Alison Cooley Case Study

Professor Alison Cooley (Humanities Research Centre) has recently led two projects:

• Workshop for PGRs and Early Career Researchers in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: how to work with publishers
• Enhancing support structures for PGRs and Early Stage Researchers in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: from thesis to monograph, from conference to edited volume

When early-stage researchers apply for academic jobs, one of the increasingly competitive areas is an assessment of their publication record. Employers are seeking individuals who have a track-record in publication that corresponds to their career stage.

A job application is most likely to succeed if the applicant has at least a book contract with a publisher for their thesis-monograph. For post-PhD students who are applying for jobs outside academia, demonstrating the ability to publish research is equally valuable.

The challenge

Currently, the amount of support which early-stage researchers (ESRs) receive in this process is very uneven, often depending upon the time and enthusiasm of their supervisor. Our project sought to create a more inclusive research environment whereby all early-stage researchers can access the support they need to revise their thesis for publication.

Project aims:

• To address the inconsistencies in support that currently depend on individual supervisors by establishing a cross-faculty mentoring group and hosting two workshops.

• To support PGRs and ESRs in submitting book proposals to academic publishers.​

• To trial a new structure of support for PGRs and ESRs led by the Humanities Research Centre (HRC).

Over the past two years, we have held two one-day ‘Working with Publishers’ workshops for PGRs/ESRs.

These sessions explored how to choose a publisher to approach, the typical processes, what to expect and how to put a book proposal together. ​Participants were given support and training to enable them to develop their own book proposals (monographs and edited volumes). Representatives from Routledge, Anthem Press, and Palgrave Macmillan were in attendance and took part in Q&A sessions.​

The project also presented an ideal opportunity to change the existing PhD examiners’ report form. As a result of the project, the form has been modified to identify the publication potential of the PhD thesis in terms of both monographs and journal articles. This innovation immediately makes available to the student and their supervisor(s) an objective assessment of potential next steps.

All the reports are reviewed by the Faculty Education Committee Chair each term who then sends a list of recommendations to the HRC. The HRC then work with a new small group of cross-faculty academic mentors to support individuals in pursuing plans for publication.

“The Working with Publishers Workshop was an incredibly valuable opportunity. As a PhD student, I left with a clearer understanding of the publishing process, from practical advice on transforming my dissertation into a monograph to navigating the complexities of publishing contracts. The workshop demystified the publishing process whilst also providing a clear view of the challenges and difficulties involved.” 

Julián Harruch Morales (PGR Student)

The ERC funding has allowed us to conduct a year-long trial to evaluate whether the new mentoring structure has been successful in offering support to all early-stage researchers at this critical stage in their career.

Workshop attendance to date:

• 12 June 2024, attended by 12 PhD students and Early Career Researchers from a range of departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Arts
• 15 January 2025, attended by 18 PhD students and Early Career Researchers from a range of departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Arts

We are currently working with seven mentees and we're hopeful that in the long term this may lead to the creation of a formal mentoring system within Humanities.​

We plan to evaluate and modify book proposal guidelines throughout 2025​. We recognise that they may be relevant to mid-career scholars too.

Links to further information

• How to write a book proposal - guideline.Link opens in a new window
• Palgrave MacMillan Early Career Researcher HubLink opens in a new window, which provides useful information on transforming a thesis into a monograph.