While the nature of STEM research means that PhD students are more likely to find publication as a co-author or part of a collaborative team, AHSS scholars usually publish articles as the sole author, which can make publications harder to come by.
However, there are still plenty of ways you can gain publications as a AHSS student, each with their own advantages for your academic career. We’ve listed the main publishing routes below.
Peer-reviewed publication in a journal
Getting an article accepted by an academic journal is one of the most prestigious kinds of publication you can gain as a PhD student. This is because of the rigorous peer-review process, which involves two or more specialists taking a close look at your work and deciding whether it’s worthy for publication. Peer review is usually carried out ‘blind’ which means that you won’t know who your appointed reviewers are, and nor will they know who the author of the piece is. This ensures that all articles – including those by PhD students – are judged entirely according to their academic merits, not the profile of their author. The process can be a lengthy one though, sometimes taking several months.
If you are published in a peer-reviewed journal, it’s a sign of the relevance, authority and quality of your work, and you should be rightfully proud of yourself. It’s also something that you’ll be able to refer to on your academic CV when applying for postdoc opportunities and job positions.
Your supervisor will usually be able to advise you on whether your work is suitable for submission to an academic journal. Papers are normally in the region of 5,000 words, so it might involve reworking the draft of a dissertation chapter or even part of your Masters thesis.
Book chapter
Another publication option is to write a chapter for an edited book on your research specialism. Book chapters don’t normally go through as rigorous a peer review process as a journal article would (instead, selection is usually down to the volume editors), but still make an impressive addition to your CV.
Having a good academic networking can come in handy when it comes to be invited to submit to edited volumes. For example, if your supervisor or one of their contacts / colleagues has been asked to edit a collection of articles on an area that has crossover with your research specialism, they may ask you to contribute a chapter to the book. In general, it’s useful to keep your ear to the ground for potential opportunities that might come about as a result of your department’s publishing schedule.
Book review
In addition to original research articles, most academic journals also carry reviews of recent work in their field (such as monographs, edited collections and so on). Writing these book reviews might be one of the simplest ways to get published as a PhD student. If you get in touch with the reviews editor of an academic journal and introduce yourself / your research specialism, they may ask you to write a short (normally 1,000 words or so) review of a book that they’ve been sent by a publisher.
You’ll then be sent a copy of the book in question, some review guidelines and a deadline. It’s a good idea to read previous reviews in the journal to get a feel for the tone of voice and style. Although book reviews aren’t necessarily subject to the same peer review standards as an article, they can be a great way to understand what’s happening in your field and begin to get your name about as an academic. You’ll (normally) get to keep the book/s too, which is nice.
