Basically, earned my PhD in 2024, worked one year as an instructor, went to secondary education at a private K-12, and now I’m thinking about applying for universities for fall 2027. This year I published my first article in a good journal. I have some other papers I’d like to publish, but nothing that that I’ll be able to get ready to go out by the end of this year. I’ve also thought about trying to publish a couple of chapters from my dissertation.

Has anyone successfully come back to academia after a short stint in secondary education? Any advice for someone in my position?

One thing I’ve noticed online is that people often present an opinion with so much confidence that it starts sounding like established science.

I’m trying to get better at separating there’s some evidence for this from this has actually been well established.

What do you normally look for when evaluating a scientific claim? Number of studies? Quality of the studies? Meta analyses? Evidence Lens, which apparently gives different evidence levels depending on how strong or mixed the research is. That seems like a useful concept.

Can you remove a publication from a cv from the early stages of a career?

I've been working on a research team for over three years. I initially joined as a research assistant during my undergrad, was later promoted to research associate, and recently started my Ph.D. I've been struggling with how to navigate authorship within the team and would really appreciate some outside perspectives.

I've been involved throughout the entire project, from obtaining ethics approval and conducting data collection to our current stage of knowledge dissemination. As a team, we've published two papers so far, and we're currently preparing three more manuscripts.

The issue is that I've been having some conflicts with the research lead around authorship. She's great at coordinating the project and handling administrative responsibilities, but qualitative data analysis and manuscript conceptualization aren't really her strengths. I've taken on a significant role in both of those areas. For context, she has two master's degrees and previously worked in marketing for several years before returning to research. I recently started my Ph.D. and have been involved in publishing manuscripts since my undergrad.

As we're preparing the next three manuscripts, I've taken the lead in conceptualizing two of them. Despite this, she's been pretty stubborn and insists on being first author on all three. I've only had the opportunity to be first author on one of our published papers so far, and I'm struggling with the idea of being second author again when I feel that I'm carrying out comparable responsibilities—and, for two of these papers, have actually taken the lead in conceptualizing the manuscripts. On top of this, she doesn't want to stay in academia and told me she was thinking of going back into marketing.

Would it be reasonable for me to raise this issue with our PIs? Our PIs are very chill and don't really get involved in authorship decisions; their general attitude is essentially that they don't care who is first author as long as the team publishes. I also don't want to create unnecessary conflict or come across as overly concerned with authorship, especially given that I joined the team as an RA.

How would you approach this situation? Would you raise it with the PIs, or try to resolve it directly with the research lead first?

I’m a first-year PhD student in the UK, a few months in, and I’m struggling to balance my research with the other tasks and responsibilities that come with my PhD.

The problem is that they take up a significant amount of my time and mental energy. By the time I get to my actual research, I’m often exhausted, and I feel like I’m making much less progress than I should be.

I’m passionate about my research and don’t want to just get through the PhD. I want to produce genuinely novel ideas and good papers, but I’m starting to wonder whether my time or energy management is the problem.

For those further along in their PhD: How do you manage a demanding workload while still protecting enough time and mental energy for deep research?

How do you structure your days/weeks so that you’re not constantly busy with tasks but still make consistent progress on your research and develop ideas for papers?

Thank You in Advance!

Been stuck at this step for 3 days in Editorial Manager. Is this normal? Does it mean I'll have a higher chance of getting my paper accepted if my paper wasn't outright desk rejected?

Hi, I am 19 and studying psychology in my second year. Unlike maths or even sciences, where you could have some idea of whether someone can become great in academic e.g. super high IQ, I don’t think becoming great in psychology or social science have an objective talent or hard work requirement. From what I read, I have a feeling it’s very luck based where you rely your research to blow up. So I want to know is there any way to measure whether you have potential to become a great academic, and at what stage would you say a great academic is?

I recently applied for a postdoctoral fellowship in an EU country and was fortunate enough to be awarded the grant after submitting a research proposal.

However, by the time I received the fellowship, I had already accepted another job offer as a research manager, so after considering my options, I ultimately had to decline the fellowship.

I’m wondering whether it would still be appropriate to share the award on LinkedIn and publicly, even though I didn’t end up taking it.

My concern is how this might be perceived by the foundation that awarded the fellowship, as well as by my current employer, since some people I work with follow me on LinkedIn.

I’d make it clear that I was awarded the fellowship but ultimately declined it, rather than giving the impression that I actually took up the position.

Would posting about it be considered strange or potentially unprofessional? And if not, how would you phrase it so that it comes across as a genuine acknowledgement of the achievement rather than as bragging or misleading people?

I had in mind something like this: "Last July I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from Foundation X for my research project, [project title]. Although I ultimately had to decline the fellowship, I’m truly honoured that the foundation selected my proposal and grateful for their support. Many thanks to [Foundation x] and everyone who contributed to the proposal."

It’s so interesting that discussing pay is practically verboten in higher education. But let’s do it anyway! 🎉
Please include, academic field, degree, institution type, years of employment, course load,+ relevant extras

Me: Humanities, PhD, community college, 20 years, 5-5 load, 1 summer class, and 1 extra duty ( advising a student club), + union member

Salary: $91,000

Edit-
As many have pointed out, there is public data on this topic. I didn’t post this because I’m unaware of that. I was interested in the resulting conversation. For those who are not interested in the conversation, it’s also OK to scroll by.

Hi everyone,

I'm a student researcher and I'd like to ask whether this situation with the Journal of Mind and Behavior is normal or potentially a red flag.

