Research and Drivers of Early Career Success:
Seven Quick Tips
Jason Bennett Thatcher
Academic research requires focus,
knowledge, skills and ability.
Publishing high impact academic
research requires focus, knowledge,
skills and ability + a real world problem.
Publishing high impact academic
research takes a lot of work, a touch of
luck, and support from your community.
As an early career scholar, how do you
climb this mountain?
Tip One: You must recognize you will not
be able to please everyone.
High impact research usually deviates
from the normal science script, because
it evaluates novel questions, applies
rigorous methods, and addresses
questions that make people
uncomfortable.
When you stop trying to please
everyone, you will find your voice and
research will become easier.
When you stop trying to please
everyone, you will find it easier to
deviate from that normal science script.
Deviating from that normal science
script often leads to high impact
publications.
Tip Two: You must humble yourself.
Most early career scholars have limited
skillsets. You must recognize what you
know, what you don’t know, and what
you want to know.
Self-knowledge will help you define
what you want to learn and what you
want to become.
Self-knowledge will make you resilient
to negative feedback and rejection.
Tip Three: You must pick a theme or
two.
Reading the literature tied to a research
theme takes time. Understanding that
literature takes more time. Mastering
that literature takes more time.
You will be more productive if you focus
your efforts on contributing to
understanding of a limited set of
themes.
You will be more apt to identify
interesting questions and more able to
identify what is a novel question.
So pick no more than two themes and
stick to them.
So pick no more than two themes and
stick to them.
If you pick two, and one does not work
out, you will survive.
Tip Four: You must master a method.
Most early career scholars contribute to
research projects by gathering data,
analyzing data, or both.
Master a research method and you will
be a sought after collaborator.
Tip Five: You must become a good
writer.
Begin by reading.
Read in the language that you want to
publish in every day. Look at how
arguments are structured . Look at turns
of phrase.
Next start writing.
Write using the word choices of your
discipline. Use the structure of papers in
the top journals in your discipline. Form
the habit of daily writing.
Then revise.
Be ruthless with yourself. Lose your
attachment to your words. Learn to
write parsimoniously and accurately.
Never forget.
Good scientific writing is simple and
clear.
Tip Six: Become a good team member.
Early career success depends on support
from advisors, mentors, peers, staff and
more.
Learn to work on a team, when to speak
out, when to bite your tongue, and how
to meet deadlines.
Know the importance of expressing
gratitude to your team.
Make sure that you enjoy your team.
Make sure that you enjoy your team.
High impact papers sometimes take
years to publish.
Tip Seven: Be relevant.
Take time to understand the issues
debated in your literature and in the
corresponding non-academic
community.
Pay attention to the conferences tied to
your topic.
Pay attention to the trade press tied to
your topic.
Identify problems at the intersection of
those conversations about your topic.
Pursue topics that interest you, your
advisor, and academic/non-academic
audiences.
Write a topic analysis to assess the
utility of pursuing a research question.
If you do not see four to five papers in
that topic, keep looking for a research
problem.
But to answer our question.
What drives success early in an
academic career?
Patience.
Be patient with yourself.
Be patient with yourself.
Treat this like a proper job.
Be patient with yourself.
Your job, as a scholar, will take more
than a day, a month, or a year to master.
Be patient with yourself.
Acknowledge that mastering a job
requires learning new ways of thinking
and forming routines.
Be patient with yourself.
Stick with your topics, your methods,
and your ideas.
Be patient with yourself.
Give yourself permission to make
mistakes.
Be patient with yourself.
Learn to take joy in the work itself.
Be patient with yourself.
Know that perseverance endures.
Be patient with yourself.
And that you will succeed.
Thank you
(jason.thatcher@temple.edu)