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This blog post is based on my podcast interview with Dr Makella Coudray, Assistant Professor and member of the Researchers’ Writing Academy. To listen or watch the podcast, click play on the YouTube video above or listen to the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Meet Dr Makella Coudray who runs the SHEER Lab researching sexual and reproductive health equity. She joins me to today to discuss how the Researchers’ Writing Academy has transformed her group’s paper-writing process.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Writing the hard way during her PhD (and some devastating supervisor feedback) and what changed since
- How Makella was able to significantly cut down on editing rounds with her co-authors, and
- Why Makella is enrolling all her lab members into the Researchers’ Writing Academy.
From Frazzled to Focused: How Dr Makella Coudray Built an Academic Writing System That Gets her Lab’s Papers Published
Hi Makella, welcome. So very excited to chat to you today!
Thank you for having me.
Do you want to start off by sharing about your research position, where you’re based, and whatever you want to share about your research?
Thank you for asking. I am currently a tenure track Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. I’m based in the Department of Population Health Sciences and my specific research agenda focuses heavily on sexual health and access to sexual health services for women of color. I am an NIH funded researcher, which I think is important to say in this current time where grants are just being snatched left and right. And I am proud to do that work at the intersection of epidemiology and implementation science to really try to identify what the gaps are in sexual health access for the population, but also moving the needle forward to create culturally tailored interventions to also reach that population.
That’s very, very important work. And interestingly enough, we’ve had, I mean, obviously from your group we’ve had member in sexual health, but even outside your group we’ve had like several other members around the world working in sexual health, which is a funny coincidence.
Overcoming PhD Writing Struggles by Joining an Academic Writing Program
Before you joined the Researchers’ Writing Academy, could you share what place you were in regarding your writing? How did writing feel like? What were sort of the the sticking points for you?
I would be transparent and say I think my experience might not exactly be what’s the typical experience of other members of the Researchers’ Writing Academy. I think it’s important to highlight I am an immigrant to the US, so I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago and we have a very British system, one of spelling and writing. I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degree in Granada, which has a similar British system. So I am accustomed to writing in a certain style and I had written like my capstone project and theses and research papers for class but not a formal peer-reviewed publication until I started my PhD.
And when I was working with my PhD advisor I’ll never forget the 1st paper I drafted. She didn’t even give me comments she just responded to the e-mail and she said ‘you can do better’. I was like, ‘oh, OK’.
When I was working with my PhD advisor I’ll never forget the 1st paper I drafted. She didn’t even give me comments she just responded to the e-mail and she said, ‘you can do better’.
Oh God, that’s harsh.
So for me it was much of a journey because I felt like other people in my cohort had peer reviewed publications and I didn’t. So I felt like they had that skill and I did not.
That was so tragic to me. So then I went back and tried to do better and then got redlined almost everything. I’m not 100% sure which feedback was worst! So for me it was much of a journey because I felt like other people in my cohort had peer-reviewed publications and I didn’t. So I felt like they had that skill and I did not. And I didn’t take a class on writing peer-reviewed publications. I more or less figured things out as I continued writing. And I just felt like I was building the plane as I was flying, like I was not using a reference manager the first couple of papers. And every time I got feedback, I was manually just figuring out things each time I wrote a new paper.
Whereas I felt like if I had had something like this course and the Academy, like on the onset, I would have had a more systematic way to write and develop publications.
I feel like I moved from just being frazzled and responding to like different feedbacks and just going with things primarily throughout my PhD. I published peer-reviewed publications throughout the PhD and my dissertation, which I did publish some parts of and into the early parts of my postdoc. I think I operated that way.
And that’s when I was like, this is madness. At this point, I’m advancing in my career. I’m a postdoc with plans to be tenure-track faculty. And they always say publications are our currency. I would have no money if I keep going this way is what I told myself. So I had to find a resource or something, some type of system to make the process more streamlined and honestly more enjoyable because I loved writing when I was back home and I did not like it how I had to do peer-reviewed publications here. And that loss of my love of writing bothered me.
This is true for everyone, but I keep hearing from our clients ‘I used to like writing as a child and I totally lost love for writing because I was forced to do academic writing’. And I think this comes down to academic writing just not being taught, or not taught well. And you’re left with unhelpful feedback that is crushing to receive like in your case. Thank you for sharing that so openly.
