One of my proudest moments as a graduate student was receiving an acceptance letter from a journal editor for a paper on my Master's thesis research. The paper represented much more than the culmination of three intense years of lab work and data analysis; it was my entry into the professional scientific world. But publishing is about more than pride, and "publish or perish" is more than a cliche. Your publication list is what gets you a job, gets you recognition, and gets you tenure. No matter how brilliant your research, if you don't communicate what you've done and how you've done it—which means publishing in peer-reviewed journals—then you might as well have done nothing.

This is true even for grad students. Sure, you've got more than enough responsibilities to keep you busy—from passing your qualifying exams to getting your research off the ground - without worrying about publishing. Nonetheless, even as a grad student, "writing and having your research published is really important," says C. Dale Poulter of the University of Utah's Department of Chemistry and editor of the Journal of Organic Chemistry. In fact, publishing "is absolutely crucial—necessary —if you want an academic job," says Poulter. Without pubs, "you'd have to walk on water in the middle of summer" to get hired. Even for an industry job, where publishing doesn't have the same value as it does in academia, still publishing is "really important" for launching your career, says Poulter.

Where Should You Publish?

Aim high. At least aim for well-recognized journals in your field. In terms of getting a job, "it's not how many" publications you have that matters, says Poulter, rather "it's a combination of having publications and what the impact of those publications is." Of course, if you have ten outstanding publications in well-recognized, peer-reviewed journals, that would be fabulous, he says. But you don't need ten publications to get a job. You only need a couple of really good, solid papers to push your application to the top of the pile. In fact, he says, if you have ten shoddy pubs of only minor significance, you may actually be shooting yourself in the foot. Writing journal articles takes time, and it's far better to spend your time wisely. Job search committees are made up of experts in their fields who know the value of a good journal article and are not impressed by CVs beefed up with long lists of trivial publications.

How Do You Write A Good Journal Article?

The best way to learn how to write journal articles is to read them. By reading journal articles and discussing important papers with your peers and professors—in classes, lab meetings, and "journal clubs"—you'll likely have picked up an intuitive grasp and formed your own opinion of what makes for a good journal article long before you set out to write one yourself.

Reading a book on how to write a scientific paper can also be helpful. One of the more popular books is Robert Day's easy-to-read How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper.¹ Day splits the standard article into all of its various components—the abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion—and discusses each in detail.

So What Makes A Good Journal Article?

First and foremost, good science. But again, communication is key. There have been several instances where, as a reviewer, I have suggested to editors that papers be rejected simply on the basis that the writing was so unclear that I couldn't judge the science. A reader shouldn't have to try to figure out what you mean. As the writer, that is your responsibility. If English is not your first language, make use of available resources to improve the writing as much as you can before sending it out for review. Is there an English-speaking colleague you can include on the paper who will help with the writing, or is there a resource on campus that provides writing support services?

Good data usually speak for themselves, and journal articles usually contain very little superfluous information. If you put it in, the reviewers will probably request that it be taken out. I had to cut out about 50% of the content of one of my manuscripts because I had tried too hard to put the results into a greater scientific context than they deserved. Of course, I thought it was all very interesting, but admittedly it was a bit of a stretch.

Know your audience. Study the journal where you'll be sending your manuscript and familiarize yourself with the types of papers that are published in that journal, how those papers are written, and what kind of audience the journal likely attracts. Different audiences will likely be interested in different implications of your findings.

What If Your Paper Is Rejected?

The top two reasons for rejection, according to Poulter, are that the paper doesn't really belong in the journal and that the research contains "fatal flaws that really can't be corrected with revision." Otherwise, he says, editors generally try very hard to get a paper published if the research is good and appropriate for the journal.

If your paper has been rejected because it is simply not a good fit with that particular journal, you'll probably still need to do a little more work before sending the manuscript out again. Read the second journal's "Instructions to Authors" and tailor the paper to what will probably be a slightly different audience. If your paper has gone through review at the first journal, study the reviewers's comments and make any and all changes as necessary! Even though you will be sending the manuscript to a different journal, you might as well address all potential problems and tidy up the manuscript as best you can before sending it out again.

If your paper has been rejected because of fatal flaws in the research, you may have to do a little soul-searching. Can the work be used as a preliminary data for a future grant proposal? Can it still be used as a chapter in your dissertation? Or, is it simply time to let it go and move on to bigger and better things?

If your paper has been rejected on the grounds that it still needs more work or, better yet, if it has been accepted but only on condition that you change x or y, then get cracking and do whatever you need to do to satisfy the reviewers. Do you need to redo an analysis? Rewrite a section? Review some body of literature to better understand how your work fits into the bigger picture? Collect more data? If you do decide to rewrite the paper and send it back to the same journal, respond to every single aspect of the review in detail in your cover letter. Explain how you changed your manuscript and responded to every criticism. Your argument will need to be thorough and strong in order for your paper to be considered a second time. The manuscript will most likely be sent back to the same reviewers to make sure that you have satisfied all of their requests for changes.

If you're not sure how to interpret the meaning of a rejection letter, show the letter to your advisor or another experienced author. Has the paper been rejected because it needs more work? Or, is it likely that no matter how much additional work you do, your paper is not going to be accepted? And if not, why not? Finally, keep in mind that rewriting and resubmitting are pretty much par for the course, and perseverance usually pays off.

Your Initiation Into The Professional World of Science

Remember, not only is publishing essential for getting a good job, as a grad student it is just plain fun. It will make you proud. Moreover, if you're going to use your articles as chapters in your dissertation, it's highly unlikely that a committee member will request changes in something that has already been published. After all, being published means that your work has already been approved by chemists who probably have more expertise on the topic than most of your committee members. In a way, being published means that you've already joined the ranks of the professional chemist, PhD in hand or not. You're no longer "just a grad student," at least in the eyes of the outside world.