Publishing during candidature How I was lucky without knowing

1. Dr Michael Wiese
Lecturer in Pharmacotherapeutics,
School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences,
University of South Australia

2. My Story
 Graduated B. Pharm in 1997
 Worked in hospital pharmacy (primarily Hobart) from
1997-2008
 Was involved in research during this time
 Four publications accepted prior to
 Began PhD (via UniSA) externally in mid 2002
 Completed end of 2007
 Three first author publications (1st of 6 or 7)
 Two second author publications (2nd of 3 and 4)
 Entered academia in October 2008
 School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences

3. My PhD
 Health Sciences field
 Allergy/immunology and pharmaceutical sciences
 Title: Definition of the Allergic Components and
Pharmaceutical Development of Myrmecia pilosula
(Jack Jumper) Ant Venom for Immunotherapy
 Essentially 3 experimental chapters, each published as
a full-length research article

4. What you need
 Essential Ingredients
 Something worthwhile publishing
 Personal desire to publish
 Patience and determination
 Very Useful Ingredients
 Supportive supervisors and colleagues
 A plan (get the most from your work)
 Self-belief and thick skin
 Things you don’t need
 Writing style

5. The Plan
 Similar to the timeline in your research proposal
 Plot out:
 What you think will be in each chapter
 Think about what can be in a paper(s) (all or some)
 When you will do the work/get the data
 When you will write it up
 Think about what suits you (eg dedicated vs spread out)
 Think about target journals early
 May influence how you collect your data/what data you collect

6. Why Did I Publish?
 Expectation
 Inward expectation/desire
 External (implied) expectation
 Publishing culture from supervisors and within my
research group
 If you don’t have this, get into it from your peers,
colleagues, attendance at seminars, conferences etc..
 A publication is arguably the best thing you can ‘give
back’ to your supervisor(s)

7. Where to Publish?
 Often difficult, as you don’t have a clear perspective
 Often think it is more or less significant than it is
 Advice from supervisors and colleagues
 Journals that you know, like and have read
 Maximise impact – considerations include
 Impact Factor
 ERA Ratings (A*, A, B or C)
 Other (eg looking for a target audience)

8. Challenges When Publishing
 It is difficult and requires lots of work
 This may be dedicated slabs of time
 However, a good paper often requires time for reflection
 When do you have enough data
 Publication strategy (whats the next paper?)
 Managing co-authors
 Particularly as a student
 Writing styles are particularly difficult to manage
 However, they are very useful if they have good publication records
 How do you handle criticism?
 Reviewer reports are often frustrating
 It appears they didn’t read the manuscript thoroughly

9. Benefits of Publication
 Immediate Benefits
 Goal setting
 Tangible steps towards completion – enjoy the highs
 Because there will be plenty of lows
 Medium Term Benefits
 Experimental component of PhD Thesis was essentially
re-formatting accepted manuscripts
 This had been through peer review
 Thesis was therefore passed with (very) minor changes
 Forces a re-evaluation of the literature

10. Benefits of Publication
 Long Term, Unexpected and/or Intangible Benefits
 Earns respect from colleagues
 Publications assisted in obtaining research grants
 Won a small cash prize
 Took wife to dinner
 Keep your eye on the future
 Publications look good on a CV
 If you plan to stay in academia, you will be judged on your
publication record
 That starts now!

11. Benefits of Publication
Publications
Grants
New Job/
Promotion

12. 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Start
PhD
Most of
experimental
work
Submit
paper 1
2003
Start
paper 1
Start
paper 2
Submit
paper 2
Birth of
Child 1
Birth of
Child 2
Submit
paper 3
Start
paper 3
Write
thesis
Submit
thesis
PhD
Conferred
LIFE
WORK
Working (0.8FTE
average)
Wife

13. Other things…
 Don’t underestimate the benefit of work-life balance
 Know yourself and how you operate best
 PhD Candidature is a tremendous opportunity
 Your PhD is the one time that you are focussed on a single
project
 For example, I am currently involved in 8 distinct projects
 Make the most of the sacrifice you have made – it can set-
up your career
 Get the most out of your PhD – you can get so much more
than 2 letters and a piece of paper
 It can set you up for a job or research fellowship immediately
following your PhD