Publications etiquette on AMCAS

[tmax619]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have 8 publications (research articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries and book chapters) that have been accepted/published and expect to have more submitted/accepted before I apply in June. I will be unable to cram everything into 700 characters if I use proper citations and I want to make my application easy on the eyes. Should I try to group publications by author order/type and use short citations (i.e., 1st author: PubMed ID/url, brief title), or split the publications into 2-3 different activities sections and use proper citations? Would adcoms disapprove of improper citations? I think I'll have enough activities to fill up the 14 remaining spaces if I go with the improper citations route.

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[Bartemius]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have 8 publications (research articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries and book chapters) that have been accepted/published and expect to have more submitted/accepted before I apply in June. I will be unable to cram everything into 700 characters if I use proper citations and I want to make my application easy on the eyes. Should I try to group publications by author order/type and use short citations (i.e., 1st author: PubMed ID/url, brief title), or split the publications into 2-3 different activities sections and use proper citations? Would adcoms disapprove of improper citations? I think I'll have enough activities to fill up the 14 remaining spaces if I go with the improper citations route.

I don't think there'd be anything wrong with going the improper citations route. Then again, I didn't do research, so take my advice with a grain - nay, a massive stone - of salt. But holy congratulations, that's a lot of pubs.

 

[aSagacious]

I did something like this...

- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- etc
- etc

I put 'et al' whether it was one more author or ten, just to save space.

If all of your publications are listed on PubMed, then their PubMed ID would be a great way to go.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have 8 publications (research articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries and book chapters) that have been accepted/published and expect to have more submitted/accepted before I apply in June. I will be unable to cram everything into 700 characters if I use proper citations and I want to make my application easy on the eyes. Should I try to group publications by author order/type and use short citations (i.e., 1st author: PubMed ID/url, brief title), or split the publications into 2-3 different activities sections and use proper citations? Would adcoms disapprove of improper citations? I think I'll have enough activities to fill up the 14 remaining spaces if I go with the improper citations route.

I would split if necessary, unless you are in dire need of all 15 spots.

 

[chiapet874]

I did something like this...

- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- etc
- etc

I put 'et al' whether it was one more author or ten, just to save space.

If all of your publications are listed on PubMed, then their PubMed ID would be a great way to go.

Precisely what I did and was suggested in Catalyst's massive thread about work/activities

 

[tmax619]

I did something like this...

- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- etc
- etc

I put 'et al' whether it was one more author or ten, just to save space.

If all of your publications are listed on PubMed, then their PubMed ID would be a great way to go.

Thanks everyone! That clears it up.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

I did something like this...

- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- 1st author, me, et. al, (year) "title", journal
- etc
- etc

I put 'et al' whether it was one more author or ten, just to save space.

If all of your publications are listed on PubMed, then their PubMed ID would be a great way to go.

This is solid advice and exactly what I did. I split my pubs between two entries using the first suggested layout (Ebola4Breakfast et al., (2011) "title" journal)). Personally, I'd sacrifice another EC slot rather than just list the PMID. Save your reviewer some time. Plus, the title and journal name say a lot. Just make sure you abbreviate everything possible.

 

[sector9]

Precisely what I did and was suggested in Catalyst's massive thread about work/activities

Catalystik has mentioned that she likes to know what # author you are as well, so she recommends putting enough of the author list so that the reader knows what # you were for the publication. Otherwise, feel free to shorten things a bunch so that they fit. Congrats on all the success!

 

[altitude]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have 8 publications (research articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries and book chapters) that have been accepted/published and expect to have more submitted/accepted before I apply in June. I will be unable to cram everything into 700 characters if I use proper citations and I want to make my application easy on the eyes. Should I try to group publications by author order/type and use short citations (i.e., 1st author: PubMed ID/url, brief title), or split the publications into 2-3 different activities sections and use proper citations? Would adcoms disapprove of improper citations? I think I'll have enough activities to fill up the 14 remaining spaces if I go with the improper citations route.

Pretty impressive! Can I ask whether you're taking the regular undergrad route to med. school or if you've done a master's or PhD first?

 

[tmax619]

Pretty impressive! Can I ask whether you're taking the regular undergrad route to med. school or if you've done a master's or PhD first?

I started taking college classes in high school which allowed me to graduate from UCSD with a BS in Human Biology in 2 years. I then spent another year and earned a MS degree in Biology (BS/MS program). I only started getting publications during my graduate year. I think they would carry a bit more weight if they came during my undergraduate years.

 

[235009]

Catalystik has mentioned that she likes to know what # author you are as well, so she recommends putting enough of the author list so that the reader knows what # you were for the publication. Otherwise, feel free to shorten things a bunch so that they fit. Congrats on all the success!

i was gonna say don't do the whole "1st author, you, et al" thing if you're not second author! that would be a pretty egregious misrepresentation of the achievement

Hi Everyone,

I currently have 8 publications (research articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries and book chapters) that have been accepted/published and expect to have more submitted/accepted before I apply in June.

1. congrats, that's really impressive
2. encyclopedias still exist?!

 

[tmax619]

haha. apparently encyclopedias still exist. for me it was the encyclopedia of metalloproteins (hitting fine bookstores everywhere Jan. 2013! ) and the encyclopedia of life sciences (article on the PTS).

 

[tmax619]

Thanks for everyone's input! I submitted my application on June 5th and was verified on the 7th. Since I have a record of accepted publications, I decided to go against general advice and include ones that have been submitted (3). I rushed to submit a significant paper to Nature so that I could put it on my app (Rejected; transferred to Nature Communications). I definitely would not have included submitted publications if I did not have any accepted already.

Here is how my activities section for my publications (14) ended up looking like:

Abridged bibliography in the following format:
Shortened Title; Shortened Journal/Book; Pubmed ID/Location/Status.

1st Author:
TSUP; BBA; PMID 22192777
Rhodopsin Superfamily; Nature; Submitted
Efflux Proteins: Microbial Efflux Pumps; Horizon Scientific Press; Accepted
Lead and Mercury Transporters (2 articles); Encycl. of Metalloproteins; ISBN 978-1-4614-1532-9 Jan. '13
MFS; FEBS J; PMID 22458847

2nd Author:
PTS; ELS; Search PTS on www.els.net
Transp. Protein Evol.; Protein Families; Accepted
4-JC; BBA; Submitted
ABC; JMB; Submitted

Co-author:
Phylogenetic char.; JMMB; PMID 22286036
APC; JMMB; PMID 22627175
Transposons; Mutagenesis; Accepted
Mer; WASP; Accepted

I expanded the bibliography when I prewrote the secondaries for UCSF and Stanford. Hope this helps for anyone in the same situation.

 

[Frazier]

Thanks for everyone's input! I submitted my application on June 5th and was verified on the 7th. Since I have a record of accepted publications, I decided to go against general advice and include ones that have been submitted (3). I rushed to submit a significant paper to Nature so that I could put it on my app (Rejected; transferred to Nature Communications). I definitely would not have included submitted publications if I did not have any accepted already.

You tricky, tricky boy.

Are you going to update the schools that your Nature submission was rejected?

 

[EttaJames]

What did you put in the experiences name section for your publication? The title of the publication?

 

[Catalystik]

What did you put in the experiences name section for your publication? The title of the publication?

Maybe Scholarly Journal Article on [XXX Topic] or Third Author Accepted Manuscript [XXX Topic], or somesuch. Try not to use the same word in a title that is already selected as the category for the space.

Title of the pub belongs in the citation.