Professor Gina Wisker , Head of CLT
University of Brighton
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King's College Chapel
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Why are you interested in publishing from the
PHD?
What are the issues and the outcomes from
your perspective ?
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Perfectionism
Critical friends first
Publishing with yr supervisor
Butchering it int a pub shape
Timing
Copyright
Someone has done the same/similar
(emphasis differences and compare)
No pressure or support to publish
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Professionals will help you improve the work
Your professional accountability and track
record
Means your work is good /good at what you
are doing
Building up cake layers of elements of your
work –in a large project- to refer to
To get a readership
Focus on a sectio n
Route in academia/professional practice
Read.research write more and better in a
short time
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‘ doctoral candidates who publish on early
phases of their work – it moves them ahead
quite substantially. Their identity shifts to
one of ‘now I am a researcher’. There is no
doubt in my mind that publication is central
to being an academic.’ (S)
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Anthony Paré raises concerns about
publishing too early, which can detract from
the research momentum and present work
which is not yet ready to share, to a public
audience. This can have negative effects on a
student’s confidence and reputation (Paré,
2010)
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Are you seeking or achieving publication and
what are the issues?
Why do you want to get published?
What are the pitfalls and the benefits,
And what are the strategies to enable this
publication?
Are you going you publish from your PhD during
its completion?
After its completion?
What do we know about systems which expect
publications en route through the PhD?
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Publishing during the PhD and from the PhD are
important for students who need and want to get
into the world of publication, whether they
become academics- or seek recognition in the
professional world from which and into which
their work feeds (or both).
It is essential for sharing work, being
recognised as a specialist in various issues or
practices. And entering the dialogue which is
knowledge creation, sharing co-production and
use dissemination which leads to action.
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Colleagues who have been involved in our
research (into doctoral learning 20072010)have commented on the importance of
getting published before the viva because
it gave them the confidence that they were
already part of the dialogues into which their
work fits.
and they had been already accepted as an
equal by their peers – through peer review.
It can of course detract from the writing of
the PhD and it needs to be engaged in with
confidence and sound planning and focus.
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Publishing the PhD
Publishing as part of the PhD – the Scandinavian and
scientific model and the Manchester university model
essay development journal article trajectory
(and then wrap)
Publishing alongside the PhD - be careful its related
or detracts from momentum
Publishing from the PhD – selecting appropriate
elements and chapters articles etc to turn into essays
–essay development journal article trajectory
Publishing the PhD – politics and processes of turning
it into a book
The PhD by Publication
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Publishing as part of the PhD
Publishing during the PhD
Publishing after the PhD
PhD by publication
 What
do YOU want to do??
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Publishing is now often expected for your CV,
will be useful after achievement of the
doctorate to help you to get a job, and
will give you confidence before and during
the viva to support credibility in the field.
This credibility comes from your position,
which shifts slightly from novice, student, to
early member of the collection of voices
engaged with discussion and dissemination in
your field.
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Peers have already reviewed, commented on,
supported and accepted some of your work for
publication, so it has already achieved the criteria
of a scholarly contribution to knowledge which is
expected of the PhD itself.
Once published, it is an indicator of the
sophistication and acceptance of the contribution
to knowledge your work is making in the field.
Publication enables feedback and confidence –
externally for student, supervisor and examiner.
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identifying, and designing projects or part of a
developing thesis which can lead to publishable
outputs
planning and management of the piece for
publication
finding and researching suitable publication outlets
alignment and conversion of the thesis or parts of it
Seeking support
writing, re writing, editing the text for submission
submitting for publication
handling reviews and re writing
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Length and focus are important.
Selecting appropriate elements to turn in to a
journal article aids the focus of your writing.
There is too much space in a PhD, it can seem
huge and daunting, and you might at some
points be guilty of forgetting what the main
questions and findings are.
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Once your PhD is finished you must of course
begin to turn it into publication and share it with
the wider readership of interested experts and
practitioners who can benefit from your work.
The PhD thesis itself can be considered a
publication in many contexts and now it is easier
to have access to it online through electronic
means,
The selection of appropriate elements for
publication as journal articles is important.
It is also important to consider whether the whole
might be turned into a book.
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Your PhD is a substantial piece of work which
makes a contribution to knowledge in the field.
