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IOP Science

Top Five Tips for Early Career Researchers

Below are some of our top tips for early career researchers who are looking at publishing their first article.

1 – Promoting and networking is important:

  • Take part in discussions and presentations at conferences and workshops to present the results of your paper.
  • Use social media to get your messages across in an accessible way.

2 – Rejection isn’t bad:

  • Rejection is part of the journey – it’s an opportunity to change the scope of your research as well, potentially unveiling new steps and future opportunities.
  • Always consider the referees’ comments on a factual level. Never take them personally.

3 – Writing skills are key:

  • Writing skills are your “Swiss Army knife” to succeed in publishing your paper.
  • Make sure you have clear and well written manuscripts.
  • There are useful blogs and websites about scientific writing.

4 – Keep on top of the research in your area:

  • Be aware of the state-of-the art in your field.
  • Read more, especially the journals you would like to publish in.

5 – Pros of publishing

  • “Any piece of work that is not published or disseminated to the community simply does not exist.”
  • Having published work helps networking and other opportunities for your career.
  • “The ability to write a clear and convincing scientific text is not only key for publishing good papers but also to win grants, positions and, ultimately, to be visible in the community.”

 

Alongside this, we also have an extremely useful Publishing Support hub for both authors and reviewers that offers free resources such as:

  • Article templates – both double and single anonymous templates. These may help to speed the publication of accepted articles.
  • Editage – language and figure editing services. Helping you prepare your paper ready for submissions.
  • Track my article – a platform which helps you find out where in the journey your paper is at.
  • Paperpal Preflight – a free pre submission feedback service which checks for and highlights issues before you submit your paper.
  • IOP Academy resources and events – workshops, webinars and online training covering various aspects of publishing in journals.
  • Submission checklist – check you have covered everything before submitting your paper.