career planing guide

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Charting a

Course Fora suCCessFul

researChCareerA Guide for Eary Career Researchers2nd Edition (Updated)

Professor Aan M Johnson AMM.A. (Hons), M.Ed.Mgmt., B.App.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc.


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2012 Esevier B.V. A rights reserved. No part of this docu-ment may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, withoutpermission from the pubisher. Enquiries concerning reproduc-tion shoud be sent to the pubisher at the foowing address:

Radarweg 29, 1043 NX, Amsterdam, The NetherandsEmai: [email protected]

Pubished by Esevier B.V.

First pubished June 2009, second edition Apri 2011.Updated with a new foreword by Oivier Dumon, August 2012

Printed in The Netherands.

ISBN 978-90-817200-1-4


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Foreword by Oivier Dumon 2Introduction 41. Career Panning 72. Seecting a Research Discipine Area 113. Seecting a Supervisor 194. Seecting a Mentor 25

5. Research Coaboration 296. Networking 357. Ethics and Research Integrity 398. Choosing Your Pubications Stye and Format 439. Where to Pubish 4910. Preparing a Grant Funding Appication 6111. Coaborating with Industry and Academia 6912. Attending Conferences 7513. Society Membership 8114. Seing Your Accompishments 8515. Curricuum Vitae 9316. Appying for Feowships 9717. Appying for a Job or Promotion 101

References 106

About Professor Aan Johnson 116

Contents


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The 21st century is an exciting time to be a researcher. The advanc-es of the past 25 years have opened up extraordinary new vistas ofscientic discovery that would have been unimaginable a genera-tion ago. Thanks to the internet, researchers now have easier andquicker access to an unprecedented amount of information fromaround the word, through onine research toos for science discov-ery, such as Eseviers ScienceDirect and Scopus. In addition, gob-

a communications technoogy has removed both metaphoric andphysica barriers, aowing for rea-time coaboration between peersregardess of whether they are sitting across the room or haf-wayacross the word.

But an increased open environment, as we as the rise indeveoping nations, has aso created the most competitive researchenvironment ever known. A higher number of grant appicants arevying for a dwinding poo of funding opportunities with many strings

attached to their requirements and expected outcomes. The dichot-omy is that researchers have better, broader, and faster access tomore information and technoogy than at any other time in history,yet the funds necessary to tap into these resources and fulll the full

promise of a research career are growing eaner.Eary career researchers fu of fresh ideas and perspec-

tives can bring new energy to the research process. However senior

researchers, who are nding it necessary to wear multiple hats asthey jugge an increasing workoad with imited staff and resourc-es, now have ess time to guide their novice peers and assemberesearch teams, potentiay impacting deveopment future taent

Foreword


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deveopment. Without essentia mentoring, younger researchersare at risk of not securing critica funding they need to pubish andcontribute to the productivity of their respective institution; a cruciastep on the road to success.

Science research is at the core of the goba economy. Byproviding the toos for rising taent to network within their commu-nity, pubish works and vaidate resuts, evauate the work of others,

nd funding and potential collaborators, Elsevier provides the con-duit that drives the science research process that is heping to sovesome of the words most pressing probems.

The British geneticist J. B. S. Hadane once said: We can-not predict the future, but we can invent it. Professor Johnsonsguide provides the buiding bocks essentia to inventing the futuresof the next generation of research taent.

Olivier Dumon

Managing Director, Academic & Government Research Markets,

Elsevier


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Congratuations!

You have worked hard over the ast few years to com-pete your doctorate (Ph.D. or equivaent such as, for exampe,the Dr.rer.nat. in the German-speaking community, or D.Phi.)or you are in the process of competing it. You now have theskis, expertise and above a the internationa recognition to

embark on a research career.Over the last 5 to 10 years, competition for high prole re -

search positions has become much more competitive. Conse-quenty, athough there is no substitute for an outstanding re-search record, as a researcher who is beginning your researchcareer, you must aso pan and work on a number of importantactivities that compement your research record in order to op-

timise your research career. You need a pan, and this Guideoutines the major points you need to consider to formuate thecareer pan that is best for you.

Athough the Guide speaks to Eary Career Researchers(ECRs) it is aso very important that senior researchers andsenior research managers are aware of the mentoring and as-sistance that ECRs require these days. So you shoud eithergive them a copy of the Guide or pass it on to them, afteryou've nished reading it.

A Guide about internationa research mentoring mustbe very broad, recognising differences among research dis-cipines, country differences, research type differences, and

introduCtion


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organisations. For exampe, different countries have differentforms of doctora training and there are internationa differ-ences in the ofcial denition of ECR. Here I do not subscribe

to an ofcial denition of an ECR, and use the term Ph.D. for

a simiar internationay-recognised research training awards.This Guide is written for researchers who are sti panning anddesigning their research career, no matter how ong since theaward of their Ph.D.

There are of course many and great differences amongthe different research discipines. Humanities and creativearts researchers tend to work on their own or in sma highy

focused groups. They often need fewer physica resources,such as research maintenance funding, than researchers inother discipine areas. At the other end of the spectrum, argebioogica science groups or physica science research Centresthat require arge amounts of research funding for both pur-chase and maintenance of very arge research infrastructure,are probaby most common.

Simiary, there are numerous differences among the typesof research that are done within these research discipines.The European Union uses the Frascati denition of researchers

as Professionals engaged in the conception or creation of newknowledge, products, processes and methods and systems, and

in the management of the projects concerned. [1]And researchis dened as Research and experimental development (R&D)

comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in or-

der to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of

man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge

to devise new applications. [1]

Put simpy, research is often divided into the foowingthree broad research types:

1. Pure basic research - experimenta and theoretica workoften caed fundamenta or bue sky research, know-

edge for knowedges sake.2. Strategic basic research - experimenta and theoretica,but often undertaken to acquire new knowedge andead to usefu discoveries or sove practica probems.


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3. Appied research - origina work to perhaps determinenew ways of achieving specic objectives or developing

new techniques.

And the ast major chaenge that a reativey sma inter-nationay-focused Guide such as this faces is the fact that thedifferent types of research within the different research disci-pines are often carried out in different types of organisations.In addition to pubic and private universities, researchers workin a broad range of non-university institutions such as govern-ment research institutes, private research institutes, not-for-

prot organisations, medical research institutes and privatecommercia and industria research companies.

I accept a these differences and intend this Guide tocover the tens of thousands of researchers who may work indifferent research discipines, in different research organisa-tions, and do different types of research, in different countries.So whether you are a physics researcher in a German company,

a aw researcher in a Braziian University, or an arts researcherin a Japanese government research Institute, I am sure thatyou will get enormous benet from this Guide. And of course,

research is an internationa occupation so that even if todayyou are a researcher in a nationa government Institute, nextyear you may take up a position in a University on the otherside of the word. The Ph.D. and equivaents are internationayrecognised qualications. Having the ability to plan for a global

research environment is an idea aim for a ECRs.


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Careerplanning

1.


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Those of you working in universities aso have responsibiitiesin teaching, community service and interna administration.Researchers in research institutes or those working for com-mercia companies aso have a range of other responsibiitiesin addition to the research they wish to carry out. Very fewresearchers, especiay at the onset of their career, are abe toconcentrate soey on their research. There are penty of otherdemands on your time in addition to your research but thisGuide does not attempt to pan an academic or commerciacareer in its entirety. It must necessariy focus on the researchcomponent of these careers, but does attempt to take the

other demands on your time in to consideration.It's argey up to you to decide how much time and effort

to put in to each of these other demands on your time. In fact,because of them, it is probaby even more important to incudethem strategicay as you chart your research career.

You need a pan. Stages in the pan may never come tofruition, may change quicky, experience probems or even pro-

ceed quicker than originay thought, but a of these can beaddressed and the pan revised in order to hep you achieveyour research goas. Having a pan that needs to be adjustedover time is very much better than not having any pan at a.

Whatever you do, you must make choices about the pathsyou take made on informed decisions. No onger is it competi-tive to have a Ph.D. and et your research career drift basedon what comes aong. You must be proactive rather than reac-

tive in how you approach your research career. In fact, eventhose of you who may decide to focus more on teaching, com-munity service or commercia outcomes in research shoudaso use a pan for those areas as we.

