Research Pipeline: Tracking Your Papers

One of the most important things you have to do as an academic is keep track of your projects—and, by extension, your papers. Like many researchers, I get interested in a lot of projects and (dare I say it) I tend to over-commit (*unsurprised gasp*). But keeping track of my projects helps me be realistic about what I can accomplish and what I have on my plate.

The most common way to track your projects is to use a “research pipeline” (also known as a publication pipeline). This metaphor is extremely useful: between when you conceptualize the project to when you publish the paper is a whole mess of steps including (but not limited to): data collection, data analysis, writing the paper, and revisions (and revisions, and revisions, and revisions). By breaking up your project into steps that build on each other, it makes producing research and writing up your results more manageable.

These steps are not always linear. When you receive a revise and resubmit a full paper, reviewers may ask you to redo a part of the analysis. The manuscript itself may even go through several complete rewrites before it is accepted to a journal. And book projects may have entirely different pipelines.

A simplified “rule of thumb” for your publication pipeline is the 2-2-2 (two in development, two in data analysis, and two under review; though I’ve seen variants with different 2’s).

However, as many articles have pointed out, there are lots of intermediary steps that should be recognized. Suggestions range from anywhere between seven and eleven (or more). My pipeline has 9 steps.

In 2019, these were my steps: (1) literature/planning, (2) collect data, (3) compile data, (4) data analysis, (5) draft paper, (6) full paper, (7) conference/under review, (8) R&R, (9) accepted!

In 2020, I modified my steps slightly: (1) idea nursery, (2) data plan/IRB, (3) data collection, (4) data analysis, (5) draft paper, (6) near completion, (7) under review, (8) R&R, (9) accepted!

The main changes are in the first half of the pipeline. I expanded out my “literature/planning” step into two steps: the idea nursery (which I read a lot of literature to understand the question’s domain) and the data planning (where I think about what data layers and analyses I need to answer the research question I’m interested in). The data planning is critical for me: different projects demand different types of data plans. Survey experiments and semi-structured interviews, for example, must go through IRB approval. In projects relying on a large text dataset, I have to think about how I want to construct my corpus.

After this, my steps are fairly consistent: collect the data (i.e., execute the data plan), analyze the data, draft the manuscript, complete the manuscript (“near completion” was a better descriptor for me than “full paper”), submit the paper to a publication (or conference), receive and complete an R&R (if submitting to a publication), and getting the paper accepted. When a paper under review is rejected, I move it back to the “near completion” stage (or earlier if I need to do more).

For projects that I want to shelf, I treat the back of my page as a literal “shelf.” In 2020, I split my shelf into a “short term shelf” (things that I want to pick back up within the year) and a “long term shelf” (things that I want to go back to, but probably not for some time).

How do I keep track of the pipeline?

I’ve used a variety of different strategies to try and keep track of my papers. First, I used to list them all on a sheet of paper and cross out the paper when it had been accepted. This was a good first step, but it didn’t really help me understand the stage my paper was on.

Now, I use a physical pipeline with post-it notes. I got inspiration from this bullet journal spread, which uses a similar strategy (there are 12 steps in this pipeline). The original spread has a color-coded system (green for dissertation, orange for side projects, and yellow for postdocs), but I am more haphazard.

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My 2019 Pipeline! Thanks for helping me keep track of this year’s papers!

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Moving my post-it’s to my 2020 pipeline!

May of my projects turn into multiple papers. For each project, I have a 2-6 letter key (“SP” or “Debate” or MCRC”). Papers are indicated with an additional word. For example, my paper on Russian IRA disinformation in the news was “SP News”. My paper on cross-platform Russian disinformation was “SP 3media”.

Each paper is indicated with a post-it note. I like to keep track of papers rather than projects because my projects are prone to branching into multiple papers. When I complete a step, I move the post-it for that paper to the next stage. However, I can also go backward: when I have to redo some analysis for a paper, I move my post-it from “Under Review” back into “Data Analysis” (or even “Data Collection”).

When a paper is accepted, I write the paper down in my last box (“Accepted!”) and throw away the post-it note for that paper. I like the permeance of writing the accepted/in-press/published paper down. I’ll also put a little exclamation mark for accepted papers that are single-authored or first-authored.

