It has been a few years since I got my masters degree, and I never had the ambition for an academic career. Pursuing a tech one at the moment. Still miss writing about topics that interest me. Is there anyone here who incorporates (academic) writing with a non-academic career? How do you manage?
Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
1–10 of 58 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#2I don't, but if you are interested in doing this then you should definitely give it a go.
Beside actually doing good research in the first place, there should not be major barriers to writing and publishing a paper and I don't think there is the kind of gatekeeping that people think there is. Pick a small conference or workshop to start with, read a few papers from previous years to understand the format, style and conventions of the medium, and then you just write and upload your paper by the deadline. There's no more ceremony or secrets than that compared to writing a good technical blog post.
Of course, your research has to be good in the first place. I've seen people try to write papers and get them knocked back and they think it's because they're outsider, when in reality they didn't actually have a research contribution in the first place.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#3In the field of medicine this is standard, at least in the UK. Many medical specialties expect you to have a PhD to get a good senior post in a teaching hospital. To get a good PhD grant you are expected to have a pedigree of publishing research, and the classic way to do that is join a research group on your days off/evenings/weekends.
I’m lucky enough to be on a good PhD programme so my 9-5 is now academia, but in my late 20s a typical weekend and weeknight would involve a couple of hours of academic writing which I would be doing “for free”. I’d be first or second author on the papers, but I’d be publishing under the institution of the group I’d tagged on to.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#4I do. I was in academia for over 15 years, and exited almost 2 years ago. Since then I've published quite a few papers, and stayed active in conference organization / journal editorial activities. Lately, I've slowed down notoriously, I'm busy enough with my day job.
I think it helps if you have a good group of people to work with, since it motivates you, and you get good feedback (also helpful if they're still in academia and can easily register/attend conferences and/or pay open access fees).
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#5In the field of medicine this is standard, at least in the UK. Many medical specialties expect you to have a PhD to get a good senior post in a teaching hospital. To get a good PhD grant you are expected to have a pedigree of publishing research, and the classic way to do that is join a research group on your days off/evenings/weekends. I’m lucky enough to be on a good PhD programme so my 9-5 is now academia, but in…
I like the idea of a research group. I did not know that the field of medicine this was a standard practice. Was it not too overwhelming?
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#6I do. I was in academia for over 15 years, and exited almost 2 years ago. Since then I've published quite a few papers, and stayed active in conference organization / journal editorial activities. Lately, I've slowed down notoriously, I'm busy enough with my day job. I think it helps if you have a good group of people to work with, since it motivates you, and you get good feedback (also helpful if they're still in ac…
Why did you decide to exit academia?
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#7I am a former academic now working in tech. In the past year I have missed research.
I don't have the time or patience to go through the whole peer-review process in my spare time. Furthermore, some aspects of peer-reviewed scientific writing are quite boring to me e.g. introductions, trying to sell the importance of your results.
Instead, I find that I can scratch my research itch by doing what I want, then uploading the results to GitHub. So far I've re-implemented a couple of recently published papers, and put in a modest contribution of my own. If you want some discussion on your work, you can turn to a pertinent online forum.
Apart from being much faster than writing a full paper, another advantage is transparency and reproducibility. It has become a fulfilling hobby.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#8In what area you are interested in?
I guess we could create a small "research group"... I would join and give my contribute.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#9I am a former academic now working in tech. In the past year I have missed research. I don't have the time or patience to go through the whole peer-review process in my spare time. Furthermore, some aspects of peer-reviewed scientific writing are quite boring to me e.g. introductions, trying to sell the importance of your results. Instead, I find that I can scratch my research itch by doing what I want, then uploadin…
What is your field? Can you link some of your work?
I could be interested in helping with the "academic writing"...
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone do academic writing in their own time?
#10In what area you are interested in? I guess we could create a small "research group"... I would join and give my contribute.
I'm thinking about expanding on the ideas of Nicholas Nassim Taleb. For instance the concept of anti-fragility.
My academic background is in information studies but I'm not married to the field.