How the Researchers’ Writing Academy Transformed Manuscript Pipeline and Lab Training
If you were to describe the Researchers’ Writing Academy to a friend or a colleague, how would you do that?
But I really appreciate the community that comes with the Academy. I literally bought it for the course and then when I saw all of the other things that was just icing on the cake.
I would say this is what you need to have within like the first three months of you starting an academic position. This is your blueprint to having a successful manuscript pipeline. This is the blueprint. It’s your scaffolding and infrastructure to make sure you can meet the requirements of consistent publication. It’s also a support system, so you get the blueprint ane I really appreciate the community that comes with the Academy, which I didn’t realise transparently was also included when I bought it. I literally bought it for the course and then when I saw all of the other things that was just icing on the cake.
For the longest time, we only marketed the course, the Journal Publication Formula. We were almost not telling people that there arelots of other things going on. So I don’t think that one’s on you!
How has the Researchers’ Writing Academy helped you with your writing? Maybe you can start with sort of the trajectory, like what did you do first? What changed first? How did you use it? But then also you can just generally maybe talk about your wins. What were you able to do thanks for the Researchers’ Writing Academy?
I think the biggest change and the change I made first was that the storytelling document, the key takeaways document, because I publish a lot with interdisciplinary teams and at the time, I was struggling with it. I wrote the paper and then, by the time I sent it out, with the feedback I received, I was essentially rewriting the paper at that point. It was always: ‘Do this different thing, analysis and rewrite,…’ and that was just too time consuming. So I’m actually a part of a writing group for a research lab that I’m in, and I shared with them one of those documents that I did and they liked it. So we’ve used it in that group for the publications that we’re working on. And I really believe that has helped us with streamlining feedback because now, but I was doing like 4-5 rounds of feedback. We do one or two, and then we’re ready to go to get it published. I think that overall for me was the biggest win in one, incorporating my collaborators earlier on and two, in reducing the time it took from like beginning to write to being able to submit.
Overall for me was the biggest win one — incorporating my collaborators earlier on and two — in reducing the time it took from beginning to write to being able to submit.
Something else that I loved to do, and you mentioned it earlier on, was the fact that I like to register my RAs (Anna’s note: research assistants) with the course. I primarily have undergraduate RAs, so now I have a couple graduate RA who they did the course when they were in undergrad. And similar to my experience, they didn’t have formal training in scientific writing, but every RA in my lab works on a manuscript. So that helped with one giving them the scientific writing experience that they did not formally have through their academic training. But truthfully, it also helped me because I didn’t have to keep, because this is the system that I am now using, the publications moving forward. And I didn’t have to like keep teaching the system over and over. It’s just, OK, you’re in the lab now. We’ve identified the publication you’re going to work on. Let’s register you for this. They have to do the course before they start writing — they do it within the first two months, once they’re registered in the first semester and then they can start working on whatever publication they’re working on for the lab. So systems wise, that has helped me tremendously that the team is on one accord and I don’t have to keep restating things they understand.
I think the other thing that has also helped me, and it’s something I’ve done recently, is join the writing planning sessions.
I don’t know who I was at the time that I agreed to all of these projects. I don’t know who I was, but the person that I am today somehow has to live up to those promises that I made. And all of the publications seem to be due around the same time. And I need to be very, very careful with my writing time. So those planning sessions have truly helped me realise when I am delusional to think that I could have done all of those in that time frame. And I’ve had to renegotiate some of that with collaborators to make it more feasible. But it’s also helped me personally with being able to say no to future projects and focusing on getting my projects completed.
Because truly that template that you share with us and how you walk us through this, outlining what papers would do, outlining what steps we have to do for each one, and also the time commitment that we think each will take and then translating that to a calendar. I was delusional. I was absolutely delusional. And I might have been another person at that time thought that these things were possible. So I think those are the three things that have really helped me and are taking me forward to making sure I have a good system. For one, maintaining productivity that is required for my position, but also maintaining work life balance that is just required for my mental health.
