Publications: how do they rank?

[radoncbound]

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Hello everybody,

Clearly, being a first author is much better than a second which is better than a third … etc. And of course a paper in the Red Journal is much better than a paper in a less prestigious journal which is probably still better than just an abstract at ASTRO which is better than an abstract at a less prestigious conference …

However, where do you think these rank relative to one another? For example, how much better is first author of a paper in the Red Journal compared to first author of an abstract at ASTRO? Also, is first author on an abstract at ASTRO better than third author on a paper in the Red Journal?

I know that there is no precise answer and the options are almost limitless, but I thought it would be interesting to get an idea of what everybody thinks and to have a discussion. There is so much out there between all of the different journals and conferences (don’t forget poster presentation vs oral presentation), and there are so many ways to participate in research (and of course so many ways to get credit or get screwed for your hard work).

Thanks!

 

[Gfunk6]

In my experience, program directors (most of whom are MDs w/o significant bench research) were not very astute when it came to ranking publications. In fact, when I applied all of my publications (including first-author papers, abstracts, oral presentations) were listed under the same section. Sometimes, PDs would just count the total number of publication regardless of the quality. In this way, they would not distinguish a first-author paper in Science/Nature/Cell vs. a poster at ASTRO.

However, for the average medical student (e.g. non-MD/PhD or Howard Hughes fellow) these general rules apply:

First author > second author >>> any other place on the author list

Published manuscript >> oral presentation at conference > poster presentation at conference

In terms of clinical research,

NEJM > Lancet > Blue Journal (JCO) > Red Journal (IJROBP)

I know a lot of med students aspire to a first author paper in the Red Journal. For their level, this is a great accomplishment but it is not so respected as the other journals in Onoclogy.

 

[HalJordan]

How are book chapters considered?