Share the Excitement
Creating Your ‘Need to Know’ List
With publication comes an opportunity to toot your horn (quietly) to colleagues. If you are in the early stages of your academic career, each publication adds to your credibility in the field and paves the way to the next publication or opportunity. Without being overbearing about it, use each publication as a stepping stone to the next stage of your career by trying some or all of the following:
- Send an announcement email to a select list of colleagues
- Request reprints from the journal; include them in your faculty file, job applications, conference submissions, etc.
- Send a handwritten congratulatory note to your co-authors, if any
- Add the publication credit to your CV
- Post an announcement, with a link to the journal, on your professional web page
Brainstorm other kinds of ‘sharing’ activities you can do to get the most out of each publication. In any career, this kind of low-key, personal marketing can make the difference between moving forward and running in place.

