So how exactly do you do research in order to get published? I've met a lot of students at my university who assists their professors in conducting research, but none of them gets published... What do I have to do besides help lab work, to get published? Any advices?
How do you get published?
- Thread starter ruvuitton
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Work your butt off and hope you have a generous PI who is willing to add your name to his paper. Mostly the latter.
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Work hard and get lucky as truck.
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Unfortunately, getting a pub as a premed more about luck, networking, and timing as opposed to hard work and a superior mind.
What you can do is try and find a lab that is prolific in pumping out publications AND whose PI puts several people (ie - his whole lab) on the paper regardless of if they actually contributed intellectually to the paper (which is the usual protocol). A certain chemistry professor at my school was famous for this and shrewd premeds were able to get in his lab, prepare a few samples for NMR and wash some glassware and viola - suddenly they were the proud owners of an 8th or 9th author paper in a mid-tier chemistry journal that they could plop down on their med school applications.
What you can do is try and find a lab that is prolific in pumping out publications AND whose PI puts several people (ie - his whole lab) on the paper regardless of if they actually contributed intellectually to the paper (which is the usual protocol). A certain chemistry professor at my school was famous for this and shrewd premeds were able to get in his lab, prepare a few samples for NMR and wash some glassware and viola - suddenly they were the proud owners of an 8th or 9th author paper in a mid-tier chemistry journal that they could plop down on their med school applications.
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Just to get 9th author? Sounds a little gunnerish/check-boxy. Med schools don't expect too much with regards to pubs but if you really are interested in a topic you want to do research in, my natural instinct would be to review literature and see what directions you can pioneer in. Then, look to see if there are any people who can help with your project to help write the grant and proposal. Research is frickin' full time job!! 😴
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A friend of mine was able to get his name on the publication that was sponsored by Vanderbilt. He's an undergraduate who did mostly rat work (no pun intended) but the PI decided to give him the honors of mentioning him in the primary contributor list.
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You really have to push for it and communicate your expectations.
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At least in my case, it was a number of things (but we're only about to submit a manuscript 2 years from when I finished the project of interest)
1.) PI set me up with a project very early on...(zero scut work). The only glassware I ended up washing was my own.
2.) It was not a field that required learning a ton of procedures
3.) Not a field where results take forever.
4.) Everything the PI did was with an eye towards publication
5.) Also luck - pretty much everything seemed to work for my project while absolutely nothing worked for a fellow undergrads. He ended up being a throw in 7th author on something (but in the midst of M1, so it didn't really help him).
1.) PI set me up with a project very early on...(zero scut work). The only glassware I ended up washing was my own.
2.) It was not a field that required learning a ton of procedures
3.) Not a field where results take forever.
4.) Everything the PI did was with an eye towards publication
5.) Also luck - pretty much everything seemed to work for my project while absolutely nothing worked for a fellow undergrads. He ended up being a throw in 7th author on something (but in the midst of M1, so it didn't really help him).
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