PhD to Scientific Publishing - The dream job you never thought about

A recent report by the royal society suggests that only 3.5 % of all science PhD graduates end up pursuing long-term careers in university research and even fewer (0.5 %) go onto become Professors. The question then becomes where are the freshly minted doctorates getting employed? What options lie ahead of them if academia is no longer an option?

Research and development in the industry is the other option fresh graduates often look to. However, here they face a situation of the classic catch 22. Industries often want to hire those with experience, at least a year or two. However most PhD graduates do not have that, even post-doctoral research is often not counted as practical work experience by industries. This is not to say industries do not hire fresh graduates. It is only rare that they do.

So where does a young PhD graduate go next? What other option lies ahead for her or him? The answer to that resonates with what the German born Swiss novelist and Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse wrote “Seeking means to have a goal; but finding means to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.” The answer that lies right beneath the nose is scientific publishing.

Having been a PhD graduate myself and working as a post-doctoral scholar, I wanted to explore the different opportunities that lies beyond academia. And there are riches that remain vast, it is only the matter of exploring them. In this post, which is the first of what I intend to be a series of posts about the different career options for a PhD graduate. I intend to write about how new PhD graduates can look to scientific publishing as a long-term career option.

As a PhD student and subsequently a post-doc, one is expected to perform research and publish articles and/or book chapters. In doing so, the researcher performs tasks such as identifying a scientific field they are interested in, the work performed by other experts in the field and sometimes even related fields. Subsequently, proof-reading, editing and then submitting the work to a journal, and finally promoting the work in order to get more citations. If you look at it, a PhD student is unknowingly already getting trained for the publishing industry. The art of writing a paper and getting accepted in the best journals is somewhat akin to marketing a product. You have to highlight the best points of your work to get it accepted in a prestigious journal, maybe even network with professors in other universities, so if one of them were to be a reviewer for your paper. She/he might give you a favorable result. Finally after acceptance, the art of promoting ones work is like post-production and following up with great customer care.

However, the fact that every PhD student goes through the process above does not necessarily mean everyone is cut out for the job in the scientific publishing industry. One must also have the aptitude for it. My friends in the publishing world tell me that one needs to keep abreast of the latest trends in not only their field but also in a variety of others. The importance of interacting with top academicians from around the world, meet new people and understanding their work allows one to learn about all aspects of editorial and marketing in academic publishing. Moreover, the dynamic changes in science provides an exciting opportunity to constantly learn new things and keep up with the pressure.

On a personal note, the scientific publishing industry has always appealed to me. The editorial responsibilities, curating a wide database of various products in an ever-changing environment. The ability to manage and prioritize large work-loads are indispensable skills for the job, which we begin to learn throughout our PhDs. Along with this I like to follow the latest happenings in research, technology, market and in today’s world learning how to promote the work of others on the social platform, which is beneficial to both the researcher and publisher. These are skills that are essential to be successful in the world of scientific publishing. So for those who are pursuing their PhDs or are working as post-docs. Scientific publishing could be the dream job that was always under your nose. What do you feel? I am curious to know the thoughts of other PhD students, Post-Docs and even those currently working in the scientific publishing world.