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[bigghostdini_tha_don]

Hello,

I'm a first year PhD student, and as I'm sure you all know time is tight.  I have two appealing opportunities on the table, but I'm afraid that I only have time to pursue one of them.  The first is to sit on the editorial board for our department's scholarly journal.  The second, to submit a chapter for publication in an online textbook.  I would love to do both, and may try, but assuming I can only squeeze in one or the other, which do you think would be a better use of my time?

(I added the poll for fun, but feel free to post an explanation for your choice, if you feel so inclined!)

Thanks for your advice!

[polly_mer]

You're a first year PhD student.  What do you know that could contribute to either of those things?  If you've come from industry, ok.  But, if you're fresh out of undergraduate, then what makes you think either of those things is worth diddly?  You don't know anything at this point.  Go do your research and, next year, publish in a scholarly journal recognized by external folks.

[untenured]

I don't like either one.  You are in your first year.  Focus on your courses and thesis.  Getting publications out of your work is your most important tasks.  Publications are the coin of academia.

If you must choose one, pick the editorial board.  At least that's scholarly-related.  The textbook chapter is a complete waste, IMHO, unless you are totally committed to a pure teaching gig when you finish.

[seniorscholar]

+ 1 to untenured.

And take the editorial board position ONLY after finding out how much time it will involve; if the time is substantial, make sure it counts towards whatever the "work" (e.g., teaching or research assistantship) portion of your funding is; do not take it on in addition to those responsibilities. (Most Ph.D. students in my department spend about 60 hours a week on coursework, assignments, extra reading leading towards comps, teaching and grading: the slight boost to your professionalization acquired by doing any work for a journal would not make up for time lost at these essentials for your preparation.)

[anon99]

You're a first year PhD student.  What do you know that could contribute to either of those things?  If you've come from industry, ok.  But, if you're fresh out of undergraduate, then what makes you think either of those things is worth diddly?  You don't know anything at this point.  Go do your research and, next year, publish in a scholarly journal recognized by external folks.

While I might have worded it differently, I agree with polly.  As a first year PhD student you are not in a position to serve on an editorial board of a journal.  You would learn a lot about the process, but you would not be able to do the job properly.

[87735501111]

Editorial board, under the following conditions.
1. If it is a major prestigious journal, work hard for it, because that's great training for you, with CV implications. However, don't let it interfere with coursework.

2. If it is a non-prestigious journal, such as a graduate journal, then eh, participate sort of, in your free time, unless they're actually paying you.

[bigghostdini_tha_don]

what makes you think either of those things is worth diddly?

I don't know if either is worth diddly, that's what I'm asking

[snowbound]

Say "No" to both of these time-sucking "opportunities."  At this early stage in your academic career, it's understandable that you might feel flattered to be asked, but by the time you are applying for jobs, you will know how negligible  a boost your CV gets from: a) An online textbook that solicits chapters from people who are barely beyond undergrads (who would even use assign a textbook?) or b) An unread departmental journal that's a project to give publishing experience to grad students who aren't ready for prime time (who would ever read such a journal?).

Neither of these will give you very valuable experience, and both will detract from what you need to be doing now--which is getting the very most you can out of your classes.  Try to make every paper you write as great as you can make it. Think about revising your papers for publication.  These are the kind of things that will serve you well in the long run.

[sagit]

what makes you think either of those things is worth diddly?

I don't know if either is worth diddly, that's what I'm asking

I'm not sure we have enough information to say exactly how much either might be worth to you.  I have a hard time imagining that an online textbook chapter would do much for your career at this stage.  The Editorial Board *could* be a major learning experience IF you are participating in some kind of apprenticeship model.  Will you be discussing the editorial decisions with senior scholars?  That could be a good introduction to publishing in your field.  Do you already have research experience from when you were an undergrad?  

[lasquires]

This exact same thing came up on a panel for new grad students in my program this year, and my advice to them was to always, always, always remember that Job Number One in grad school is finishing your degree.  Job Number Two, Three, and Four (closely related to and almost as important as Number One) are getting published, getting published, and getting teaching experience as instructor of record.  Most (not all, but most) of the grad students I've seen get sucked into chairing the interest group steering committee, or serving as the grad rep for Student Government, or editing the grad student journal, or organizing the grad student conference take forever to finish.

You will get asked to do these sorts of things A LOT as a grad student.  They will often be advertised as "great cv items," but they don't amount to diddly if you haven't taken care of Job Number One (and Two through Four).  They can also be tempting because accomplishing a set of easily achievable, concrete tasks feels a whole heck of a lot better than staring at an empty Word document, but you are going to have to do a whole lot of the latter in order to reach the finish line.  Be appropriately selfish and careerist.  Hoard the time you have to do original research and writing, and don't let anyone guilt you into participating in their pet project unless you get a very clear benefit from it or unless they are offering you a pile of extra money.  I've taken on extra research assistant duties just so that I wouldn't have to get a minimum wage job over the summer, which would take more time away from writing.

[snowbound]

Most (not all, but most) of the grad students I've seen get sucked into chairing the interest group steering committee, or serving as the grad rep for Student Government, or editing the grad student journal, or organizing the grad student conference take forever to finish.

+1

[lasquires]

I've said my share, but I just wanted to add that this is one of the ways in which grad school absolutely requires you to reverse your undergraduate mentality.  In high school and undergrad, signing up for as many extra-curricular activities as you could was a good thing and could even help you get a job. That same approach in grad school can really work to your detriment.

My mantra:  "If it doesn't help me finish or get a job, it isn't worth my time."

[bigghostdini_tha_don]

Thanks for all the advice, it was really very helpful.

After reading your responses I'm leaning toward passing on both, although still on the fence about the journal.

[reener06]

Who is asking you to serve on the editorial board and who is asking you to submit the chapter? I agree with all the other posters, but how does it affect you if you say no? Is it your advisor asking, and if not, what is your advisor's take on this? He/she may not be happy if you say yes w/o talking to them first.

I would say no to both. The online chapter will become a major time suck that will never seem to be done; even when it is done, you'll be begged to do updates on a yearly basis. The amount of research you may have to do for this will become a huge headache you soon (if not already) will not or do not have time for.

The editorial board of the journal--this sounds like a small departmental journal with no national or even regional standing, I'm guessing. Again, a major time suck that people will see on your CV and say 'eh'. Unless this has large standing and puts you in contact with senior scholars, I would pass. I'm guessing it publishes other graduate students' work. If so, you will spend a lot of your time begging for submissions from other busy students and then editing those submissions, and dealing with things like layouts and other publishing issues.

You can politely decline by saying you are in your first year--heck, your first semester--and you need to focus on your studies, although you are flattered to be asked. This makes you look serious and single-focused, which is a priority now. You have no idea how difficult the middle or end of the semester will be. In my department, the last week consisted of us writing 3 30-page papers in a marathon, and we did this every semester. I would need a full week to recover, and another to find the bottom of my office floor. If you had journal deadlines or chapter deadlines, this would put you (or anyone) over the edge.

[academic_cog]

If the editorial board is part of your department, then it will still be around later. You can take this opportunity later on down the PhD road if you find you want to get that kind of experience. Focus on your classes and get as much out of them as possible ---- write well-researched, interesting papers, and keep your eye open the whole time for topics and ideas that might be interesting dissertation topics. That's your job right now, to find a great diss topic and to learn how to do research well enough that you can undertake said diss topic.

Oh yeah --- you're going to want to save a little bit of that free time for sleeping and exercise and blowing off steam and actually interacting with people. Don't schedule out 23 of the 24 hours with academic work.