Every Ph.D dissertation is inevitably a great challenge for the doctoral student. It requires knowledge and experience, resourcefulness, as well as discipline, backed up by persistence and a lot of work. The dissertation itself is accompanied by many additional activities, such as participation in conferences, searching for materials and publishing works. According to the legal requirements in Bulgaria, the dissertation alone is not sufficient to obtain the educational degree „doctor“. And here comes the difficult part – to find opportunities for publication activity of doctoral students, which sometimes seems like a mission impossible.
University publications
University publications provide the easiest, best and free publishing opportunities for doctoral students, and for free. For the most part, they were created precisely to support the scientific activity of their personnel. Each university edition sets its own requirements for the materials. Basic rules – the publications should have scientific value and at the same time be interesting not only to narrow specialists. Since in every university publication there are periods when there is a „hunger“ for materials, it is a practice to publish materials by guest authors. It is not uncommon for material to be approved for publication with the idea of keeping it for one of the following issues. And with a positive response and accepted for publication, the material can be added to the author’s academic profile.
Scientific conferences
Scientific conferences are another possibility for publication activity of doctoral students. Most of them are followed by the issue or publication of a special collection of materials presented during the conference. Participation in conferences is not always paid. The publication of material itself may also be free. In some cases, participation in a scientific conference takes place after accepting an invitation sent in advance by the organizers. The first applicants are often given a place and the opportunity not only to speak, but also to publish their report. Although it seems „causa perduta“, an invitation to participate can be secured. On the websites of universities, research centers, world organizations and others, there is usually an option to register for automatic periodic messages. These messages usually contain, among other things, information about upcoming events. Even if the invitation to a conference is not direct, a request for participation can be sent to the organizers themselves.
Publication activity of doctoral students through online professional and scientific platforms
Online platforms such as Linkedin and ORCID can directly or indirectly support the publication activity of doctoral students.
Known as „the social network of professionals“, Linkedin indirectly provides publishing opportunities for PhD students. There are various interest groups on the platform, in which a large number of specialists from various fields are members. Any discussion in a given group can attract the attention of the „right“ people, lead to valuable contacts, proposals for joint activities and publications. In addition, in Linkedin there is an option to publish author’s materials, which reach a fairly wide range of people and provide opportunities for the realization of these and other materials of the author. The platform offers an algorithm for searching for people by field, business, organization, etc. Once discovered on Linkedin, publication editors, reviewers and other „relevant“ individuals can be directed to a specific topic, engaged in conversation, asked about opportunities to publish material. One such, at first glance, informal conversation may lead to the creation of a convenient case for future joint work leading to publication of material.
ORCID is an online platform that provides its members, including scientists, researchers, innovators, grantees, scientists, doctoral students, teachers, specialists and others, with access to information about specialists in a specific field, about their achievements, materials, publications, works . The platform is free and allows registration in just a few clicks. Although this platform is not recognized as an official medium for publishing scientific works, it has its huge advantages.
The platform makes it possible to list works, materials, publications of each registered member, with which everyone’s academic activity can be tracked in one place and easily. It creates a profile of specialists from the same or related institutions, whose links are easily traceable. In addition, ORCID is an easy way to access the activity of any specialist. For example, in the event that a material of a particular scientist is published, in which the material reveals important facts and the writing style is liked by the audience, ORCID provides an opportunity to contact the author and negotiate future publications by him.
Publication activity is extremely important for all PhD students. Regardless of whether it is mandatory or not, for obtaining a doctorate degree, it is part of academies
profile of any current or future researcher. Despite the concerns of many researchers regarding the possibility of publication of their works and materials, a number of such can be found, and free of charge. Any researcher, fellow, or PhD student can take advantage of these free opportunities as long as they submit quality work and make a well-formed collaboration proposal or request for assistance.
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