Work with good collaborators that you know well and who you can rely on.
Have clearly defined roles for yourself and collaborators.
Don’t have too many collaborators (three or less or have none). There’s lots of time in coordinating with many people.
(b) Sub-point - non-research collaborators (e.g. industry/NGOs) can also take a lot of time, but see points 1 and 2.
Have a clearly defined plan.
Have a relatively simple question to address, one that can be clearly defined as 1-3 aims/hypotheses and the methods need to be clear and well established (and things you or your collaborotors can easily do)
Don’t get too hung on how much work it takes to write ‘The Paper’. The amount of time it takes is hugely variable and there is no minimum time.
80/20 rule - 20% of the effort for 80% of the results.
Have some skills. Be decent at writing. Have some methodology skills (e.g. modelling or field work skills) that are well known to you and you will rely on for this study.
Work with a system you know well, e.g. a study system, lab system or type of modelling/data for analysis.
In general reviews and perspectives take 10x times longer than you think they will. A lot of thought goes into word crafting (though sometimes they can be really quick).
Don’t get too hung up on what journal it ‘HAS’ to go to. Sometimes you start a paper thinking it has Nature potential, but if it turns out it doesn’t then just get it done (see steps 6 and 7!) and submit it to a disiplinary journal.
Designed by Chris Brown. Source on Github