Analysis and news


The three life stages of an academic author Chris Smith explains why they matter, and how publishers and universities can benefit


Academic authors are more than just content creators. They’re people with values, personal drivers, blocks and pressures. Understanding why academics write and how they do it is critical to publishing productivity – and that’s something that researchers, universities and publishers all have a vested interest in. In 2018 we surveyed 600 academic


authors and asked them questions about their writing process: how they write, what pressures and blocks they face, and how satisfied they are with their writing and publishing productivity. We did this to inform the development of our coaching services for academic writers and to gain a better insight into how scholars write and publish at different stages of their careers. Designed and analysed in collaboration


with academic and publishing partners, our findings indicate that scholarly authors go through three different stages throughout a career – think of them like turning points, where people experience similar motivators and barriers to writing and publishing productivity. Publishers and scholarly institutions do an amazing job at supporting authors but it’s only by understanding these stages that they can design better, more tailored author services, which not only improve support for individuals but help attract the best research talent and improve ranking, student engagement and retention. Three areas really stood out:


Early career researchers (ECRs) need help tackling the psychological barriers they have to writing and publishing ECRs experience the most acute and stressful writing blocks and barriers of their careers. Academics with up to five years’ scholarly writing experience struggle most with ‘psychological’ barriers such as procrastination, negative emotions, feelings of self-doubt, low self-esteem and being overwhelmed. These blocks are linked strongly to high dissatisfaction. While many ECRs also struggle with the more technical aspects of writing (such as a lack of familiarity with


20 Research Information August/September 2019


the peer-review system), these barriers are nowhere near as anxiety-inducing as the psychological blockers they face. While the research finds that


productivity systems and effective writing practices can be learned at any age, it understandably found that ECRs are far less likely to have developed them than those with more experience. Many ECRs struggle to adopt a regular writing pattern and feel isolated and alone in a scholarly system that offers little help beyond technical writing assistance. With half of doctoral students in the


US dropping out of college before they graduate (it’s 85 per cent for some UK PhD programmes) and a reported 53 per cent of UK academics suffering with stress- induced mental illness, this is a troubling finding, and one that should make those involved with researcher development stop and think. While many universities and academic publishers support ECRs to navigate the technical aspects of writing – could they do more to help them with challenging psychological aspects too?


Mid-career scholarly authors need more holistic support to manage their time better – in and outside of the university Academics in the middle stages of their careers – those with between six to 15 years of scholarly writing experience – feel the most burdened by the growing and broadening pressures of academic life. While ECRs’ anxiety and dissatisfaction is acute, it’s often very focused on learning the ropes of a particular discipline or around a specific research project. As academics progress in their careers, the source of their anxiety dissipates and becomes generalised in nature, appearing to originate from multiple sources – inside and outside the institution. We find that at mid-career, academic


authors are often challenged most by time- management barriers and by getting stuck on a particular project. Often, the tactics authors have used in the past (at ECR stage) no longer work, perhaps due to job changes, new management responsibilities or teaching/marking workload. While psychological blockers to writing


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