Perhaps the rst stage in formulating a plan for your re -search career is to ask yoursef where you want to be in 5, 10or 15 years. Do you wish to stay in the type of organisation

and research area you are in now and advance your activity inthis area? Do you wish to gain entry into another type of aca-demic or commercia organisation? Or do you wish to changeresearch elds? These are major decisions. They are within


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your contro, but ony you can decide what you want to do.Your research pan and your goas need to be optimistic

and chaenging but they must be reaistic too. The researchenvironment is extremey competitive internationay and whiesuccess shoud be attainabe by everyone, and certainy hav-ing a pan for your research career wi bring you coser to yourgoas and success, it is important that your goas are achieva-be. The foowing sections wi hep you to achieve this baance.

It is not the aim of this Guide to go through a generapersonne and management skis but perhaps one ski thatshoud be stressed here is the abiity to say no when ap-

propriate or necessary. There may we be situations where youshoud say yes to avoid potentia negative impacts in the fu-ture. However, yes does not need to be your standard answer.Again, it is a decision you need to make based on the conditionsprevaiing at the time. Certainy, a researcher in the academicarea receives many requests to serve on interna committeesor boards that may advance one's academic career but not nec-

essariy your research career. Though these boards and com-mittees are important in how universities, research institutesand commercia companies conduct their activities, you need tomake the decision that being on that board and performing yourroe to the best of your abiity is what you want to do, even if itdetracts from your research productivity. If you are more deter-mined to soey focus on your research career then you need tomake a decision that you wi not accept appointments to these

types of boards or committees.There are various boards and committees that are impor-

tant to research careers. Being a peer reviewer i.e. membershipof a journa editoria board or grant review pane is good forvisibiity and prestige (to add to your curricuum vitae [CV]). Itsaso an exceent earning experience as you criticay assesswork of others and earn in the process how to structure your

own research better, or write a better grant proposa or pubica-tion yoursef.Of course, whie their research career is important, even

outstanding researchers ive within a socia context and estab-


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ishing an appropriate work/ife baance is extremey impor-tant. Many outstanding researchers are exceent teachers andhave busy persona and professiona ives in addition to theirresearch careers. This is often brought about as a compementto their increasingy productive research outputs and is prob-aby faciitated by the persona and management skis theyhave used and honed throughout their research career.

Of course, much depends on your hard work. Whie work/ife baance is important, it is up to you to decide how muchtime you aocate to each part of your research career. But nomatter what type of research you do or for which organisation

type, there is reay no substitute for focused, we panned,and therefore very efcient, hard work. As will be explained in

the foowing sections, the hard work I am taking about shoudbe in the panning for exceent research, so that when theaboratory experiments, iterature anaysis or creative work isbegun, the amount of effort required is reduced to the appro-priate minimum. Perhaps it shoud be caed working smarter

not harder. The information in this Guide wi hep you worksmarter.


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seleCting aresearChdisCipline

area

2.


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You have spent 3 or more years often working ong days andnights for 6 or 7 days a week in order to ensure the exceenceof your Ph.D. You are the word expert in your chosen Ph.D.eld of early Babylonian linguistics or the economic history

of ukiyo-e Japanese wood bock prints. Perhaps you have dis-covered new theories on gaaxy creation in astronomy, or youare the ony person in the word that knows the sequence ofthat specic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus

gene. Such research outcomes of your thesis are ceary veryimportant but that is not what a Ph.D. is about. A Ph.D. is aresearch training degree and in understanding or investigating

your specic research area you should have learnt and furtherdeveoped the research skis, training and expertise to carryout research in a range of simiar discipines.

While Ph.D.s are often very specically focused, ideally

the research produced shoud be put in an internationa con-text. Even very specic local Ph.D. projects should be made

worthwhile to at least the discipline specic community to in-

crease its reevance to a broader group besides you, your fam-iy, and your Ph.D. supervisor and examiners. This is even moreimportant ater in your research career. Within your chosenresearch discipine, your research shoud be of interest to thewider research community and it shoud aways be exceentresearch, which has impact beyond a oca interest group. Ex-ceent research shoud have:

Well planned and dened hypotheses/aims

Comprehensive and accurate technical experimentation/data coection

Objective data analysis and interpretation

Innovative new ndings widely accepted by at least thediscipline-specic research community

Whie the vast majority of Ph.D. graduates continue their

research career in their Ph.D. research subject or discipinearea, now is a good time to reect on whether that's exactlywhat you want to do.

There are many advantages in continuing your research


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career on exacty the same subject as your Ph.D. program.These incude the fact that you may have aready pubishedfrom your thesis, you are we-known in this research area, andyour supervisor, feow graduate students and even Ph.D. ex-aminers provide a network that gives you entry to an estab-ished research environment.

However, you may have chosen the area for your Ph.D.program based on a number of factors that have now changedor amost certainy wi change in the future. Across a dis-cipines, research is rapidy evoving and changing based onincreasing competition, funding eves, importance for society,

and nationa and internationa popuarity. A number of coun-tries are focusing their research areas by such activities asthe Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) [the next round tobe caed the Research Exceence Framework (REF) [2] in theUnited Kingdom, the Exceence for Research in Austraia (ERA)program [3], and Exzeenzinitiative des Bundes in Germany [4].Athough it may not be the major reason for pursuing these ini-

tiatives, these nationa and internationa programs are affect-ing how research is being carried out today and wi certainydo so in the future.

Wi the same opportunities and resources be avaiabeto your research discipine area and therefore you, in 5 or 10years? Whist you may be very happy with your environment atpresent, how wi your research career be affected by possibechanges in the area in the future?

The recent global nancial crisis and its signicant effectson university funding, especiay in the United Kingdom, theUnited States, and Japan will have very signicant effects for

some time on research funding eves and aso the areas inwhich funding is ikey to be focused.

For exampe, a recent report by Universities UK [5] stat-ed At the same time, university research will more transpar-

ently demonstrate its increasing connection with utility, and theway in which economic and social impact derive naturally from

mission-led research in all disciplines. There is no stark choice

between either academic/discovery research or economic/de-


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velopment research, but a conceptual adjustment is needed to

promote the balance and feedback between them. Partnerships

will change.

This is not to say that you shoud immediatey and dra-matically change your research eld or discipline, although

there are exampes of such extreme situations. I am personayaware of some Ph.D. graduates who competed a Ph.D. in phys-ics after nishing one in mathematics. I completed an M.A.

(Hons) in technoogy and socia change and an M.Ed.Mgmt.in educationa management and eadership after my Ph.D. inparasite immunoogy to broaden the socia science facets of

my research career.What I am suggesting is that you shoud at east consider

the current circumstances in your research eld and try to as-sess what is ikey to happen in this area in the next few years.It may be that you decide, as most ECRs do, to continue andexpand on your origina Ph.D. research. But it may not be.

Obviously, a dramatic change in your research eld may not

be appropriate. There are now a number of previously denedand distinct research areas coming together in cross discipinaryways. Recent Ph.D. graduates who have earned and perfected arange of research skis during their research training Ph.D. pro-gram shoud not be restricted to continuing their thesis work, butcan expand their research career into another series of differentbut reated areas.

Whatever you do, it is up to you to make an informed choice.

It wi be too ate in 10 years to say I wish I had gone into that arearather than this one. Ceary it is not easy to accuratey crystaball gaze the specic future of research areas, but one can make

reasonaby informed judgments based on commercia and poicydeveopments in your country or other countries where you maywish to work in the future. Which research areas are your majornationa funding agencies exporing? What are your Ministers of

Science/Arts/Education stating in their press reeases? Whereare your countrys major commercia companies investing their re-search funds?

There are numerous differences, such as resources and


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time, among research elds that can affect your selection of

a productive, enjoyabe and rewarding research career. Someresearch areas are highy popuar in the ay community and at-tract pubicity and consequent government and commercia in-vestment. Others are more specically dened and may not be

considered as hot. Athough they may be very we grounded,highy structured and highy regarded research discipines thathave produced outstanding research outcomes over the ast fewhundred years, they may have gone out of fashion.

You can use Scopus to anayse citations for journas and

authors, it aows you to gauge the impact of research ar-eas and the inuence of authors and journals have on

research trends today. Scopus is the abstract and cita-tion database of peer-reviewed iterature and web sourc-es with toos to track, anayse and visuaise research.www.Scopus.com

Research trends do wax and wane, and can be, perhapsappropriatey, focused in some countries more than others. Thiscoud provide advantages or disadvantages for you but it doeshighight the great diversity of resources among research areas,and how you shoud be aware of this possibiity when panningyour career.

