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Coping with COVID-19 As An Early Career Scholar - Part 2: What About My Research? (and an appeal to not so early career scholars)

By Kathrin E. Maki, University of Florida; Ryan Farmer, Oklahoma State University; and Amanda L. Sullivan, University of MinnesotaAs we all continue to navigate life in a pandemic, we are attempting to manage wellness, work, family, community, and other responsibilities. Some days may go more smoothly than others. Because the SSSP Early Career Forum exists to support early career scholars and many early career scholars are worried about their interrupted research, we felt it was important to discuss considerations for research during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. That said, as noted in Part 1 where we discussed scholars’ general C-19 concerns, we also recognize that many scholars are not able to focus on research due to caregiving responsibilities, unexpected professional responsibilities, heightened stress, Zoom exhaustion, and numerous other reasons. Many of us are dealing with disastrous days under protracted disaster conditions. This post is not intended to suggest that we should all be focused on our research now (to be clear, we eschew pandemic productivity pressure); for many scholars, that simply isn’t feasible or conducive to their wellness. If that is the case, we hope you’ll offer yourself compassion generally and especially in a pandemic and that your university provides accommodations to evaluation and tenure/promotion. But for those who are interested and able to engage in research now, we hope this post will support your endeavors. Taking StockAs an early career scholar, you may have received the advice to develop a three-to-five year research agenda including studies you plan to carry out, manuscripts you plan to write, and grants for which you plan to apply. Even if you do not have a highly specific plan, you have likely thought through how your research agenda will facilitate your eventual promotion and tenure or future scholarly opportunities (e.g., jobs, grants, fellowships, collaborations). Today, our research plans may feel rather tenuous because we do not know what the next several months hold. As school psychology scholars, many of us engage in applied research in schools and other settings now beset with disruptions and unknowns regarding the reopening and return for former operations. If you are like Katie, you may have experienced the abrupt end to a project that had barely gotten off the ground with data collection after an arduous process of obtaining parental consent. Or perhaps you were close to finishing data collection when schools closed. Many of us were running treatments with students either one-on-one or in groups, and those studies had to be discontinued. Even many basic scientists and large-scale data analysts (like Amanda) find themselves locked out of their university labs and centers, meaning most scholars likely find their research derailed in one way or another by stay-at-home orders. Taken together, this is frustrating for most and fearsome for many—and early career scholars in particular—when concerns about finding, securing, or keeping positions; achieving tenure and promotion; gendered divisions of labor at home and work and resultant research disparities; and sustaining long-term goals are on layered onto current challenges. Managing the Unknowns AheadThe ongoing pandemic and uncertainties about the coming year mean planning for future research projects, particularly many types of school-based data collection, is extremely challenging. But there are other research activities in which you can engage to continue to advance your research agenda during this significant, and potentially protracted, interruption. (That said, it’s also absolutely okay to take a break from scholarship during a pandemic. These are extraordinary times.) If you endeavor to maintain research activity, consider the following as you reconceptualize what your scholarship might look like in the coming months:

  • What manuscripts have you file drawered or otherwise ignored that you could write or revise now? 
  • Are there high quality unpublished presentations, dissertations, or theses (your own or others) that you could help move toward publication?
  • Are there studies using your existing data, or viable secondary studies, that you can write up?
  • What of your recently interrupted data collection is salvageable for analysis and dissemination?
  • What remote data collection methods might be applicable to your research interests?
  • Can you adapt an otherwise shovel-ready project for remote data collection?
  • Are there secondary data sources available that are applicable to your research agenda?
  • Are there ways you can leverage review methods (e.g., systematic review, meta-analysis, bibliographic review) to advance your research agenda?
  • What non-empirical writing projects might you contribute to the field (e.g., conceptual models, theoretical essays, historical analyses, methods demonstrations, commentaries)?
  • Can you leverage past or current collaborations to assist with less disrupted projects?
  • Are there ways you might pivot your research agenda to address emergent pandemic related issues if consistent with your (general or temporary) interests and opportunities (e.g., COVID-19 rapid response grants from APA and NIH and related journal solicitations)?
  • What other activities can you engage in now or in the coming months to eventually advance your research agenda?

Answers to these questions will depend on several factors such as your topical focus, typical methods,  career stage, experience, institutional resources, current and prospective collaborations, and personal circumstances. In taking time to reflect, the goal is, to the extent feasible, to identify ways you might reclaim momentum without relying on in-person access to your university or school partnerships. Rebounding from Interrupted ProjectsMany of us face decisions of whether halted projects are salvageable. One important consideration for your research will be the status of data collection and the quality of the data collected. If you were further along in data collection, consider if any data can be meaningfully used. For some, the existing but less than ideal data are sufficient for reporting. If part of your project can be salvaged, it will be important to further consider how you will contextualize your study within manuscripts. As applied researchers, we often experience disruptions that impact our research (e.g., student absences, snow days, field trips). The pandemic, although a more significant impact, can be similarly discussed in manuscripts so that reviewers and readers understand its impact on study limitations. Of course, it will be important to ensure that interpretations reflect the data collected and associated limitations. Perhaps the data won’t reflect your initial plan, but research questions may still be addressed differently. In addition, are there modified research questions that can be examined or different means of addressing similar questions?For others, preparing manuscripts might not be feasible. My (Katie) project that came to a halt one week into data collection is unfortunately lost (for this year at least) because I simply did not have enough data for meaningful findings or interpretations. But, after feeling frustrated about the lost project and publication, it is helpful to think through how and when the project can be implemented in the future. Again, while the future seems somewhat tenuous now, you may be able to start the project over in the future. At the very least, in planning for your initial data collection, you prepped all the needed materials so the planning and logistics will hopefully be easier a second time around. Another important research consideration is how to handle grant-funded research and the associated procedures. The Institute of Education Sciences and National Institute for Health have released guidance to help grantees navigate the pandemic. If your funder hasn’t released guidance yet, you may reach out to your program officer to see if they can provide guidance on how you should move forward regarding grant administration and completion, including the research itself. Staff at your university or college a grants office may also be able to provide guidance on how you should handle the disruption to your work (e.g., requesting a no-cost extension). Even if they may not readily have the answers, they may have relationships with or understanding of funding agencies to help you navigate the process of obtaining relevant information. Regardless, your grant manager’s role is typically to facilitate the acquisition, administration, and maintenance of grants for the university, and maintaining contact and communication with them may make the process much easier. Alternatives to Data CollectionWhile it is perfectly reasonable (and likely expected) to see a drop in your productivity during this time (I’m sure we’ve all had about enough of the memes about Shakespeare’s and Newton’s quarantine productivity), some of you may be looking for ways to remain active even though you may not be able to  collect data through your typical means or otherwise engage in your typical research activities. This may be the time to turn to an existing dataset, an unfinished manuscript, archival data, secondary data (you can find some helpful sources here and here), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or non-empirical pieces. The important thing to keep in mind is even if your research agenda has been stalled, there are many other ways to engage in meaningful scholarly contributions. If keeping busy is your goal but you’re struggling to engage in research, perhaps skill building to support your research in the future is a viable option.  At times, I (Ryan) have felt taxed by the constant news and the physical distancing, and that’s made it so that I struggled to write or think clearly. I spent several hours the first week of physical distancing completing modules on scientific writing  and peer review. A quick search of Coursera or other sites reveals a variety of options (I highly recommend the courses by Daniel Lakens on statistical inference and questions). Another alternative is to dedicate time (or more time) to reading journal articles and other professional resources.Another option, particularly if you just aren’t up to engaging in research from home, is to work on other tasks in the next few months that would take away from your research time in the fall when you might be able to restart projects. For example, you might conduct more prep for course work for the fall or ramp up graduate student mentorship, helping students deal, or support for vulnerable colleagues (particularly if you are less junior), to name a few.Communicating with Your UniversityLooking toward the future, pre-tenure faculty are no doubt wondering how all of this will affect their annual or tenure reviews, promotion (e.g., publication expectations or teaching evaluations), and so forth. While some universities are pausing tenure clocks or offering faculty the option to extend their tenure clocks , some may not have issued a statement or policy. Jody Greene, associate vice provost for teaching and learning at the University of California at Santa Cruz wrote in the Chronicle that we should “be prepared to tell the story of the semester” including explaining this semester’s teaching strategies, and potentially addressing negative teaching evaluations, but her advice rings true for the range of academic activities we engage in. It may be worth documenting now how you are navigating the pandemic with regard to disrupted research, supporting your students, transitioning your classes to online, and preparing future research and teaching plans. It’s also wise to maintain open and honest communication with your program colleagues, unit administrators, and mentors. Now may be a good time to reach out to them and seek their advice on how to move forward. Hopefully, your senior colleagues and mentors are compassionate, accommodating advocates or provide you with information regarding how to advocate for yourself. Let’s remember, though, that everyone is dealing with their own complexities now; kindness and patience toward these folks should be our default.A Note for Student ScholarsThis is a challenging time for everyone, but graduate scholars are likely to feel these are especially precarious times, particularly those who’ve seen their thesis or dissertations projects upended. If you’re early enough in the process, hopefully a slight to moderate course correction via modified research questions or methods will allow you to salvage as much of your work to date. If you’re less far along, we hope you can use the recommendations above for secondary analysis or review methods (this is a great book to get started) to craft a pandemic-friendly research project. (And we hope advisors appreciate the severity and implications of this pandemic and help student scholars adjust course without major delays or unwanted extensions of time to degree because of preferences against more accessible methods such as systematic review or secondary analysis)

An Appeal to No-So-Early Career ScholarsAs mentioned in Part 1, this bears repeating: As a full professor, I (Amanda) know that I am co-writing this from a place of immense privilege. I challenge myself and my similarly privileged peers to ask how we can support those without the luxuries of rank, tenure, and everything that comes with it. We must also keep in mind that the consequences of this crisis will continue to reverberate, even if/when we return to business as usual, so our grace must extend beyond the crisis. What we are seeing now isn’t simply several week’s disruption of study implementation but a global pandemic and multigenerational traumatic event that will reverberate for months and years to come. As such, even if university and school operations resume fully in the fall (unlikely given the many scenarios most universities are considering), the effects will not be as simple as a pause in research projects or the extra writing time some might frame it as or wish it to be. The setbacks to early career scholars’ research programs may be especially protracted because they don’t have the robust pipeline, collaborative network, or general experience to fall back on.Although some scholars are experiencing increased writing time, many more are not and will not for some time given increased and unevenly distributed caregiving, teaching, administration, and service needs and obligations that are disproportionately restricting women’s research productivity, not to mention disproportionate effects of this pandemic of minoritized communities that will inevitably detrimentally affect scholars who are Black, Indigeneous, people of color, or immigrants. We must apply an intersectional approach to understanding this pandemic and be reflective and compassionate as we evaluate scholars’ accomplishments and contributions in the months and years to come.

ConclusionIf you’re tired of hearing about how Shakespeare wrote King Lear or how Isaac Newton discovered gravity during quarantine, remember that back then, Netflix was still only doing DVD delivery. In all seriousness, we are in the middle of a pandemic where caring for our family, our friends, and ourselves should be our top priorities. However, if research serves as a helpful outlet or you want to remain productive in light of continued expectations from your university, focusing on available tasks, adapting questions or methods, skill building, and planning for the future may be ways you can continue to be research active while caring for yourself and others.

What other suggestions do you have for early career scholars seeking to revive or re-envision their research agendas? What questions or comments do you have for the ECF?

