Interest in Submitting "Op-Ed" Type Article

[mjr2013]

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I am an undergrad at a HYPSM.

In the past year, I have noticed a trend in my psychology classes and research that is worth writing an article on, and is something people would have interest in. It would be "op-ed" type, not necessarily research in the sense of peer-reviewed journals.

Is this (a) feasible with the minimal info I've given, and (b) what would be a good place to submit to? My original thought was Psychology Today, but I don't honestly know how reputable the magazine is. Are there other sources?

Thanks.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Without some type of study to support the observations, I doubt if anyone would be very interested. Even the popular media typically wants at least some type of data to support their own overgeneralizations, misrepresentations, and wild conjectures from our research findings. 😎

 

[mjr2013]

Do you feel this is true even for more op-ed style pieces?

I would post a link to the style I was thinking of, but I'm two posts shy of being allowed to!

 

[PsyDr]

You really think that admissions committees would look favorably on an op ed piece from someone who talks crap about their training?

Best case: they think you’re poorly educated.

Worse case: they think you’re a know it all who talks smack. In a public forum.

Come on.

 

[mjr2013]

You really think that admissions committees would look favorably on an op ed piece from someone who talks crap about their training?

Best case: they think you’re poorly educated.

Worse case: they think you’re a know it all who talks smack. In a public forum.

Come on.

Hmm. Not sure where I left the impression that I would in any way "talk crap" about the training I have received, but it was not my intent, and not where I would be coming from.

It's difficult to describe vaguely as I'm attempting, but my topic would rather look at a relevant and present-day nuance of research in general.

Honest question, is it not possible to discuss such things as an undergrad without being taken poorly? I could send a PM if it would help.

 

[PsyDr]

Blunt answer: It is not possible to do what you want without it coming off poorly, unless you have zero interest in graduate psychology studies. Do not do this. It is a bad idea.

Edit: forgot to say that Red Sox suck.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Do you feel this is true even for more op-ed style pieces?

I would post a link to the style I was thinking of, but I'm two posts shy of being allowed to!

As a psychologist, I always want to see the data. From undergrad on we have spent much time theorizing and speculating. It's enjoyable and can be beneficial as it leads us to the scientific literature and eventually studies to test it, but I am not real likely to read someone else's speculations.

 

[ClinicalABA]

Here’s a test for you- ask one of your current professors what they think, asking about the concerns PSYDR brings up. If you’re not comfortable doing so and providing them with more specific information regarding the topic, then writing such a piece is probably a bad idea. Fair or not, an opinion piece from an undergrad will not carry much weight. Again fair or not, there will be an assumption that you do not have enough exposure to the scientific research literature for your opinions to be well informed enough to matter.

I’d encourage you to think about ways you can formulate a research question about the topic. That may lead to more productive and valuable endeavor.

 

[psych.meout]

I am an undergrad at a HYPSM.

In the past year, I have noticed a trend in my psychology classes and research that is worth writing an article on, and is something people would have interest in. It would be "op-ed" type, not necessarily research in the sense of peer-reviewed journals.

Is this (a) feasible with the minimal info I've given, and (b) what would be a good place to submit to? My original thought was Psychology Today, but I don't honestly know how reputable the magazine is. Are there other sources?

Thanks.

As others have pointed out, if you don't have some kind of data and empirical basis for your observations and claims, it's not going to hold much weight or do you much good. This is also an important general lesson that "noticing trends" is basically a fancy way of saying "anecdote." Everyone wants to pontificate about their anecdotal experiences and draw larger, generalizable inferences from them, but no one besides us nerds actually wants to do the legwork of rigorously exploring the issues in scientific manners.

Hmm. Not sure where I left the impression that I would in any way "talk crap" about the training I have received, but it was not my intent, and not where I would be coming from.

It's difficult to describe vaguely as I'm attempting, but my topic would rather look at a relevant and present-day nuance of research in general.

Honest question, is it not possible to discuss such things as an undergrad without being taken poorly? I could send a PM if it would help.

This should tell you something. You may intend to come off one way or imply certain things, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's how your audience will interpret your writing. Writing is a very important fine art. It's important to take the perspective of others to see all the ways your words could be misconstrued and revise what you have written to compensate for these issues.

 

[Ollie123]

Its a little difficult to understand exactly where you are going with this. In general, an op-ed piece describing a trend in a few articles is not worth publishing. Personally, I think writing for psychology today would actually be a negative on a CV.

I do somewhat disagree with the above that data is strictly necessary. If there really are observations about the broader literature that are relevant to call attention to, that can be worthwhile on its own. I've published commentaries in major peer-reviewed journals doing exactly that. Its only peripherally related to my research program so I don't have data on it, but provided some synthesis and identified some gaps that I feel are overlooked. This is reasonably common and perfectly appropriate.

If the above is what you mean, I'd talk to a professor, see if they will help and can identify an appropriate peer-reviewed outlet. Don't publish an op-ed in some sketchy "blog" pretending to be an academic outlet.

 

[deleted480308]

Why would any reputable paper want an opinion piece from an undergrad?

As in, who cares what you think about stuff to the degree that limited and valuable space is given to you?

It’s kind of mean but you need good answers to those questions

 

[smalltownpsych]

Its a little difficult to understand exactly where you are going with this. In general, an op-ed piece describing a trend in a few articles is not worth publishing. Personally, I think writing for psychology today would actually be a negative on a CV.

I do somewhat disagree with the above that data is strictly necessary. If there really are observations about the broader literature that are relevant to call attention to, that can be worthwhile on its own. I've published commentaries in major peer-reviewed journals doing exactly that. Its only peripherally related to my research program so I don't have data on it, but provided some synthesis and identified some gaps that I feel are overlooked. This is reasonably common and perfectly appropriate.

If the above is what you mean, I'd talk to a professor, see if they will help and can identify an appropriate peer-reviewed outlet. Don't publish an op-ed in some sketchy "blog" pretending to be an academic outlet.

True. However, you are using extant literature with actual studies that include data to support your opinions or perspectives in those commentaries. The first step is always to see what others have found related to the issue. Not sure if OP did that or not regarding this trend.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I am an undergrad at a HYPSM.

In the past year, I have noticed a trend in my psychology classes and research that is worth writing an article on, and is something people would have interest in. It would be "op-ed" type, not necessarily research in the sense of peer-reviewed journals.

Is this (a) feasible with the minimal info I've given, and (b) what would be a good place to submit to? My original thought was Psychology Today, but I don't honestly know how reputable the magazine is. Are there other sources?

Thanks.

By the way, I googled HYPSM and I am not sure how that is relevant.

 

[MCParent]

By the way, I googled HYPSM and I am not sure how that is relevant.

I'd never heard of that before. I just googled it too. lol.

It reminds me of this story--I get emails sometimes from people asking for my measures. Usually the subject line is something like "Request for measures" or something else obvious. I got one the other week--a request for my measures--with the subject line "Harvard undergraduate."

 

[EmotRegulation]

The APS Observer has an Undergrad piece every so often, you could try there. They would still want citations and such, but it's one place I know of that might be an outlet like you speak of.

 

[jdawg2017]

Why would any reputable paper want an opinion piece from an undergrad?

As in, who cares what you think about stuff to the degree that limited and valuable space is given to you?

It’s kind of mean but you need good answers to those questions

I cannot agree more as someone who was an undergrad not too long ago and is now in a fully-funded PhD program in clinical psych. You may think you have some novel idea, but frankly until you hold some degree of expertise in Psychology nobody will give you the time of day for an op-ed. If it is an issue that can be explained with data, find a mentor and conduct a study.