Experiments in some areas such as astronomy require enor-mous infrastructure resources and can take years to compete.

Even in biological areas there is signicant diversity in timelines.Veterinary science involving large animal eld trials or large scale

ecoogy studies can take much more time, possiby even years,than aboratory bench-based moecuar bioogy studies whichcan be productive in months or even weeks.

Most Ph.D. graduates start their research career in an areathat they are interested in and passionate about. This research

area wi remain their main focus, but their interest and passionmay evove over time beyond their Ph.D. project area.Obviousy, if you are working in a commercia company or

government research institute the projects that you are given to


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research may have drivers behind them other than your personainterest and passion. This is often baanced by increased rea-tivey easiy obtainabe interna resources and a more permanentempoyment situation. Academics in universities do have aca-demic freedom in their choice of a research area, but as men-tioned above, academic research is often baanced with teachingand administration duties. These are a very important issuesthat you need to take into account when strategicay panningyour research career. As a minimum, try to weigh the advantag-es and disadvantages of continuing your research career in thesame area for perhaps the next 10 or 20 years because it is

much easier to make a change now than in 5 or 10 years time.Perhaps the ast major factor of importance in your re-

search career is to consider whether you wish to work in argeteams or work more independenty. There are advantages anddisadvantages to both approaches. It depends on where youdo your research, and above a who pays for you and your re-search. However, if you have the opportunity, you need to seri-

ousy consider the size and type of research team with whichyou work.There is now detaied research showing that team or arge

group approaches are becoming amost the norm in science,engineering and technoogy, but they are aso becoming muchmore common in the humanities and socia sciences.

The percentage of singe-author pubications in astronomy,physics, chemistry and bioogy has faen exponentiay over the

ast 40 years [6] as increasingy compex research questions inscience have required more mutidiscipinary expertise and/orresources applied to nd solutions to specic research questions.

For exampe, many universities word-wide have CimateChange Research Centres, Socia Poicy Institutes, Cancer Re-search Centres and Centres for Agricutura Innovation, on theunderstanding that such arge research questions demand the

input of researchers from many different research discipines.This move to the formation of research groups and the in-creasing size of research groups is widey known and acceptedin science. However it has aso been occurring in mathematics,


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economics and socioogy. Perhaps even more surprisingy, thegrowth rates of socia sciences and arts and humanities teamsizes have been amost as arge as those in science and engi-neering research [7]. The formation of arger teams in researchdiscipines as diverse as socia psychoogy, economics, ecoogyand astronomy evoves with time, probaby up to an optima size[8]. There are now major areas of internationa research in to what,why and how research teams form and evove [9,10] and toos arebeing deveoped to anayse schoary networks [11].

For exampe, there are certainy good genera argumentsconcerning research and scae First the intellectual environ-

ment created; second the per capita marginal costs of researchadministration and support personnel; third, the cost of major

equipment and facilities; fourth, synergy and overall accelera-

tion; and fth, the supportive research training environment[12]. However, as recorded by an anaysis for Universities UK[13], Size alone is not a barrier to performance and there is nouniversal pattern in our data that links better research with big-

ger units. Big units on average carry out better research thansmaller units, but the average for small units includes some that

perform at a standard comparable with the largest. ---- There

is no general evidence to support the widely held supposition

that bigger units necessarily do better research. There may be

an optimal size for research units at the level of teams and an

optimal group size around 5 8 may be common. This optimal

group size appears to hold for a very wide range of information

processing systems[14,15].However, estabishing the structure and organisation of a

research team, though chaenging and highy worthwhie, wisti depend argey on the peope and processes used within thestructures to produce the research resuts [16].

This Guide does not have the space to go in to the socio-ogy of research team formation or function. It is mentioned here

ony to highight the fact that nowadays, no matter which area ofinternationay competitive research you work in, or where, it isvery ikey that you wi need to consider your roe and position onsuch a team, if you do choose to beong to one. It is another major


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decision you need to make when panning your research career.And we shoud aso bear in mind that not a great research

is done by arge teams. Many of the extremey sociay and eco-nomicay productive web based spin off companies were de-veoped by a handfu of researchers, some whom had not evengraduated at the time of their inventions. Aso, size isnt quite asessential for many innovative activities as it is often portrayed.

Internationally, it remains true that most Nobel prizes go to re-

searchers for work done in laboratories about the size of a small

extended family say, six to a dozen people. And many of the

most interesting and globally successful technology companies

have started out with a mere handful of staff. Fortunately, in thecreation of ideas, being clever still counts for more than being

big.[17]

Each government or industry research team and universi-ty research centre or institute has a Director or Head. Whetherit is this person, or a research team eader who reports to theDirector or Head, you wi have a research Supervisor. You need

to give signicant thought to which team you join, and how itsHead, who wi be your research Supervisor, may affect yourresearch career.

Supervisors may not a be super but they shoud ateast, based on their own persona experience and expertise,wisey advise.


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seleCting asupervisor

3.


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Your Ph.D. has been a research training degree, and to someextent you have undergone an apprenticeship in earning andimproving your skis in carrying out research. However, evenafter you are appointed to your rst position as a postdoctoral

researcher, as a researcher in a research organisation or as ajunior lecturer/Assistant Professor you are sti very much con-sidered to be an apprentice. This appies no matter what theresearch discipine area you work in, athough there are subtedifferences in this among the various discipines.

My comments so far have been about choosing your re-search discipine, research area and whether to join a arge

team or conduct research more independenty. However, a ma-jor factor, and perhaps the prime factor to consider in panningyour research career, is seecting your research Supervisor.

Your Supervisor coud be your Ph.D. Supervisor, and oftenis. Your Ph.D. Supervisor has worked with you for a numberof years. You have deveoped a successfu working researchreationship, as demonstrated by the fact that you were, or are

about to soon be, awarded your Ph.D. You may have pubishedand presented at conferences together and a mutua respecthas deveoped between you. When your Ph.D. Supervisor ei-ther gets commercia funding for a new position or perhapsgets a research funding agency grant, you are we-preparedboth personally and research-wise to t into their program

quicky and easiy. This of course aso indicates that you havedecided to continue your research career in the same area that

you did your Ph.D. in or some simiar area since they are bothsupervised by your Ph.D. Supervisor.

However, it is often the case that some Ph.D. Supervisors,especiay the more successfu ones, have more students thanthey can accept for paid research positions. Many Ph.D. Super-visors ike to see their Ph.D. students move organisations andto take up postdoctoral positions in high prole organisations

or universities overseas.Perhaps in considering a Research Supervisor you shoudconsider what Robert Merton identied as the Matthew Ef-fect in as eary as 1968 [18]. It is the phenomenon that fame


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breeds fame, that cited papers often get cited more often,and that inuential authors gain more inuence. This phenom-enon has been tested across many different discipines us-ing a number of different parameters to measure success inresearch such as citations to pubications [19,20], quaity andnumber of pubications and research funding success [21,22].Appied mathematicians or engineers woud consider the Mat-thew effect as a positive feedback effect and if you can get into a position where your Supervisor is someone who is inter-nationally highly recognised, then the benets of the Matthew

effect are ikey to be positive for you and your research career.

Athough there is never any substitute for research exceence,the understanding of some of these socioogica aspects ofresearch can be a major benet to your career.

However, as To [23] suggests The results conrm that itis a hard journey from being an unknown upstart to a famous

economist. Famous elders hog the limelight, and their share of

the attention is only partly due to superior quality; some are

rather famous for being famous. However, it is not uphill all theway; it is uphill only for most of the way. At a certain point, one

crosses the threshold and is then propelled to fame.As an Executive Director of the Austraian Research Coun-

ci (ARC) and more recenty as the Managing Director of Re-search Management Services Internationa, I have worked witha number of internationa grant funding agencies and iaisedwith numerous high prole internationally recognised research-

ers. To's comment regarding eders hogging the imeight isunfortunatey not as rare as one might think and so the person-aity and stye of your proposed research Supervisor certainyneeds to be given much consideration.

