Everybody knows that high impact factors are essential for a career in science. However, young scientists often underestimate the value of citations. They provide a more valuable estimate of the quality of a scientific publication than other metrics, including impact factors. In this article, I provide 20 strategies to increase your citation counts.
Young scientists often think that a long publication list is crucial for an academic career, and that obtaining multiple co-authorships is a clever strategy to make their publication list longer. Is this true?
We all know that scientific fraud is bad for science and society in general. However, apart from these general considerations, it is necessary and effective to make young scientists aware that scientific misconduct ruins their personal integrity and destroys their careers. The following 16 personal reasons will convince most young scientists that scientific misconduct is a bad idea.
Young scientists often struggle with the problem of being obliged to include authors in the author list who may not have contributed substantially – or not all. In particular, partners who only provide technology, patient samples, genetically modified organisms, or general infrastructure may be a reason for debate, although the research would be impossible without their contribution. How can you handle this problem?
Young scientists often get conflicting advice on how they should publish. Every generation of young scientists has to address similar questions: Should I publish several smaller papers or focus on one big paper with a high impact factor? What is the effect of my publication strategy on my scientific career and the possibility of raising grant money? How important is my publication list for a non-academic career?
Scientists often produce negative results. All experiments were done correctly – but there was no difference between test and control. They get conflicting advice from supervisors and ethicists. Some say that publishing negative results is a waste of resources and ruins their scientific careers. Others say that ‘not publishing negative results is unethical’. What should young scientists do in such a situation?
Being a professor is amazing: a lot of academic freedom to investigate and teach exciting subjects and a secure salary until retirement. However, obtaining this position can be pretty strenuous, and many young scientists do not know the requirements to qualify for such a position. In this article, I give you 10 essential parameters a selection committee will evaluate when selecting a new professor.
In order to get grants or academic positions, it is often necessary to show scientific independence. But how do you do that? The following strategies will help young scientists to develop and demonstrate scientific independence.
Many young scientists fear that they are not investing enough in their scientific career, however, it is often not clear what exactly they should do and how important different aspects are such as publications, grants, teaching, mobility, technical skills and just being a good scientist. Find some directions here.
Among the many researchers I know, many people have adopted either a purely cynical attitude toward the scientific establishment or struggle with an intensive love-hate relationship with science (in academia and industry). Several painful dilemmas cannot be solved, and you must learn to handle them.