tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post5980101375905427112..comments2024-03-27T21:39:27.170-07:00Comments on The Adventures of Notorious Ph.D., Girl Scholar: Getting Scooped (a longish post)Notorious Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-76383250405848297522011-07-19T09:18:20.263-07:002011-07-19T09:18:20.263-07:00Great post. I saved it for future reference.Great post. I saved it for future reference.starbellysneetchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15895569546846320135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-10637953223019036682011-07-07T04:58:03.470-07:002011-07-07T04:58:03.470-07:00Notorious, thank you so much for this great post! ...Notorious, thank you so much for this great post! I read it when you first published it and have been meditating on it ever since. Your three scenarios have given me a helpful map for locating my own situation and response, which I've now <a href="http://whatnow.typepad.com/whatnow/2011/07/next-steps.html" rel="nofollow">blogged</a> about. The short version is that I'm in the land of Scenario #2: The Next Big Thing; I'm going to gracefully concede the field to Friendly Rival and move on to something else, and I'm actually feeling fine about that decision, which clears the way for me to move on to new and potentially more interesting projects.What Now?https://www.blogger.com/profile/04017629066466055668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-57359604468429810812011-07-05T10:34:23.601-07:002011-07-05T10:34:23.601-07:00I think I've been the scooper, which given the...I think I've been the scooper, which given the time it takes me to finish things is quite an achievement. But the relevant person is civil to me and we have worked out, more or less in consensus, where our respective areas of interest are and defer to each other in them. We also had an agreement to savage each other in print so as to get up interest in each other's work but that hasn't really happened, probably for the best. Ironically, I now find myself needing to read their stuff before I get serious with the thing I'm currently writing, because I suspect they will have covered it in their thesis...<br /><br />I have also had the Hundred Flowers thing, in a completely different field to my usual one. Because of that, my work in it moves very slowly, and someone else I came up at the same time as has now published about half of my idea. This, however, means (a) I don't have to write that half (which would obviously be less of an advantage if I had already done so) and (b) I know much more clearly what I do have to write about, which is useful. So, OK, fifty flowers maybe but it's still a help; it feels more like I'm contributing now, too, whereas before it was a bit of a take-down. If I have allies, so much the better!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-25662605345272846282011-07-05T04:26:02.891-07:002011-07-05T04:26:02.891-07:00Great post, Notorious! I particularly like your e...Great post, Notorious! I particularly like your explication of the various scenarios. I have always subscribed to the notion that two people can work on the same topic, provided their questions, conceptual approach, etc. are different. I have a colleague, though, whose research has been paralyzed by her very narrow notions of getting scooped. It's really unfortunate, because she's quite talented and her research agenda has completely stalled (though I will say that I wonder whether or not "getting scooped" has become a kind of defense mechanism for why she hasn't made more progress post-tenure).TriPartite Academicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-74217448655486712172011-07-04T09:10:20.693-07:002011-07-04T09:10:20.693-07:00For those who are interested, here is my "sco...For those who are interested, here is my "scoop" story.<br /><br />http://squadratomagico.net/2007/05/02/the-story-of-my-nemesis/squadratomagiconoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-21438043788180069312011-07-04T09:06:15.209-07:002011-07-04T09:06:15.209-07:00I tend to be of the opinion that there usually is ...I tend to be of the opinion that there usually is room for more than one approach to a single topic. On the other hand, I understand the anxiety beforehand: this did sort of happen to me with my first book. I already had written my dissertation on, and was committed to expanding, a particular question, when I discovered that another scholar, senior to me, also had begun working on the topic. S/he started on the topic after me, but apparently was rather upset to discover that I was pursuing that line of research, for s/he threw a few obstacles my way, early in my career. (I blogged about this once, under the title "My nemesis" -- there was some definite sabotage and obnoxious behavior, which I think is a case study in what *not to do in these cases. ) S/he was more anxious about the whole situation than I was, despite the fact that s/he was already a known scholar with several publications, and I was a piddly grad. student / recent PhD.<br /><br />Anyway, long story short: My book came out before hirs, so I guess in the end you could say I scooped hir -- except I was on to the topic first, so it's sort of a wash. And honestly, though there is some overlap in terms of our respective source bases, there is also considerable divergence of sources and *very* different arguments /analytic approaches. I think mine has been the more successful of those two books, but s/he is still more senior and more published than I, so hir reputation has remained bigger and better than mine in the long run.<br /><br />And thanks for the kitten!!!! She's lovely!squadratomagicohttp://squadratomagico.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-24541488940859282702011-07-04T08:51:04.016-07:002011-07-04T08:51:04.016-07:00In the end, I chose not to tackle the extensive re...<i>In the end, I chose not to tackle the extensive revise/resubmit I received on said article so I could assure student that the dissertation was 'safe'.</i><br /><br />Interesting. I would have never in a million years done something like that, if I had already devoted time, effort, and personnel to the project. And I don't think any other natural scientist would, either.Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-61296311573672398612011-07-04T08:39:49.390-07:002011-07-04T08:39:49.390-07:00A few years ago, I entered into correspondence wit...A few years ago, I entered into correspondence with a doctoral student. It turned out that we were both working on a very much related topic. Student was somewhat panicky that my article in progress would spell end for student's dissertation hopes.<br /><br />In the end, I chose not to tackle the extensive revise/resubmit I received on said article so I could assure student that the dissertation was 'safe'. I don't really regret it since the article was just wrapping up an interesting sideline for my part but it would have cut the heart out of this graduate student's work (especially in the eyes of the supervisor).Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-13641207476723967352011-07-04T04:59:23.814-07:002011-07-04T04:59:23.814-07:00These are very good suggestions. I think the botto...These are very good suggestions. I think the bottom line is that almost all the time, once you look a little more closely at the situation, there is more room for you to operate than it first appears in the heat of "ZOMFG! I'VE BEEN FUCKEN SCOOPED!!!111!!1!!1!!"<br /><br />I will say, however, that in the sciences there is a greater chance for genuinely being flat-out scooped in arriving at a very specific tangible discovery. When this happens, it can adversely impact careers, especially of more junior people who--instead of a paper in a renowned high-impact journal that represents the route to grants, jobs, etc--end up with a much less impressive paper that doesn't represent much of anything other than the fact of being scooped.Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-33053435289773349052011-07-04T02:14:51.274-07:002011-07-04T02:14:51.274-07:00Yes to all of this. And especially if we are not w...Yes to all of this. And especially if we are not working at R1s/Russell Groups/whatever your super-prestigious research uni equivalents are. It's going to happen. I want to write a book on X. People know this. But other things come up, and at this point, my real goal is to get lots of little things published while finding and defining the Next Big Thing. One of the advantages of working so slowly is that it allows me to constantly re-frame what I want to work on, and see gaps. <br /><br />Having said that, I am always relieved when someone tells me that I need to read X's work on the subject before going there, and find that it is not exactly what I want to do. On the other hand, sometimes I do worry that that is because I tend to want to really push the bounds of what we can do with different sorts of documentary evidence, and people may think I'm a bit mad!Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.com