Too many pubs for a student?

[modestmousktr]

Hey guys! I know we've talked about the ratio of posters to pubs for undergrads/master's students, and also the amount of first author to last author pubs or low-tier/high-tier journals for doctoral students or post-docs applying to jobs and internships, but I have a question that sort of falls in the middle. I hope it is not unique to me so this thread can be useful to others!

I am afraid I will have too many pubs when applying to doctoral programs and some may doubt my authenticity.

I got involved in research at the beginning of my sophomore year of undergrad, in 2011, which culminated in two 2013 publications in which I am second author. I wrote the introductions, part of the methods, and ran the statistics, so I contributed a substantial amount of work. I'm not sure if the journal is high or low tier, but according to Google Scholar, the work has been cited 24 times in the last year, so at least people are reading it!

Also, as a result of my work in that undergrad lab, I have a book chapter coming out in 2015. As an M.A. student, I am waiting to hear back on 1 pub and have gained 1 research monograph doing a grant evaluation.

So, when I apply, I will have 3 peer-reviewed (not pay-for-review) pubs, 1 book chapter, and 1 research monograph. Will probably have another paper in submission but I will not list that. I know 5 doesn't sound like a lot, but I am worried that 5 publications since 2013 as a student will look funny, like my advisors just tack me on or something, which definitely isn't the case. It's only because I've been working on these things since 2011 and y'all know how the publication process is, so it seems it all came to fruition at once.

Anyway, I'm just worried they will be skeptical that a student at a lower-tier institution actually put in all the effort- does anyone think this is a reasonable concern? And I do have my CV broken up so it does not look like all of them are peer-reviewed pubs. I try to be as transparent and honest as possible, because I hope my good work will speak for itself

Thanks everybody!

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[Realities]

I don't think that should be an issue, especially since you also did a master's program. It sounds like you just have exceptional research experience and are prepared for a doctoral program.

Best of luck to you during the application process!

 

[futureapppsy2]

FWIW, when I applied to PhD programs after my masters, I had 7 or 8 journal articles and a book chapter on my CV. I do actually think it hurt me a little bit at least one of the more balanced programs I applied to (which I actually really liked), but I think it probably helped overall more than it hurt, and building publication momentum now can only help you in the future, especially if you're looking at a career with an academic component. Congrats on the publications and good luck in the application process!

 

[JeyRo]

I think the only downside to having too many pubs going into a clinical program is a couple may scratch their heads and say "why isn't this person applying to top-tier research programs?" But I imagine that wouldn't occur to many - probably most would just be thrilled to have an applicant so prepared to get into the world of research and publication

 

[EmotRegulation]

Don't intentionally limit your CV by trying to "hide" your publications...and ABSOLUTELY list a paper that is submitted and under review! Hell, I list those on my own CV, and our annual evaluations as faculty members ask us to list them. (Note: I don't list ones that are "in preparation" though I wouldn't fault a student for doing so). I'm not sure how/why you would break up your CV to downplay your publications either.

If you are applying to "heavy-hitter" research programs you'll still be a standout.....that is a good thing. If you are applying to more balanced programs you may wish to explain a little in your personal statement how/why you have the research experience you have if your ultimate goal isn't academic.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Sounds to me like you have great research experience and I would think that any doctoral program that would hold that against you would not be a good program. Even in my own very clinically oriented PsyD program, the professors and students were conducting research and publishing and we always saw it as a plus.

 

[modestmousktr]

I don't think that should be an issue, especially since you also did a master's program. It sounds like you just have exceptional research experience and are prepared for a doctoral program.

Best of luck to you during the application process!

Excellent! Thank you so much for your response I was a little nervous that in this case they would be skeptical since it was in a short period of time, but it does make sense that I should have slightly more pubs with an M.A. thank you!

FWIW, when I applied to PhD programs after my masters, I had 7 or 8 journal articles and a book chapter on my CV. I do actually think it hurt me a little bit at least one of the more balanced programs I applied to (which I actually really liked), but I think it probably helped overall more than it hurt, and building publication momentum now can only help you in the future, especially if you're looking at a career with an academic component. Congrats on the publications and good luck in the application process!

Thank you so much for the insight! That is a lot of pubs! It seems like almost everything in academia is a double-edged sword where you need to assess the risks vs. benefits, so I'm glad to hear that it worked out for you, hopefully my path will be similar! I am hoping to ultimately teach and do research, so I am glad that I have this momentum and hope it keeps on going!

I think the only downside to having too many pubs going into a clinical program is a couple may scratch their heads and say "why isn't this person applying to top-tier research programs?" But I imagine that wouldn't occur to many - probably most would just be thrilled to have an applicant so prepared to get into the world of research and publication

Oops, I think I may have misspoke in my original post, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say I'm applying to lower-tier programs, I'm actually, welll.... sooort of coming from a lower-tier program. I personally think the program is excellent and I've gained awesome experience, but it's only a master's granting institution, with the exception of a doctorate in PT and school psych. It's very small and I doubt anyone has heard of it, so I'm a little nervous the R1-type universities I am applying to will be suspect that a student at a university like mine could obtain the quantity/quality I have without something fishy going on.

Don't intentionally limit your CV by trying to "hide" your publications...and ABSOLUTELY list a paper that is submitted and under review! Hell, I list those on my own CV, and our annual evaluations as faculty members ask us to list them. (Note: I don't list ones that are "in preparation" though I wouldn't fault a student for doing so). I'm not sure how/why you would break up your CV to downplay your publications either.

If you are applying to "heavy-hitter" research programs you'll still be a standout.....that is a good thing. If you are applying to more balanced programs you may wish to explain a little in your personal statement how/why you have the research experience you have if your ultimate goal isn't academic.

Great! I am so happy to hear that. I wasn't sure at what point too many presentations or pubs would look bad, I definitely don't want to try to hide anything that could benefit me I am only applying to one balanced-ish program, but it's still research-oriented, so hopefully they'll be interested.

Sounds to me like you have great research experience and I would think that any doctoral program that would hold that against you would not be a good program. Even in my own very clinically oriented PsyD program, the professors and students were conducting research and publishing and we always saw it as a plus.

Cool! I am glad to hear it, thank you so much. Most of the programs I'm applying to are way more research-oriented, so I think they expect several publications, but I didn't know if so many in a span of 2 years looked wonky. I doubt they really analyze it that much though!



Thank you so much for all of your responses everyone, it is definitely encouraging and extremely helpful. I am applying to 9 Ph.D. programs in Clin. Psy and 1 in Counseling, hopefully I will be posting in the grad interviews thread come December/January. It'll be my second time around, again, thanks for the helpful info!

 

[PsychScience]

Read the title of this thread, and was totally convinced that this would be a conversation about drinking during graduate school....

Turns out, pubs refers to publications and not bars like I thought.

Guess you know who did too much drinking in grad school

 

[modestmousktr]

Read the title of this thread, and was totally convinced that this would be a conversation about drinking during graduate school....

Turns out, pubs refers to publications and not bars like I thought.

Guess you know who did too much drinking in grad school

HAHAHA! I love that.

 

[smalltownpsych]

lol I did all my drinking in undergrad. Never would have made it through grad school if I had kept it up!