---
title: "Paper submission reflection"
format: 
  docx:
    output-file: "paper-submission-reflection"
    reference-doc: "../templates/custom-reference-doc.docx"
---


You just submitted an important paper as a lead author - congrats!
You've put a lot of work into this project over the past few months (or more), and now it is time to share your ideas with colleagues for their critical feedback.
The manuscript is, for now, out of your hands, which makes this an ideal time to look back and reflect on your process for getting this project to the submission stage.
Reflecting on these major milestones is important because it will help you understand how you work, what you have learned, and identify your areas for growth as you continue on in your scientific journey. 

Please give yourself an hour to complete this reflection activity. Once complete, send a copy to Gaurav, and schedule a one-on-one meeting to discuss your responses. 

## Reflecting on the science

1. Please provide a 2-sentence synopsis of the work presented in this manuscript.

2. In 1--2 sentences, what is the main way in which this manuscript advances science? 

3. In 1--2 sentences, how do the results from this manuscript make you think differently about your own work moving forward? E.g. has it inspired any new questions you would like to explore? Has it changed any assumptions you had been making about how nature works?

## Personal reflections

1. What do you consider to be the "coolest" aspect of this manuscript? Or, what aspect of this manuscript are you most proud of? 

2. What was your favorite part of working on this manuscript? What made it your favorite part? What can you do to make sure that you can make this feature continues being part of your work? 


3. What do you consider to be the primary limitation of this work? Is there anything you were hoping to accomplish with this manuscript that you had to leave out (for now)?  

4. What was your least favorite part of working on this manuscript? What made it frustrating? Is there anything you can do in the future to have less of these frustrations? 

5. In what ways have you grown from completing this work? What new skills, approaches, mindsets, questions, or appreciations have you developed? Try to reflect a bit on each of the following themes:
    - Scientific skills (data collection, analysis, etc.)
    - Writing process (mindset, tools, approach, etc.)
    - Project management (time management, deadline setting, etc.)


6. Summarize your timeline for this manuscript submission process below. Please ensure to identify at least the following checkpoints:
    - Project brainstorming and ideation
    - Project initialization (e.g. start of the experiment)
    - Data collection period
    - Data analysis period
    - Writing begins
    - First time a draft was shared with coauthors
    - First time a *complete* draft was shared with coauthors
    - Revisions based on comments from coauthors
    - Final submission
  
## Code/Data analysis

1. What was your process for completing the required code/data analysis for this manuscript? What new skills did you gain while working on this, and what are some skills you realized you want to develop more in the future?

2. Is there anything that you wanted to do for this manuscript but ultimately could not because of either knowledge limitations (e.g. "I don't know how that type of analysis works") or due to technological limitations (e.g. "There was no package that accounts for the type of modeling I wanted to achieve and I could not write the code myself")?

3. Is there anything you would do differently with regards data analysis/coding for future manuscripts based on what you have learned here? 

## Collaboration and authorship


1. Who were your collaborators in this manuscript? In what ways did they contribute to the work? Try to be as comprehensive as possible with regards to the type of work that went into the manuscript, e.g. chatting with you over a coffee break to brainstorm a solution can often be a useful contribution! 

2. Do you feel you made the best use of your collaborators on this project? Are there any aspects of the manuscript that you feel were substantially elevated by the contributions of your collaborators? 

3. What are some things that generally went well about this collaboration? What can you learn from this to help ensure successful collaborations into the future? 

4. What are some things that you think could have gone better about this collaboration? What can you learn from this to help ensure successful collaborations into the future? 


