'A Good Publication Year'

Prodigal Academic is now at the "phase of strategic publishing" in her tenure-track appointment. "At this point in my career, I need to think about how, when, and where to publish in terms of my tenure file," she says. As such, Prodigal Academic is working to avoid publication gaps and the possibility of her work being "scooped." It's been particularly difficult to decide when to submit a paper. "I can see the changes in my own work already," she says. "There is some data we have now that we are writing up as a communication. If I were still at [my former institution], I would probably hold it back for some additional experiments, but I am too worried about other groups working in this area publishing first to let it go longer." Further, Prodigal Academic adds, it's difficult to ascertain when, exactly, a research story is complete. "It is too risky to me to hold on for more data," she says. "I need to have a good publication year this year, and that is starting to trump other considerations."