Some eder researchers push their younger researchersvery strongy, which heps the ECRs career substantiay. OtherSupervisors may use their ECRs to increase their own prole

often in a symbiotic way, but unfortunatey occasionay to thedetriment of the ECRs career.If possible you need to nd out about your potential Su -

pervisors training prole. Perhaps the clearest and most obvi-


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ous way to do this is at interview or whie taking with themand raising the issue in a sensitive and appropriate way. I amkeen to buid a high quaity research career from my workingreationship with you. Coud you pease describe your supervi-sion and personne management stye, to hep me optimiseour working reationship. If asked appropriatey and at theright time it is a question that a reasonabe Supervisor shoudbe happy to hear and can reasonaby answer. A good poten-tia Supervisor shoud be appreciative of the fact that you arethinking about these wider aspects of your research career andsee it as being a positive indication of your desire to do we.

In addition, you can see potentia supervisors in actionduring conferences or other internationa forums either per-sonay and directy by attendance at those forums or indirectyvia feedback from peope who attended the conference andistened to them.

Your Ph.D. Supervisor may aso know personay or indirect-y your potentia new Supervisor and be abe to give advice on

your future career pans. It is aso theoreticay possibe to seekcomments from other ECRs aready working with the potentiaSupervisor, and perhaps even better, from those who might haveeft and moved on from working with the Supervisor. Ceary thismust be done sensitivey, cautiousy and in an appropriate way.I am certainly not suggesting that if a high quality, high prole

position is offered to you that you make indiscrete or inappropri-ate attempts to investigate the personne stye of the potentia

Supervisor. However, it is certainy something that you shoud at-tempt to gain some genera information on or at east consider.While it may be a high prole position, a strained relationship

with your Supervisor is not ikey to et you exce in that positiondespite your high quaity hard work that you may put in to it.

In this case perhaps you might be better off in a team, or-ganisation or university department where you can, by your own

hard work and high quaity achievements exce without havingpersonne reationship probems and baggage to overcome.In addition, athough the vast majority of research Super-

visors are ethicay above reproach, there are unfortunatey too


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often cases of high prole research fraud [24,25,26,27]. Appropri-ate enquiry in to the research team, organisation or Universitydepartment you are panning to tie your research career to wibe worth the effort.

What I am suggesting is that you perform due diigenceon jobs for which you apply, and not necessarily take the rst

job offered to you. You must be proactive in seeking a job andnot reactive. This aso gets back to the question of whetheryou prefer to work by yoursef in your own research area withmore freedom in your academic pursuits or join a arger teamand be more ikey subject to directed coaborations and team

procedures and poicies.A Mentor woud be an idea person to advise you on this.


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seleCting amentor

4.


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A good Mentor who is prepared to give free and open but criti-ca advice on your research career is invauabe. They are rareso not every outstanding researcher has reached their higheve of achievement with the hep of a Mentor. However, if youare abe to gain the support and commitment of a Mentor itis highy ikey that your research career wi be more effectiveand reach greater heights than if you do not have one.

There are mentoring organisations in some countries thatwork on a fee-for-service basis, and whie these may be effec-tive for short term advice, they are not idea for a onger termreationship.

It is theoreticay possibe that your research Supervisorcoud be your Mentor. It is unikey though, and there are anumber of reasons why this is not a good idea. Your researchSupervisor, who is intricatey invoved in the productivity andoutcomes of your research, may not be abe to provide you un-biased advice that is best for you personay as it may not beoptima for your joint research outcomes. The best Mentor is

someone who may not even be in the same research discipineor even the same department or organisation. They do notneed to have experience in your specic research discipline,

just a genera understanding of the broader research environ-ment, as they need to be abe to give genera persona careeradvice.

Of course, a Mentor can ony give you advice and sug-gestions. The path you eventuay take is up to you. However,

a person who knows you, but is not directy invoved in yourresearch can raise comments or suggestions that you may notthink of because of your coseness to the work.

The most important factor in identifying a Mentor is thatthey are abe to, and wi, provide essentia critica comment.

You and they must have a mutua respect so that they canadvise or suggest to you that you may be wrong or your ideas

or focus may be incorrect. Your Mentor may suggest that youneed to nd another job, that you should be establishing a bet-ter work/ife baance, or that your research Supervisor coudbe giving you more research freedom or support.


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This is perhaps why nding a good Mentor is so difcult.

There are no obvious reasons for your Mentor to spend timeand effort with you and perhaps provide advice that is not con-sistent with a continuing uneventfu but not especiay produc-tive job. What do they get out of it? In the short term, mostmentors reay do not receive much in the way of incentivesfor their time and effort. But elders who have made signicant

achievements over their career, often with the hep of their ownMentors, may be happy to act as Mentors for a sma numberof ECRs.

It is not essential that you nd one, but should the oppor -

tunity arise, I strongy suggest that you do spend some timetrying to nd an appropriate Mentor. I think their input and how

you use it wi substantiay assist your research career.


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researChCollaboration

5.


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Research coaboration is an essentia part of networking. It isso important that I am devoting this section to it and coveringthe rest of networking in the foowing section.

Coaboration is a major component of most research pro-ductivity. However, it is essentia that you coaborate becauseyou have decided that you want to do it and that you havecacuated that the advantages outweigh the potentia disad-vantages. You must ask yoursef why you want to undertakethis particular research collaboration and be specic about the

aims, process, timeines and common objectives. If you arenot going to get sufcient advantage out of it, do not under-

take it, as there wi be many more opportunities for positiveresearch coaboration throughout your research career. It ismuch better to be invoved in a few very positive coaborationsthan a arge number of ones that are of itte vaue and coudeven be detrimenta to your career.

There are a number of very good reasons for consideringresearch coaboration. It may provide you access to new toos,

information, and skis and it may give you an internationaperspective that may take years for you to deveop working onyour own.

You can use SciVa Experts to identify potentia coabora-tors and new reationships. The too aso aows you tond information about where authors have published and

the grants they have received. www.SciVa.com/Experts

You may need expertise to compement your own skis. Doyou need a Spanish speaker to work with you on your researchon the economic history of Cuban cigars? Do you require thegift of a monoclonal antibody to a specic cancer you are try -

ing to cure. Would you benet from the input of an architect onyour studies on the socia cuture of Mayan tempe use?

Research coaborations may aso assist you in extend-ing your research into other research discipine areas as de-


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scribed in an earier section. Coaboration with an individua ora group of international renown will certainly raise your prole

both nationay and internationay. Mutua research coabo-ration coud create synergies for you and your coaborators,thereby exponentiay increasing the research outputs of bothgroups.

If it is potentiay so vauabe to coaborate in your re-search, then why am I suggesting that it requires serious anay-sis before you commit to it or undertake it? Of course, muchdepends on whether you initiated the coaboration, or whetherthe potentia coaborator approached you because of your

skills and expertise. Will it be a mutually benecial collabora-tion or wi you and your work be taken over and subsumed?

As an ECR you are sti presumaby working in a reativeysma group or team or even with just yoursef and your re-search Supervisor. Either way, you may be the rst author on a

two author paper or the second author of a two author paper ifyour student is the rst author.

Author order in such cases is reativey uncompicated[28]

.The importance given to the order of pacement of authors inpubications is crucia in many areas of research, especiayscience, engineering and technoogy [29,30], athough author or-der concerns are not unique to the sciences [31]. Determiningwho shoud be isted as an author on a pubication, and inwhat order they shoud be isted, can be probematic. Whatmany researchers often don't reaise is that there are interna-

tionay accepted protocos already in place to determine whoshoud be credited as an author. These are caed the Vancou-ver Protocols [32] and recommend that authorship credit shoudbe based on (1) substantia contributions to conception anddesign, acquisition of data, or anaysis of and interpretation ofdata; (2) drafting the artice or revising it criticay for impor-tant intellectual content; (3) nal approval of the version to be

pubished. Authors shoud meet conditions 1, 2 and 3. The Au-thorder process buids on these protocos and is a simpe toothat can be used by anyone to aocate author order. Authorderprovides a rationa and accountabe framework for assisting


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co-authors determine author order, and is freey avaiabe [33].The success of your future career path may depend on,

or at least be signicantly inuenced by, your authorship place-ment in your rst half dozen publications. If you undertake a

research coaboration invoving more peope, then you maybecome the fourth author on a six author paper. In nationaand internationa assessment exercises such as the REF, ERA,and New Zeaand Performance Based Research Fund, the pac-ing of authors in a ist of those contributing to a pubicationis given very strong consideration. Simiary, author order isgiven very serious weight when you appy for research grant

funding in your own right. It is difcult to claim accurately andegitimatey that the buk of the research in a pubication isyours if you are in the midde of six authors, even if you wereresponsibe for most of the work.