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Teaching, Work-life, Promotion & Tenure, Grad Students & Future Faculty Teaching, Work-life, Promotion & Tenure, Grad Students & Future Faculty

Coping with COVID-19 As An Early Career Scholar (Part I)

By Lindsay M. Fallon, University of Massachusetts – Boston; and Amanda L. Sullivan, University of Minnesota Over the past few months, COVID-19 has been known to infect over a million people worldwide. Its spread brings great concern for physical health and safety, but also emotional wellness; access to healthcare, education and employment; caring for oneself and others; managing competing responsibilities; and much more. A pandemic of this magnitude is uncharted territory for most of us and there remain many unknowns. Intense and new feelings about the virus and its impact are justified. Kindness to oneself is critical in navigating through this difficult and unsettling time.As early career scholars in a helping profession, it can be hard to know exactly what to do or how to help. Those whom we support, teach, and mentor may be experiencing illness or significant disruptions to their life (e.g., moving away or back home to be with family, experiencing an abrupt end to on-site fieldwork, managing the interruption to dissertation data collection, unemployment or illness among family members). Challenges may be exacerbated for individuals from historically minoritized backgrounds, including first-gen students, individuals from racially minoritized backgrounds, women, and others given racialized, classist, gendered, and ableist dimensions of this crisis. Taken together, this may bring about feelings of disappointment, discomfort, and even grief. Those we mentor may require additional and more intensive support during a time when we also need time and space to process and adjust to unanticipated changes ourselves. It is critical we engage in self-care, access social support, and set and maintain manageable expectations now and in the coming months.There are many ways to engage in self-care. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend: 

  • Taking breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.
  • Taking care of one’s body by engaging in relaxation techniques (deep breathing, stretching, meditation), healthy eating, exercise, and adequate sleep.
  • Making time to unwind and connect with others. Talking with trusted friends and colleagues can help to process difficult events and feelings.

Additional recommendations and resources have been offered by NASP, SAMHSA and others. Accessing necessary social support is, of course, impacted by the practice of social distancing, or physical distancing as it is more aptly named. Guidance by the American Psychological Association (APA) emphasizes the value of using technology in the absence of face-to-face interactions. This includes using phone calls, text messages, video chat and social media to access social support networks. There are many virtual social media support groups emerging (e.g., Facebook groups) to facilitate communication and a sense of community. While social and professional support needs will vary for individuals, the realization that all early career scholars are experiencing this pandemic together is powerful. We hope that early career scholars utilize each other as support systems and build stronger collaborative relationships as a result of these challenging times.It’s also important to set and maintain manageable expectations in the coming weeks and months. What is manageable is necessarily different now and will likely vary throughout this pandemic. Most faculty are grappling with the unwieldy task of quickly transitioning to online instruction while also managing extensive, and perhaps growing, personal demands. Rebecca Barrett-Fox offered numerous reasons why you should please do a bad job of putting your courses online during this unprecedented time. Her rationale and corresponding recommendations are especially helpful for scholars who are deeply committed to high quality preparation of school psychologists and high personal standards of excellence generally. We all want to do our best. As she points out, present circumstances necessitate a qualitatively different approach to online teaching than we’d pursue outside of a crisis. Be kind to yourself and your students by doing less. That’s more important now than learning and implementing the most recent teaching apps or ensuring that your online course is as rigorous as you’d intended the in-person class to be before COVID-19 upended everything. Elsewhere, recommendations for supporting struggling online learners are increasingly abundant, but the general themes are to be flexible, low tech, and as minimalistic as possible. It's also reasonable to assume your students are or will be struggling with COVID-related challenges and to practice compassion accordingly.Contrary to early posturing about mimicking Shakespeare or Newton’s pandemic productivity, this crisis does not lend itself to research productivity for most of us. We aren’t on mandatory writing retreats when stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders are issued by university and state leaders. This is especially true for individuals now acclimating to round-the-clock childcare duties; distance learning support for school-age kids; mutual aid for friends, loved ones, and community members; and supporting our students, advisees, supervisees, and colleagues---to say nothing of the personal emotional toll of all of this. We are anxious. We are angry. We are grieving. We are scared.As scholars and graduate educators, most of us have the privilege of being able to continue our work from our homes following social distancing and home isolation orders. Yet, as many have pointed out, “You’re not working from home. You’re sheltering in place during a pandemic and trying to get work done in the gaps between taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and your worries.” Such pandemic work is fundamentally different from choosing to work from home outside of an international crisis. Research findings on employees’ stable or enhanced productivity when working from home are not generalizable to our present context. We must give ourselves permission to expect less from everyone---ourselves, our students, our collaborators, our colleagues---right now. 

Indeed, it may be hard to concentrate or focus on certain tasks, making it difficult to feel productive. This can feel stressful, but is completely understandable. Now, productivity will likely look very different than it did last semester. Practice acknowledging and accepting this, along with celebrating what you are doing: responding to the needs of students, colleagues, clients, etc. is essential, meaningful work. Also, many of us now have children at home all day and are navigating work and caregiving responsibilities. This calls for flexibility with deadlines, requests, and workload. As such, it might also be important to communicate with professional colleagues about capacity and deadlines (e.g., asking for more time to review manuscripts for editorial boards). It is important to think about ways to advocate for one’s needs during this time. Don’t be afraid to request extensions, step away from projects, or ask for other assistance. For tenure-track junior faculty, it may be necessary to discuss with department, college, and university colleagues about adjusted expectations pre-tenure (e.g., fewer publications required; paused tenure clocks). Many universities are automatically extending probationary periods or are allowing faculty to opt in to pausing their clocks. It can be difficult to grant yourself use of such allowances because of common criticisms of pausing clocks that many of us have encountered from senior scholars and others, not to mention concern for how it may widen gender disparities, but these are extraordinarily challenging times. Those of us with more privilege* must advocate and assist our more vulnerable colleagues. This means being flexible with scheduling, deadlines, and delegation of responsibilities and assignments. It means, as much as possible given our own challenges, shouldering more of the burden than we put on junior faculty, contingent faculty colleagues, and students. It also means advocating for tenure clock extensions if they aren’t already in place and ensuring that we make allowances for this lost year when evaluating junior scholars’ accomplishments and potential in the context of promotion, tenure (pssst - external reviewers), student reviews, hiring, or grant or fellowship proposals. The likely impact on grades, research output, teaching evaluations, service activities, and other professional activities or accomplishments should not be ignored or downplayed once this pandemic passes. In the coming days, weeks, and months, we will have a better sense of how long COVID-19 will impact our daily lives and of the long lasting impact the pandemic will have on our field and society. In the meantime, we can take care of ourselves and others by normalizing our own feelings of discomfort and stress, engaging in self-care to the extent that we’re able, accessing social support as needed, setting and maintaining manageable expectations, and being an advocate for what we need at this time. This is undoubtedly a pivotal moment in history. Let’s be kind to ourselves as we navigate the duality of this unprecedented time.

 
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This is part 1 of at least two posts the Early Career Forum is preparing to address the unique circumstances COVID-19 presents for early career scholars and others in our school psychology community. Our next installment will address the research challenges for early career scholars in school psychology. To our readers: What questions do you have for the ECF? What resources or opportunities would you like to see? What other recommendations would you offer to our community for coping with COVID-related issues as an early career scholar? Tell us in the comments section below or comment on Twitter or Facebook.* As a full professor, I (Amanda) know that I am co-writing this from a place of immense privilege. I challenge myself and my similarly privileged peers to ask how we can support those without the luxuries of rank, tenure, and everything that comes with it. We must also keep in mind that the consequences of this crisis will continue to reverberate, even when/if we return to business as usual, so our grace must extend beyond the crisis.

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Research, Video/Webinar/Handouts, Conferences Networking, Promotion & Tenure, Grad Students & Future Faculty Research, Video/Webinar/Handouts, Conferences Networking, Promotion & Tenure, Grad Students & Future Faculty

NASP 2020 Recap & Handouts

Thanks for joining us for the Early Career Forum's sessions and events at the NASP 2020 Convention! Thanks to all the early career scholars who joined us as well as the panelists and mentors who contributed: Scott Ardoin, Stacy Bender, Amy Briesch, Elaine Clark, Bridget Dever, Tanya Eckert, Lindsay Fallon, Randy Floyd, Daniel Gadke, Sally Grapin, Bryn Harris, Bridget Hier, Shane Jimerson, Janine Jones, Steve Kilgus, Dave Klingbeil, Katie Maki, Amity Noltemeyer, Andy Roach, and Ethan Van Norman.We're pleased to share handouts from our three sessions:

If you have ideas for future conference programming or events, or topics you'd like to see us address here on the blog, please comment below.

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Publishing, Research, Promotion & Tenure Publishing, Research, Promotion & Tenure

Publishing Open Access Research as Early Career Scholars

by Bryn Harris, University of Colorado Denver; Ryan Farmer, Oklahoma State University, & Sally Grapin, Montclair State UniversityThe landscape of Open Access (OA) research has changed enormously over the past decades and is gaining visibility and impact across all fields of study. Researchers in the field of school psychology can benefit from learning more about OA publication opportunities as these emergent venues grow in popularity. While there are challenges to OA publications, there are also numerous benefits. The authors of this post reached out to three OA experts help us better understand the implications for early career school psychology researchers. Our panelists include: Clarke Iakovakis, Scholarly Services Librarian at Oklahoma State University, Shea Swauger, Head of Researcher Support Services at the Auraria Library at the University of Colorado Denver, and Dory Rosenberg, English & Psychology Library Liaison for the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University. We asked them to define OA research and publications, ground OA within the field of school psychology, and provide guidance for distinguishing reputable OA journals from predatory ones.What is the definition of an OA publication?Dory Rosenberg: Peter Suber, one of the foremost leaders and experts on OA, defines OA as literature that is “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.” For more info on OA, I’d suggest checking out Dr. Suber’s overview at the following link: http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm. Also, for a media option, PHD Comics has a great YouTube video that defines OA and reviews the history of this model.Shea Swauger: I like SPARC’s (2019) definition of OA: OA is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles combined with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. I’ll add that the ‘free’ part means at minimum free to the person reading it. Some kinds of OA make the author, their institution, or grant funder pay the publisher to make an article OA. Other kinds of OA are free end-to-end.Clarke Iakovakis: OA (OA) journal publishers deliver peer-reviewed research articles online and free of charge to readers. Whereas subscription-based publishers require payment in exchange for access—typically paid and provided by libraries—OA publishers fund their operations in other ways, including charging authors article processing charges (APCs) for articles accepted for publication. Several OA publishers do not charge APCs, instead covering costs through subsidies by universities, libraries, funders, governments, non-profit organizations, and academic societies, or through other funding models.OA means anyone can read the journal; it does not mean that anyone can publish in the journal. OA journals earn prestige the same way all journals do: through the quality of their content and the expertise of their authors, editors, and reviewers. Reputation takes time to accrue, and OA is relatively new. The large, commercial, subscription-based publishers have been in the field for several decades, and are often contracted by respected academic societies to publish their journals.The proportion of research articles available OA has dramatically increased (H Piwowar et al., 2018) over the last two decades. OA publishing has emerged as a viable and sustainable means of disseminating peer-reviewed research, as indicated by the thousands of reputable and high-quality OA journals. There is, however, substantial variation in the number of established OA journals between and within disciplines, with many more in STEM fields than social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The growth of OA is a result of the advocacy and work of many thousands of researchers, funders, librarians, and citizens from across the world from the mid-1990s.OA publishers generally permit authors to retain their copyright, and publish the work under the terms of a Creative Commons license, which allows both authors and readers to share the work without fear of infringing copyright. In contrast, subscription-based publishers typically require authors to transfer copyright to them exclusively, using that legal protection to create an artificial scarcity and restrict downstream dissemination and reuse, even for authors themselves.Philosopher and OA advocate Peter Suber sums the issue up well in two separate quotes:

  • “The idea of OA is to stop thinking of knowledge as a commodity to meter out to deserving customers, and to start thinking of it as a public good, especially when it is given away by its authors, funded with public money, or both.”
  • “Publishers deserve to be paid for the value they add. But it doesn’t follow that they deserve to control access or that they deserve a package of exclusive rights that bars author-initiated OA”

How do researchers differentiate between reputable OA publications and those that might be predatory? And relatedly, is there a good source you can provide that delineates the types of OA?Dory Rosenberg: It’s important to be aware of what questions to keep in mind when trying to identify a predatory journal, and that predatory journals aren’t just an OA problem - a journal can be predatory whether it publishes via a traditional model or via OA. Below are a handful of questions that the Digital Initiatives Unit at USU Libraries shared with USU faculty and librarians to help develop a greater awareness of predatory journals within the USU community:

  1. Analyze the scope of interest. Is it too wide-ranging? Does it include unrelated fields of study?
  2. Are there spelling and grammatical errors present on the website?
  3. Do they utilize unauthorized and low-quality images on their website?
  4. Does the homepage language target authors and focus on (often rapid) procurement of articles?
  5. Is there a lack of clarity surrounding manuscript submission and processing?
  6. Does the journal advertise rapid publication?
  7. Are the processing and/or publication charges low?

