Should early career researchers publish in a top ranked journal?
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Henry Ford.
We are fully immersed in the digital age, but cultural change takes some time to catch up with technological advances. The way we view academic publishing is also changing at a varied pace. It is interesting that the two posts we feature here in 2015, questioning the methods of peer review for journal publishing, were both written in 2012.
How willing are people to take the risk of doing something differently when the academic publishing process is so established? Is it considered a risk to approach peer review in a different way? Open source peer review continues to divide opinion, and we have noticed an increase in the number of academic social networks set up for sharing research; change is afoot, but at what cost and how fast?
Why Bother Publishing in a Journal?
Anthony Salvagno got stuck with a grant proposal and decided to use Google Docs to get feedback from his peers. Given time pressures he then shared the document with his fellow scientists on his Twitter network. To his surprise the feedback was almost instantaneous and very insightful. On reflection this was a peer review process which then raised several questions in his mind about peer review and new media platforms. Click here for his full blog post.
Salvagno is now an advisor on Figshare which is a repository where users make their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner. This platform has received accolades from both Journal publishers and academic book publishers.
Who is Telling You to Publish in a Top Ranked Journal?
Pat Thompson is regularly asked by early career researchers about publishing in a top ranked journal. In her post on her blog Patter she urges those of you considering this to reflect on who has given you this advice, and to think about what is actually at stake for you, and how you will respond to the outcome. She encourages you to think about how you can go back to those who have suggested publishing in a top ranked journal and glean more information to better prepare yourself ahead of submission. Click here to read the full blog post
