Best way to get published?

[yanu]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi

Whats the best way to get published? I have done research in the past, but havent had any luck in getting published. Does anyone have advice? Where can I get a sure shot publication? Is it luck for some?

 

[jmv1083]

Hi

Whats the best way to get published? I have done research in the past, but havent had any luck in getting published. Does anyone have advice? Where can I get a sure shot publication? Is it luck for some?

It's a combination of working hard, finding the right PI, and being at the right place at the right time. I'd say that a "sure shot" publication is hard to find...

 

[Sarikate]

Being a first author on a published paper takes a lot of hard work! Most people (except those who are very dedicated to research during the school year) are not able to publish their results, as first author, in a quality peer-reviewed journal during their undergrad years, at least in my experience. You can publish abstracts or do poster presentations, which are good in themselves and shouldn't be slighted - they are a great way to "break into" publishing. Right now (keep in mind I am 25, more than three years out of undergrad) I am publishing a study in the Journal of Infectious Disease and even the review segment of this saga - passing it around to the co-authors for review, then to the lab directors, then to the agency, then to the journal, multiplied three times to take re-writes into consideration, takes quite a while. The work involved in getting the actual paper out is often more time-consuming than the research itself.

This changes if you are not going to be the first author on the paper, as you just focus on the research and let someone else write the thing up. If you can do that, awesome; if the research ends up in a publication, great! But publishing is not the be-all, end-all - not for a pre-med anyway. Learning how to do research is the real prize here, because it will be invaluable on your path to becoming a physician.

 

[Haybrant]

Hi

Whats the best way to get published? I have done research in the past, but havent had any luck in getting published. Does anyone have advice? Where can I get a sure shot publication? Is it luck for some?

the closest that you can come to sure fire, and im not sure why others dont think about this, is to join a high throughput lab; yes, they do exist! Dont expect nature or cell but other pretty good journals may be a step away; i worked hard and have a bunch of pubs now with two first author in very respectable journals (impact factor>6); I reckon I could have had more but I was a tad lazy too.

edit: I must admit tho; the first authors i took on I was fairly certain they would work out b.c the evidence that suggested it was strong; this isnt always the case; luck does play a little part of it. But be wise about what you take on. I had a trade off i guess that my papers werent exactly novel enough to be considered for really high journals like nature and cell; not many are tho...

 

[Shaz]

being at the right place at the right time

yep

 

[relentless11]

Being a first author on a published paper takes a lot of hard work! Most people (except those who are very dedicated to research during the school year) are not able to publish their results, as first author, in a quality peer-reviewed journal during their undergrad years, at least in my experience. You can publish abstracts or do poster presentations, which are good in themselves and shouldn't be slighted - they are a great way to "break into" publishing. Right now (keep in mind I am 25, more than three years out of undergrad) I am publishing a study in the Journal of Infectious Disease and even the review segment of this saga - passing it around to the co-authors for review, then to the lab directors, then to the agency, then to the journal, multiplied three times to take re-writes into consideration, takes quite a while. The work involved in getting the actual paper out is often more time-consuming than the research itself.

This changes if you are not going to be the first author on the paper, as you just focus on the research and let someone else write the thing up. If you can do that, awesome; if the research ends up in a publication, great! But publishing is not the be-all, end-all - not for a pre-med anyway. Learning how to do research is the real prize here, because it will be invaluable on your path to becoming a physician.

I'd have to second all that. Having a publication isn't neccessary to get into med school. Of course if you want to get into an MD/PhD program or just grad school, then publishing helps. I would also like to mirror the above statement that the most important aspect of research (in terms of getting into med school) isn't publishing, its how you conduct research, and the though processes. I'd have to agree that this helps in the long run if you want to be a physician.

My personal experience with publishing papers reflects Sarikate's experiences. Its a lot of work, especially if you are first/second author, and are publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Five years ago, my first publication as first author for a non-peer-reviewed journal required 23 rewrites, and countless revisions. Today, the rewrites are gone, but the revisions are still there. I just submitted a paper to the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, and all signs are good. But man...it took forever to write it. I think it took me at least 50 hours to get it in good condition. Thats not including time to find reference sources.

Anyway, I don't want to discourage anyone from trying to get published Just saying the truth..its a lot of work, but there is a reason why i've been doing it for 5 years. Its rewarding when you finish it, because you know that you've put in your 2 cents out there somewhere.

Now how would one get published? Well as someone stated above, in terms of publishing from within a research lab, it all depends on the lab, and the PI. But there are plenty of other ways to get published. Schools tend to have undergraduate research conferences, as there are even national conferences that one can submit an abstract to. Other sources are your own school's journal. Some schools have them. UC Davis has "The Voice". I have not published in this journal but from waht i've seen its pretty cool.

Of course, nobody said you have to publish for a medical or science journal. There are plenty of other ways to be published. I for one, somehow got hooked up with the US Army, and a few years back wrote an entire 212 page manual for them. So there's another way. 🙂

 

[masterMood]

i'm notthat clear on the md-php programs but what makes them different compared to regular md programs?

are they for research (like understanding the brain and finding cures for diseases) or are they for becoming teaching m.d.s in med schools.

on a sidenote, the undergraduate school i will be attending next year has a student population of about 5,000, and has decent research opportunities, did all of you go to universities with lots of funding for research programs?

oh yeah and can you give me some links that give some more information about these programs.

 

[vhawk]

Cure cancer. Or baldness.

 

[relentless11]

The difference between a standard MD program and MD/PhD program would be the following:

1) Takes 6-8 years for MD/PhD vs. 4 for MD.
2) Some MD/PhD programs pay for your entire tuition and fee's and in some cases provide a generous stipend. (ex: UCSF, pays for tuition/fees, and provides a $23,500 stipend for all 8 years)
3) MD/PhD programs are incredibly hard to get into. UCSF takes about 12 people, and according to the Dean of Admissions, he says that these people are the ones that "walk on water". Thought that was funny when he said that. But its true. I believe the scores for people getting in were like 3.7-3.8 with a mean MCAT score of like 34. (vs. normal MD which was about a 3.7 and MCAT of 32)
4) MD/PhD programs encourage that you do research prior to applying, where as normal MD programs...it doesn't really matter that much.

As for the outcome of being an MD/PhD, as the dean from UCSF said, these are the people that become the professors for doctors. Which seems to be the case, since I have yet to see an MD/PhD at some private clinic (but who knows!). They are usually at academic hospitals since they conduct both research and practice medicine, or just does researh. I don't think as an MD/PhD you are bound to have to conduct research forever, but the extra PhD shows that you have gone through the rigorous process of oral examinations and thesis defense, which in some cases is as difficult if not more difficult than medical school. (of course depends on your research too)

As for our schools, I went to UC Davis, and still going there. I think we have like 29,000 undergraduates, and I do believe we get a large amount of money for research, especially for agriculture. However I have seen many other grants via NSF, as well as NIH get awarded here. In regards to weblinks, could always do a google search. Not to mention ask around your advising office at your school.