If you can answer yes to several of these questions, then the journal might be predatory.You might also hear OA described as either “Gold OA” or “Green OA.” In understanding the difference between the two, Gold OA is when an author publishes in an OA Journal, and Green OA is when an author archives a version of their work in an OA repository. To learn more about these differences, I’d suggest checking out the “OA journals” and “OA repositories” sections of Peter Suber’s OA overview (2015).Shea Swauger: It’s not always easy to do, and unfortunately, I don’t think there’s ever going to be one stable way to check for validity or authority because what those mean looks different for different disciplines and changes over time. I’ve written about this more here (Swauger, 2017). Using tools like the Directory of OA Journals (DOAJ) can be a good start, but it’s not always going to be perfect. In general, I support using OA journals that don’t have an article processing charge (APC) and who engage in peer review (open peer review if possible). If you have questions about a specific publication, ask a librarian! We love this stuff.Clarke Iakovakis: "Predatory publishers" are scammers; not publishers. They collect article processing charges from authors and post the article PDF to their website, without selectivity, editing, or peer review. If authors catch on, the scammers will often then charge them again to remove it. They seek money only, not to advance knowledge.There is no clear definition (Cobey, Lalu, Skidmore, Ahmadzai, & Moher, 2018) of "predatory," which makes it hard for stakeholders to establish policies on what to avoid. It's also important to differentiate (Eriksson & Helgesson, 2018) between "deceptive" publishers--who lie outright about their quality control, editors, citation metrics, and APCs—and journals that may be run by graduate students and/or scholars with good intentions but less experience and time. Typically, a deceptive predatory publication will have a vaguely-defined and/or unenforced scope, unrealistically rapid editorial and review time, lack of clear information on APCs, or an unknown or falsified editorial board. They also often are not indexed in databases relevant for their field and have an abundance of articles that don’t meet the standards of the discipline.On the one hand, deceptive publishers can undermine public trust in research and can serve to legitimize fraudulent schemes and spurious ideas. On the other hand, research indicates that citations to these publications are minimal (Frandsen, 2017) and restricted mostly to inexperienced researchers. Nevertheless, publishing in such journals can be damaging to the careers of authors; therefore, education and vigilance are called for in evaluating journals for publication. There is no substitute for conducting your own critical analysis, referring to indicators of quality or lack thereof. Below are some useful indicators to use in evaluating journal quality:

Predatory publishers should not be cited to undermine OA publishing nor to bolster subscription-based publishing. In the words of Professor Michael Eisen (2013, October 4), “To suggest…that the problem with scientific publishing is that OA enables internet scamming is like saying that the problem with the international finance system is that it enables…wire transfer scams.” There are larger issues contributing to the phenomenon, including pressure to publish, academic gatekeeping, and the overestimation of pre-publication peer-review in itself as a sole and sufficient validation of quality.There is an enormous literature on OA. I include three excellent reviews below:

How do you recommend that researchers in school psychology learn more about OA journals in the field?Dory Rosenberg: The DOAJ is an independent database of OA journals and it can be a useful way to learn about different OA journal options. The DOAJ doesn’t have school psychology listed as a specific subject area, but it does include a variety of psychology and social sciences content. Many involved in the OA realm are often also involved in social media, and being aware of what’s happening on Twitter or other social media avenues can be a useful way to learn about OA conversations in psychology, and academic disciplines more broadly.Shea Swauger: You could check DOAJ (see above), library guides, request a consultation with a librarian, or see if your advisor or department chair knows much about them.Clarke Iakovakis: In addition to keeping up with research in your field, seek out research about publishing in your field. For instance, a superb article reviewing OA to education research, including obstacles and opportunities, was published last year in Educational Researcher entitled “Changing the Default to Support OA to Education Research” (Roehrig, Soper, Cox, & Colvin, 2018).The authors argue, “Despite the many benefits of OA and policy initiatives to encourage it, OA is still underutilized in education research: The majority of high-ranked education journals are not available via OA, and [author self-archiving] practices are neither widespread nor well understood.” Nevertheless, the role of authors and editors involves fulfilling our shared responsibilities as stewards of the academic record, asserting greater control over the rights to our work, taking an interest in how our scholarship is disseminated (and how we can broaden its impact), and pushing ourselves to question the status quo prescribed by commercial publishers. By embracing and acting on these principles, we perform a valuable service to the academy, insisting on the broadest possible readership for our work and contributing to the collective change that will eventually lead our colleagues, editors, and scholarly associations to adopt more open research practices.Another insightful article surveying OA in the field of education was published earlier this year in SAGE Open by Phillips (2019): “Readers and Authors of Educational Research: A Study of Research Output on K-12 Education Policy.” The author examined the proportion of articles in ERIC available OA, and the ideological nature of the work. She found that that “65% of the journal literature conducted by scholars was locked behind paywalls,” and 25% of the “freely available reports in ERIC are produced by organizations with a decidedly neoliberal or free-market perspective.” The article closes with a quote from an exasperated high school teacher: “If scholars are doing educational research, why would they publish it where teachers can’t even read it?”Spend some time reviewing the set of education journals indexed in the Directory of OA Journals. See also this list of OA educational psychology journals maintained by the SCImago research group.Talk to a librarian. Librarians specialize in discovering research, and can often point you to tools and resources for effectively finding publications. Some universities employ scholarly communications and/or copyright librarians who can help you review your publication contracts to ensure you are retaining your right to self-archive. They may also manage an institutional repository to help you disseminate your work.Are you aware of any differences between OA journals and traditional journals with respect to the review and publication process? If so, can you please describe them?Dory Rosenberg: Instead of thinking about OA and traditional journals as separate entities, I think it can be useful to approach both with the same questions. For example, when considering a journal for publication, questions to consider could be: is it well known for quality research, does it state clear guidelines, and is the peer review process understandable?Shea Swauger: Honestly, it’s a mixed bag for both kinds of publishing. There are some traditional and OA journals who have solid peer review processes, relatively quick turn arounds, and policies that support author rights. On the flip side, there are traditional and OA journals who engage in negligent or discriminatory peer review practices, can takes years for answers, and take away every author right possible under the law. The publishing model of a journal doesn’t indicate its quality. I support the use of embargos when there are issues of privacy that are time-sensitive. Otherwise, most publisher-mandated embargoes are just a way for them to make more money by disallowing competition.Clarke Iakovakis: In terms of the review process, OA journals generally tend to follow the same process as subscription-based journals. There have, however, been some experimentations with new models of peer review. These have included open peer review (both anonymous and credited), review for soundness only, publication of referee reports, post-publication review and commentary, and some others. Though these models are not restricted to OA, both are related to shifts towards open scholarship broadly speaking. An excellent review of these can be read in the article, “A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review.”An OA journal does not necessarily have a faster review process, but it does make the article openly available immediately upon publication, without embargo. Also, as OA publishers generally permit authors to retain their copyright and publish articles under the terms of Creative Commons licenses, they tend to have rather liberal self-archiving policies. This means repositories have the right to archive the article, providing another layer of preservation and access for future readers.What are the reasons you might recommend publishing in OA journals over traditional journals?Dory Rosenberg: OA journals may not have the same traditional impact (like impact factors) that many universities’ promotion and tenure committees look for, but the greater and real impact of OA publishing is that your research and work can reach wider audiences. For me, publishing OA also has an ethical value in that when we publish openly, we are reducing barriers to accessibility for those who aren’t in privileged and funded university systems or countries.Shea Swauger: Firstly, publishing in an OA journal means that more people can access your work. This is especially important for people who aren’t affiliated with an academic institution to get access through their library or who’s library can’t afford access to a closed journal. There are millions of people around the world trying to do research but who have limited access to the scholarship in their area. OA means they can read your work, which can help them do theirs, which means more people contribute to research and that’s good for everyone.Having more people access your work can also be helpful to you if you’re trying to show that your research is impactful. When you control for other factors, OA and Open Data practices tend to increase the number of citations an article gets, which makes sense as more people can read it.Lastly, most research is funded by the public through taxes and tuition, which means that we shouldn’t have to pay for it twice in order to read it. The publishing pipeline is scandalous when you lay it out. Research is mostly publicly funded, is conducted and written by the people in higher education, is reviewed and edited by other people in higher education, is then submitted to publishing companies that essentially just host websites, and then sell our own work back to us with a 36% profit margin (Buranyi, 2017). That’s a higher rate of return than Apple, Google, or Amazon. OA is an alternative system that is more equitable and fiscally sustainable.Clarke Iakovakis: In short, greater access to research is likely to lead to better-informed research, which is likely to lead to better research in general. The primary direct beneficiaries are students and faculty at other colleges and universities that cannot afford subscriptions to a large set of journals. This includes, but is not restricted to, small universities or those in the Global South. Given that serials prices keep increasing (Bosch, Albee, & Henderson, 2018)—substantially—while library budgets are often flat or decreasing, even the largest research universities have gaps in their collections.Authors may also benefit. The magnitude varies by discipline, but a substantial number of studies (Lewis, 2018) have found some association between OA publishing and increased citation counts—but this is still an emerging field of research (Daniel, Nicolás, & Henk, 2018). Nevertheless, OA articles are undoubtedly more visible, and easier for those who are interested in your research to read. Authors also benefit from retaining their rights and controlling reuse, including the right to distribute the work to colleagues and students, translate it to other languages, use it in conference presentations, and self-archive it.There is really no restriction on who can benefit from greater access to research. Practicing school psychologists, teachers, schoolchildren, social workers, journalists, Wikipedia contributors, politicians, voters, and more. Essentially, “public access to scientific research makes all our lives better: it makes us healthier, better governed and better educated; it lets us live in a cleaner environment, a more civilized society and a healthier economy.” (whoneedsaccess.org).Some funders, both public and private, recognize the value of OA and require publications to be made available. The Institute of Education Sciences (2016) Policy Regarding Public Access to Research is worth quoting at length (see also the Grantee & Contractor Requirements FAQ):The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is committed to improving the public’s access to the direct results of Federally funded research. By facilitating access to findings presented in peer-reviewed scholarly publications as well as the scientific data used to generate the findings, IES supports the scientific process and maximizes the impact of its investments…Through successful implementation of this policy, IES intends to increase researchers’ opportunities for collaboration and scientific discovery, thereby increasing the volume of research that addresses the largest challenges in education.Grantees and contractors must submit the electronic version of their final manuscripts to ERIC upon acceptance for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or as a final deliverable by the Department. The author's final manuscript is defined as the final version accepted for publication (or delivery) and includes all modifications from the peer (or program office) review process. ERIC makes citation of submitted studies available shortly after submission. ERIC makes the final manuscript available 12 months after the publication of the article, unless the publisher allows for earlier display. Grantees and contractors should ensure that publishing agreements stemming from IES-funded research, including copyright assignments with publishers or other third parties, are consistent with the requirements of this policy.What is the impact of hybrid journals (i.e. traditional journals that permit authors to pay article processing charges to make their individual article OA) on university libraries?Dory Rosenberg: Hybrid journals are a great stepping stone in contributing toward OA. However, since libraries pay subscription fees for hybrid journals, they are still part of the same publication loop where researchers and libraries are in a tug of war with publishers over rising subscription costs. I think it’s important that researchers pay attention to what’s happening in the news around publisher negotiations and events (for example, the University of California’s recent break with Elsevier), so that researchers can be savvy in addressing change and demand in their professional associations and in their own research practices.Shea Swauger: Not much. I mean, they’re theoretically good for users who don’t have to pay for access, but the publishers don’t reduce their prices for us to buy them. I’m not a fan of hybrid OA journals. They feel inherently disingenuous to me. Like, if they really cared about access, they’d just go full OA. I get the sense that they want to seem progressive and flexible for the OA enthusiasts but they still want to make a profit and this model seems to work for that end. In the meantime, researchers end up paying very expensive APCs, often thousands of dollars, out of small budgets intended for getting their research off the ground.Clarke Iakovakis: Hybrid OA allows for subscription-based publishers to charge both subscription fees as well as APCs, in a model that has been characterized as “double dipping”—though select publishers will offset an institution’s subscription fees according to the APCs expenditures of that institution’s authors. Some academic libraries have developed “OA funds” to pay APCs on behalf of authors, though many of these libraries will not fund hybrid APCs. Similarly, some research funders will pay APCs for articles resulting from their funding to be published OA, on the condition that they are published in fully OA journals, not hybrid. OA advocates seeking a future wherein all research articles are made available generally see hybrid OA as entrenching subscription-based publishing. Additionally, as described below in question 7, the hybrid APC cost is significantly higher than APCs for fully OA journals.There is an alternative for scholars who want to publish their article in a subscription-based journal while still providing OA to it. The majority of publishers allow authors to provide OA to the accepted version of their manuscript (i.e. the version following peer review but prior to typesetting into the final version)(B. C. Björk, Laakso, Welling, & Paetau, 2014). They may upload it to their personal website, or to an institutional repository. This is sometimes referred to as “self-archiving.” I would encourage everyone reading this to review your publication contract to see if this is permitted and, if so, to exercise your right to share your research. You can also check the SHERPA/RoMEO database of publisher access policies.What types of fees can researchers expect when they publish in open-access journals? What advice do you have to researchers who want to pursue OA but don’t have funding to do so?Dory Rosenberg: Researchers might need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APCs) when publishing in OA journals, and depending on the journal they can be anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, or more. APCs are used to cover the publishing costs of the article, which can include work like editorial costs, and other administrative tasks. One thing to note though is that APCs (for traditionally published journals) have been around in many of the sciences for decades, so the APC model is not new. Also, while many OA publications use the APC model, almost two-thirds of the journals in the Directory of OA Journals do not charge APCs.While finding funding for APCs can be daunting, there are useful strategies to consider. First, make sure to keep OA costs in mind when applying for grants and when thinking about developing your project’s data management plan. Also, check to see if your university or library offers an OA fund and consider negotiating before you sign your contracts. For example, you could negotiate for Green OA; alternatively, some journals will consider waiving or reducing fees for student authors or authors in developing countries.Shea Swauger: I’ve seen APCs ranging from $500 to $6,000, but I can’t distinguish a pattern yet by discipline. Other people might have, but I haven’t looked. I’d recommend submitting to an OA journal that doesn’t charge an APC if possible. If you can’t find one you like, there are often closed journals that allow you to submit a copy of your article to a repository (like the Auraria Institutional Repository) which is fully OA. You can use a tool called Sherpa/Romeo to check and see if your publisher allows this, also that information is usually buried in the author submission pages of the publisher website. Often at universities there are research officers (e.g., University of Colorado Denver’s Research Office) that can provide grants to cover the APC, so definitely check there before you pay.Clarke Iakovakis: According to work published by B. Björk and Solomon (2014), average APCs are as follows:

