Pending publication(s)..how to tell PI to hurry???

[kaymellow]

Soooo I'll be an author of two publications, both of which my PI says are "in the works" but have yet to be submitted....
I am applying this cycle with SUPER BORDERLINE stats and pretty good ECs and would LOVEEE to be able to add at least one publication as an update during this cycle..
How do I politely express this to my PI? Basically saying, lets get this ball rolling? Especially since revisions may be necessary? Am I a bit delusional that this is possible?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted480308]

Soooo I'll be an author of two publications, both of which my PI says are "in the works" but have yet to be submitted....
I am applying this cycle with SUPER BORDERLINE stats and pretty good ECs and would LOVEEE to be able to add at least one publication as an update during this cycle..
How do I politely express this to my PI? Basically saying, lets get this ball rolling? Especially since revisions may be necessary? Am I a bit delusional that this is possible?

all you do is ask if there is anything you need to do to help out this point......then you calm down and wait

 

[mistafab]

I'd say it is pretty rude to prod your PI to rush something like this. The least-horrible way to gently nudge your PI is to say something like "hey, do you need any help with paper XYZ? I am free and am happy to help with formatting or anything." This is just to remind him that these papers are not yet in the pipeline.

I would not at all say anything else. It is rude.

Soooo I'll be an author of two publications, both of which my PI says are "in the works" but have yet to be submitted....
I am applying this cycle with SUPER BORDERLINE stats and pretty good ECs and would LOVEEE to be able to add at least one publication as an update during this cycle..
How do I politely express this to my PI? Basically saying, lets get this ball rolling? Especially since revisions may be necessary? Am I a bit delusional that this is possible?

 

[kaymellow]

all you do is ask if there is anything you need to do to help out this point......then you calm down and wait

Although logical, doesn't help much with my neuroticism lol thanks

 

[Goro]

Soooo I'll be an author of two publications, both of which my PI says are "in the works" but have yet to be submitted....
I am applying this cycle with SUPER BORDERLINE stats and pretty good ECs and would LOVEEE to be able to add at least one publication as an update during this cycle..
How do I politely express this to my PI? Basically saying, lets get this ball rolling? Especially since revisions may be necessary? Am I a bit delusional that this is possible?

They're not going to count until they get published.

Writing down manuscript submitted on your application form will do nothing for you.

 

[kaymellow]

They're not going to count until they get published.

Writing down manuscript submitted on your application form will do nothing for you.

Which I understand...
Is it unrealistic to think they'll be published in time for me to provide updates?

 

[Goro]

Which I understand...
Is it unrealistic to think they'll be published in time for me to provide updates?

There is no way to answer this

 

[md-2020]

Is it unrealistic to think they'll be published in time for me to provide updates?

There is no way to answer this

If they haven't even been submitted yet, I'd say it's a highly likelihood that they won't be in time...even extremely interesting Science/Nature pubs with a lot of interest often get held up for near a year sometimes.

Writing down manuscript submitted on your application form will do nothing for you.

I actually think this is good to have, even if not especially important. It shows (usually) that the applicant's longitudinal involvement meant enough to a project that's actually going somewhere (as opposed to either A. a topic that isn't ever going to attract attention in the community, or B. just scutwork without any point at all). Some schools IIRC said that they welcomed publications that you'd submitted on their secondaries.

 

[boogiecousins94]

Depends what type of research and article they're being submitted to too....if its a review article in some low impact journal it'll get published much quicker than a year long original research article in cell where reviewers will send comments and you will have resubmit and hopefully get accepted then. Sometimes they may want to see an experiment expanded and then you'll have to do that so it takes a lot longer than you would think. If you look at articles sometimes it takes 6 months to be in press once it was originally submitted.

If you didnt submit a rec letter from your PI yet have them say you will be so and so author in an upcoming manuscript. That is what my PI did and I feel that will hold much more weight than just you saying "article x" was submitted

 

[kaymellow]

If they haven't even been submitted yet, I'd say it's a highly likelihood that they won't be in time...even extremely interesting Science/Nature pubs with a lot of interest often get held up for near a year sometimes.


I actually think this is good to have, even if not especially important. It shows (usually) that the applicant's longitudinal involvement meant enough to a project that's actually going somewhere (as opposed to either A. a topic that isn't ever going to attract attention in the community, or B. just scutwork without any point at all). Some schools IIRC said that they welcomed publications that you'd submitted on their secondaries.

hmmm interesting to hear such an unpopular opinion about this. I've mostly heard that I shouldn't mention until final publishing

 

[Goro]

If they haven't even been submitted yet, I'd say it's a highly likelihood that they won't be in time...even extremely interesting Science/Nature pubs with a lot of interest often get held up for near a year sometimes.


I actually think this is good to have, even if not especially important. It shows (usually) that the applicant's longitudinal involvement meant enough to a project that's actually going somewhere (as opposed to either A. a topic that isn't ever going to attract attention in the community, or B. just scutwork without any point at all). Some schools IIRC said that they welcomed publications that you'd submitted on their secondaries.

