Richard Fay and I are the proud editors of Doctoral Study and Getting Published, a volume that brings together the voices and experiences of a wide network of early career researchers, reflecting on their early publishing attempts. The collection appeared in June 2025, as part of Emerald’s Surviving and Thriving in Academia series.

This edited collection focuses on researcher development/education, with emphasis on the often high-stakes, pressurised, and stressful process of publishing during, as, from, and after a doctorate. It brings together 15 narratives, reflections, and advice from early-career researchers regarding publishing.

From doctoral student to published author

Pressure to share research findings in the form of academic publications has meant that, early on in their process, doctoral candidates are encouraged, required even, to develop skills that will help them engage with the competitive publication market. Although in many contexts, this process of developing author identities and publication skills is driven by the students themselves, doctoral programmes increasingly offer structured opportunities to develop as an author.

Doctoral Study and Getting Published is intended as a supplementary resource for use by doctoral students and early career researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences, whether they attend academic writing programmes or work individually to develop their authorial identity. The book is a synthesis of narratives and reflections contributed by early career researchers focusing on their early career publication experiences. Although each contribution can be read independently and function as a catalyst for reflection, the full set of contributions will be framed and given shape by narrative and ecological lenses, thus ensuring coherence and suitability for use as a whole.

The volume consists of 15 narratives (see below) that are given conceptual coherence through the use of an ecological perspective. The narrative approach that underpins the collection brings to the fore the lived experience of the participants and gives them voice. Ecological perspectives are increasingly used to conceptualise education because they help to foreground the interconnections between (intra)personal and societal influences that shape action. Together, the two perspectives will offer a powerful, yet nuanced insight into the way early career researchers develop their authorial identities. 

Who is this book for?

We expect the book to appeal to two main audiences. Firstly, it will be of immediate relevance to doctoral students and early career researchers who are in the process of producing their early publications. This publishing endeavour may form part of their doctoral studies (e.g., as a doctorate by publication) or, in an extension of thesis-based doctorates, be a dissemination of the findings.

It might also form part of some other publishing endeavour, perhaps collaborative, which is tangential to the doctorate itself. For this first audience, the narratives may resonate with their own experiences, offering additional insights into the opportunities for, and challenges of, early career publishing. Secondly, the book should be of use in the increasingly prevalent doctoral training courses which focus on writing for publication. In this context, the narratives and reflections that make up the volume may be exploited as case studies or examples to trigger discussion and reflective engagement.

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Table of contents

The edited volume brings together an editorial introduction, two theoretical contributions and 15 narratives and reflective chapters focusing on the Early Career Researcher experience.

Here’s the table of contents:

Introduction

1. Doctoral study and getting published: Narrative and ecological perspectives (Richard Fay & Achilleas Kostoulas)
2. Local and global challenges for early career publishing (Jane Andrews)

Part A: Finding or constructing a researcher identity

1. The interacting selves in early career publishing and beyond: The search for a researcher identity (Magdalena de Stefani)
2. Where are you from? (Eljee Javier)
3. Commentary to Part A

Part B: The experience of writing

1. ‘On being published’: a reflection on trajectories of (published) texts and researcher imaginaries (Jessica Mary Bradley)
2. A garden of forking PhD paths (Edd Aspbury-Miyanishi)
3. Publish, not perish: Developing a systematic approach to doctoral publications (Magdalena Rostron)
4. Commentary to Part B

Part C: Engaging with co-authors and critical peers

1. Writing and publishing collaboratively: A safe scaffold for an Early Career Researcher (Siti M. Fitriyah)
2. The benefits of ‘being shaped’ as an early career researcher (Dylan Williams)
3. A reflection on my successful and not very successful publication experiences (Sutraphorn [Khwan] Tantiniranat)
4. Commentary to Part C

Part D: Building or joining an academic community

1. Developing researcherhood and professional belongingness through publication (Zhuo Min Huang)
2. Building your ‘LOOP’ in navigating an academic community (Rui He)
3. How practice shapes research and a sense of community in the field of English for Academic Purposes (Paul B. Breen)
4. Commentary to Part D

Part E: Engaging with publishers

1. Dilemmas and challenges in publication and revision of research articles as an early career (Duygu Candarli)
2. Seeking constructive rejections: A reflection on my publication strategies during the PhD( (Felix Kwihangana)
3. It is not easy to learn about your academic self through the eyes of reviewers (Mira Bekar)
4. It’s not about me (Paul V. Smith)
5. Commentary to Part E

Concluding Discussion

1. Commentary (Mira Bekar)

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