The decision you need to make, and be happy with, iswhether to try to maintain your high prole in a small group or

pay a esser roe in a arger research coaboration. Obviousy

if you are approached to coaborate because of your skis andexpertise, then the potential for you to be the rst author in thepubications of a much arger group shoud be considered, andwi be much more worthwhie for you.

However, whatever you do with respect to research co-aboration, it is essentia that such things as authorship, own-ership of inteectua property, presentation at conferences etcare estabished and agreed upon before the work commences.

While this might sound overly ofcious and you may be worriedthat your international high prole collaborators may not be

happy with such detaied arrangements, I beieve that produc-tive research coaborators wi appreciate the fact that you are

just ensuring, as much as possibe, that the research produc-tivity of the coaboration is going to be optima for a invoved.

If you are an ECR empoyed as a postdoctora feow or in

a commercia industry organisation, you wi need approva andadvice from your research Supervisor or industry team eaderbefore either approaching a potentia research coaborator oragreeing to work with one that has approached you. What roe,


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if any, wi your Supervisor pay in the coaboration? Is yourSupervisor and organisation happy for you to provide poten-tially very academically or nancially valuable information to

people outside your organisation? What sort of ofcial paper-work, such as a Materials Transfer Agreement or Condential-ity Agreement, does your organisation require before you canpursue a research coaboration?

In addition, if you are approached to participate in a re-search coaboration then you shoud certainy appy the is-sues raised earier regarding seeking a research Supervisorwith respect to potentia research coaborators. What is their

background? How do they carry out their research processes,and will it be benecial or even possible for you to work col-aborativey with them?

Many research coaborations are extremey productive fora invoved, and ast for extended periods. Other coaborationsmay be of a more dened nature with shorter time frames and

may invove the donation of aboratory reagents or transation

of socia texts. Heathy productive research coaborations maywax and wane so whatever coaboration you enter into duringyour research career, it is essentia that you have strategicaythought through the overall benets to your career.

Networking on the other hand, is something that usuayasts much onger and is much ess tangibe, but is aso es-sentia for your career.


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networKing

6.


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I dont think it's possibe to overstate the vaue of a produc-tive and worthwhie network to an ECR. I have mentioned fourmajor network participants aready, your Ph.D. Supervisor, yourresearch Supervisor, research coaborators and your Mentor.There are also many others who you will benet from and you

wi give vaue to, by being part of your network.It is important to estabish a strong and worthwhie net-

work eary, as it wi certainy assist your research career. It isnot important to have a very arge network, as a few strongerbut perhaps smaer networks wi be much more worthwhiethan numerous weak networks or a very arge weak one. In

addition to the four categories of peope mentioned above,members of your network may incude Ph.D. students you haveworked with whie competing your thesis, your Ph.D. examin-ers, members of professiona societies you work with, feowconference attendees you may estabish a rapport with, peopein your immediate research teams or in your wider organisa-tion, staff of your organisation's library or research ofce, or

the editors of journas you may send papers to on a continuingbasis. In short, it can be anyone who is signicantly interestedin or can be of benet to your research career.

Whie this Guide is a about strategic panning, oftennetworks cannot be panned. However, when the opportunityarises, I suggest you consider with whom you wish to network.There are a number of toos avaiabe such as, linkedIn, Fa-cebook, Twitter, Myspace, Paxo and YouTube to faciitate this.

Usuay, a network evoves naturay over time as your Mentor,research Supervisor, and coaborators introduce you to otherpotentia network members.

Depending on their position they may be of signicant

benet to you now, or later in your career. For example, you

may need tangibe direct assistance such as references foranother position or a Feowship, and your network can be of

great vaue indirecty by singing the praises of you and yourwork to others. There is certainy nothing ike estabishing thehigh quaity of your internationa research by pubishing in themost prestigious journas and presenting at the highest eve


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conferences. But it can take time to reach these achievementsso even then the impact of having others spreading the wordon how good you and your research are cannot be overstated.This is not a bad thing and wi certainy faciitate your researchcareer.

I woud not ike to give the impression that the ony reasonfor establishing a strong network is to benet your own career,

athough this shoud naturay be one of the major outcomesof being part of a strong network. You have skis, advice andexpertise to contribute to others in your network and as youadvance and mature in your research career you wi be abe to

provide more input to others. Networking shoud be a fair giveand take process. In the earier stages of your research careeryou may need to take more than you give, but this wi probabybe reversed as your career progresses. So it a evens out andis quite fair and reasonabe in the end.


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ethiCs andresearChintegrity

7.


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The giving and taking of research expertise and skis as partof your network over time coud be seen to be a reasonabeapproach to research ethics. Research ethics are an essentiapart of your research career and one I wi not dwe on greatyhere because the highest standards of research ethics are agiven. The research you carry out must be honest, accurateand ethica.

In particuar, there have been many nationa and some in-ternationa initiatives to ensure that research carried out is ofthe highest ethica standards. Many countries now have nationapoicies and procedures to ensure research ethics, and recenty

an internationa initiative caed the Singapore Statement onResearch Integrity has been deveoped as part of the 2ndWord Conference on Research Integrity, 21-24 Juy 2010 [34].It has four principes:

1. Honestyin a aspects of research,2. Accountabilityin the conduct of research,3. Professional courtesy and fairness in working with oth-

ers, and4. Good stewardship of research on behaf of others.

The Statement aso has 14 Responsibiities, and athoughit is not a reguatory document and does not represent the of-cial policies of the countries and organisations that funded

and/or participated in the Conference, these guiding principesdo provide an exceent overview of the area.

In addition to what I have termed research ethics and integ-rity, there are severa other facets to ethics which you may needto consider during your research career. I wi term these anima,human, and bio/radioogica ethics.

There have been enormous advances in anima ethics overthe last few years and a policy of Reduce, Replace and Rene

is one that is widey used and promoted. It is not the roe of

this guide to comment on the need for the use of animas in re-search. However, if you and your feow researchers have deter-mined that the appropriate use of animas is essentia for yourresearch then it is absoutey essentia that you foow your or-


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ganisations rues and poicies for it. Research must never startunti it has been accepted and approved by your organisationsanima ethics committee. This is despite the fact that there isoften a very arge amount of paperwork to do in order to receiveethics approva. It is essentia that this is done, not ony to en-sure minima or no adverse effects for the animas, but aso thatyou stay within the ega requirements for such research.

Anima ethics committees often require vouminousamounts of documentation and this shoud be seen as what itis, necessary panning to ensure that the project to be carriedout is appropriate. The anima ethics committee is not there to

get in your way, but to amost act as a broker for you and yourresearch, ensuring the best for the animas and for you.

Simiary, human ethics committees have become a veryessentia part of not ony bioogica and medica research, butaso much socia science research. It is essentia that the rightsand privacy of a human participants in any research you maycarry out are protected and your organisations human ethics

committee wi assist you in ensuring that this happens. Evenprocedures as potentiay innocuous as teephone interviewsmay have signicant impacts on human ethics and thus they

require approva.The ast facet of ethics I wi discuss is what I ca the bio/

radioogica aspects. Whie it may ony appy to a very sma per-centage of researchers, this is extremey important and thesedays it even attracts security oversight. It is therefore essentia,

once again, that before you even think about commencing anyresearch in these areas, you have the approva of your organi-sations appropriate committees, which may even invove themrequiring nationa approva.

Whie the approach to these three different facets of eth-ics may have different emphases from country to country, withsome countries focusing more on one or two components than

other countries, you must conform to the rues and reguationsappicabe to your organisation at the time.Shoud a question ever arise about any aspect of your

research, your anima, human or bio/radioogica ethics


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committee(s) which have approved your research, may we be-come your best friend. It is up to you to ensure that you havetheir approva and that your research conforms to what theyhave approved.

This is the right thing to do for many ethica and sociareasons and it makes good sense to pan and carry out yourresearch in this way.


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Choosing yourpubliCationsstyle and

Format

8.