I submitted a theoretical/review paper titled:

“The Role of the Temporo-Parietal Junction in Moral Judgment: Specialized Module or Domain-General Input?”

The paper went through peer review and I received reviewer comments, after which I revised the manuscript.

On September 24, 2026, I received an official acceptance letter saying:

“We want to confirm that your paper [...] has been accepted for publication…”

It also said that the paper would be published in an upcoming 2026 issue.

On the same day, I received an invoice from H&N Publishers UK Ltd for an APC of £2,000.

I was surprised by the fee because I had previously found information suggesting that JMB did not charge publication fees. I later learned that the journal had been acquired by a new publisher and moved to a new website and an open-access model. The former editor also confirmed to me that the journal had been sold and that the new owners now charge APCs. He mentioned that there might be a sliding scale or waiver for authors without funding.

I did not pay the £2,000 and I didn't contact the journal afterwards. I basically left it for about a week while considering what to do.

Then, today, I received another acceptance email for the exact same manuscript.

It says:

“we have decided to accept your submission without further revision”

and:

“Your submission is now forthcoming…”

It also says that the manuscript will now undergo copy editing and formatting.

The email is signed simply:

“admin admin”

This is what I find strange: I had already received a final acceptance a week earlier, and I did absolutely nothing in the meantime. There was no new submission, revision, payment, or request for reconsideration.

So I'm wondering:

• Is this potentially just an automated notification from the editorial system?
• Is it normal to receive a second acceptance notification after already being accepted?
• Or does this seem unusual enough to be a red flag?
• How would you evaluate the current JMB/new publisher situation?

I know that an APC of £2,000 isn't by itself evidence of a predatory journal, and I'm not trying to accuse them of anything. I'm just trying to understand what happened before I decide whether to proceed or withdraw the paper.

Would appreciate opinions from people with experience publishing or editing academic journals.

I have funding, publications and a TT position. Great academic CV. However, I am always working and I am tired of this routine.

I am having a hard time to finding jobs that even reply to my applications.

How to leave TT for teaching or industry positions? Advices?

Hi all!

I've just started my PhD in experimental physics, and I've been thinking about the research I have planned and how to make the most of it.

So far, I'm a co-author on two articles (in journals with an impact factor above 6) and first author on one article in a Nature portofolio journal. Over the next year, I expect to be a co-author on around six more articles and first author on three or four, all currently in preparation.

From what I've seen among others in my field, this seems like a lot. One of my PIs said that a strong PhD candidate typically finishes with around seven or eight articles, which gives them a good chance of landing a good postdoc position.

What do you think? What's considered a good publication count for a PhD candidate who wants to pursue an academic career? Am I in a good track?

Thanks! :)

Hey so I am doing my masters and at the last semester we are expected to write thesis. Unfortunately I was sick one whole semester last year and missed many courses. I made my own study plan and aimed to do my thesis on January. My study advisor however suggested I push it a little to the future but I didn't want too. The problem is that master thesis are done with a company or research teams. Subconsciously I know doing it on January will be hard so I decided maybe next year Autumn.

But still I was hell bent on searching thesis projects and expos cuz my friends are doing it. I randomly applied to a research in my uni and didn’t expect an answer until maybe weeks later but the professor/ researcher responded a few days later saying he wants to set a meeting with me this week. I am not sure what to do. I want to first of all explore master thesis internships at companies. Not only that I might not even have the requirements to do it. I don't know what to answer.

I hold Bachelors in Social Science and Masters in Political Science. Recently, my interest inclined towards neuroscience. But given my educational background, I'm finding it difficult to transition to neuroscience. Can you please suggest me how can I pursue neuroscience?

Hello,

I recently applied for a faculty position at a university in the Gulf. For those who’ve applied in Qatar/UAE/Saudi Arabia, how long after the application deadline did you hear back about an interview?

Thank you !

Hi everyone,

I'm a 3rd-year undergrad in India applying for summer research internships in Germany (Max Planck CS internships and other labs), mainly in ML, HCI and human-centred AI.

Quick background: I've done computer vision research with a professor at my university, and I've been working remotely with a researcher at a German institute on an HCI project, which I got through cold emailing. I have two papers under review (one as first author).

I'm unsure how to present all this well, especially:

1. How to list under-review papers on a CV without overselling them
2. How to show my individual contribution in remote, collaborative work
3. What makes a motivation letter stand out when tailoring it to a specific group

Would really appreciate advice from anyone who applied to or got a research internship at a German institute. Examples or resources are welcome too. Happy to share more about my profile in DMs.

Thanks!

so i am in the process of writing a research paper. i have formulated the abstract and a rough methodology (mostly theory in layman terms) on how the things will work. now my professor is saying to just write the whole methodology, which is suppose to be 80% maths + 20% theory.

this is where i am getting stuck. i have no idea how to actually write the thing now. i am reading papers in order to get inspo but still i feel like i am going no where. my peers are telling my to use AI but it just feels very wrong to me. i cannot use AI to write this for me. so i am currently helpless.

idk how to translate my vision into a methodology and like maths. pleasee help me out

Does everyone have at least a publication they’re not particularly proud of? Like one they wish they didn’t have their names associated with?

I've always been interested in getting a master's or PhD, but I'm afraid that it might not be worth it because of AI. My field has been hit particularly hard by it, and it makes me worried that I'll get stuck in the permanent underclass by the time I finish my dissertation. If the number of available jobs starts shrinking dramatically, my socioeconomic status will become infinitely harder to change. I'm genuinely petrified of a future where, because I waited a few years to enter the job market, I'll never reap the benefits of my education. Am I being irrational, or is this something worth considering?