Not being quick enough to publish articles and papers

[adel9216]

Hello,

I'm a new PhD student. I always have ideas for papers and articles related to my topic of research (conceptual articles, reflection articles or more like "taking a stance" articles), but the thing that happens is that I often end up finding out that other people have just published stuff (in 2018 or 2019) that are very similar to the ideas I came up with, even if I have never shared them publicly. So I end up asking myself if it is worth it for me to start publishing based off my ideas, if other people are working at the exact same thing or have just published the exact same thing... and as a new PhD student, I don't have a concrete writing routine yet, so I often have the ideas, but am not quick enough to put them out there at this point.

How have you dealt with that as a professors and scholars? I'm in the social sciences by the way.

Thanks!

[Hibush]

It sounds like you need a blog to test both your writing and your ideas. If you can become a contributor to an existing blog in the field, such as https://www.socialsciencespace.com/, you may get what you are looking for.

In my field, reflective essays by new grad students do not have a spot in the research literature, so that may not be a promising venue for you.

[Puget]

In my field, reflective essays by new grad students do not have a spot in the research literature, so that may not be a promising venue for you.

This. I think you asked something similar about giving a theory/methods talk at a conference and my answer here is the same-- senior people got to write perspectives/theory papers (after a lifetime of empirical publications), all others must bring data. (As I recall you're in social work or something similar where data is a thing, correct? Or am I miss remembering?)

[Parasaurolophus]

There's usually room for more (much more!) than just one paper on a topic, especially if data is involved. So don't give up on your ideas just because other people are also publishing on them. Just keep abreast of that literature, and as you advance through the PhD and start writing up projects of your own, guage how you can productively contribute to the debate.

It's normal to have lots of ideas as a PhD student, but not enough time, discipline, and experience to write them up yet. Keep track of those ideas; file them away in a dedicated Word document, so that when you don't know what to do later, you can refer back to it for inspiration. Give yourself a quick sketch of the idea and the relevant literature, and come back to it when you can. Or, try to write up something related for your coursework, so that you have something to work with once you're ready to try publishing.

It's also normal to get scooped. I had to apply for my PhD with a dissertation project in hand (because I was applying to the UK too); the year I was admitted, someone published a paper on my dissertation topic, and he did a way better job than I could have. Then a few years later, he published a book on the subject. But he didn't exhaust the topic, and there was plenty of room left for my dissertation to make important and interesting new contributions. I shifted my focus a little, but my core idea survived the scooping.

[adel9216]

Hello,
thank you all for your replies. I have published op-eds in media and blogged on my research topic, and I will definetly keep doing it because I enjoy writing about my research to the general public.

I also have a Trello Board where I keep track of all of my paper ideas.

Thanks for the advice!