  • Full OA journal–published by “non-subscription” publishers: 1,418 USD
  • Full OA journal –published by “subscription” publishers: 2,097 USD
  • Hybrid journal–published by “subscription” publishers: 2,727 USD

The Open APC initiative provides some raw data on fees paid for OA by universities and funders, and this APC Briefing Paper (Guy & Holl, 2016) provides a good introduction to the concept and practice. Solomon and Björk (2012) found that authors paid APCs themselves only 12% of the time, with funders paying the cost 59% of the time and universities 24%. A majority of publishers (Lawson, 2015) offer fee waivers for authors who cannot obtain funding via funders or their institutions.If you do opt to publish in a subscription journal, exercise your right to self-archive the accepted version of your manuscript, either on your own website, an institutional repository, or in the ERIC database (see above question 6, and ERIC’s FAQ on author submissions).If you could predict the future of OA journals, what do you think it would look like?Dory Rosenberg: I think negotiation and mediation skills are crucial to the future of OA. Scholarly communication, and the creation of research in general, revolves around the interactions of many stakeholders, and OA advocates are well-skilled in balancing the needs of these different stakeholders in designing policies and collaborations. However, as evident in recent breaks between library systems and publishers, negotiation can only get us so far.One thing we can do to contribute to a culture of OA is to think about how our daily work practices can have greater impact. As a small example, instead of only using traditional journal articles as class readings, you could also assign high-quality OA publications.Shea Swauger: I’m an optimist, so I hope that researchers, colleges, universities, and libraries will unite to advocate for open scholarship, including OA, to become the default practice. This will include building infrastructure to support OA publishing, review, dissemination, and preservation. I want see a community-owned, community run, not-for-profit publishing ecosystem that values openness, equity, and transparency in research.Clarke Iakovakis: In widely publicized news, earlier this year the University of California (UC) system chose not to renew its contract with Elsevier. UC sought to pay for both access to Elsevier articles, and for all articles published by UC corresponding authors in Elsevier journals to be published OA, but an agreement could not be reached. This bears some similarity to an agreement successfully concluded between Wiley and all German universities, called Projekt DEAL. It is yet to be seen whether such “publish and read” agreements will become more widespread.The Plan S initiative in Europe is a movement to require publications resulting from research funded by public grants be published in OA journals or made available in OA repositories. While some funders in the United States have moved in that direction—most notably the National Institutes of Health—many have yet to implement and follow through on compliance.It is also important to point out the widespread piracy of scholarly research (Himmelstein et al., 2018). Publisher paywalls do not represent the barriers they once did. As stated in the article just linked, piracy “is not the answer, but it is a wake-up call...There is one clear avenue available for those publishers, librarians and researchers who wish to make the results of scholarship as widely available as possible but without resorting to breaking copyright law, and that is OA.”The current scholarly publishing system has changed dramatically since the Second World War (Buranyi, 2017) and it will continue evolving. OA is a part of a larger movement towards greater access to research and teaching resources, enabled by digital distribution mechanisms, led by grassroots advocacy, and supported by institutions to varying degrees. This includes open educational resources (OER), open peer review, open data, open software, and open & reproducible research. Tools such as the Unpaywall browser extension demonstrate the clear value of seamless OA and show that it is increasing and showing no signs of slowing down.As researchers, funders, and universities see the value of providing access to a range of scholarly contributions beyond the peer reviewed article, the behaviors, extrinsic/intrinsic incentives, and reward structures should theoretically shift in turn. There are multiple intervening variables, including overdependence on citation metrics as proxies for quality, overreliance on university rankings, and overemphasis on quantity of publications. Given that academics do the work of researching, reviewing, and editing the work without earning royalties for publishing, it makes logical sense to provide the work at no charge; but there are clearly a number of other factors at play here. The Society for the Study of School Psychology is providing its readers a service in asking this series of excellent questions, and I appreciate you providing me the venue for answering them.ConclusionIn school psychology, we are often concerned with research that impacts the lives of students; however, practicing school psychologists struggle to access research pertinent to their day-to-day activities (Kratochwill, 2007). OA publishing and the use of repositories for accepted versions of manuscripts may provide one avenue for addressing this barrier. Additionally, research conducted thus far demonstrates that articles published in OA outlets or on author’s repositories are cited just as much or more than traditionally published articles (Lewis, 2018; H. Piwowar et al., 2018). However, navigating OA may be challenging due to APCs (B. Björk & Solomon, 2014; Guy & Holl, 2016; Lawson, 2015; Solomon & Björk, 2012) and (potentially unfounded) concerns about predatory journals (Berger & Cirasella, 2015a; Eriksson & Helgesson, 2018; Frandsen, 2017; Houghton & Houghton, 2018). Additionally, navigating the various levels of open access (B. C. Björk et al., 2014; Daniel et al., 2018; SPARC, 2019; Suber, 2015) may be daunting at first, but given the potential benefits and calls from education researchers and organizations (Roehrig et al., 2018; Sciences, 2016), moving toward OA practices, including self-archiving, may greatly reduce barriers for researchers and practitioners in school psychology.To our readers: Have you published in OA journals? What were your experiences? What other questions do you have about OA publications?ReferencesBerger, M., & Cirasella, J. (2015a). Beyond Beall’s List: Better understanding predatory publishers. College & research libraries news, 76(3), 132-135.Berger, M., & Cirasella, J. (2015b). Beyond Beall’s List: Better understanding predatory publishers. 76(3), 4. doi:10.5860/crln.76.3.9277Björk, B., & Solomon, D. (2014). Developing an effective market for open access article processing charges. Retrieved from London, UK: https://www.fwf.ac.at/fileadmin/files/Dokumente/Downloads/Dev_Effective_Market_OA_Article_Processing_Charges.pdfBjörk, B. C., Laakso, M., Welling, P., & Paetau, P. (2014). Anatomy of green open access. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(2), 237-250.Bosch, S., Albee, B., & Henderson, K. (2018). Death by 1,000 cuts | Periodicals price survey 2018. Library Journal. Retrieved from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=death-1000-cuts-periodicals-price-survey-2018Buranyi, S. (2017). Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-scienceCobey, K. D., Lalu, M. M., Skidmore, B., Ahmadzai, N., Grudniewicz, A.,, & Moher, D. (2018). What is a predatory journal? A scoping review [version 2; peer review: 3 approved]. . F1000Research, 7:1001. doi:https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.15256.2Daniel, T.-S., Nicolás, R.-G., & Henk, M. (2018). Disentangling gold open-access.Eisen, M. (2013, October 4). Open access is not the problem – my take on Science’s peer review “sting”.  Retrieved from https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/10/04/open-access-is-not-the-problem/Eriksson, S., & Helgesson, G. (2018). Time to stop talking about ‘predatory journals’. Learned Publishing, 31(2), 181-183. doi:10.1002/leap.1135Frandsen, T. F. (2017). Are predatory journals undermining the credibility of science? A bibliometric analysis of citers. Scientometrics, 113. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2520-xGuy, M., & Holl, A. (2016). Briefing Paper: Article Processing Charges. Retrieved from http://pasteur4oa.eu/sites/pasteur4oa/files/resource/PASTEUR4OA_Briefing%20Paper_APCs_FINAL.pdfHimmelstein, D. S., Romero, A. R., Levernier, J. G., Munro, T. A., McLaughlin, S. R., Tzovaras, B. G., & Greene, C. S. (2018). Sci-Hub provides access to nearly all scholarly literature. eLife, 7, e32822.Houghton, F., & Houghton, S. (2018). "Blacklists" and "whitelists": a salutary warning concerning the prevalence of racist language in discussions of predatory publishing. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 106(4), 527-530. doi:10.5195/jmla.2018.490Kratochwill, T. R. (2007). Preparing psychologists for evidence-based school practice: Lessons learned and challenges ahead. American psychologist, 62(8), 829-843. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.8.829Lawson, S. (2015). Fee Waivers for Open Access Journals. Publications, 3(3), 155-167. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/3/3/155Lewis, C. L. (2018). The open access citation advantage: Does it exist and what does it mean for libraries? Information Technology and Libraries, 37(3). doi:10.6017/ital.v37i3.10604Phillips, M. (2019). Readers and Authors of Educational Research: A Study of Research Output on K-12 Education Policy. SAGE Open, 9(2). doi:10.1177/2158244019853901Piwowar, H., Priem, J., Larivière, V., Alperin, J. P., Matthias, L., B, N., . . . S, H. (2018). The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles. PeerJ, 6:e4375. doi:https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4375Piwowar, H., Priem, J., Larivière, V., Alperin, J. P., Matthias, L., Norlander, B., . . . Haustein, S. (2018). The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles. PeerJ, 6, e4375-e4375. doi:10.7717/peerj.4375Roehrig, A. D., Soper, D., Cox, B. E., & Colvin, G. P. (2018). Changing the default to support open access in education research. Educational researcher, 47(7), 465-473. doi:10.3102/0013189x18782974Sciences, I. f. E. (2016). IES policy regarding public access to research. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/funding/researchaccess.aspSolomon, D. J., & Björk, B. C. (2012). Publication fees in open access publishing: Sources of funding and factors influencing choice of journal. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(1), 98-107.SPARC. (2019). Open access. Retrieved from https://sparcopen.org/open-access/Suber, P. (2015). Open access overview. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/oa-overviewSwauger, S. (2017). Open access, power, and privilege: A response to “What I learned from predatory publishing”. 2017, 78(11). doi:10.5860/crln.78.11.603The@accessworkinggroup. (n.d). We have a problem. Retrieved from https://whoneedsaccess.org/

