The motivation for getting published varies by where someone is in their academic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor Ph.D. students, publications will enhance their competitiveness in job markets,\u201d said Jing Jian Xiao, professor of Human Development and Family Science in URI\u2019s College of Health Sciences<\/a>. \u201cFor master\u2019s degree students, if they want to go to strong Ph.D. programs, their publications will show their motivation and abilities. For undergraduates, their publications will help them enroll in strong graduate programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many considerations when writing and submitting an article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of the publishing process, especially picking the right journal, dealing with copyrights, and communicating with editors, seems daunting, but can be made significantly more accessible with the assistance of someone who has been through the process,\u201d said Izzy Rico<\/a>, a native of Portland, Maine, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in oceanography at URI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Peck was a graduate student, she felt getting started was a difficult part of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the hardest parts is finding the motivation to sit down and put words to paper,\u201d said Peck. \u201cI struggled a lot when I was a graduate student to write up my research. I thought I had to have a complete story in mind before I started writing. I realized that writing is how I make sense of my research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peck taught the course Science Publishing in the fall semester to demystify the writing and publishing process. The course was open to all URI graduate students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProfessor Peck walked us through every step,\u201d said Andrew Goering<\/a>, an oceanography Ph.D. student from Marlborough, Massachusetts. \u201cShe had us write several mock reviews for a paper she was in the process of publishing to help us understand the reviewers\u2019 perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Peck\u2019s course, Rico, Goering, and Michael Norton, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in biological and environmental sciences in the College of Environment and Life Sciences<\/a>, did a final project in the form of a research paper about the publishing process. Their paper titled, \u201cGraduate students need formal training on the publication process<\/a>,\u201d was published in the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography\u2019s Bulletin<\/em> in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThroughout the submission process, I learned how to interact with reviewers,\u201d said Norton, who is from Lakeville, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xiao, who is one of the world\u2019s most cited financial literacy and personal finance scholars, has served as editor for various academic journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAuthors need to convince the editor in the title, abstract, and introduction that their research is innovative and contributes to the literature of their field,\u201d said Xiao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico, Goering, and Norton made the case that more formal publication training is needed for graduate students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI agree with the article\u2019s findings that one of the best ways to learn the process and combat the ill effects of hidden curriculum is through formal training,\u201d said Peck. \u201cI\u2019d recommend\u00a0that students advocate for this formal training at their home institutions and academic units and seek training through discipline-specific societies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nInteracting with reviewers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Formal and informal training<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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