorship of someone more experienced.