In conclusion: tracking your research/publication pipeline is really useful for understanding what stage your project is at. I encourage reviewing your pipeline at least once a month and updating the pipeline yearly (especially if you’re still trying to figure out the most optimal steps in your pipeline… which may change as your research interests change).

Writing and Maintaining a Weekly To-Do

The core of my scheduling system is my weekly to-do list. When I have new tasks or things to do, this is where I write them down. I keep one to-do list a week; it is my master to-do list. During an academic week, my to-do list can range from anywhere between 20 and 45 items. My to-do lists are cumulative: that means I include work tasks (e.g., course assignments, reviewing papers, and writing) and personal tasks (e.g., baking, cleaning the fridge, and taking out the garbage).

Where do I write them?

When I first started writing weekly to-do lists, I used to write them on index cards, loose white paper, or college-ruled three-ringed binder paper. Now, I use dotted paper in my Happy Planner. 

What do they look like?

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A mock to-do list. Notice that I have included work things (e.g., analyses for projects) and personal things (“Dye Hair”).

My to-do list is a pretty simple numbered list. Though I’ve used the same general system since high school, I’ve made two major edits that have really helped me out.

1. I vary the length of my “check box” to indicate the length of time it takes to complete that to-do task. This is where dotted paper comes in handy because I can draw these boxes easily. I’ll also only draw boxes when I’ve started working on a task (that way, I’ll be able to see which tasks I didn’t work on that week).
   Most of my tasks have one to three boxes. One box is a relatively short task (e.g., writing a rec letter, sending an email). Two boxes indicate that the task is longer (e.g., writing a blog post, reading articles). Three boxes are for the longest tasks (e.g., writing part of a paper, grading, finishing coding tasks). Sometimes, especially when I’m collecting data, I’ll have longer boxes (e.g., if I’m collecting news articles for a constructed week, I’ll draw seven boxes).
   When I finish a task, I “x” out the number and color in the checkbox (like Task 5)

2. Many of the things I do require multiple steps. I’ll “thread” related action steps by writing the second task next to the first task’s check box. This is especially useful for data analyses. For example, if I need to: collect tweets, analyze them, create a graph, and then write a blog post, I’ll write this as multiple steps on one row.
   We can see this in the example to-do list. Task 8 requires me to grade first, and then put the grades in the gradebook. In this example, I’ve finished grading, but I haven’t put them in the gradebook. Task 10 requires me to collect data first before using the data in a lesson plan. I’ve planned to do this task, but I haven’t started on it yet.

3. For tasks that are urgent or must be done by a certain date, I indicate that task with a star and/or I write the due date of that task to the far right. To do this, I use an erasable red Frixion pen (I like being able to erase the stars). Honestly, I don’t think how you indicate it matters (you could highlight your task, or use a permanent pen, or something else), but you need a way to signal to your brain that this task has a looming deadline.
   In this example, Task 7 (read book chapter 1 & 2)is important. Task 8 and 10 are due Friday. It may not be urgent on Monday, but I would likely put stars next to these tasks by Wednesday.

   When I am done with a task with a star, I erase the star on that task and cross the task out as I normally would.

Notice that Task 6 (7-day data collection) has 7 boxes. Task 8 (grading) is a lengthy task (once I grade something, I have to also record it in my gradebook, which is a fairly quick process), Task 7 (read book chapter 1 & 2) is a medium-length task, and task 9 (scheduling a meeting for a project) is a short task. I have completed Task 5 (Zettelkasten Update). I’ve started on Task 3 (blog post) and Task 7, both of which are “urgent” (marked with a red star), but I' haven’t completed them.

Why use to-do lists?

This to-do list is very important to me because it is my “task dump”: it is a centralized location for me to check. When I look at my to-do list, I get a sense of what I need to accomplish. I can also tell when I’m taking on too much (e.g., when I have 40+ tasks). 

I haven’t fully completed a weekly to-do list since my last year in high school (I distinctly remember exclaiming my excitement during an AP Java class), and I write the to-do list knowing I will have to transfer several tasks to the next week (especially if I write them down on Friday, which is when I write a lot of my tasks).

When I took classes, I would try to put down my upcoming assignments at least two weeks in advance. For courses with term papers, I will break down the paper’s task into smaller increments (read articles, collect data, analyze data, write parts of the paper). I’ll then turn these smaller pieces into various action steps that I thread together (e.g., read these articles, and then write a short memo about them; grade these assignments and then post them on Canvas).