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Work-life, Promotion & Tenure Work-life, Promotion & Tenure

Reboot: Give Yourself the Gift of No

A reader recently suggested we reboot one of our early posts, Give Yourself the Gift of No, an entry from the 2015 holiday season. Vetting and sometimes declining opportunities is something many early career (and not-so-early career) scholars find challenging. As many of us enter into a new academic year, I offer this reboot of the post with updated content and invite our readers to share their recommendations for getting better at saying no.

Give Yourself the Gift of No (December 2015)

As an early career scholar, you have a finite amount of time so there reaches a point where saying yes to one thing means saying no to another—or where you risk overburdening yourself to the point where your performance in many or all areas of work suffers. Saying yes to x often means less time for y. This becomes problematic when x is a nonessential, unwanted task and y is a highly valued or necessary task (e.g., writing). Ideally, such decisions are driven by your professional and personal goals in conjunction with institutional expectations, especially if you are concerned about promotion and tenure. Maintaining any sense of balance in one’s professional roles and with one’s personal life will likely require accepting that we cannot and do not have to do everything. Often, this requires releasing ourselves of unrealistic expectations of personal perfection and pleasing everyone around us. Further, protecting the time needed to do well the things you need and want to do will require learning to say no to other nonessential opportunities and tasks.Learning to say no first requires identifying your priorities so that you can easily identify requests and opportunities inconsistent with those priorities. After identifying priorities it can be helpful to build time for necessary and desired tasks into you schedule and calendar. Just as you block out time for commitments to others (e.g., class, advising appointments, committee meetings), you should schedule time for commitments to yourself to better account for your time and to ensure necessary or desired tasks do not fall by the wayside. This is especially important with research and writing time since these are often the first to be sacrificed when faced with competing demands. Yet, for many scholars, these are also the highest priority. I routinely schedule writing time on my calendar. Treating these times as nonnegotiable helps to ensure you don’t abandon this priority. Few of us would accept competing appointments when we are scheduled to teach, but it is not uncommon to accept competing appointments when we plan to write even though it is counterproductive in both the short- and long-term.For those who have difficulty saying no, I have a colleague who admitted she notates writing time on her calendar as meetings with administrators so that others who view her calendar won’t consider infringing on the time and (perhaps more importantly) to remind herself of the importance of these appointments. A similar strategy may work for you if you are concerned that your commitment to research time won’t be accepted or respected by colleagues. The important thing is to carefully guard your time so that other activities don’t crowd out your priorities and prevent you from being productive and efficient. [Updated content] The necessity of guarding this time is something I continue to struggle with when I know the ramifications are unpleasant. With seniority comes a proliferation of competing demands that can easily encroach on my priorities if I let them. There have been times when I drop the habit of scheduling time for my own work and it’s invariably (and often seemingly immediately) filled with a variety of meetings and tasks that could have been delayed or avoided if I had been more intentional about my time. Another strategy that can make it easier to say no is giving yourself a minimum amount of time to consider any request or invitation. For instance, I know other EC scholars who wait at least 24 hours before responding to invitation or request for time or involvement. This disrupts an otherwise automatic tendency to say yes to everything and provides the time needed to reflect on whether an opportunity or request is consistent with one’s priorities and availability. Rather than blindly saying yes to everything, consider the potential benefits and costs, including the impact on your other work. Mentors and more senior scholars can provide valuable guidance in this decision process.You will also have to accept the need to practice pleasantly and unapologetically saying no. Some people are incredibly uncomfortable with the possibility of disappointing others or are so conflict-avoidant they would rather say yes to everything than risk any discomfort or awkwardness, only to fall short on their own goals. Still others are motivated by some mistaken belief that they are so important that others need them to the point that they cannot say no. This is very rarely the case. Once you’ve accepted that there are times when you can and should say no, do so simply and unapologetically. It’s okay to say no without offering any more justification than you are simply unavailable. That is generally all the requester needs or is entitled to know. Practice saying, “Thank you for the invitation, but I am not available at this time.” Or “Thank you for this opportunity, but I’m unavailable.” When justification is needed, it can be helpful to link you refusal to you job duties or tenure expectations, or to have a senior colleague–generally your program or area administrator–back up your decision (e.g., “My chair/director/supervisor advised me against taking on additional service activities at this time.”). Certainly some individuals may make requests that you shouldn’t refuse, but don’t assume every request they make is one of those. Instead, ask for time to consult with your colleagues and verify your availability and then speak with more senior colleagues and/or you program/area coordinator who can help you evaluate the request, and, when appropriate, plan your refusal. At times, your administrator may want to say no on your behalf depending on who the requester is in order to protect you from politics or more convincingly state your need to focus on your priorities.Another helpful strategy for people who tend to reflexively say yes is to remind yourself that no is the default decision unless you can identify sufficient professional or personal benefits to saying yes. For a few years, I posted a small note on my computer that read, “Just say no.” For me this visual reminder was needed to counter my knee jerk reaction to accept every research and service opportunity that came my way. It has saved me a lot of unwanted stress and time.[Updated content] A newer strategy I adapted from a book by Gretchen Rubin is to ask myself three questions when I consider an opportunity, particularly those that are more time intensive: (1) Do I want to? (2) Do I have time? (3) Is it in line with my values or goals? If I can’t say yes to at least 2 out of 3, or if the no for #2 overshadows the others, I know I need to say no. Sometimes it takes a while to work through these questions, and that’s okay, too. Recently, when faced with an unexpected opportunity, I spent nearly month reflecting on these questions because #3 was an easy, resounding yes but the others took more time. Ultimately, this reflection led me to say no to the opportunity but it also meant I was very confident in my eventual decision. My knee-jerk reaction was to say yes, but deliberating on these questions helped me see all the reasons why no was the right answer for me right now. I have these questions pinned by my monitors on campus and at home to prompt this much needed reflection.In the end, learning and practicing saying no is necessary to be strategic in managing your time and commitments and achieving your professional goals. Time management is key to being efficient and productive and avoiding overextension and burnout.  Chances are you’ll enjoy your work more when you are judicious with your time. Be kind to yourself by giving the gift of allowing yourself to say no when appropriate. It’s truly a gift that keeps on giving :)How do you give yourself the gift of no? What questions/concerns do you have about saying no?

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Professional Development, Promotion & Tenure Professional Development, Promotion & Tenure

