Why I’d Rather Do Research than Publish

For whatever reason I get stuck at the same point with many of my papers–right before a submission (or resubmission) to a journal. From a rational perspective, this makes no sense in that a little extra work will get the manuscript to a journal where it might be published. In thinking about why I have this tendency, I realized that what I enjoy about sociological research happens *before* submission to a journal–formulating the ideas, analyzing the data, and putting together in draft form. From there out it’s just work. The problem is that the professional rewards don’t start until *after* journal submission (and acceptance).

Here’s a graph that illustrates what I mean:

I love research because I’m very curious about the world, but when it comes to getting things out the door, then it’s more just plain-old-discipline.

Sigh.