Which Comes First?
Your Dissertation or a Journal Article?
In my last year of graduate school I was struggling with the same thing as many other PhD students: I was eager to publish, but I wasn’t sure how publishing would fit into the “big picture” of getting a PhD and moving onto a new job.
Should I start working on my journal article while writing my Dissertation?
Or, should I write my Dissertation first?
In this article I will dispell the two common myths that paralyze PhD students when it comes to writing their journal articles.
The questions that so many students struggle with:
The answer is really that it depends.
Sean, a student of mine, was expected to have an article accepted in a journal before his committee allowed him to write up his Dissertation. While having a publication accepted in order to graduate was stressful, it also made it easier for him to write up his Dissertation.
Other students are just expected to have an article submitted to a journal before they are allowed to defend their Dissertations. There are also universities where there are no publication requirements in order for you be able to submit and defend your Dissertation.
If your university has publication requirements in order for them to approve your Dissertation, then you must abide them. While having these requirements puts pressure on you, not having these requirements is also stressful because it leaves the decision up to you: when should you start writing an article for publishing?
Does a Journal Article Improve Your Chances of Finding a Job?
Myth: I need to publish to get a job
The guidelines at some universities make the decision easy for you: if you’re required to have a publication in order to graduate, then, you need to write your publication before writing you Dissertation.
But, what if you just really want to publish so you can improve your resume and CV? Wouldn’t a published journal article improve your career prospects?
In order to answer this question, we must consider whether you are looking for a job in industry or in academia.
In academia, “publish or perish” is the old adage. But, even in academia, one paper in a high caliber journal is more valuable than multiple articles in low quality journals.
I have met postdocs who got an offer for a tenure-track position at a prestigious university with a single publication.
While publishing is important for an academic career, the quality of your publication far outweighs the number of publications you have.
How much do companies care about your publication record?
In contrast to universities that receive grants based on proposals, companies make money by selling a product or service. In order for them to give you a job offer, you need to be able to demonstrate that your work will generate revenue for the company.
This is why publications are not essential to get a position in industry.
Your past publications give you credibility and authority, but they do not generate revenue for a company.
Companies value expertise and leadership skills, which will help you bring their products and services to the market.
Although this concept may sound foreign to those of us who have been bred to be academics – valuing ideas over generating money- it makes a lot of sense when you think about it from the perspective of the employers, who need to make payroll every month.
How Bad Is It to Start Writing a Journal Article When You Are Already Working?
Myth: It’s impossible to publish if you’re already working
As a graduate student, I thought it would be ideal to publish by the time I graduated. After all, who wants to write a publication when you have already started working?
It is better to have a publication when you start working, but do not let the fear of “not having a publication” deter you from applying for a job. First of all, many industry jobs will accept you without a publication. Second, you can finish your publication while you are working.
It is true that writing a publication when you have “moved on” to a different university or job is challenging. With the demands of your new job and you personal life, it is challenging to find the time and focus to write a publication.
You need to create your own schedule that allows you to make some progress on your publication consistently (preferably every day while you are actively writing).
In addition, you need to maintain contact with your supervisor and co-authors in order to get all the revisions and put the submission together for the journal.
Unfortunately, many papers do not get published because the first author (usually a student of postdoc) moved on before the paper was ready to be submitted for publication.
One of my students, Yvonne, started her postdoc after her paper for her PhD research was rejected from a journal. She needed a lot of tenacity to rewrite the paper and keep contact with her coauthors in order to resubmit the paper while she was working in another state.
Whenever Possible, Prioritize Your Dissertation
But, what if you just want to wrap things up in terms of publishing before you start a job?
It’s important to make sure that your Dissertation gets done on time.
If you don’t have to publish by the time you graduate, prioritize your Dissertation. Here’s why:
- You need to have a Dissertation in order to get your PhD
- It takes much longer to get your publication accepted than your Dissertation
Many Dissertations (most probably) are only for the eyes of the student and the committee. A publication, on the other hand, will be read by hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.
The reputation of your co-authors, and the journal, hinge on the quality of the paper. When a paper needs to be retracted, it damaged the reputation of the authors, as well as the publication.
To protect their reputations, journals have high standards for their articles, and they subject every submission to a rigorous peer-review process.
A Dissertation still needs to undergo many rounds of revision. But, the difference is that the work is evaluated based on your research process during your PhD: what you have learned, and did you demonstrate that you can do independent research?
The journal, on the hand, focuses only on the results of your paper. What contribution are you making to your field of research? How likely are other authors to cite your paper?
As you can see, the criteria for your Dissertation and a journal article are quite different.
This is why it is really important to mentally separate your Dissertation and the publication.
Unless your Dissertation is a collection of your publications, you need two different processes for writing, editing, and reviewing your Dissertation and publications.