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You shoud never undertake a piece of research just to have itpubished in a particuar specific format, but there is much tobe said for identifying a format for pubication of the researchoutput eary on, or even before the work begins.

Pubication of your research is essentia, whichever for-mat you choose. If you do not pubish your research outcomesno one wi ever know of its existence. Producing pubicationsis not easy and it is not in fact research but it is essentia toyour research effort, as future grants, promotion, and other

job opportunities wi depend upon the substantia high-quaityresearch outputs documented in your CV. Uness you have

documentation of the acceptance of your research outputsby your peers, then you wi be unabe to prove to potentiagrant funders, promotion panes or new empoyers just howgood your research output is, or indeed, even if you have beenproductive at a.

Each major research discipine group is usuay identifiedmore with a particuar format for pubication. Humanities and

socia science researchers tend to focus on books or othermonographs. Science, engineering and technoogy research-ers focus on pubishing in journas. Computing science andinformation technoogy researchers see eectronic pubica-tion or conference presentation as being important formatsin which to pubish their research. Performance artists suchas musicians, painters and scuptors have their pieces of artas their pubication, but even then it shoud be documented in

some format such as the exhibitions where it is presented orother permanenty documented ways to identify to your peersthe impact of the research behind the work.

Another section wi describe in more detai the factorsyou need to consider in pubishing your research in journas,but in this section I am urging you to consider what stye andformat to pubish in. For exampe, whether it is a book, mono-

graph, journa or eectronic pubication, or a conference pres-entation, wi you pubish in Engish or in your own nationaanguage? Engish is becoming much more readiy acceptedas the internationa anguage of research pubication, and the


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disadvantages of pubishing in anguages other than Engishin journas are we-known [35,36,37,38]. However, there may bereasons why you wish to have your research recognised byyour nationa peers, which may require you to pubish in yourown anguage in a oca format.

There are advantages and disadvantages in pubishingin internationa formats in Engish compared with nationa for-mats in your own anguage. However, whichever format andanguage you choose to pubish your research in, it shoud bea decision that you have worked through. It may be that some-times you pubish in an internationa Engish format and other

times in a nationa oca anguage format. Often you mightbegin your research career by pubishing in oca anguagenationa formats and expanding to internationa pubicationsin Engish ater when your career has evoved. The decisionis yours, informed by your research Supervisor, coeagues ineach piece of research and possiby your Mentor.

Parae to your decision to try to pubish ocay or inter-

nationay is whether to pubish with an internationa pubisherof journas and books or with a oca potentiay esser knownpubisher. These sorts of decisions are often based on thequaity of the work you have done and on your research dis-cipine area. However, a major question in pubishing you re-search outcomes is whether to try to pubish a sma amountof possiby ower impact work sooner (see beow regardingthe least Pubishabe Unit [lPU]) or whether you carry out ad-

ditiona research so that you can pubish a more major higherimpact study ater.

There are numerous advantages and disadvantages toboth of these options, and you may aternate between thesestrategies depending on the circumstance prevaiing at thetime. Are you trying to compete and pubish some work beforesubmission of your Ph.D. or before the end of your current

post-doc? Are your research coeagues and Supervisor sug-gesting that you compete additiona work before pubishing?Does your Mentor beieve that you shoud spend time writinga book rather than trying to pubish a few journa artices? It


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is up to you to decide on how you commit your most vauaberesources, your time and effort.

In many of the workshops I give to ECRs I am oftenasked the question shoud I aim for quaity or quantity in mypubications and my answer is aways the same yes, youshoud aim for ots of good quaity pubications. Ideay yourresearch career shoud be producing a arge number of highquaity pubications. Ceary this is not easy and takes a sub-stantia amount of hard work. As suggested above, you maybe forced to consider an lPU (a pubication that contains theminima amount of research to just be accepted by an interna-

tionay refereed journa), or worse, a saami-ike pubication(saami pubications are those where a piece of research issiced up to give a arger number of pubications whereas asmaer number of higher quaity pubications woud be pos-sibe [39]). Consider these for ony rea and justified reasons.In other cases, you may be abe to pubish your work from anextended very arge high profie research project. It's a up

to you. However, as your current ong-distance, remote virtuaMentor, I shoud point out that the current REF and ERA-typeassessments, tend to focus on an identified seected smanumber of your pubications in order to assess your productiv-ity. This practice, which is aso often used by appointment orpromotion panes, is ikey to easiy identify the chronic pro-duction of saami pubications [40].

Consequenty, my strong advice to you is to aways aim

for quaity whenever possibe if you have to make a choicebetween the quaity and quantity of your pubications. One canoften measure the high profie of a research group by the workthat they choose not to pubish (e.g. lPUs and saami pub-ications), rather than the work that they do pubish. Quaity isaways of prime importance, and it is being focused on moreand more. Athough the definition of quaity is open to debate,

there are increasing attempts to rank various types of pubica-tions. For exampe, in information and computing technoogyareas, the COmputing REsearch and Education Associationof Austraasia (CORE) [41] an association of university depart-


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ments of computer science in Austraia and New Zeaand hasa four tier ranking of about 1,400 information and communi-cation technoogy conferences in 2008. These rankings wereincorporated in to the Exceence in Research Austraia exer-cise recenty finaised for 2010. CORE is taking the opportu-nity to refine its metrics and update processes for conferencerankings and these wi be pubished on their website whenavaiabe. Humanities researchers are panning to rank book-form pubications and non-traditiona pubication formats for15 areas of humanities as part of the European ReferenceIndex for the Humanities (ERIH) project initiay jointy spon-

sored by the European Science Foundation and the EuropeanCommission [42]. The aim of the ERIH is to enhance the gobavisibiity of high-quaity research in the Humanities across aof Europe. In the next phase of ERIHs work, it is intended toincude monographs and edited voumes. The revised ERIH istis expected in the first quarter of 2011.

Having taken a these points on different pubication for-

mats into consideration, journa pubication is certainy themost recognised format. To which journa shoud you submityour high profie research outputs for pubication?


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where topublish

9.


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Having made the decision to pubish the outputs of your re-search program in an internationay peer-reviewed Engish-an-guage journa, there are a number of factors that you shoudconsider before even starting to write a paper for submission.

Perhaps one of your major considerations is whetherto send your paper to an open access journa or a journapubished by a traditiona subscription based pubisher. Openaccess journas have become very popuar over the ast fewyears, especiay with the advent and goba spread of theWord Wide Web. They offer the advantage of reativey easy ac-cess to potentia readers for free. This has gained the support

of a number of internationa funding agencies which have man-dated or at east recommend that you make a pubicationsarising from work funded by them avaiabe in an open format.Such papers are accessed more than papers pubished in tra-ditiona journas, but it is possibe that some authors submittheir most popuar artices for onine presentation [43]. Aso, a-though open access pubishing may reach more readers, there

is no evidence to suggest that they are more highy seectedfor citation than subscription access pubishing [44,45]. Anotherpotentia disadvantage is that you wi be responsibe for pay-ing for open access pubication which woud be a charge toyour persona research funding. In addition, some subscrip-tion pubishers are now making their pubications open aftera period of time or are providing other services to aow freeaccess [46].

There is a very strong continuing debate on the merits ofopen access pubication over traditiona subscription basedpubication with respect to the citations that both types at-tract. A major reason to pubish the resuts of your exceentresearch is to have your peers accept and use them, and cita-tions are a major way to measure this. Consequenty, there ismuch debate on this, and the OpCit (Open Citation Project) is

a major bibiography on this debate[47]

. The OpCit project wasfunded by the Joint NSF-Joint Information Systems Commit-tee Internationa Digita libraries Research Programme. It con-tains the Abstracts of dozens of papers pubished on the sub-


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ject of citations to open access pubications and comments byindividuas to each of the pubications. Accessed on 18 March2011, portions of three of the atest additions to the OpCititerature probaby summarise the debate to date;

This study discovers that: there exists citation advan-tage for open access articles, in this case 138.87% higher over

non-open access ones: different subjects have different citation

advantage for open access, and Humanities journals in Oxford

Open have even a negative citation advantage for open access;

Oxford Open Journals with lower impact factors have stronger

citation advantage than those with higher impact factors [48];

The results of this experiment suggest that providingfree access to the scientic literature may increase readership

(as measured by article downloads) and reach a larger potential

audience (as measured by unique visitors), but have no effect on

article citations. [49]; andThe open access advantage is real, independent and

causal, but skewed. Its size is indeed correlated with quality,

just as citations themselves are (the top 20% of articles receiveabout 80% of all citations). The open access advantage is

greater for the more citable articles, not because of a quality

bias from authors self-selecting what to make open access, but

because of a quality advantage, from users self-selecting what

to use and cite, freed by open access from the constraints of

selective accessibility to subscribers only.[50]

And there are apparent contradictions among even these

three ndings. However whether you choose open access orsubscription pubishing, there are a number of factors commonto both types of pubishing that you need to consider beforebeginning your paper.