How can I do this digitally?

I’d be remised if I didn’t extoll the virtues of writing by hand, if possible. There are a lot of benefits to writing your to-do list by hand, including increased retention, the ability to practice your handwriting, and time to reflect on your tasks.

However, I understand that it might not be possible for all people. The key to maintaining a weekly to-do list is to have one centrally located place for it, regardless of where it is. You can’t maintain a different to-do list on your phone, your computer, and on different post-it notes and hope to have a handle on everything you have to do.

On your computer, you can use a sticky note application (Sticky Notes/Stickies/Xpad) to maintain a running list. If you have multiple sticky notes, you want to make sure your “Master To-Do List” is always noticeable, and probably a different color from the others. Though you won’t need to migrate tasks week by week, you should take an hour a week to assess your tasks, determine how much progress you’ve made on important ones, and remove tasks that are no longer necessary.

Want an app for that? There are also many to-do list/task manager phone apps. When I maintained a digital-dominant scheduling system (about 2 years ago), I had a digital to-do list that I would replicate in writing. During this time, I really enjoyed using Any.do because of its simplicity, but there are many other apps you can use.

What about color-coding tasks?

I’ve often tried to color-code my tasks (e.g., write all my coding tasks in green, and all my reading tasks in red, and all my grading tasks in purple), but I’ve found that what I gain from that information isn’t worth the time it takes to switch between colored pens. I also don’t carry around my colored pens everywhere.

On occasion, I do decorate my task list with interesting quotes, stickers, creatively handwritten notes.

Decorating your to-do list is also a good way to practice your letter writing and/or calligraphy (or doodling).

What if I want different to-do lists for different things?

Some people like keeping multiple to-do lists (for example, I have daily to-do lists that are subsets of my weekly to-do list). This is especially common when you teach: you may want to keep your work plans separate from your personal plans.

In these cases, I would still encourage maintaining one master to-do list, but I would write my teaching tasks as generically as possible (“write lesson plan for X”) or my master to-do list would refer to my teaching to-do list (“complete tasks 1-3 in my teaching to-do list”).

You can absolutely have multiple planners/journals (one for personal, one for research, one for teaching/lesson plans) but still maintain one to-do list.

Preparing for 2020!

It’s December, which is when we tend to think about what we’ve done this year and what we hope to do for next year. For me, that reflection includes updating my personal organizing and scheduling system (e.g., planners, calendars, bullet journals, organizers).

Organizing has been essential to maintaining a consistent workflow throughout my academic career. It’s a living system—I continually revamp it to make sure I’m getting the most out of it. Right now, I’m using a “paper-dominant hybrid system”: my scheduler, to-do list, reading notes, and zettelkasten are in print, but I maintain a digital calendar, a citation system, and mind-mapper.

Organizing systems are as varied as academic scholars. This makes sense: your system should serve your needs. But regardless of whether it’s digital or physical, multi-platform or all in one place, it behooves scholars to have a system that isn’t a pile of scraps or things you write on your hand. Trust me when I say: there is too much to remember in grad school for you to “have it all in your head.” If you don’t write things down or record it, things will inevitably slip from your mind.

For that reason, I'm hoping to spend my next few blog posts talking about how I organize my academic life (from day-to-day scheduling to keeping notes that will last a decade). I’ll also talk about how I’m updating my 2019 system for the new year.

But before I proceed, here are a couple of disclaimers/considerations:

1. No organization system is perfect forever. In the planner community, the term “planner peace” refers to having a system you are completely satisfied with. While this sounds awesome, realistically, you won’t find a system that completely fits you for your whole life. Your planner system will change as you and your career changes—but this is how it should be, because what you need from your organizing system will change.

2. Maintenance is key. A good organizing system relies on regular maintenance. That might involve setting aside time weekly to update your citations, review your planner/calendar, or to clean your to-do list. As diverse as organization systems are, they all still require maintenance.

3. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Few of the days I schedule and organize go exactly as I anticipated. Even if I write a daily to-do list, I rarely complete it. Don’t be hard on yourself when your plans go out the window for a day (or longer). Don’t feel bad if you have to forgo your organizing system for a bit when things get hectic.

4. Don’t mistake planning for doing. Planning out your day is not the same as actually doing what you planned. Don’t make planning busy-work to avoid the real work you have to do.