30 tips for successful academic research and writing
Choosingsomething that you are passionately interested in to research is a
great first step on the road to successful academic writing but it can
be difficult to keep the momentum going. Deborah Lupton explains
how old-fashioned whiteboards and online networking go hand-in-hand,
and offers advice for when it is time to just ‘make a start’ or go for a
bike ride.
As part of preparing for a workshop on
academic publishing for early career academics, I jotted down some ideas
and tips to share with the group which I thought I would post here. In
the process of writing 12 books and over 110 peer-reviewed journal
articles and book chapters over a career which has mostly been part-time
because of juggling the demands of motherhood with academic work, I
have developed some approaches that seem to work well for me.
academic publishing for early career academics, I jotted down some ideas
and tips to share with the group which I thought I would post here. In
the process of writing 12 books and over 110 peer-reviewed journal
articles and book chapters over a career which has mostly been part-time
because of juggling the demands of motherhood with academic work, I
have developed some approaches that seem to work well for me.
These tips are in no particular order, apart from number 1, which I consider to be the most important of all.
Planning your research schedule
- Choose something to research/write about that you are passionately
interested in. I find that most of my research and writing tends to
spring from wanting to find out more or understand more about a
particular phenomenon that intrigues me. In explaining it to myself I
end up explaining it to others, hopefully in a new and interesting way
that is worthy of publication. - Be organised – planning time use is essential when there are many demands on your time.
- Make sure that you set aside one or more periods of time each week
when you devote yourself to research and don’t let other demands impinge
on this time. - So I can easily see what I need to do and by when, I use a
white-board with a ‘to do’ list with tasks listed monthly and their
deadlines. I rub off tasks as I complete them (usually with a great
sense of accomplishment!). Very low tech, I know, but effective as a
visual reminder. - Plan your research in chunks: this morning, today, this week, this
month, next few months, this year, next three years. Have a clear idea
for what you want to achieve in these time periods and try to stick to
this as much as you can. - I don’t tend to think more than a year ahead when it comes to
research outcomes I want to achieve, but I find it helpful to write up
at least a one-year research plan at the beginning of each year. Some
people may also want to prepare a 3- or 5-year research plan. - Be strategic about every bit of research time available. Think about
the best use of your time. Difficult cognitive tasks requiring intense
thought often need a lengthy period of time, so plan to do these when
this is available to you. Easy or less time-intensive tasks such as
correcting proofs, editing or formatting a journal article or chapter
for submission or reading some materials and taking notes can be fitted
in smaller periods of time.
Making a start
- Use whatever research time you have to do something, however small the task.
- Make a start. Once you have an idea for a piece of writing, create a
file for it on your computer and write down anything, however rough and
however brief, even if it is just a provisional title and some notes
about possible content. It can always be polished and developed later or
even discarded if you decide eventually not to go ahead with the idea. - Organise your writing into different computer files: articles in
progress, submitted articles, accepted articles, conference papers, blog
posts, book proposals, grant applications etc. - Organise your PDF journal article collection under topics in files on your computer.
- If you are feeling unenthusiastic or have hit a wall – leave that
piece of writing for a while and work on another piece of writing. - If no external deadline has been set, set yourself deadlines and try
to meet these as much as you can, so that you can then move on to the
next piece of writing.
Getting the most out of your writing
- Use your writing in as many different ways as you can – conference
papers, articles/chapters, books, blog posts. Turn the small
(unrefereed) pieces into bigger (refereed) pieces whenever you can and
vice versa. What starts out as a blog post can be later developed into
an article, for example. Conversely some of the main arguments of an
article can be used in one or more blog posts. - Never let a conference/seminar paper stay a conference/seminar paper
– turn it into an article/book chapter as soon as you can. If there is
simply not enough substance for a piece that is the length of a journal
article or book chapter, consider polishing and referencing the paper
appropriately. Once it is at a standard where you consider it ready to
be available to others, publish it on your university’s e-repository as a
working paper. That way, anyone will be able to access the paper
digitally and reference it. - Decide on an appropriate journal as you are writing an article and
tailor the argument/length to the journal’s requirements before you
finish it. - Once you think that you have finished a piece of writing and are
ready to submit it, put it aside for a least a day and come back and
read it again with fresh eyes. You will most probably notice something
that could be improved upon. Once you have done this and are feeling
happy with the piece, go ahead and submit. As another commentator
has argued, you need to conquer your fear and send your writing off
into the world: ‘we owe it to the words we have written to send them
away’. - Receiving feedback from academic referees on a writing piece or
research proposal can sometimes be demoralising. Don’t let negative
comments get you down for long. Grit your teeth and revise and resubmit
as soon as you can, however tedious it feels. See this as an opportunity
to make your piece the very best it can be. If the article has been
rejected, take a good hard look at whether the referees’ comments are
valid and if necessary, revise and then submit it to another journal.
