Time to Publicaton

[Perrotfish]

I´m planning on starting research along with Medical school in the fall, and I was wondering: how much time does it generally take between starting medical research and submiting a publication? If I work 20 hours a week during a 20 week semester am I likely to have enough data for something publishable by the end of the semester? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I have very little experience with academic research (lab b!tch only) and no experience with academic journals.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Law2Doc]

I´m planning on starting research along with Medical school in the fall, and I was wondering: how much time does it generally take between starting medical research and submiting a publication? If I work 20 hours a week during a 20 week semester am I likely to have enough data for something publishable by the end of the semester? Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I have very little experience with academic research (lab b!tch only) and no experience with academic journals.

There is really no way to answer this question other than the unsatisfying "it depends". In general, if you are doing something very basic like a case study or chart review, you can crank out an abstract in a couple of months, and an actual paper might appear a few months after that. If you are doing something more involved, it can take a year, or years, if ever before you get published. The PI of whatever project/grant you are attached to can probably give you a ballpark estimate. Bear in mind that the nature of research is such that it's entirely conceivable that you will never generate something publish-worthy. Lots of us have done research projects that never lead to papers.

 

[Perrotfish]

Bear in mind that the nature of research is such that it's entirely conceivable that you will never generate something publish-worthy. Lots of us have done research projects that never lead to papers

Yeah I know, which is what worries me, in undergrad this was a major part of the reason I never got a publication. I mean, it seems like these days this is a box you need to check to get a good residency (literally, since I´m going military and they have a point system for awarding residencies), and I feel like I have a limited amount of time to get it done, so I feel like I just need to pray that my research doesn´t fizzle. Not that I don´t fully appreciate the value of such research, but it just seems like a strange requirement for somone whose goal is to be a clinician.

 

[Blade28]

Agree with L2D's post.

If you're doing a simple case report or something of that nature (clinical research), you can hammer out a first draft in a few weeks. After a couple revisions, you might be ready to submit it 2-3 months after you first began.

But if you're talking about basic science research, that's a whole 'nother ball game. An important question: is the model validated yet? Or are you starting from the very beginning? It can occasionally take months just to validate your experimental model; then you have to spend time collecting the data, analyzing it, and then finally you get to the writing stage.

 

[167649]

I'll also agree with everyone so far in that it really varies depending on what kind of study you will be performing. Like everyone has said, you could probably get a simple case study (etc...) done by the end of the semester if you stayed on the ball.

Basic science work usually takes a lot longer. Blade28's point about having a validated model is also important regarding this, but even if it is already tested and valid it can still take some time. I worked with a study once which had a model that the group had used succesfully for two decades, but it was so complicated it still took years before I had something in print.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

A lot of it is luck. I've seen classmates do a year of research for nothing or start a basic science project in June and have it on the cover of journal by December.