Maintaining Academic Scholarship in Administrative Roles

Contributors: Lyndsay Jenkins, Ph.D. (Program Coordinator; Florida State University), Gregory Fabiano, Ph.D. (Associate Dean of Research, University at Buffalo), Mark Swerdlik, Ph.D. (Program Coordinator; Illinois State University), Daniel Gadke, Ph.D. (Interim Department Head, Mississippi State University).While few faculty end up in administrative roles, it is certainly not uncommon for school psychology faculty to end up somewhere on the administrative ladder (e.g., coordinator, head/chair, dean, clinic director, etc.). Relatedly, it is also not unheard of for junior faculty to be asked to serve as a program coordinator or in other positions earlier in their careers than might have been expected. One of the biggest concerns with taking on administrative roles, is their perceived inverse relationship with maintaining scholarship. In any position, the pursuit of scholarship needs to be purposeful and protected. Fortunately, the field of school psychology is ripe with examples of successful scholars who have spent much of their career in different administrative roles. Below, Drs. Lyndsay Jenkins, Gregory Fabiano, Dan Gadke, and Mark Swerdlik lend their advice on how to maintain scholarship across different administrative roles.What is your current (or previous) administrative role and duties?Jenkins: Currently I am the program director for a NASP-approved Ed.S. program. As a program director, I am responsible for program data collection (for accreditation purposes), managing current students in the program, recruiting new students, communicating and meeting with prospective students wanting more information about the program, organizing interview days and the overall admission process, and miscellaneous tasks ranging from updating the program website to thinking about future changes to the program.Fabiano: I serve as the Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Research in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Duties include meeting with faculty to support the development of programmatic research, support faculty who are engaged in strong, programmatic research, and planning and implementing training workshops related to submissions for extramural funding.Gadke: I serve as the Interim Department Head for the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Foundations at Mississippi State University. In this role, I have a diverse set of responsibilities, which all focus on maintaining the overall health of the department. This largely includes, managing the needs of all programs (5 graduate program areas, 1 undergraduate program, 1 non-program area), supporting faculty and students, monitoring the budget, coordinating hiring procedures, etc. In the role of Interim, I also maintain a 1/2 teaching load and 100% of my research responsibilities.Swerdlik: I have served as program coordinator since 1987. In addition, from 1987-2005 I served as director of our on-campus Psychological Services Center (PSC). Primary duties associated with the school psychology program coordinator’s role includes serving as program advisor to all of our specialist degree students, coordinating recruitment activities for both degree programs, admissions and practicum placements for both programs, serving as the university supervisor for doctoral level internships, consulting with the chair about course scheduling and assignments, and chairing the policy making body for the program-the School Psychology Coordinating Committee (SPCC). The coordinator is also the “point person” and lead writer (with input from program faculty) for all internal and external program approval activities and reports. Over my career as coordinator, I have been involved in numerous internal reviews mandated by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, numerous reviews by the Illinois State Board of Education, six NASP program reviews, and five APA accreditation reviews (Wow, it just doesn’t seem like that many J ). I have compiled a detailed list of all of the job responsibilities associated with the school psychology coordinator position at ISU and would be glad to share it with others by contacting me at meswerd@ilstu.edu.At what point in your career did you take on your administrative role? What was involved in your decision making process?Jenkins: I took on the program director role as an assistant professor after the previous director unexpectedly left in the summer, which of course is not an ideal situation. Given the abrupt departure and other personnel factors, I honestly did not have too much of a choice about whether or not to take on the administrative role. I have enjoyed having a deeper understanding of the program and I do sincerely enjoy working closely with current and prospective students. The outgoing and incoming department chairs were both very aware of the challenge of having a pre-tenure faculty member take over an accredited program, but were, and continue to be, very supportive and often check on me.Fabiano: I started in my role as an Advanced Associate Professor when my Dean at the time asked me to serve in the position. I was a bit apprehensive as it was my first major administrative role, but I was far enough along in my own research that I could afford to dedicate some time to administration. I would not have taken it earlier in my time as an associate professor because at that time I really had to work on moving my own research agenda forward.Gadke: I took on the role as Interim Head my first year at the Associate rank. While I had always considered the pursuit of administrative roles, I did not think the opportunity would present itself so early in my career. The possibility of taking on the interim role was brought to me several months before the decision was made, which gave me a great deal of time to seek out mentorship. I spoke to the current department head at the time about the role and associated responsibilities, as well as his impressions regarding my goodness of fit for the duties. Beyond that, I spoke to my mentors in the field outside of the my university, many who were in administrative positions and knew me well. Another important point I took under consideration was the health of the department (i.e., what was in inheriting and being asked to do). Fortunately, I was being asked to take on a healthy department and at the very least, keep it steady - a very different task than taking on an unhealthy department. At the end of the day, given my goals, the collective mentorship I received, the health of the department, and my Dean’s commitment to support me in the, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.Swerdlik: Even as a graduate student at Western Illinois University where program director Dr. Tom Fagan was my first school psychology mentor and at Michigan State University where I was mentored by then program director Dr. Harvey Clarizio, I was interested in program development and administration. As a graduate assistant for Dr. Clarizio one of my assignments was to assist him in the development of the school-based field work program for MSU specialist degree students modeled after my experiences at Western Illinois. Upon becoming a faculty member, I became a NASP program reviewer and took interest in the development of the early NASP training standards in which my graduate school mentor Tom Fagan played a major role. Dr. Grupe was also my academic mentor and she had always encouraged me to “take over for her” when she retired. Further, here at ISU all of the other program faculty were senior and close to retirement so when Dr. Grupe retired they were not interested in moving into the coordinator/PSC director’s role so it fell to me -an assignment which I gladly accepted and which has contributed to a very satisfying academic career of over 40 years.How do you work to maintain your role as a scholar while fulfilling your administrative duties?Jenkins: This balance can be quite tricky at times!! Many times the administrative duties (i.e., student emergencies, requests from deans/associate deans) take precedence over research because they have immediate deadlines or are an urgent need. Scholarly activities often do not have the same sense of urgency. There are a few things that have helped maintain this balance:

  1. First and foremost, I have had to accept that there will be some seasons/months where one of these roles will take a back seat. For example, in the months of January and February of this year, I have primarily worn my administrative hat. I played a central role in the admission process for two different programs, served on a search committee to hire two faculty lines (i.e., 6 on campus interviews!), written numerous letters of recommendation, and had four work-related trips. Scholarly activities have been extremely limited and primarily consisted of me apologizing to co-authors and asking for extensions for submitting revisions to a manuscript. Once the admissions and hiring season has wrapped up, there will be more time to prioritize research and writing. However, this past summer, research was a top priority and I submitted two grants and a number of manuscripts. By acknowledging these “seasons” when scholarship or administrative tasks take a back seat, it helps me with not feeling guilty for not prioritizing them equally.
  2. It is important to request appropriate support from your chair and/or dean. This could be financial support, course releases, graduate assistant support, extra travel funds, etc. I have an absolutely outstanding graduate assistant who solely supports the Ed.S. program. I give the GA tasks that are tedious and/or time consuming, but extremely important. These tasks include organizing data sets for our upcoming NASP report, sending out the annual alumni, employer, and supervisor surveys, reminding students of upcoming deadlines, and managing social media content.
  3. I have worked extremely hard to block off one day per week for research. Sometimes these research days are for running analyses, writing, IRB applications, or exploring grant opportunities. I fit in all non-research tasks on the other days, but keep this sacred research day completely blocked off on my calendar.

Fabiano: When I took the job, one of the things my dean said was that I should be a good role model in the position. I have tried to continue to do that, and I have also found that my own research has benefited from the new connections and professional contacts I have gained through my administrative work.Gadke: My current role has its own ebb and flow of demands similar to my faculty position. That being said, I use many of the same strategies (i.e., working with graduate students, protected writing time, collaboration with colleagues, etc.) I used before in a non-administrative role to keep up with my scholarship. Also, I gave up responsibilities (e.g., courses, supervision demands) to trade out time, which helped with being able to keep up with my research. The biggest difference with my administrative role is that I am required to be on campus more often and there are more “invisible” daily demands that pop up throughout my week. At the end of the day, I have to work hard and remain diligent to ensure my days do not turn into simply crossing off daily checklists; but again, this is important in any role.Swerdlik: For me, my research/writing activities have been stimulated by my administrative role as coordinator. Early in my career my research and scholarly writing activities centered exclusively around psychometric topics (measurement, reliability and validity of cognitive ability tests) but as I matured in my role as coordinator I wrote more on topics related to  professional issues in school psychology (service delivery initiatives such as Response to Intervention and training issues like internships) and supervision of preservice trainees including addressing problems of professional competence. My role as coordinator of the doctoral program lead to my active involvement in the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs (CDSPP) and long-standing membership in the Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP). My involvement in these two organizations lead to networking opportunities with many of the most active scholars in our field. This networking resulted in opportunities to collaborate with colleagues across the country on a number of research/writing projects. I do find time-management is a critical skill for maintaining ones’ role as a scholar while fulfilling administrative duties. For example, the majority of my work is collaborative and I plan well ahead to complete writing projects (although I am writing this blog on the day before it is due!). Also contributing to my ability to continue my research/writing activities while fulfilling my administrative role is that I have been fortunate to have administrative support throughout my years as coordinator. I have worked with very supportive department chairs including Drs. Larry Alferink, David Barone, and currently, Scott Jordan. By compiling the list of required tasks to be completed by the school psychology coordinator (referred to above) my department chairs have been well aware of the variety of administrative responsibilities associated with the coordinator role and have supported me by providing 25% released time each semester plus a $5000 summer stipend.  I have also worked with supportive program colleagues who have shared many of the tasks with me. As I approach retirement and the responsibilities, including for “mining, compiling and summarizing performance data for a variety of accrediting bodies have expanded significantly, current program faculty have been thinking that the position should be shared by two people which would allow more time for each to continue their scholarly work.What advice do you have for faculty considering moving into an administrative role who hope to remain active scholars?Jenkins:

  1. Get support from your chairs and deans! I had frank conversations with my chair and associate dean about the concerns I had about being a program coordinator so early in my career. I specifically came to an R1 institution to be able to do more research and a year later I was asked to be a program coordinator. They know that research is important to me, so they have been extremely supportive so that I can continue to do research. Though their support did not include giving the coordinator position to someone else J, they have supported me in ways that have made the job easier.
  2. I would recommend waiting until you receive tenure and promotion and have a strong publication record before taking on an administrative role. Many scholars want to apply for grants and a strong publication record is part of that. It would be very challenging to build your publication record and be in an administrative role simultaneously.

Fabiano: The main advice I would say is that the role should be consistent with one’s own personal priorities and values. I have been able to stay with the Associate Dean role because it is consistent with my own individual priorities as a faculty member. This alignment has made the job fun rather than burdensome.Gadke: Prior to taking on any administrative role I think there are a few things to consider. First, Is it something that you want to do or are interested in? While some of us may be put in a position where we might not feel as though we have much of a choice, if you do, you should strongly consider how it maps onto your own interests and long term goals. At the end of the day, if you have the choice and you absolutely do not want to do it - don’t. Second, what is the health of the system you are being asked to run? When asking me to serve as Interim, my dean (who is a Texan) said, “Dan, I am not asking you to get the ox out of the ditch, just keep it in the field.” I am pretty sure he was telling me he thought my department was in a good place and I just needed to keep the ship afloat. Taking on a system that is healthy, running well, etc., is much different than taking something over that is broken (or breaking) and needs a major overhaul. As a recently promoted faculty member, I would have been less likely to take this role if the latter were true of my department. Consider this carefully. Lastly, how will the system support you in your new role? Specifically, the administrative chain (heads, deans, provosts, etc.). Having a supportive administrative ladder is essential to the success of any administrator.Swerdlik: My advice would to keep your chair informed of your responsibilities as coordinator. As I reflect back on my 30 plus years as coordinator, I could have done more to involve faculty in completing tasks for which I took sole responsibility. I am sure if they had been asked they would have assisted. My rationale for assuming more responsibility was feeling that I was the one receiving the released time and summer stipend but I could have done more sharing of responsibilities which would have lessened my load allowing more time for scholarly activities and also facilitating the transition for a new coordinator.As I referenced above, networking and collaboration contributed to my efforts to remain active.  School psychology colleagues across the nation are a very supportive group and I have found many eager to collaborate on various projects. Many of you have no doubt already experienced this by participating in such events as the School Psychology Research Collaboration Conference (SPRCC). I have found the school psychology community of faculty who hold administrative positions and remain active scholars have the spirit of cooperation and collaboration rather than competition. This has certainly contributed to my feelings of gratefulness for my very satisfying academic career.If faculty are interested in pursuing administration, what steps would you suggest they take?Jenkins:

  1. After tenure and promotion, if you still are interested in administrative responsibilities, you should consider the type of administration you would be most interested. Being a program director is a very different administrative role than being a department chair or dean.
  2. You could ask to take on some administrative responsibilities to help you learn the ropes.  I know of someone who was interested in eventually being a program director and their program had an upcoming accreditation report. This person agreed to lead writing the report and received a course release in order to do it. They were able to learn more about the program and the way in which the curriculum and data systems were utilized to satisfy accreditation requirements.
  3. Seek guidance from mentors or other faculty who have been an administrator. Discuss pros and cons and have them help you determine if this is the right time in your career to take on a new or expanded role.
  4. If interested in program-level administration, attending CDSPP or coordinator/program reviewer events at NASP can be very insightful!!
  5. Ultimately, if you are interested in pursuing administration, you should simply ask!! Maybe you could rotate the program coordinator role with someone or offer to be an assistant chair. If people know you have an interest, they will likely be able to involve you in projects to give you a taste of it!

