How long does it typically take for data to go to manuscript in your lab?

[NuttyEngDude]

Not gathering data, but everything completed and only thing left is to interpret the data and write the results. a few months, a year, a few years, four years, more?

On average how long does publishing take in your lab?

Edit: oh and if anyone chooses to reply (rather than vote) with length please say what kind of lab (maybe some types of research may take longer to interpret results).

thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[stinkytofu]

Not gathering data, but everything completed and only thing left is to interpret the data and write the results. a few months, a year, a few years, four years, more?

On average how long does publishing take in your lab?

Edit: oh and if anyone chooses to respond with length please say what kind of lab (maybe some types of research may take longer to interpret results).

thanks

I can't quite answer your exact question because normally in my lab (translational research), we interpret the data as it comes. It typically takes 2-4 years to complete a project from start (figuring out what angle to pursue) to finish (paper publication) depending on which journal we want to send it to. I would say halfway into the project, we start writing the manuscript but continue doing experiments (gathering, analyzing, integrating into paper) since things can change drastically depending on the results. Even when we submit the paper, we are still doing experiments and anticipating what reviewers might ask for in follow up experiments. When we submitted our paper to a 20-30 impact factor journal, it took around 6 months for it to get accepted/to go into press. When we submitted our paper into a 10-20 impact factor journal, it took 3 months to get accepted.

 

[PreMedMaverick]

Not gathering data, but everything completed and only thing left is to interpret the data and write the results. a few months, a year, a few years, four years, more?

On average how long does publishing take in your lab?

Edit: oh and if anyone chooses to reply (rather than vote) with length please say what kind of lab (maybe some types of research may take longer to interpret results).

thanks

It depends largely on what type of lab you are working in and how motivated the PI is. I have worked in a molecular biology lab and for an education department professor who did pedagogy studies. In our molecular biology lab, after all the data is gathered, it took another 3-6 months to write the paper and the paper can sit in review for another 3-6 months before it gets published.

Pedagogy studies have a quicker turn around. They can pump out a full paper in a month. These papers still usually sit in review for 1 month to 6 months, depending on the journal.

The amount of time it takes to pump out a paper also depends on the motivation of the professor. A professor who is seeking tenure or a young professor trying to establish himself or herself will work like crazy to get publications into review. A full professor might sit on data longer and publish at their leisure.

That is my experience at least. Hope that helps.

 

[ppb101]

depends a lot on the paper, the journal, and the field. One prof I know had a paper in press for close to 6 years because of a fairly minor problem on the publisher's end (this was in an ecology journal, the findings weren't exactly time sensitive)

 

[mmmcdowe]

It is so ridiculously variable based on the type of data, how many people are involved, the priority, etc. I have paper worthy data that I may never end up publishing just because its not particularly great data, the remaining work is specialized enough to make it difficult to pass off, and I have other obligations. I've gone from start to finish on some projects in a matter a weeks and others have taken 2 years of sitting on people's desks, waiting for this or that table, etc.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Yes, it is helpful guys. Thanks!

 

[CyberMaxx]

In my lab the post-docs generally do ~ 2.5 year stints. Usually they are finishing up their papers by the end of that time so I would say 2-3 years.

 

[blehm98]

Yeah, it really can be all over the place. I've been working on my project off and on for about a year, did the analysis about a month ago and I'm working on a manuscript now to be submitted by mid november. The guy I'm working with has had his name on 4 or 5 papers in the past year though, some of them from projects that started just recently, others are cumulative efforts from the past 3-4 years.

 

[La Presse]

I am involved with 1 basic research lab and I am also involved in several clinical labs.

Publishing clinical research is a joke. Conducting studies is stupidly easy. In one of the clinical labs I work in, we have an undergrad collect data, and one that runs tests. Grad students typically interpret the data and do the write-up. If not, an undergrad takes over these duties. We've had papers submitted in a month or so. However, the process getting reviewed and accepted may take slightly longer than that. So around 4 months +

As long as we have funding, we are pushing out papers. Now the quality may be in question...

In the basic science lab I work in, my PI does not like publishing in any journal less than Nature, PNAS, Cell, etc. 😆

With the last couple of submissions, we've been flat out rejected from these places. Sometimes, without a request for a reviewer from the editor. The few papers we've had accepted in journals like that have taken a 7 months per project at least. 2-3 months of collecting samples and performing experiments. 2 more months for a solid write up and revision. When we get rejected with suggestions, it takes around a month or so to fix the paper and resend it.

It really sucks.

 

[kyamh]

Primate research takes forever! Graduate students typically complete their PhD's much longer at the institution I work at if they are involved in primate research - 8 year PhD's are common. Then again, you can typically get more than one publication from the same set of experiments (especially physiology) and then consistently publish in highly regarded journals.

Clinical research is by far the easiest to get publications out quickly. At a recent interview I attended, I was told that students who are involved in clinical research often have 4-12 publications out during med school.