I could write something in crayon on a brown paper bag and send it to Nature.

That would also be a manuscript in submission.

Now do you see why these things don't count?

 

[md-2020]

I could write something in crayon on a brown paper bag and send it to Nature.

That would also be a manuscript in submission.

Now do you see why these things don't count?

I'm not insinuating that they count anywhere near an actual pub. Just that it isn't worth precisely zero like, say, "my duties have included washing petri dishes."

 

[DNC127]

I doubt they will be published in a time that will matter for this application season. Of the manuscripts I have had accepted for publication this year, 3 were under review/ revise and resubmit for over 6 months, and are still not in print yet. These are at high-caliber journals that are supposed to be relatively fast. I would just chill because even if he submitted today, it is unlikely it would be published online before early 2018 and the cycle will be a wash at that point.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I'm not insinuating that they count anywhere near an actual pub. Just that it isn't worth precisely zero like, say, "my duties have included washing petri dishes."

You can also just mention it in the experience description.

To the OP, this is rude af and pointless. Your PI's concern is not to rush to get you a pub to help your app. Also, if your stats are extremely borderline, a pub isn't going to help you as much as you seem to think.

 

[boogiecousins94]

I could write something in crayon on a brown paper bag and send it to Nature.

That would also be a manuscript in submission.

Now do you see why these things don't count?

I'm not insinuating that they count anywhere near an actual pub. Just that it isn't worth precisely zero like, say, "my duties have included washing petri dishes."

I think the brown bag/crayon analogy is more along the lines of that anyone can say they submitted something even if they really didnt- theres no way of "proving" submission is there? Although I highly doubt anyone would say they submitted something without actually doing so, and adcom probably puts no weight in this because 1) it could easily get denied or 2) you can't prove that is actually was submitted to journal X

If I submitted a review article to a journal with an IF of 1, but update schools and say I submitted it to NEJM how can you prove this if it actually isn't published yet

 

[ReapPremed]

I'm sure the PI is working as fast as he can. You can prompt him by asking, "Is there anything I can do to help?" or if you want to be brazen without being pushy you can ask "how should i cite this on my application?" he'll tell you to put in progress, but its not-so-subtle way of telling him it would be really great for you if he hurried up.

From submission to publication, for me, it was 6-months with one round of revisions though it wasn't going anywhere top-tier. If there are no issues with the actual experiments or data it may just be a matter of rewriting.

I could write something in crayon on a brown paper bag and send it to Nature.

That would also be a manuscript in submission.

Now do you see why these things don't count?

I'm actually surprised a submitted manuscript isn't worth anything. While its impossible to verify and you could submit a crayon drawing, many other work-activities are also at the word of the applicant and their contact.

Assuming the lab isn't a two-bit operation, the PI with the Ph.D. and grants is going to try to get those experiments published somewhere. Isn't doing enough work that the PI thinks you're worthy of inclusion what schools care about? More the "I've done science and have a gold sticker!" part as opposed to "I discovered how serotonin receptors in the medial septum..." part?

 

[GliaLimitans]

Which I understand...
Is it unrealistic to think they'll be published in time for me to provide updates?

There are several factors that can impact the speed of a paper being published, but the median time from submission to acceptance is around 100 days, and that's only considering the journals in which papers were ultimately published. Many, many papers will be submitted to and rejected by at least one journal before being accepted. It seems unlikely that you'll be able to get this for an update any time soon.

Does it take too long to publish research?

 

[Goro]

I'm sure the PI is working as fast as he can. You can prompt him by asking, "Is there anything I can do to help?" or if you want to be brazen without being pushy you can ask "how should i cite this on my application?" he'll tell you to put in progress, but its not-so-subtle way of telling him it would be really great for you if he hurried up.

From submission to publication, for me, it was 6-months with one round of revisions though it wasn't going anywhere top-tier. If there are no issues with the actual experiments or data it may just be a matter of rewriting.



I'm actually surprised a submitted manuscript isn't worth anything. While its impossible to verify and you could submit a crayon drawing, many other work-activities are also at the word of the applicant and their contact.

Assuming the lab isn't a two-bit operation, the PI with the Ph.D. and grants is going to try to get those experiments published somewhere. Isn't doing enough work that the PI thinks you're worthy of inclusion what schools care about? More the "I've done science and have a gold sticker!" part as opposed to "I discovered how serotonin receptors in the medial septum..." part?

Words are easy. Doing and proving it are harder, and thus what is valued.

 

[kaymellow]

Thanks for all of the responses thus far! I appreciate everyone's opinions

 

[DameJulie]

Depending from the field, publication can take a few months from manuscript submission to published in press. Mostly it depends on the length of the peer-review.

I wouldn't rush your PI, as this manuscript is a team-effort and usually depends on the PI and first author to decide when to submit the manuscript. I assume you are a co-author, who usually have little or no control in the timing of submission.

OP, I had the same situation as you (pending manuscript when I applied), and it wasn't accepted until the following year. By the time it was too late to update the school. I talked to my PI when I filled out my application, and she's okay with me putting "submitted manuscript as an author" on the experience section.