Fabiano: I think the decision to take on administrative roles is a personal one, and one that should be weighed carefully by any individual. Decisions will also be impacted by stage of career, particular institution, how many other faculty are in the department/school, and personal priorities.  When in an administrative role, it is like many other aspects of work - you get out of it what you put into it and the best administrators make sure to listen to the other members of the department/school. For those interested in administration, beginning as committee members or in supportive roles may be helpful as a first step to ensure that they know for sure what they are getting into.Gadke: If you are interested in administrative roles, consider which ones? Coordinator? Clinic director? Head/Chair? Dean? Seek out mentorship from people in the field who are in the roles regarding their impressions of the job. Explore opportunities to better understand the duties and demands of role. Let individuals who can support you (e.g., current coordinator or department head) know about your interest so they can provide you with targeted mentorship opportunities. That being said, I would avoid these roles to whatever extent possible until you are through the tenure and promotion process and have a good handle on your own line of scholarship.Swerdlik: Based on my experiences I would recommend the following:

  1. Benefit from mentoring. I have been fortunate throughout my career to have supportive mentors related to administration. Reach out to your current program coordinator/director and let them know of your interest and learn their roles and responsibilities.
  2. Be sure the current coordinator has developed a list of coordinator tasks as referenced above.
  3. If possible plan ahead and discuss your transition to coordinator well in advance with both your department chair, current coordinator and program faculty. Here at ISU we have been very fortunate to have a formal transition plan. As I approach retirement and with the strong support of the chair of our department the three senior faculty who are interested in assuming the position have or will each have a year to serve as co-coordinator. The chair is well aware of the complexity of the responsibilities of this role compared to other coordinators of graduate programs in the department primarily due to demands imposed by NASP and APA program approval/accreditation. Because of this need for a smooth transition the chair is providing to each co-coordinator during their year of service a one course release and we share the summer stipend. We will now have 3 additional program faculty in a position to take over as coordinator and who can also share in the workload in their roles as program faculty.
  4. Attend TSP and CDSPP (if you are coordinating a doctoral program) meetings. I have found each to be most valuable in providing valuable ideas related to completing the responsibilities associated with being a program coordinator. Over the past several years, their conference programs have included an increased number of topics that reflect support of school psychology faculty assuming administrative roles. Further don’t hesitate to reach out (through phone or e-mail) to more veteran program coordinators for advice. I have certainly done this through the years and have found everyone very supportive and willing to share their ideas, forms, assessments etc. CDSPP, TSP, and NASP (as part of the Graduate Education Community) also frequently post these useful materials on their websites.
  5. More personally, I am also certainly glad to support new program coordinators/directors.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide any advice or materials. I am eager to “pay it forward” to others as a way to show my appreciation for a most satisfying academic career that has combined the teaching role of a faculty member with the administrative role of program coordinator while still being able to continue to contribute to the field through research and writing.
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Hitting the ground running: Maximizing your early years in academia (NASP 2019 Handout)

Access the handout here.Session: Sullivan, A. L., Harris, B., & Gadke, D. (2019, February). Hitting the ground running: Maximizing your early years in academia. Special session at the annual convention of the National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA.Description: This symposium provided an overview of strategies for success for prospective and new faculty.

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Post-convention productivity: Turning presentations into publications

By Katie Maki (Ball State University) and Ethan Van Norman (Lehigh University)You’ve returned home from NASP. You’re likely experiencing a range of emotions. In the back of your mind you have a creeping sense of anxiety as you take a look at your inbox for the first time in nearly a week. At this point it is great to take a step back and acknowledge a major accomplishment. You presented your research at a national conference! Although almost every university expects presentations at a national conference to demonstrate scholarly productivity as part of promotion and tenure decisions, the reality is that the priority for demonstrating scholarly productivity is the publication of your research in peer-refereed journals. As such, the purpose of this post is to offer advice to carry forward the momentum from NASP to transform those poster and paper presentations into peer reviewed journal articles.Curb Your Enthusiasm If you are like us, you left the NASP convention feeling professionally energized (although perhaps physically exhausted) and excited about new research projects and collaborations. Many of us spent the week networking, connecting with other scholars in the field, and attending thought-provoking sessions at the convention. These connections and experiences likely left you ready to jump into new project conceptualizations. There is a hardly a better feeling, perhaps especially as an early career scholar. Therefore, it may sound counterintuitive when we suggest that you consider pumping the brakes on diving fully into new projects at the expense of your existing projects. This is not to say that you should drop your new project ideas. On the contrary, record your new and exciting ideas by outlining your concept and any details you have already worked out. Consider setting up a meeting with colleagues in the next month or so. Then, switch your energy back to the projects on which you presented at NASP but have not yet written up. As we stated before, even if you are not at a research-intensive university, publications in peer- refereed journals are likely still part of how you will be evaluated for promotion and tenure. Thus, you want to be sure that you not only engage in research, but that your research projects come to completion through publication.Work Smarter Not Harder The good news is, you have already done much of the work for writing new manuscripts. Capitalize on the work and effort you already put into your projects by using the projects you presented at NASP as a foundation for manuscript preparation. If you presented studies at the NASP convention, you already outlined the method and results sections for your presentation that can then be translated into text for the study manuscript. Then, revisit the proposal you submitted for the convention back in June to begin writing the introduction of the manuscript. Your proposal should have included a rationale for, and purpose of, the study so take the arguments you already made in your proposal and expand upon them to develop the manuscript introduction. Finally, you likely already outlined implications and other sections of a discussion section for your presentation, which can be expounded for the manuscript discussion. Do not recreate your project for the manuscript; use the work you already put into the project to turn it into a publishable manuscript.Using Feedback Meaningfully  Finally, your presentation likely included a Q&A portion. Use information gleaned from this experience to improve your paper. That is, capitalize on audience feedback and ideas that may have arisen while preparing for the presentation while the information is still fresh. Was there a recurring theme that audience members noted as a strength? Emphasize that aspect of your investigation in the paper. Were there multiple questions about the methodology you used? Revisit and clarify what you did in the manuscript. Were audience members all too eager to point limitations of your project? Get out in front of potential reviewer comments by strengthening your paper or identifying said issues in the limitations section of your manuscript. Given that NASP is largely a practitioner-oriented conference, if your presentation for lack of better terms “fell flat,” consider journal outlets that have a less applied focus (see previous blog post on how to identify appropriate journals for your research). If your presentation lends to a practitioner-orientated publication outlet, consider turning your presentation into a manuscript for the Communique or other similar outlet, particularly if such outlets are appropriate for your promotion and tenure requirements.Planning Ahead Although hindsight may be 20/20, in our experience the best strategy to ensure that conference paper presentations do not stay conference paper presentations is prevention. We have found that submitting the paper you will be presenting for publication prior to the conference circumvents the nasty problem of post-conference procrastination. You will likely be playing catch-up in the weeks following a conference (responding to emails, prepping for a class on a shortened schedule, etc.). Similarly, you may be experiencing conference fatigue where the last thing you want to think about is the paper presentation you have spent substantial time prepping last month. Submitting a project for publication prior to the conference may also alleviate anxiety in having an idea “scooped” while presenting your project to peers. Submitting your work before the conference will also help “prime” you so you are not scrambling to finish a project before the convention or put together your slide show a few days (or hours) before you are set to present.You Can Do It! We hope that you found these pointers useful. A major challenge in academia is that we receive few and infrequent external prompts to encourage us to engage in the behaviors necessary to achieve promotion and tenure. In turn, we must be able to prioritize those things that are most influential in achieving our goals, sometimes at the expense of immediate competing demands. Although carving out time to write immediately after a conference may seem counterintuitive, in many ways it makes sense to strike while the iron is hot. If an email is responded to four hours later than normal, your class lecture has a few less graphics, or the mission statement you were assigned to help refine is a little less eloquent than you would like, all for the sake of preparing your NASP presentation for publication, the world will not stop turning. We promise.Do you have any thoughts about these points? Are there any other strategies you use that we did not mention? Please comment below!

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"Revise and resubmit"...Now what?

