^^
Not so sure about that, actually. I think you can be doing good research without it necessarily generating peer-reviewed papers in the short term. Publishing while a PhD candidate is good, but not doing so is not a sign that you're not doing good research.

You could consider doing book reviews, but they don't really count CV-wise (although they do show willing, and so are worth the effort for that reason). I managed to squeeze one paper out of my MSc dissertation while I was a doctoral student, and one paper for an edited collection. But for a subject like mine - and, largely, in law - most work is done alone, and, until you're towards the end of your studies, you simply don't know the field well enough.

Of course: writing papers - especially tp present at conferences - is extremely good experience, and it gets you known. Sometimes, they'll be picked up for publication.

But don't expect too much publications-wise before the end of the PhD. On the other hand, your PhD thesis should generate a couple of papers as it takes shape.

EDIT: In terms of collaboration, then bear in mind that I've just been second author on a paper from one of my undergraduate students' dissertations from last year: he provided the argument, and I just reshaped it slightly for publication. So there are opportunities.

Don't let me or CHCB scare you on that front. We both made it, so it can't be too hard...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 21 Aug 2008, 10:42, Reply)