Long Research Project vs. A Bunch of Short Ones

[218303]

Do you all think it is better to do one long research project and get one publication out of it, or do a bunch of shorter research projects and get multiple publications out of it.

The reason I ask is that I am a first year med student, and I am working on a project that I worked on all of last summer, have worked about 6 hours a week during the semester, and will work all of next summer on it and will get one publication out of it. It's a sweet project though and I like it, and I am doing all of it.

I have other friends who have worked for the same amount of time as me, but have chosen to do smaller projects and have gotten a bunch of publications out of them.

What do you all think is better? I am thinking that it doesn't really matter and you should just do what interests you, but some people have told me that the number of publications is what really matters.

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[Pinkertinkle]

Well I'd say the quality of those publications is important. You may be able to do a bunch of small projects but the papers those generate are likely to be in minor journals and of minimal impact. I had a professor tell me once that one solid basic science paper is worth more than 10 case reports.

 

[WellWornLad]

If you can get a first authorship, go with the more substantive experience. You want something you can talk deeply about during interviews. Skipping around from lab to lab getting 4th and 5th authorships just tells people that you could care less about research, but you're an expert at jumping through hoops to pad your application.

 

[218303]

If you can get a first authorship, go with the more substantive experience. You want something you can talk deeply about during interviews. Skipping around from lab to lab getting 4th and 5th authorships just tells people that you could care less about research, but you're an expert at jumping through hoops to pad your application.

I really hope that's true!