Sitting here sick, feeling like I did in highschool when I would get bronchial infections every 2-3 months during my Grade 12 and OAC year. Those were brought on due to the fact that I was run off my feet, doing 100 things at once. What brought back the chain-smoking seal cough this time, I don't know. I suspect my immune system isn't all that great from all the travel in the last year. Every time I fly, I come away with a sinus infection. This is more than a sinus infection - it's deep in my chest/throat and keeping me up at night. Thankfully, my downstairs neighbours have their bedroom at the front of the building and mine is at the back, so they are spared the constant, hacking coughs that are keeping me up at night.
Been like this for the last couple of days, but this is the first day that I have actually been awake during the afternoon. I've been spending most of the last 3 days in a Neo Citrin coma during the afternoons, asleep with the dog on the bed, attempting to recover some strength. I actually walked to Bridgehead this morning for coffee with Rebel, which is further than I've walked in the last 4 days.
I taught on Thursday morning, which was the beginning of the end. Luckily it wasn't a full lecture, only a lab, so I was spared too much torture. But Thursday night was also Rockin4Tabitha and that was the worst possible thing for me - an evening of talking and socializing completely destroyed whatever immunity I had left and Friday I was a mess. I actually left R4T early, which I never do, but I had no choice - the thought of socializing and talking more was killing me. Being sick and miserable while trying to put on a happy face and be nice wasn't working.
Now the question is whether I'll make it to work tomorrow. Thankfully I have my work computer here, and I have a day's worth of data crunching to do, so I really should just stay home. A barking seal is not welcome in a cubicle environment.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Publishing woes
It's been one of those trying weeks, dear readers. Most of the time, I love my job. I love mineralogy and doing research. It's all the other stuff that goes along with it that I could leave behind! Publishing is one of those such things. For one, writing is hard. Anyone who tells you otherwise is LYING!! Writing scientific papers is not easy. It doesn't get easier with time, especially if you are writing manuscripts that contain different ideas, themes, analytical methods, etc. For me, writing has always been hard and I really have to put my nose to the grindstone and simply do it. Generally it takes me getting to the frustrated point of procrastination to start, but in that case, much of the paper has already been 'written' inside my head.
I've had a manuscript in review stages for about 5 months now. That's quite a long time, and given that we are appraised each year, it's important to me to get papers through the review process and into press on a regular schedule, not to be backlogged. I understand it's hard for editors, and that sometimes expert reviewers are hard to find, and finding reviewers who complete their job in a timely manner are even harder to find!
Anyway, after consultation with one of my co-authors, we decided to maybe pull this paper and resubmit to another journal, hoping for a quicker turn-around time. One of the reviews on this paper was not positive - the reviewer has suggested a major rewrite and resubmission. I've never had a manuscript with a bad review. I've had manuscripts with criticism and suggestions for change, but none that have suggested it is not ready or publication at this stage. Needless to say, I was not happy. I have received the review, and am not entirely happy with the way it is worded - a bit too arrogant and pompous for my liking. The reviewer raises some scientific issues which I will look into, but I don't agree that it should be entirely rewritten.
So I'm a little frustrated right now. Ego-bruised. Disappointed. I have a big issue in that I question the value and quality of my own work all the time. I never think it is good enough or of value to science. It's partly insecurity, partly just my own confidence and my mental state. And a harsh review, whether correct or overly critical, simply brings to the forefront all the insecurities that reside in the back corners in my mind.
This paper is outside the regular boundaries in which I work. It's not simple mineralogy or crystallography. It's more geochemistry than anything, which is not my background. I knew when I wrote the paper that I was maybe extending myself outside of topics with which I feel 100% comfortable. So right now, I feel I'm paying the price for stepping outside that box, outside the boundaries of my regular research.
Is it a good thing to do? Make that step outside your regular boundaries? Should I simply look at this as a challenge and learn from it? Ideally, of course, the answer is yes. Use the experience to learn and grow. If I was more confident in my own abilities, I think this would be easier. But being insecure in general, it's very hard to take this and learn. Part of me wants to jump back in the box and return to the ideas and subjects that I am 100% comfortable with. But you don't grow doing that. So, in Muay Thai terms, I stepped into the ring with a much bigger, faster, smarter opponent and have been given an 8 count. But it's not a KO, so time to get back at it. But I feel like an idiot, like a bad scientist, like a failure. I guess that's the hardest thing.
The difficult part is that I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer some of the questions from the reviewer. Pb-Th-U systematics are not my forte. I need to find someone who is more focused on these things.
I've had a manuscript in review stages for about 5 months now. That's quite a long time, and given that we are appraised each year, it's important to me to get papers through the review process and into press on a regular schedule, not to be backlogged. I understand it's hard for editors, and that sometimes expert reviewers are hard to find, and finding reviewers who complete their job in a timely manner are even harder to find!
Anyway, after consultation with one of my co-authors, we decided to maybe pull this paper and resubmit to another journal, hoping for a quicker turn-around time. One of the reviews on this paper was not positive - the reviewer has suggested a major rewrite and resubmission. I've never had a manuscript with a bad review. I've had manuscripts with criticism and suggestions for change, but none that have suggested it is not ready or publication at this stage. Needless to say, I was not happy. I have received the review, and am not entirely happy with the way it is worded - a bit too arrogant and pompous for my liking. The reviewer raises some scientific issues which I will look into, but I don't agree that it should be entirely rewritten.
So I'm a little frustrated right now. Ego-bruised. Disappointed. I have a big issue in that I question the value and quality of my own work all the time. I never think it is good enough or of value to science. It's partly insecurity, partly just my own confidence and my mental state. And a harsh review, whether correct or overly critical, simply brings to the forefront all the insecurities that reside in the back corners in my mind.
This paper is outside the regular boundaries in which I work. It's not simple mineralogy or crystallography. It's more geochemistry than anything, which is not my background. I knew when I wrote the paper that I was maybe extending myself outside of topics with which I feel 100% comfortable. So right now, I feel I'm paying the price for stepping outside that box, outside the boundaries of my regular research.
Is it a good thing to do? Make that step outside your regular boundaries? Should I simply look at this as a challenge and learn from it? Ideally, of course, the answer is yes. Use the experience to learn and grow. If I was more confident in my own abilities, I think this would be easier. But being insecure in general, it's very hard to take this and learn. Part of me wants to jump back in the box and return to the ideas and subjects that I am 100% comfortable with. But you don't grow doing that. So, in Muay Thai terms, I stepped into the ring with a much bigger, faster, smarter opponent and have been given an 8 count. But it's not a KO, so time to get back at it. But I feel like an idiot, like a bad scientist, like a failure. I guess that's the hardest thing.
The difficult part is that I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer some of the questions from the reviewer. Pb-Th-U systematics are not my forte. I need to find someone who is more focused on these things.
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