Nordicom recently hosted its second workshop on academic publishing for doctoral students. Thirteen young Nordic scholars came together in Gothenburg for a two-day exploration of the academic publishing landscape, preparing manuscripts for journal submission, and navigating the peer review process.
After a positive response to the inaugural workshop for doctoral students in 2024, Nordicom has now completed its second workshop. Designed to take place in the years between NordMedia conferences, the workshop draws young scholars from across the Nordic region, offering them a valuable opportunity to navigate the complexities of the publishing process and gain insights from Nordicom’s editors.
Since the processes of academic publishing are often not covered in formal education, entering this sphere can be challenging for early-career researchers.
Svenja Hix, Doctoral Student at the Department of Journalism Media and Communication (JMG) at the University of Gothenburg, commented that it was a valuable workshop:
– Especially as a first-year PhD student I was able to gain a lot of new insights into the process of reviewing and publishing academic papers. Usually, one learns many of these insights from experience, so attending a workshop where all that knowledge was gathered was extremely helpful for me. It made the seemingly complicated processes of academic publishing very comprehensible.
Receiving and responding to peer reviews can be particularly daunting for the first time, as Hix also touched upon:
– I particularly enjoyed getting to write my first practice-review in such a supportive environment, it enabled to me learn what I should pay attention to and how I should best structure my feedback. We also received a lot of tips on how to find the best journals and handle the politics of academia. I recommend the workshop for all PhD students who are just getting started.
Kristin Clay, manuscript editor for Nordicom’s academic publications and a workshop speaker, commented on a notable difference between this workshop and the one two years ago:
– During the Q&A part of my presentation on finding instructions for authors and preparing a manuscript for submission, the topic of AI dominated the conversation. There is clearly some trepidation and uncertainty about when and how to use AI responsibly in the whole process. What is encouraging is that these young scholars are thinking about it critically and approaching it with the respect and healthy hesitation such powerful tools deserve.
The dynamic discussion continued into the third session, led by Nora Theorin, who, together with Magnus Fredriksson, is editor of Nordicom Review.
– It was a pleasure to meet all the PhD students from different universities and discuss research and academic publishing, Theorin reflected.
– During my workshop, we had a very interesting and engaging discussion. Many questions about the quite complex peer review process came up, and the PhD students also shared personal experiences and insightful reflections. Already looking forward to the next workshop on academic publishing!
Nordicom thanks all the participants for joining the workshop and for their active engagement throughout.