too many publications

[clinicalpsyapp]

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Sorry if this has been repeated in another thread--I didn't see any distinct threads about this, but it may have been part of something else...

Anyway, I was wondering if people think it's possible to have TOO many publications. I am a first year in a PhD program, but have my master's and did one year of full-time research. I already have two publications (first authored) and have three more in the works (again first author) that should be submitted within the next few months. I really love writing and publishing and think this will probably be a pretty standard pace for me because I like to have a lot of projects (and still have 4 years left), thus resulting in a projected amount of probably like 10 or 15 publications (although the first two will not be in my research area).

I am aware of how silly it is to have a projection for how many publications I will have and (having already published two VERY time-consuming projects) am very aware of the trials and tribulations of publishing--I am not asking about these two things or even about my specific situation. I am just wondering, more generally, if there is a downside to publishing so much during grad school, assuming that I do a standard (but not extraordinary) amount of externship hours and keep my grades up. Does it raise any red flags? I know I've heard things about how generally it just reflects the generosity of the mentor (which is not actually true in my case--these were my projects from conceptualization of hypothesis to writing to publishing, although I am very lucky to have access to huge data sets 🙂).

If you couldn't tell, I'm asking in reference to research/academic careers...

 

[KayJay85]

I am just wondering, more generally, if there is a downside to publishing so much during grad school, assuming that I do a standard (but not extraordinary) amount of externship hours and keep my grades up. Does it raise any red flags?

Short answer- nope. People will likely assume you did have a very generous mentor as you already alluded to. Even if that is not the case, it is still not a bad thing. Nice mentors alone don't typically result in tons of pubs. Someone has to be doing the work. The only potential issue you may run in to is if you decide to change directions. You may have a bit of explaining to do so it doesn't look like you just hooked up with a graduate mentor because they were productive. This is a very small risk as most people understand that grad school is a time to get a feel for what you like. Keep em' coming!

 

[Ollie123]

I agree with KayJay and have asked a (somewhat) related question about journal quality previously, though I think it may depend on your career goals. I'm fairly certain that publishing may actually close doors for some internships..students in my program seem to frequently get interviews and place at Brown, MGH, MUSC, Chicago, etc. (academic places) but don't even get interviews at the "safety" locations they apply to. Its obviously impossible to confirm, but it certainly has something to do with "fit" and the fact that folks at these internships may realize the person is not a good fit, realize they are probably very unlikely to stay, or perhaps even be intimidated by someone with a good academic CV.

That said, if you ARE planning on an academic career than more is good. Though one caveat (and this was my question) is the extent to which quality matters. Publishing 20 times exclusively in your state psychological association newsletter and journals with an impact factor of 1.0 or less is probably not going to look as good as someone with 3 publications in Abnormal, JCCP, and Psych Science. I'm striving for a balance. My advisor is also pretty generous with letting students take authorships...though his situation is somewhat different since he is in a primarily medical setting so "last author" is actually the coveted position much of the time, and articles with many authors are "better" than articles with fewer authors.

In short, if you want to go into academia, write away. As long as it is good, you will only help yourself.

 

[FuturePhD2]

he is in a primarily medical setting so "last author" is actually the coveted position much of the time

Why is that?

 

[Ollie123]

Last author is frequently used to denote the principal investigator - the most senior person who is in "charge" of the project - typically it indicates it is their lab, their grant, etc. Obviously first author still counts for something too, but last is probably preferred to 2nd-nth.

Of course, that's only if you are a well-known faculty member with funding and a lab. As a grad student, I'm not sure being last would count for squat.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Last author is frequently used to denote the principal investigator - the most senior person who is in "charge" of the project - typically it indicates it is their lab, their grant, etc. Obviously first author still counts for something too, but last is probably preferred to 2nd-nth.

Of course, that's only if you are a well-known faculty member with funding and a lab. As a grad student, I'm not sure being last would count for squat.

When your name is on the door....you don't mind throwing people who work hard some well earned bones.

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I think the journal impact # is the deciding factor for someone who is serious about academic research. Having any publications in a peer-reviewed journal is helpful to get into a Ph.D. program, and having multiple publications can be helpful for securing a higher-end internship, but once you get to your post-doc year(s)...it definitely matters where you publish. Some people can "pad" with published abstracts, while others only include "selected" or "more recent" publications.

 

[deadmau5]

there was a prof who's interests are very similar to mine.... 75 pubs in the past 6 years... mind-boggling how he had the time to produce all of these (tons as first author).

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

there was a prof who's interests are very similar to mine.... 75 pubs in the past 6 years... mind-boggling how he had the time to produce all of these (tons as first author).

He may have a huge data set that he divided up to a bunch of grad students. He takes 1st authorship and the students doesn't have to sludge through weeks/months/years of data collection. Combine that with being a collaborator on another project with multiple manuscripts, I can definitely see those numbers happening if he didn't get tied up having to teach much.

 

[psypsypsy]

I agree with the others. I think, in general, more publications will only help, not hurt, as long as you're interested in an academic career. Being productive is a good thing. Of course, focusing on top-tier journals with high impact factors will help you more, and if you're not sure about those, your mentor can certainly talk to you about which journals are the most respected in your specific field of interest. Of course, if you did want to become a clinician, you'd probably have a somewhat harder time convincing internships, etc, that's the case with that many pubs, but it sounds like you're headed down a research track anyway. There are plenty of internships to focus on where you can honestly say you want a research career, and that's ideal for them.

My one caveat would be to make sure you work on some papers where you are not first-author, and are helping others. I once talked to one of the faculty at my school, and they said that a CV with ONLY first author pubs can look a bit suspicious, that you're not interested in being a team player. Why are you not helping the other co-authors, or working on a paper your mentor is working on. I think it's not a big deal if you only have a few pubs, but if you started to get A LOT of them, it would look odd if you only first-authored. Most researchers collaborate heavily, and look for others that will do the same. (not saying this isn't your plan...just information)