It is also rather specialised and its main readership
is you, your supervisor and your examiners, and
some critical friends, and perhaps, if they have the
dedication, your mum or partner.
They read for different reasons,
explore the erudition and contribution
to marvel that you can develop such a specialised
argument after such a long time working.
The family tend to read PhDs as a rite of passage,
surviving, or having survived, while you carried out
your research and struggled through writing up.
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But the readership of your article arising from
the PhD is different, it could be wider, and it
is specialist.
This readership has less time to spend than
your supervisor or examiners, those devoted
to the 80,000 words.
Each of your readers approaches your work
with their own interests.
They want to read your specific contribution
to a field in which they have a specialist
interest
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The production of an essay or article
like a mini version of an element of the PhD,
in a conventional, mini PhD shape, enables a
sharp focus down on what the contribution to
knowledge is.
It also gives you practice in how to structure
your work in a manageably sized piece
(usually 5-7,000 words, standard journal
article size).
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Developing an essay from your ongoing
thesis and research enables you to develop
an argument and use literature in that
argument; to theorise; and defend your case
regarding methodology, methods, place in
the literature, explicating the analysis of
specific elements of data in tight relation to
the research questions, part of which this
article is addressing, and using them as
evidence for that argument.
Then you are involved in actually producing a
mini thesis, from abstract, through
introduction, literature review, methodology
and methods, data and discussion, to
conclusions, both factual and conceptual.
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The exercise of producing this mini version,
the tight focus needed, helps you to open out
and work in the same tight way with the full
thesis if it is a monograph, and with the other
articles and the overall theorised argument,
or ‘wrap’, if it is a series of articles and a
‘wrap’.
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If it is a monograph, your PhD is probably
80,000 words long, and your essays from it
can never be simply chapter 1, chapter 2,
chapter 3 etc
Each essay or article has its own structure,
which is a version of the PhD – each has an
abstract, introduction, engaging the work in
a larger field and emphasising its
contribution, and then continues into a
literature review element and methodology
and methods, and then onto the data.
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Simply cutting up chapters will not work, as
each depends on the introductory material at
the start of the PhD – you need to select
elements of this.
Setting the scene clearly, outlining the range
of responses to questions in the field,
locating your own contribution and approach
are all important in any essay and for all of
the different kinds of readers who might read
your work, though some will skip through the
essay looking for certain elements.
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The literature review might be written up as
an essay, as a synthesis of literature in the
field,
the methodology section as a contribution to
a new use of methodology and methods,
or an essay emphasising the methodology
with some of your data – a case study in
action of that methodology and methods.
This is particularly likely if you have
developed a new twist to a new use of the
methodology and methods.
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Most likely the different themes which
emerge in your data analysis here are the
richest potential source for articles –
if you have three chapters each taking a
different theme then there could well be three
articles here.
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For example, in a PhD on three writers of the
Gothic,
each chapter on each writer could be turned
into an article,
or each theme which involves each of the
three writers could be an article, e.g. ghosts
and the legacy of the east in the works of x, x
and x,
then domestic gothic in the works of x, x,
and x.
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How could your PhD be developed into
articles now?
Where might you consider sending them?
What support and development would be
useful now?
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Kwan (2011) in Hong Kong found that PhD
students were often quite resentful about the
amount of time it took to write for
publication and felt that it was just so much
more work for them to do.
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There might not be explicit in-house support
for your writing,
supervisors often take this on,
there could also be writing support offered
through the library or writing centres,
And/ or you can set up your own writing
circles to share and support the development
of each other’s work.
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support the emotional processes:
the resilience, perseverance, confidence and
articulacy needed; encourage and support
writing groups;
offer to co-write journal articles, without
stealing all the recognition;
join students in conference presentations and
in book chapters;
and put them in touch with editors who are
looking for reviewers so that they can begin
to develop their skills in reviewing, which
skills can transfer to their own writing.
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help students to demystify the process of
spotting the right journals to write for and
why,
Suggest looking through , the web of
knowledge, web of science, impact factors,
citations, publishers, websites, and following
the trajectory of a favourite author – where
they have published, how much and with
whom,
so you can see how to plan your own writing
and publishing journey.
do not necessarily go for the top journal first
Become aware of the protocols of publication.
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Pushing the forward thinking out in new areas is
always dangerous, and supervisors and students
would need to find where to publish new techniques
and new findings in different contexts.