Athough a number of countries incuding South Korea,China and Pakistan pay their researchers to pubish in highprole international journals [51,52], the receipt of funding shoud

never be a reason for choosing a journa in which to pubish.Of course there are many vaid and worthwhie reasons forpubishing your high-quaity research outputs in the best pos-sibe journas.


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It has been suggested that in science, engineering andtechnoogy areas the journa's prestige and the makeup of the

journa's readership are usuay of prime concern [53] athoughthese characteristics may be of ess importance in socia sci-ence journas covering education than characteristics suchas clarity/coherence/well written, thoroughness, researchmethod and appropriateness to Journal [54]. My focus in thisGuide is to encourage you to aim for quaity outputs, but howdo you identify prestigious journas in which to pubish yourresearch?

There is no doubt that since 1955 when he rst described

its use, Garfied's impact factor has gained internationa rec-ognition. Not ony in science, engineering and technoogy butaso in socia sciences and the humanities, journas identifytheir prestigious nature and their quaity by their ranking ac-cording to journa impact factor. Impact factor does have manyuses but it aso consistenty attracts criticism, and Garfiedoften highighted the potentia for its misuse (for exampe see[55]

). There are aso many technica factors that must be takenin to account when using impact factor for accurate compari-sons [56].

With the announcement of and request for consutation onthe assessment and funding of higher education research postthe 2008 British RAE [57,58], making greater use of quantitativeinformation-metrics-than the current arrangements, ed to aseries of criticisms to the use of metrics aone to measure

quaity [59,60,61,62]. Now, for the 2014 REF British institutions wibe invited to make submissions to be assessed in terms of(1) the quaity of research outputs, (2) the wider impact ofresearch, and (3) the vitaity of the research environment [63].The quaity of research outputs wi continue to be the primaryfactor in the assessment, accounting for 65% of the tota, andit is expected that some of the expert panes wi make use of

citation information to inform their review of outputs.I strongy recommend the appropriate consideration of ajournas impact factor when making your seection for yourfuture pubications, but the potentia disadvantages of the im-


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pact factor have ed to the invention of a number of other waysto measure the quaity and prestigious nature of a journa.Athough there is neither space here, nor is it the aim of thisGuide to give a detaied description and comparison of otherways to measure journa quaity, you do need to be aware ofsome of the options that can be used to conrm the status

of the journas in which you pubish the outcomes of your re-search.

For exampe, the ERIH mentioned in the previous sectionhas aready estabished expert panes which have ranked jour-nas in 14 sub-discipines of the humanities such as anthro-

poogy, gender studies, phiosophy and psychoogy, based onthree tiers. The ists are not bibiometric toos. The ERIH steer-ing committee and the expert panes advise against using theists as the ony basis for assessment for promotion, for ap-pointment or for appication for research grants [64]. Perhapsnot surprisingy, the ERIH criteria have been criticised [65], how-ever the rankings are pubic and are the subject of continua

evoution. I beieve that the ESF shoud be appauded for thisinitiative to at east open debate on other ways of ranking hu-manities journas other than impact factor.

The poicies of preparation and use of journa rankings docome in for signicant debate, especially from the humanities

and socia science communities. They can be used as toosas both political instruments and scientic apparatuses [66], inEurope, France and Austraia, but their wise and appropriate

use to assist your research career is, I beieve, an exceentthing to do.

Simiary, there have aso been attempts within the busi-ness and economics communities to rank journas using arange of indicators to estabish their quaity and prestige. Forexampe, the Aston University Business Schoo in Birminghamhas ranked about 800 journas into three key groups after

evauation by senior academic staff in their schoo and otherinternationa business schoos [67]. The Business Academic Re-search Directors Network (BARDsNET) jointy sponsored by theAustraian Business Deans Counci and the Austraia and New


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Zeaand Academy of Management have ranked about 2,000journas in 11 sub-discipine groups such as Accounting andFinance, Marketing and Market Research, and Economics intofour eves [68]. Severa research groups in economics have asodeveoped ranking systems for journas using a range of ater-native criteria [69,70]. Harzing.com [71] has recenty pubished the37th edition of its Journa Quaity list, a ranking of about 900

journas in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Management, andMarketing using 19 sources, and excuding impact factor.

CORE has not ony ranked ICT conferences as describedin the previous section, but they have ranked about 800 jour-

nas [72] in the area of their membership according to four tiers.Athough not an exact match, this four tier ranking has asobeen chosen by the ARC as a way of ranking journas acrossa areas of research for their ERA exercise.

In Juy 2008 Agence devauation de a recherch et de enseignment superieur [73], the French Agency for EvauationResearch and Higher Education pubished a ist of journa rank-

ings and the ESF ERIH has been mentioned previousy. In June2008 the ARC commenced an expansive and incusive pubicconsutation to estabish a ist of unique peer reviewed jour-na rankings for the 2010 ERA assessment process. The ARCbeieve that a journas quaity rating represents the overaquality of the journal dened in terms of how it compares with

other journas and shoud not be confused with its reevance orimportance to a particuar discipine. The 2010 ERA was car-

ried out using a ist of 20,000 journas ranked in to one of fourtiers (A* top 5%, A next 15%, B next 30%, C next 50%). Scopuswas the citation data provider for ERA 2010.

Scopus Journa Anayzer enabes you to search for jour-nals within a specic eld, identify which are the most in-

uential, and nd out who publishes them. This will helpyou to decide where to pubish to get the best visibi-ity for your work and how to prioritise your submissions.www.Scopus.com


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The ARC are now undertaking an extensive review con-sisting of pubic consutation and then contracted peak body/discipinary group review of the 2010 ranked journa ists inpreparation for the 2012 ERA. The ERA 2012 ranked journasist is due for reease in September 2011 [74]. Hence, there area number of internationay avaiabe journa ranking systemsfor a research discipines that you shoud seriousy considerusing, perhaps in addition to or instead of, impact factor, tohighight the quaity of the journas where you pubish the out-puts of your research.

Of course, these systems a rank the quaity of the journa

in which you have pubished, and it is assumed that top quaityjournas pubish top quaity papers. It is possibe however thateven top quaity journas pubish papers that are individuay nothighy cited, and conversey, journas that are not necessariyconsidered top quaity by ranking systems may pubish papersthat are very highy cited. Athough these situations may bereativey rare, if your paper receives numerous citations, then

another, perhaps even more specic measure of the outstand-ing nature of your research outputs, is to quote appropriatestatistics on the citations received by your papers. There are anumber of emai aerting systems such as Scopus avaiabe viathe web that wi notify you of papers that cite your papers. Youshoud certainy avai yoursef of these services, and documentthe notications on your CV.

The increasing use of the Word Wide Web is aso eading

to the wider use of the Web for the quantitative study of Webreated phenomena. This is based on the reaisation that meth-ods originay used for bibiometric anaysis of citation patternsto journa artices can be appied to the Web using commerciayavaiabe search engines providing the raw data. This reativeyrecent, more eectronic based journa ranking has been termedwebometrics [75,76].

Even more recenty, a new open access Internet databaseets users cacuate a papers impact factor using a new ago-rithm simiar to page rank, the agorithm Googe uses to rankweb pages. This SCImago Journa rank anayses the citation


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inks between journas in a series of iterative cyces, using acitation window of 3 years [77].

SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), is a measure of the scientic

prestige of schoary sources: vaue of weighted citationsper document. A source transfers its own 'prestige', orstatus, to another source through the act of citing it. Acitation from a source with a reativey high SJR is worthmore than a citation from a source with a ower SJR. learnmore at www.info.Scopus.com/journametrics

The Source Normaized Impact per Paper using Scopusmeasures contextua citation impact by weighting citationsbased on the total number of citations in a subject eld. The

impact of a singe citation is given higher vaue in subject areaswhere citations are ess ikey, and vice versa [78]. Athough this

has ed to debate about such systems[79]

, this type of anaysisis certainy ikey to continue and become more commony usedin the future. In addition, even the h index which is usuay usedfor assessment of persona productivity and wi be describedas such in a atter section, has been suggested as anothermeasure to assess journa quaity [80].

Ceary, ranking journas using a range of diverse anaysesand tools to dene their quality is here to stay and such use is

ikey to increase with time. I strongy recommend that you usea avaiabe appropriate resources to vaidate the high quaityand impact of your research outputs to your peers.

Athough the quaity of the journa shoud be a prime con-sideration for submission of your paper, there are certainyother factors that you shoud weigh up before starting to draftyour paper. What is the speed of acceptance of papers in the

journa? Is the area of your research simiar to that whichthe journa normay pubishes? Perhaps most importanty, isthe quaity of your research reay at the eve that is typicaypubished in the journa? Certainy we woud a ike to pubish


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in ony the top two or three journas in our discipine but if forwhatever reason you have decided to pubish this particuarpiece of research, is it reay at the eve of the top three jour-nas in your fied? What does your research Supervisor think?What does your Mentor say? An honest accurate appraisa ofthe eve of the research outputs you intend to pubish nowmay save a ot of time and anguish ater because the work iseither inappropriate for, or not at the eve of, papers normaypubished by the journa. Athough I recommend that you aimto produce the highest possibe research, your choice of the

journas you submit to must be reaistic.

The range of factors that identify a good paper worth pub-ishing does vary from fied to fied. The science, engineeringand technoogy areas may focus on the journa's prestige andthe makeup of the journa's readership but the innovative andnove nature of the work shoud ideay be highighted for adiscipine areas.

The outputs shoud ceary be the resut of the exceent

panning and design you undertook before commencing theresearch, but having identified a journa you wish to submitto, what do you now need to focus on with respect to writingyour paper?

The major issue in submitting a paper to a journa forpubication is to first read, understand and compy with theInstructions to Authors. This is essentia to ensure the mostefficient processing and reviewing of your paper, and shoud

be done before you start drafting it. I then recommend thatyou start from the Tite and Abstract and write a compete,even if rough, draft of the paper. Having the core of the pa-per outined even in dot points faciitates the writing process.Making a compete draft avoids getting stuck on a point thatprevents or deays documenting the rest of the paper. Oftenyou might move sections of Introduction to the Discussion and

vice versa, so making each section perfect before you do thenext section, is usuay inefficient.At this stage it is probaby aso worth obtaining the input

of a native Engish speaker if Engish is not your first anguage,


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as errors in grammar and proper expression (which are notespeciay easy even for native Engish speakers) can disad-vantage the review of your paper [81,82]. There is aso cear biastowards Engish anguage papers in citing [83]. AuthorAID is afree internationa research community [84] that heps research-ers in deveoping countries to pubish or otherwise commu-nicate their work. It aso serves as a wider goba forum todiscuss and disseminate research. It is a pioneering programbased at the Internationa Network for the Avaiabiity of Sci-entific Pubications, supported by the Swedish InternationaDeveopment Cooperation Agency, the Norwegian Agency for

Deveopment Cooperation, and the UK Department of Interna-tiona Deveopment. It undertakes training workshops on sci-entific writing, and provides access to a range of documentsand practices on best practice in writing and pubication. Thebest known text to improve pubication skis for estabishedresearchers is How to Write and Pubish a Scientific Paper[85] and the recenty pubished Writing Scientific Research Ar-

tices: Strategy and Steps[86]

is focused on ECRs wanting tohone their skis as an author and a mentor, and scientistsinterested in using Engish more effectivey, as a first or anadditiona anguage.

Your tite, which is the main pubicity banner for yourpaper shoud contain the fewest possibe words (ideay essthan a dozen) that accuratey describe the papers content. Itshoud express ony one idea or subject and start with a few

important words. The increasing webometrics-type anaysesmentioned above make it essentia that your key words high-ight the main content of the paper and can be easiy under-stood, indexed, and retrieved by a database search.

The Introduction shoud begin with concise descriptionof essentia background to the probem, hypothesis or areaof schoary activity being researched. You shoud then state

the objective of the research and ceary estabish the signifi-cance of your work, especiay in reation to what was previ-ousy know about the area.

The Methods section shoud aways be accurate, de-


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scribed in sufficient detai to be abe to be fuy reproduced,and for quantitative studies, have we documented and ap-propriate statistica tests.

Resuts must be cear, statisticay vaid if appropriate,and presented in the manner prescribed by the journa in In-structions to Authors.

Organise your Discussion to go from a specific focus toa genera one, and reate your findings to the research itera-ture, to theories, and to practices in your research discipine.Restate the hypothesis you were testing or schoary questionbeing addressed and provide answers for questions asked in

the Introduction.Support your answers with accurate, cear and vaidated

Resuts. Expain succincty and ceary how your resuts reateto expectations and to the research iterature on the topic.

Discuss, evauate and offer pausibe reasons for con-ficting resuts. Discuss any unexpected findings and providea few recommendations for further research, but do not over

extrapoate or make caims that are not definitivey confirmedby your resuts.In summary, your paper shoud describe exceent (nove

and innovative) research, be we described and not over ex-trapoated, with accurate statistics if appropriate, and foow asuccinct ogica progression convincing the reader of its qua-ity. Abstract and key words are essentia. Ideay begin by writ-ing a comprehensive first draft.

A number of journa pubications aong these ines wicertainy provide you with a good base for convincing fundingAgencies to assess your grant appications highy.


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preparing agrant Funding

appliCation

10.


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The research you have done to date has been organised andfunded by others. Your Ph.D. Supervisor, your research teameader or the head of the group in your company provides thefunding for you to do your research. However, there wi comea time, probaby sooner if your research career is advancing atthe rate at which it shoud be, when you wi want to appy forresearch funding in your own right as a Chief Investigator.

Before you put pen to paper, or even consider appyingfor research funding, you need to ask yoursef severa ques-tions and be satised with your answers, as research funding

is generay very competitive and to appy seriousy can take a

signicant amount of your time.You shoud certainy think about the panned research

funding appication in the whoe context of your professiona ca-reer as you dont aways need to get money to do your research.What is the reationship between your aspirations to do researchand the avaiabiity of funding? Why are you appying for funding?Why do you need funding? What is the minimum funding you

need to ensure the success of the research project you are ask-ing to be funded? When you are satised with your answers tothese questions and you understand that appying for researchfunding is a very major commitment, ony then shoud you startto prepare your appication.

It is essentia that you must beieve in the importance ofthe research you are proposing to do, so that you can convinceyour peers of its importance. Unti now I have taked about pub-

ishing work you have aready done, but now you must convinceand persuade your peers that it is worth entrusting you with sig-nicant amounts of funding, rather than giving it to another re-search group who wi aso be putting up a very convincing case.

If you do need money, where can you get it?Most countries have nationa and some even have state

research funding agencies. Some of these such as the Deut-

sche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Agency DFG), Ministre de 'Enseignement Suprieur et de a Recher-che (French Ministry of Higher Education and Research), andNationa Science Counci of Taiwan, accept appications in a


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research discipines. Others such as the Indian Counci of SociaScience Research, Nationa Sciences and Engineering ResearchCounci of Canada, the British Research Councis and the USNSF and National Institute of Health focus on specic research

discipines.Their websites and pubic portas to their programs are

very comprehensive and easiy accessibe. There are aso anumber of websites that provide comprehensive information ongrant appications for mutipe funding agencies. There is aone-stop free resource to nd funds for research and training

in the sciences at GrantsNet [87]. Grants.gov [88] is a source to

nd and apply for US federal government grants. Research.gov[89] and science.gov [90] provide information about research anddevelopment results associated with specic grants. Grants.

gov does incude information on NSF grants, but the NSF asohas its own service [91], that wi aert you via e-mai on updateson projects and grants funded by the NSF, as soon as they areannounced. The DFG even has internationa representation in

Beijing (Sino-German Center for research Promotion), Moscow,Dehi, Washington and Tokyo.There are aso funding agencies that foster muti-country

research progr

career planing guide

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