Early stage publication strategies: will they work? Final results

Objective: Enabling PhD students to develop a viable publication strategy (PS) early on is an integral part of the mandatory research integrity course taught at most Danish universities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent PhD students follow their early stage PS and to identify what characterizes a successful PS.

Method: 40 randomly selected PS assignments will be analyzed, from among the 2014 cohort of PhD students enrolled in the research integrity course at our university. The course is mandatory for all newly enrolled PhD students.

We will identify similarities between early stage PSs that have been followed and those that have been abandoned. We will end up concluding whether it is meaningful to expect PhD students to come up with a viable PS at an early stage.

The analysis will be carried out and finalized in early spring 2019. Results will be ready for presentation at WCRI 2019.

David Kolb’s reference model for learning styles will be used as theoretical framework. The model depicts learning as an outcome of the dynamics of experience, observation, conceptualization and experimentation. We have selected this model since we consider it highly likely that PhD students meet all four modes when developing their PS.

Results and conclusion: The publication pressure on young scientists has increased tremendously over the last decade. While publications ‘make or break’ a scientist, there is not much room for ‘trial and error’ and young scientists must have a relatively precise PS at a very early stage of their career. For these reasons, learning how to produce a PS, while considering the principles of responsible conduct of research, is a crucial part of doctoral training.

The analysis will contribute evidence-based knowledge to further improve the quality of research integrity training targeted at PhD students.