Engaging with writing for an academic audience could
cut across originality in the discipline because of the
compliance with the expectation of academic
publishing, which might undermine the originality of
the work at an early stage.
Students who publish with the project group or their
supervisor would need to ensure that they felt their
work was still their own, and that it could clearly be
seen in any joint publication.
On a slightly darker side, they need to avoid getting
the work hijacked by their supervisor.
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In the PhD journey – what positive and
negative experiences have you had or can you
envisage having in relation to publishing?
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Disillusionment with the publishing process
Pushing the forward thinking out in new areas
is always dangerous
Getting the work hijacked by your supervisor
Difficulties of strength of paper, and part
time students
Need to convince yourself that it is worth
your time
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Find the right journals and develop a new theme/
approach through them
Ask your supervisor and other postgraduates to
develop a list to share where already published
How far is the REF the issue- ?
Is it an issue of dissemination ?
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posters – in house journals
Use peer support
Work in progress outlets
Self publishing on blogs
Rehearse arguments first on blogs talk about
it first rather than publish publically on it
Blogs provide immediate feedback –and
engagement
Blog= a notebook turned outwards –
Blogs help with impact- more visible ,share
early ideas
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Its very different submitting to a journal – it is
more competitive and often less nurturing than
supervision
Developmental support through refereeing
Mulling over eg about methodology-helpful
development and identify supporters
Build a list of places that accept postgraduate
students’ work
The characteristics- relevance, engagement,
audience
Dealing with bad reviews
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Conceiving and designing publishable
projects
Output planning and management
Manuscript writing
Thesis-publication alignment and conversion
Handling reviews
Studies in higher education 2011 1–19, iFirst Article
‘Facilitating novice researchers in project publishing
during the doctoral years and beyond: a Hong Kongbased study’ Becky Siu Chu Kwan∗Department of English,
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Emphasise the important of engagement and
dissemination for any research and professional
practice.
Normalise the writing and publication process more
generally.
Defuse and clarify the complex processes of finding
journals, dealing with editors and peer reviews –
finishing off the piece.
Support the emotional processes or resilience,
perseverance, confidence and articulacy
Encourage and support writing groups
Offer to co-write journal articles - without stealing all
the recognition
Join students into conference presentations, and into
book chapters
Put them in touch with editors who are looking for
reviewers and the development of reviewers
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Supervisors can help students to demystify the
process Web of knowledge, web of science, impact
factors, citations, publishers, websites, spotting
the right journals to write for and whyChoosing journals –websites
Follow the trajectory of a favourite author –
where they have published, how much and with
whom (example)
Not necessarily going for the top journal first
Protocols of publication
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Slice of cake, research journey etc
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Whole cake –whole field, all the questions you can ask in all the ways
boundaries
our slice of the cake
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A dissertation/thesis is a buildin
Research is a journey
It looks mapped but -risks, surprises,deviations
Ordered, coherent, organised, 46link
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There is a need to research the outlets, the
process and the practicalities
To plan the time management and work
production to share the development with
supervisor and others.
To learn from the feedback and produce
better work
To persevere and maintain momentum and
emotional resilience
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1) Your student is quite weak in their
methodology, their data collection is still in
its early stages and their work untheorised,
and they have written little so far. They insist
that it is necessary for them to publish
journal articles now and with your help and
want you to co author with them.
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2) You have a strong student with good ideas
and very interesting original work developing
- and they want to publish early data which
in your view is not yet quite right for
publication and hasn’t quite achieved its
potential.
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3) Someone else’s student come s to you and
suggests that their supervisor is holding their
publication back – they would like you to
intervene either to persuade – or to take over
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4) You are an expert in discipline A, your
student is conducting research in disciplines
A and B and would like to publish on this but
you feel unsure about discipline B and unsure
about the journals in which they can publish
this interdisciplinary research -what do you
advise them to do and how?
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What might work here
and for you?
actions and ideas
Institutional and local practices to support
developmental change
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References
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Dinham, S. and C. Scott, C. (2001) ‘The Experience of Disseminating the Results of Doctoral Research’, Journal of Further and Higher
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Kiley, M., & Wisker, G. (2008, June 2008). “Now you see it, now you don’t”:
Identifying and supporting the achievement of doctoral work which embraces
threshold concepts and crosses conceptual thresholds. Paper presented at the
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