Remember that all successful academic writers have received negative
feedback at times: that is simply part-and-parcel of academic writing
and publishing. - Rather than simply deleting material when you are editing a piece of
writing, make ‘edits’ computer files into which to ‘paste’ this
material when you cut it (I make several edits files under topics). You
never know when you may be able to use this material somewhere else. - Think about how one writing piece can lead to another as you are writing it.
- Make sure that your abstract is well-written and will lead others to your work (see here for guidelines on writing an effective abstract).
- Keep on top of the latest research published in the journals you use
for your research. One easy way to do this is to sign up to email
alerts with the publishers of the journals and you will be notified by
them of the contents of each new issue.
Connect for inspiration
- Inspiration for research can come from many places. Attending
conferences and seminars and reading the latest academic literature in
your field are all extremely important, but so are other strategies. As a
sociologist, I have generated many ideas from listening to good quality
radio programs, reading newspapers and my favourite online sites and
blogs regularly and engaging in social media such as Twitter and
Facebook with people interested in the topics I research (see more on
social media at no. 25). - Connect, connect, connect. Publicise your research and make
connections with other researchers as much as you can. Make contact with
others working in areas related to your interests even if they are in
different departments or in other universities. Join relevant research
networks or start your own. - Strengthen your online presence.
Think about using social and other digital media to promote your
research, engage with the community and make academic connections. Set
up a profile on Academia.edu at the barest minimum. Make sure your
university webpage is kept up-to-date with your latest publications and
research projects. Write blog posts (if you don’t want to commit to your
own blog, do guest posts for others’ blogs or for online discussion
forums), sign up to Twitter and relevant Facebook pages, put your
PowerPoints on SlideShare, make Pinterest boards (see here for my introduction to social media for academics). - Use digital bookmarking sites such as Scoop.it, Pinterest, Delicious or Bundlr to save interesting material you have found on the web (see here for a discussion of using tools like these for academic work).
- Use a computerised online reference manager such as Endnote, Zotero
or Mendeley. Get in the habit of loading citations straight into this
each time as soon as you come across them. - Think carefully about who you collaborate with on research before
agreeing to do so. Good collaborators will add immensely to your own
work: bad ones will make your life difficult and you won’t be happy with
the outputs you produce. - Seek out the advice or mentorship of more experienced academics whose research you respect.
- Take regular walks/runs/bike rides. This will not only keep you
physically fit but will also provide a mental space to think through an
argument or come up with new ideas. Some of my best ideas have come when
I have been in motion and my thoughts are unencumbered.
Note: This article gives the views of the author(s), and not the position of the Impact of Social Sciences blog, nor of the London School of Economics.
This blog was originally published on Deborah’s blog, ‘This Sociological Life’ , and is reprinted here with permission.
About the author:
Deborah Lupton is a sociologist in the
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney. She is
the author of 12 books and many research articles and chapters on topics
including medicine and public health, the body, risk, parenting
culture, childhood, the emotions, obesity politics, and digital
cultures.
Impact of Social Sciences – 30 tips for successful academic research and writing
Deborah Lupton is a sociologist in the
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney. She is
the author of 12 books and many research articles and chapters on topics
including medicine and public health, the body, risk, parenting
culture, childhood, the emotions, obesity politics, and digital
cultures.
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