Key points:
- Establishing a publishing rhythm pushes your field and your students forward
- Making meetings matter: Six strategies for campus leaders
- Why education leaders must highlight their people
- For more on faculty publishing, visit eCN’s Campus Leadership hub
You’ve just joined the faculty. Between new courses, service commitments, and building a research agenda, publishing can feel like one more spinning plate. Here’s the good news: Scholarly writing is less about flashes of genius and more about habits you can actually control. Think of it like training for a marathon–you don’t sprint once and hope for the best; you build up small miles, day after day, until the finish line becomes inevitable.
The guidance below offers a pragmatic path that respects your time, reduces friction, and keeps manuscripts moving.
Train like a writer (and read like a scholar)
Treat writing as a skill you build through consistent practice. Short, regular sessions beat rare, heroic binges. Pair this with deep reading in your field. Reading accomplishes two things: It sharpens your sense of argument and evidence, and it keeps you in conversation with current debates so you can place your own work where it will land and matter. When you read, annotate with intent: What problem is this article solving? Where are the gaps? What would a study, commentary, or practice note add? Those annotations become seeds for publishable pieces later.
Look to your daily life for publishable ideas
Your classroom, your lab, your advising hours, and your inbox are idea engines. Capture small sparks of inspiration: a sticky concept students struggled with, a design tweak that boosted engagement, a common misinterpretation in your field, an assessment that finally worked. Not all “publishable moments” are positive. If you encounter friction, incivility, misalignment, or breakdowns in process, write about it with a constructive frame: identify the problem, propose a remedy, and ground it in literature and practice. The everyday texture of academic life can yield strong essays, case studies, and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) pieces.
Say your interests out loud
Be open with colleagues on campus and in your broader network about what you’re studying now and what you want to pursue next. Serendipity favors the visible. When people know your angle, they’ll forward citations, datasets, archival finds, and calls for papers that fit you. Make a one-paragraph “research calling card” you can paste into a quick email or share in hallway conversations: problem, method, current dataset, hoped-for venue. Visibility multiplies opportunities.
Write like a human (not a thesaurus)
Favor clear, short sentences. Choose concrete verbs. Cut needless qualifiers. You’re not lowering the bar; you are raising the clarity. Readers, including reviewers, reward clarity because it respects their time. Use your own voice rather than inflating prose to “sound academic.” Over-ornamented paragraphs read like someone swallowed a thesaurus, and they obscure your contribution. If you use AI tools for line edits or readability checks, do so transparently and ethically; you remain the author who must ensure accuracy, originality, and proper citations.
Build your support system
Most campuses offer writing centers, tutoring, and editorial coaching. These services are not just for students. Use them. If your institution has a faculty writing or publishing group, join. If it doesn’t, recruit two or three peers and start one. Keep it light but consistent: weekly or biweekly, 60–90 minutes, with a simple rhythm, 10 minutes to share goals, 40 minutes of silent writing, 10 minutes of check-outs, and 30 minutes of optional feedback. Psychological safety plus accountability is a potent combo. Generative AI tools can supplement the group for mechanical edits and outline generation, but use them as assistants, not as co-authors.
Keep multiple projects moving
Maintain a small portfolio of projects at different stages: idea notes, literature map, IRB and data collection, rough draft, revise-and-resubmit, practitioner piece. This lets you match work to your daily bandwidth. On heavy teaching days, tighten a paragraph or format references. On lighter days, draft new sections or analyze data. A portfolio protects momentum; when one project stalls (Reviewer 2 strikes again), you can pivot to another without losing a week.
Capture ideas and ask for targeted feedback
Always have a capture system, paper notebook, voice memos, or a simple notes app, with a dedicated “publishable sparks” page. When you share a draft, tell colleagues exactly what feedback you want: “Is my research question precise?” “Where does the argument sag?” “Does Table 2 match the claims in the Discussion?” Tight prompts produce useful feedback and save your readers time. Reciprocity matters–offer to read their work as well. Collegial generosity builds a durable support network and a reputation that helps on future promotion and tenure decisions.
Choose the right venue (and broaden your aim)
Tier-one, peer-reviewed journals are valuable and often necessary, but they aren’t the only venues worth your time. Practitioner journals and cross-disciplinary outlets can deliver your ideas to the people who can act on them, and they often turn around faster. Look for “bridge” opportunities at the edges of your field: leadership and nursing, computing and education, history and public policy. Consider SoTL, research methods, and advising/student success venues. Many of your daily wins and insights fit these spaces and can become strong publications with modest reframing.
Quick venue test: Who needs this idea to make a better decision tomorrow? Submit where those readers already are.
Learn by reviewing
Volunteering as a peer reviewer accelerates your growth. You’ll see what strong submissions look like, what common flaws sink papers, and how editors frame decisions. Reviewing counts as service, builds relationships with editors, and demystifies the process you’re trying to navigate yourself. Start by checking your target journals’ “reviewer sign-up” pages or asking editors directly after you’ve submitted to the journal once.
A weekly cadence that compounds
Try this light, repeatable cadence:
- Monday (30 minutes): Set one writing goal for the week (“Cut 300 words from methods; draft 2 figures; complete RQ2 discussion”).
- Tuesday–Thursday (3 × 25 minutes): Complete three focused sessions with timers on and notifications off. Stop mid-sentence so it’s easy to restart.
- Friday (20 minutes): Log what moved; capture next steps while the context is fresh, and send one targeted ask for feedback or a citation request.
- Monthly (60 minutes): Review your portfolio: Move projects across columns (Idea → Draft → Submit → Revise), drop or down-scope stalled pieces, choose a practitioner venue for one high-leverage idea.
The cadence is small by design; the compounding comes from showing up.
What to do now, today:
- Start a “publishable sparks” note and add three ideas from your last week of teaching or meetings.
- Pick one primary journal and one practitioner venue to monitor for calls and editorials.
- Schedule three 25-minute writing sessions on your calendar for the next seven days. Treat them like classes: You show up.
- Send one email to a colleague: Share a paragraph about your current project, ask for a specific reference or example, and offer to read something of theirs.
- Draft a reviewer profile (areas of expertise, methods) and sign up with a journal you admire.
Publishing isn’t a mystery reserved for the anointed. It’s a system involving steady inputs, small improvements, smart venue choices, and a supportive circle. If you read deeply, mine your daily practice for ideas, write like a human, keep multiple threads moving, and learn from reviewing, you’ll build a sustainable rhythm that advances your curriculum vitae and, more importantly, pushes your field and your students forward.
Dr. Steve Baule is a faculty member at Winona State University (WSU), where he teaches in the Leadership Education Department. Prior to joining WSU, Baule spent 28 years in K-12 school systems in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, and two years teaching in the University of Wisconsin System.
Marilynn Helene Spencer, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC is an assistant professor and the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) program coordinator at Winona State University.
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