Perspectives on Preparing Your Revised Manuscript from Associate Editors in School PsychologyBy Laura Pendergast, Temple UniversityContributors: Stacy-Ann January, University of South Carolina; Lyndsay Jenkins, Florida State University; Renee Hawkins, University of CincinnatiImagine that you are new author and you are ready to publish. You’ve worked hard to conduct your research and prepare your manuscript. You’ve carefully selected a journal. You’ve followed all of the instructions for publishing in said journal, navigated the online submission portal, and submitted your paper. You’ve waited patiently (or not so patiently) for weeks. Then, all of a sudden, an email from the journal with a subject line that reads “Manuscript Decision” pops into your inbox. You cannot wait any longer! You read the email discreetly (or not so discreetly) while holding your phone under the table during a faculty meeting. With a sigh of relief, you see that your manuscript was not rejected outright. However, it wasn’t accepted either….You received a “Revise and Resubmit.” Now what? If you are an early career scholar, and you recently received a “Revise and Resubmit,” you are in luck! Three Associate Editors from top school psychology journals have teamed up to provide advice for early career scholars on revising and resubmitting their work. Dr. Stacy-Ann January is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina and an Associate Editor at School Psychology Review. Dr. Lyndsay Jenkins is an Assistant Professor at Florida State University and an Associate Editor at the Journal of School Psychology. Dr. Renee Hawkins is a Professor at the University of Cincinnati and an Associate Editor at the Journal of School Psychology. An overview of the steps for revising and resubmitting your work, along with key pieces of advice from each Associate Editor, is provided below.Step 1: Celebrate a little! But recognize that your journey isn’t finished yet. SAJ: First, celebrate a little! I remember feeling a little disappointed when I received my first Revise and Resubmit (R&R). But my mentor reminded me that this decision is typically what one can hope for, as manuscripts are rarely accepted on the first submission. An R&R means that the journal may be interested in publishing your manuscript, but that there are a number of changes you to need make before it is in a potentially publishable form.RH: A ‘Revise and Resubmit’ decision suggests that the reviewers and action editor see the potential for your manuscript to make a contribution to the literature, which alone can be reinforcing as it can reaffirm the significance of your research agenda. It is also important to keep in mind that how you respond to the feedback provided on your submission plays a critical role in determining whether or not your manuscript is ultimately accepted. There is no guarantee that a “Revise and Resubmit” will automatically lead to acceptance but if you are thoughtful with your approach to integrating the editorial feedback, you can greatly increase your chances for a positive outcome.Step 2: Read the reviews. Manage your emotional response to critical comments. Be ready to write your response to reviewers using a respectful, appreciative tone and to use the feedback to improve your work.RH: Don’t take the feedback personally. The reviewers aren’t out to get you. They are trying to advance our field by helping improve the quality of manuscripts published in our journals. Avoid being defensive in your responses to reviewer feedback.LJ: Feedback about your work from other researchers is an opportunity to make changes that can improve the quality of your paper.  Though it is tempting to get defensive or upset about the feedback provided, it is important to keep in mind that overall a R&R is good news!!RH: The tone of your response should be respectful. Remember the reviewers have provided a valuable professional service by taking their time to review your manuscript and provide their suggestions for improvements. Your response should reflect that you value their time and ideas, even if you do not agree with everything they have to say.Step 3: Revise the manuscript, and write the point-by-point response letter. In most instances, you should make the changes suggested by reviewers. SAJ: To the extent possible, try to make the changes suggested by the AE and reviewers. In your response letter, detail exactly what you did to address the suggested change. Reviewers may make several suggestions in one numbered comment; be sure to address each of them.RH: Take the feedback in the spirit it was intended – to improve the quality of your manuscript. In this spirit, try to incorporate as much of the feedback as you reasonably can, even if some of the suggested revisions seem unnecessary to you. If a revision does not substantially change the meaning of your manuscript, I would go ahead and make the changes. In my opinion, digging in your heels over feedback that does not impact the overall message and contribution of your manuscript seems to be a waste of energy that could potentially jeopardize the editorial decision on your manuscript.LJ: I would say one of the most common mistakes I see is that authors do not fully address an issue raised by the reviewers.  This mistake is particularly problematic when they say that they have addressed it. For example, an editor may note that References are not in APA style in the initial submission.  Upon resubmitting the manuscript, the authors may say in the response letter that they addressed the APA style issues in the References, but, in fact, many errors are still present. If you say you addressed something, be sure that you actually did address it.RH: It is helpful to reviewers if you describe specifically how and where in the manuscript you made revisions in response to the feedback. For example, rather than responding simply with, “We have incorporated this feedback in the manuscript,” provide a more detailed description of your revision with a statement such as, “On, p. 10, we have added the following paragraph…In many journals, the action editor will act as a filter for the comments provided by individual reviewers. The feedback highlighted by the action editor should be prioritized in your revision. Generally, these are the changes that the action editor thinks are most important for you to make in your revision. Given that the action editor will ultimately recommend to the editor whether or not to publish your work, it is critical that you attend to this feedback.SAJ: The number of revisions that are requested can be daunting. If you’re the lead author, don’t go at a revision alone! Review the suggested revisions and determine how you might engage your co-authors in revising and resubmitting the document.Step 4: Do not ignore feedback. If you choose not to make a suggested change, provide a thorough and respectful rationale explaining why you declined to make the edit. Provide empirical support if applicable. RH: One common mistake that authors make when revising and resubmitting their work is to ignore feedback with which they do not agree.SAJ: If you disagree with a change, you should have a strong rationale for not making it. Thank the reviewer for the comment, and eloquently provide the rationale (supporting your argument with science is always a good idea if you’re able to).RH: If the reviewers make a suggestion that you cannot address (i.e., you don’t have the additional information they are requesting), not only should you explain why you cannot integrate the feedback in your response but also consider raising the issue as a limitation or discussion point in your revised manuscript.LJ: Be nice: It can be easy to slip into a defensive tone when writing these response letters, particularly if you do not agree with some of the reviewer feedback.RH: Don’t use page limitations as a reason not to make a revision. This is a pretty weak excuse for not making a suggested revision. I would err on the side of making the revision as efficiently as possible and explaining to the action editor that, in your effort to be responsive to reviewer feedback, you are over the page limit.SAJ: When preparing your response letter, make it clear and easy to read.Step 5: Follow all instructions for resubmission, and proofread, proofread, proofread!  LJ: You should strive to submit an immaculate manuscript. You should spend a couple hours editing and proofreading before submitting a manuscript and ensure that you are following the journal’s formatting guidelines… Pay special attention to use of headings/subheadings, page numbers, references, and correct use of parenthetical and in-text citations.  Typos, grammar, English language issues, and the misuse of APA guidelines are distractions to the content of the paper!!! Even if you have done THE COOLEST study of all time, it will be rejected if it is poorly written.Follow all resubmission guidelines! Every journal has different guidelines for submitting a revised manuscript. Read the instructions in the editor’s letter very carefully before re-submitting.SAJ: Often when making revisions, you’re adding and deleting text. It is very easy to miss things, as you’ve been entrenched in it for so long. One of the best pieces of advice I got about writing from my mentor was to read my work out loud. I still read every manuscript I author/coauthor out loud before I submit/resubmit it, and I always catch something I previously missed. I also recommend having someone not involved with the writing of the manuscript read it as well.Other points to considerLJ: Though in general a R&R is good news, on occasion you may receive a Reject after submitting revisions. There are a number of reasons why this happens.  First, you may not have appropriately addressed reviewer feedback. Second, new reviewers may have been invited to review the new manuscript and these new reviewers may bring up issues not previously noted. Third, a statistical or methodological consultant may have reviewed the second version of the manuscript and identified problems that were not previously brought up.SAJ: Often, AEs will invite you to contact them with questions about the revision. Feel free to do so, if you have clarifying questions that the AE can address. It is better to ask for clarification regarding a suggested revision than to make an incorrect assumption.ConclusionsIn summary, a decision of “Revise and Resubmit” is something to celebrate – while recognizing that there is more work to be done. When you receive a “Revise and Resubmit,” you receive an important gift along with it: feedback. You have the opportunity to improve your work, and, often, to think about your research in a new way. I can honestly say that every manuscript that I have published is better as the result of peer review. Treat the feedback that you have received as a valuable resource. Respond to the feedback thoroughly and thoughtfully. In many cases, doing so will strengthen your skills as a researcher, improve your manuscript, will put you closer an ultimate decision of “Accept,” and, most importantly, enhance the impact that your research has on the field.Special thanks to Dr. Stacy-Ann January, Dr. Lyndsay Jenkins, and Dr. Renee Hawkins for their important contributions to this post.

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Professional Development, Work-life, Promotion & Tenure Professional Development, Work-life, Promotion & Tenure

Strategies for Optimizing Your Sabbatical for Professional and Personal Growth

By Dr. Bryn Harris, University of Colorado DenverIn 2016, I submitted my tenure dossier as well as my sabbatical application, hopeful that I would obtain both. I had been going, at what it felt like, warp speed while on the tenure track, constantly focused on getting out that next publication, updating syllabi, and the many other tasks that occupied my day but didn’t have a place on my vita. The idea of taking a sabbatical felt incredible—I could work on new projects and reflect on my career in a unique way. At the same time, taking a sabbatical felt overwhelming. How would I structure my time? What projects would I focus on? How could I reinvigorate my connection to academia? I also had two young children (ages 3 and 1) and felt a huge need to be more present in their lives during this time.For some assistant professors on the tenure track, like myself, the idea of taking a sabbatical might be a motivator to obtaining tenure. However, once an academic meets that milestone, they may struggle with organizing sabbatical in a way that increases productivity and recommitment to a career in academia. After obtaining tenure and approval for sabbatical, I started contacting colleagues to learn about their activities during sabbatical. I was searching for tips, strategies, and generally helpful advice that would increase my research productivity and also allow me some much-needed time to reflect on my career. The first emails I received were telling; I wasn’t the only person wondering how to best structure sabbatical. I received many “I didn’t think much about sabbatical, I wish I would have thought about it differently” and “I didn’t have a good plan and I wasn’t as productive as I could have been” emails. Most of the emails I received were people asking me to share what I learned about structuring a sabbatical. A quick google search reveals few resources available regarding this topic. This felt like a stark contrast to the mentorship opportunities that were available to me while on the tenure-track.I received a few recommendations from fellow academics regarding structuring sabbatical to optimize productivity. I also read multiple articles and resources pertaining to academic burnout, and how to avoid it. Based on these anecdotal and research-based resources, I am reflecting on the things that increased my productivity during sabbatical and beyond. Here are the recommendations I want to share with other scholars:1) Reflect. For me, reflecting on my career during this time was the most important aspect of sabbatical. I asked myself questions including (1) What are my favorite aspects of academia? Relatedly, how can I engage in these activities with more regularity?; (2) What skills am I lacking that could enhance my professional endeavors? How can I obtain these skills?; (3) How can I better integrate work-life realms?2) Recognize that everyone has diverse emotions regarding sabbatical. It is completely normal and understandable to feel such things as confusion, exhaustion, and lack of motivation when beginning your sabbatical. It is important to consider that a critical component of sabbatical should be self-care. Allow yourself to have those feelings, but also reflect on why you are feeling that way and seek solutions for returning from sabbatical in a different mindset. Allow yourself time to rejuvenate that does not include research, teaching, or service endeavors.3) Obtain mentorship. Sabbatical can be a wonderful time to start (or finally finish!) a new project, collaborate with a new colleague, or receive advice regarding future career planning. Seeking additional or new mentorship can be invigorating for your career and assist with accountability during a traditionally low-structured time.4) Create a schedule. One of the best pieces of advice that I received was to create a daily schedule, of which each day included time to spend on your sabbatical priorities. For me, this meant at least 1 hour of writing per day, often more, working out at least three times per week, and spending more time with my family in the evenings.5) Increase your visibility. During my sabbatical, I repeated the same activity I did my first year on the tenure track. That was to reach out to one new person per week in an effort to build research partnerships, create new connections with school districts, or forge relationships with state or local agencies or organizations. This activity contributed to being asked to keynote a presentation and a dual academic appointment on our medical school campus, among others.6) Remove yourself from activities that take you away from sabbatical goals. Don’t worry, your service responsibilities will be there when you get back from sabbatical. Take this time to disconnect from non-essential work. Plan in advance for this. This may mean saying “no” to sitting on a new committee or serving on a search committee and setting explicit periods of unavailability. Saying “no” may feel uncomfortable as many early career scholars must engage in certain service endeavors while on the tenure track. However, this work may take you away from other priorities, and leave you feeling less productive than you hoped.7) Do or learn something new. Reflect on the things that are holding you back from accomplishing more in your career. Sabbatical is a wonderful time to increase your knowledge in a particular area or challenge yourself in a new way. For me, this meant taking a biostatistics course (thank you, tuition benefit!) and going back to practice as a school psychologist one day per week. I also completed a certificate program in Research Leadership through the University of Pittsburg Medical School, something that would have been more challenging to complete during traditional semesters.8) Create a new plan. Many people obtain their first sabbatical soon after obtaining tenure. Often, we have a plan for working towards tenure, and when it is obtained we may think, Now what? Use some of your time to reflect on what the next period of your career may be. Seek mentorship if you are having difficulty creating this plan.If you had a productive sabbatical, that includes rest and rejuvenation, you will be a more productive scholar. What ideas do you have for structuring your sabbatical? What questions do you have about sabbatical? Join us Friday, October 26th, at 4:00 PM EST / 2:00 MST to chat about this topic. Sign up here for more info.

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About the Forum

The SSSP Early Career Forum (ECF) exists to disseminate information to early career scholars concerning matters relating to their success as academicians and scientists, and to cultivate an online community of early career scholars to provide support, exchange ideas, and develop and nurture collaborations. We define early career scholars as individuals who aim to embark on a research career or have begun a research career in a research center, university, or state or local agency. This includes graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and pre-tenure faculty in school psychology. The ECF is designed to achieve this mission by:

  • Maintaining a blog addressing topics of relevant to early-career scholars in school psychology to allow for discussion among early-career, mid-career, and senior scholars;

  • Providing a forum for scholars to network, exchange ideas, and develop research collaborations.

  • Engaging in live professional development and networking events during annual professional meetings;

  • Inviting guest bloggers and speakers to enrich the diversity of perspectives represented in ECF activities;

  • Collaborating with SPRCC to identify professional development and networking activities to foster ongoing engagement of early career scholars; and

  • Gathering data on the needs of early career scholars in school psychology to inform content for the blog and other professional development activities.

You can learn more about how the ECF began here.

The SSSP ECF is led by a committee of early and mid-career scholars in school psychology. If you have questions, comments, or ideas for ECF programming or blog topics, please email the committee chair.

Current Committee Members

Past committee members include: Lindsay Fallon, Bryn Harris, Katie Maki, Courtenay Barrett, Ethan Van Norman, Rob Volpe, Leandra Parris, Tamika La Salle-Finley, Laura Pendergast, Dan Gadke, and Ryan Farmer

ECF Bylaws

Please send questions, comments, or ideas for new blogs to the ECF Chair (ecf.sssp@gmail.com).