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Publishing during postdoc years tied to later academic career success

A team of academic researchers led by Bedoor AlShebli with New York University Abu Dhabi, and Petter Holme with Aalto University, has found an association between postdoc scholars who published academic papers during their postdoctoral period and academic success later in life. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group analyzed publication trends by postdoc scholars.

Prior research has shown that academic training can prepare people for various positions in academia and in the private sector. In some fields, particularly those in the research field, an advanced degree, such as a Ph.D., is required to find a position. Prior research has also shown that many students who go to graduate school do so with the assumption that they will gain employment at an academic institution after they get their degree.

This is not always the case—some scholars fail to find either an apprenticeship or position after attaining their degree and wind up in the private sector, often in jobs they do not want. In this new study, the research team wondered why some postdocs ascend to academic careers while others do not. In their research, they assumed that such success starts during the postdoctoral period—the months or years following graduation.

The work by the researchers involved gaining access to publication databases and other online professional networks. The data held information concerning more than 45,000 careers over 25 years across a wide variety of academic disciplines.

The search team found that approximately 41% of postdocs left academia to pursue careers in the private sector. They then compared cited papers by postdocs during the postdoctoral period by those who remained in academia with those who left. They found that those who published papers during their postdoctoral period were more likely to find academic positions, especially those whose papers were highly cited.

They also found scholars publishing highly cited papers while still earning their Ph.D.s was not an indicator of future academic success. And finally, they found that those scholars whose papers were highly cited during their postdoctoral period found more success in their later academic careers than those scholars who also remained in academia but whose papers received less acclaim.