“I Really Try to Model Good Practices”: Reflecting on Journal Article Publication From Mid-Career

Abstract

Publishing research in scholarly journals takes up much time and energy for many academics, and the early career phase may be particularly challenging, as researchers navigate the processes and politics of academic publishing for the first time. We previously explored these challenges as early-career researchers in a collaborative autoethnographic study in 2018. Now, 6 years later, we have once again reflected on our shared and divergent experiences, this time from our positions as mid-career researchers, socialised into the world of scholarly publishing and with longer histories of success and failure in scholarly publication. Our critical discussions revealed a continued commitment to publishing work in high-impact journals, but also tensions in engaging with biased systems, and systemic resistance to challenging inequalities in academic publishing. Our motives for publishing are still influenced by institutional expectations, but are increasingly shaped by a desire to extend the impact of our work to individuals and communities as our knowledge mobilisation endeavours come to fruition, and new external partnerships are formed. This article is responsive to our ongoing efforts to support the next generation of novice researchers in their own publishing journeys, while also critically reflecting on tensions and opportunities encountered when expanding our publication mentoring skillset.