The podcast music, I Talk to the Wind, produced by Yung Pinoy, as part of the NC State University Libraries State of Sound collection.
Introduce
The rush of starting a project is one of the best parts of academia. Having a new graduate student join the group, or finding a collaborator that takes you in an unexpected direction is the kind of experience that keeps academics excited about their future. However, from the very early stages of a project to the day when the peer reviewed publication(s) or the book come out lie years of hard work: building a case for the project, compiling a review of the literature, and painstakingly collecting data until it can all finally come together.
In some cases it is difficult to sustain the energy of such a long endeavor, and the final publication might not be as widely read and cited as we would like it to be. However, this is not the case for all authors. Some people are very good at getting more mileage out of every publication. Some are very talented at creating a sense of expectation about their upcoming work. Some are able to position themselves as experts sooner than others. And a select few do all of those things very well.
Is there a secret? A formula that might work for the rest of us? At OFE we think there might be. And after doing a fair amount of research and behind-the-scenes work we have decided to call it The Paper Trail. It is an intensive 5-week program (there are 5 Wednesdays in July this year!) crafted to empower academics in maximizing the impact of their projects through comprehensive publication strategies.
Throughout the duration of the program, participants will delve into every facet of the publication cycle, from the inception of a project to its dissemination across various mediums. With expert guidance, participants will engage in the process of transforming their research endeavors into tangible outcomes, including journal articles, book chapters, and strategic social media promotion. By equipping scholars with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the publication landscape effectively, The Paper Trail aims to ensure that each project reaches its fullest potential in terms of scholarly contribution and broader dissemination.
The day is finally here; we are ready to start our series with Week 1, which we have called Introduce. Our goal for this week is to help you take a new project and purposefully share it in low-stake avenues (such as social media posts, podcasts, blog posts, or LinkedIn contributions) that will help to gauge public interest and establish you as an expert. It is my great pleasure to be your host for this week.
Our printable resource for this week will help you to organize your efforts as you Introduce your idea and establish yourself as an expert in a new field.
When thinking of a suitable guest for this week, I wanted to bring you somebody with experience in introducing ideas and establishing expertise in new fields. However, I wanted to make it not only educational but engaging and memorable, so I have invited Dr. Kit Chapman to be our guest for the Week 1 podcast. He is an award-winning science journalist and academic at Falmouth University. Formerly an editor for Chemistry World, his by-line can be seen in Nature, New Scientist, The Daily Telegraph, and BBC Science Focus among others. He appears regularly on radio, TV and podcasts, and has given talks to thousands of students around the world on science, writing and history. His first book, Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table, was published in 2019 and his second book, Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save The World, was published in 2022. He is currently hard at work on his third book, a new project that we would love to tell you about, but we have been sworn to secrecy.
We hope that you will enjoy listening to the podcast for this week, or reading the transcript (or both). It was a joy to record, and it is packed with information about how to get started when you are ready to introduce a new project. We were very impressed with his focus on listening and respecting the expertise of others as you begin to establish your own.
Listen to people, listen to the experts, understand that you are a new person in a field and always be willing to listen to that expertise and ask questions. ~ Dr. Kit Chapman
He emphasized the importance of reading, listening to experts, and understanding the field, then sharing newfound knowledge via social media, magazine articles, or blogs.
Also, being enthusiastic and genuinely curious about what others know, and sharing early, interesting findings to demonstrate growing expertise and to engage others in the conversation.
Building your reputation gradually and showing that you are a credible person is one thing I try to do. If I start reading up on a field and I find something really interesting I like to share that on social media. I will write a blog post about it. ~ Dr. Kit Chapman
One thing that is evident from our conversation is that he lets his curiosity lead his search for new knowledge, and it comes across as being very genuine. I would like to encourage you to be authentic in your communications and social media interactions, and to take advantage of your favorite social media platform as a way to connect with colleagues in your current or emerging fields in a genuine way. In Kit’s words: “Credibility is hard to win and easy to lose.”
Here are his resources and tips for introducing yourself or your group to a new field:
- Social Media: Use it to join conversations and observe the field’s dynamics.
- Observe and Learn: Watch how others present their work and interact within the field.
- Listening and Questioning: Engage with experts, ask questions, and never hesitate to admit lack of knowledge.
- Conferences: Use networking opportunities at academic conferences to build knowledge and relationships.
- Patience: Building expertise and credibility takes time; there’s no rush.
If you are wondering how this could work in practical terms, I would like to show you some examples.
Example 1: General interest article for a popular interest magazine. When you hear about the subject of Kit’s new book you will understand that he was planting the seeds with this article and other side projects.
Example 2: Expressing enthusiasm and curiosity about a new interest via social media. This would work better in a platform that offers threaded discussions such as X (formerly Twitter), Threads, or Bluesky. In this case the post by Dr. Liz Faber of Dean College is designed to encourage engagement of the community, and it does so effectively by intriguing the audience.
Those interactions eventually lead to a call for proposals for an edited collection, which is now available for pre-order.
If you enjoyed this week’s podcast and blog post, we have some items that we would like to share with you.
You can download his STEM Heroes coloring book (I’m on page 5!)
If you are a member of the NC State community, you have access to Kit Chapman’s Superheavy e-book via the NC State libraries.
We hope this content was useful to you, and please know that we want to support you. You can leave us a comment (if you have an NC State ID), or we will be following this conversation on X and LinkedIn at #NCStatePaperTrail and you can join us there. Looking forward to hearing from you!
- Categories:
