How Much Are PhD Students Publishing before Graduation?: An Examination of Four Social Science Disciplines

Abstract

Demonstrating research activity and a productive publishing record is crucial for landing a tenure-track position after graduation. What does it mean, however, to be productive in publishing? How many manuscripts have PhD students who landed tenure-track positions published in recent years? The purpose of this study is to explore publishing productivity of PhD students in the United States in four social science disciplines: political science, psychology, social work/family science, and sociology. Data were collected from the curriculum vitae of 500 scholars currently employed at 108 research institutions in the United States and who finished their doctorate degrees within the last five years (2010–14). We found that PhD students in our sample averaged 4.3 peer-reviewed journal or book chapter publications before graduation. Analysis of the independent disciplines of interest is also presented.

Research productivity of sociology PhD candidates at interdisciplinary schools of social science at elite Australian universities, 2013–17: A gender perspective

“…Tables 2 and 3 shift focus to present data beyond the number of student completions to consider the number of outputs per student. Rather than Hatch and Skipper’s (2016) focus on personal productivity, while this is recognised as significant for individuals, it is also understood as institutionally relevant and reflective of current gender patterns in Go8 Australian universities.…”

“…The findings were based on all sociology completions at these eight universities within the major social science school or departments in which sociology as a discipline is taught. In contrast to studies such as Hatch and Skipper (2016), all completions, not a subset of completions entering academic careers were included. This broader inclusion has advantages for understanding the contribution of sociology at several levels – profession, school, university and government funders.…”

Taking Time to Learn: The Importance of Theory for Adult Education

“…With the full-time faculty complement shrinking at most universities, the competition for scholarly jobs has intensified. Hatch and Skipper (2016) note that while many doctoral students drop out, those who do succeed in landing an increasingly elusive tenure-track job in the social sciences have often published three or four peer-reviewed article prior to graduation. Gleich (2016) raises questions about how “quickly professionalized academics” must focus on publishing so early in their scholarly careers.…”

Does advisors’ disciplinary background affect LIS doctoral students’ publishing productivity and quality?

“…Scholars are under pressure to publish throughout their academic career, and doctoral students feel this pressure before entering academia. Although publishing is not a mandatory requirement of most doctoral degrees, doctoral students contribute a third of scientific publications (Larivière, 2010(Larivière, , 2012 to build their CV (Hatch & Skipper, 2016) and prepare their future research (Horta & Santos, 2016). Doctoral graduates must demonstrate their ability to conduct independent research (Hatch & Skipper, 2016;Johnson, 2009;O'Connor & Park, 2001) but it is not clear how advisors' disciplinary background affect student's publishing productivity and quality.…”

“…Although publishing is not a mandatory requirement of most doctoral degrees, doctoral students contribute a third of scientific publications (Larivière, 2010(Larivière, , 2012 to build their CV (Hatch & Skipper, 2016) and prepare their future research (Horta & Santos, 2016). Doctoral graduates must demonstrate their ability to conduct independent research (Hatch & Skipper, 2016;Johnson, 2009;O'Connor & Park, 2001) but it is not clear how advisors' disciplinary background affect student's publishing productivity and quality. Previous studies show that most doctoral students do not receive adequate support to publish their research (Dinham & Scott, 2001;Engstrom, 1999), and Kamler (2008) reports that coauthorship with advisors can improve doctoral students' publishing competency but this support varies across disciplines.…”