I was asked if a) it was a bad thing if you put your name on a paper published in a low-tier journal? If no, when does it hurt our career? If yes, how to fix such a problem?
My knee-jerk response? Yes!
Where you publish sends signals about your aspirations. If you often publish outside the top, it can be hard to be seen as a serious scholar.
However.
Knee-jerk responses can be incorrect.
After reflection, I realized 'yes' makes me a hypocrite.
I publish outside of top outlets. Most of my friends publish outside of the top. All of my students publish outside of the top.
Why?
Publishing outside of the top affords opportunities to learn to navigate peer review & to share your edgier ideas.
So, what should an early career scholar consider? When thinking about publishing outside the top?
First, change how you think of journals.
I do not like the term "low-tier journals."
An awful lot of great papers appear outside of top journals. I've undergone rigorous review processes outside of top journals. I've learned a lot from editors who operate outside of top journals.
I like the phrase "outside of top journals."
Second, publishing outside of top journals can help you learn to navigate the peer review process.
Very few scholars only publish in top journals.
Most learn to navigate peer review outside of the top.
I learned independence, how to write response documents, & how to manage review processes outside of the top.
The skills that I learned outside of top journals made me a better scholar.
Third, publishing outside of top journals frees you to deviate from "normal science."
My favorite paper appears outside of top journals.
It's a critique of a measure. It includes six studies.
It was submitted first to a ranked journal.
Rejected.
After some effort, it made it into a good journal.
The paper is now cited 100 times.
I call that success.
Fourth, when can publishing outside of top journals can hurt your career?
A few warning signs ...
(1) you start designing studies for outside the top. Aim high. If the study lands elsewhere, so be it.
(2) you never publish journals valued by your senior faculty. Be mindful of expectations.
(3) you never submit to top journals. It's hard to advance your career with a pure volume model.
(4) you publish papers you don't like. Never publish a paper that you are not proud of.
(5) you aren't growing. Top journals force you to learn new methods or explore new ideas.
Fifth, how to "fix" having too many outside-the-top hits?
Build a mix of papers in the top & outside of the top outlets.
Even if you have published a lot outside the top, you can always rebalance your portfolio.
Rebalancing takes some effort, much time, & a lot of desire; but it can be done.
I know famous scholars who started outside the top & finished up running important journals.
Anything is possible if we let merit rule the day!
Best of luck!
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