So I think those are the three things that have really helped me and are taking me forward to making sure I have a good system. For one, maintaining productivity that is required for my position, but also maintaining work life balance that is just required for my mental health.
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And yeah, I mean, I totally love how you use the Journal Publication Formula as your writing system and use the planning workshops. And how you’re also incorporating your whole team in that and giving your RAs that opportunity that so many just don’t receive when they’re in training. That’s amazing. And even though you say it does benefit you as well, of course, but it also massively benefits them and their careers. So yeah, I think you’re such a great role model.
I’ve had six RAs and a research coordinator go through the program, and the research coordinator, she’s no longer in the lab because she accepted a new position. But she said even at her new position, the stuff that she learned in the course really helps her.
Oh amazing. Wow, that’s great feedback. Love to hear that.
The Beliefs that Had to Shift for Makella to overcome writing anxiety and feel truly confident in her writing
Do you want to share about how writing feels for you now? Did you see a shift in that?
So yes, I will say I’m still not back to the place where I was of like ‘I love this and I’m so excited’. But my anxiety is greatly reduced. I think a lot of my anxiety earlier on, specifically in the PhD phase and early post doc, was due to my unfamiliarity with peer-reviewed publications and that type of style. I’m very Caribbean and we’re very flamboyant and we could use 10 million words to say things and we like to paint a picture and it’s a whole thing, which is not really the case with peer-reviewed publications.
So having that shift, having to make that shift and not knowing how to make that shift really caused me a lot of anxiety in the beginning because I am truly a perfectionist. So with the Journal Publication Formula and having the step-by-step of this is what you do has really helped calm a lot of my anxiety. I think the only reason the joy is missing now is because I just have too much papers to write. And I don’t know how to plan these. But I think once I get these pending projects done and I can slowly do papers and spend more time in them, that joy will return. But it’s truly helped with my anxiety and uncertainty. And just speaking as someone who did not come from this like American system of writing and education, just having an outline and of what to do and examples, because there are examples and the bonus vault is truly helpful.
That’s fantastic. I’m sure you will soon get your love of writing back too! Was there a belief or anything that had to shift for you in order for things to click?
There were several beliefs that had to shift. For one, the belief that my writing itself was not good enough or that I did not know how to write. I do know how to write, it’s just I’m learning a different style and I’m actually a really good writer. I just needed to adapt my style and once I figure out how to do that, everything went well.
I also had to learn that if the journal rejects me, it’s not me personally. The first couple of ones, I was like, Oh my God. Wow. Yeah, I think my first rejection on that was — I think I know. I actually was in Trinidad at the time on break. The first rejection came from the Journal of Public Health. I was in my childhood bedroom and I cried for about half an hour.
There were several beliefs that had to shift. For one, the belief that my writing itself was not good enough or that I did not know how to write.
And I have never submitted to a JPH since and that was like 2018. I have never submitted to them again. They were my first rejection. Will I submit to them one day? I’m actually working on a manuscript right now that I do plan to submit to them.
That is how much like I feel confident now after doing the Academy. I’m like, OK, I can overcome this like ban I had in my mind on JPH and submit this manuscript to them. So those were some of the self limiting beliefs I think that I had to overcome. And I think the more I write and the more I implement the tools, the confidence grows and I’m able to do more and invest more time in my writing.
I can’t wait to see how things go for you. Once you’ve got all the things out of the way and you can take things a little bit more slowly, I do feel there will be a whole new shift for you coming.
Note from Anna: If you got curious about the Researchers’ Writing Academy, I recommend watching our free training class (it’s free and takes about 1 hour). It’s the same training that helped Makella decide that the program is the ideal next step for her. 👇🏻
What would you tell someone who is where you were before you joined the Researchers Writing Academy? What advice would you give them?
Several: don’t do like I did in the beginning. I tried to spread out the course and only do the sections that were related to like what I was working on at the time, but I truly feel like taking in all of the course content really helped me with my overall framing of the writing projects I was focusing on. And also, I would say don’t be afraid to go back and then look at very specific sections because I still do that. I come back and go to specific sections where I’m like, I need to brush this up. I need to tighten this. I’d say you have access to it. Use the access.
I would also say attend the planning meetings. The planning workshops really help me with perspective and really being realistic and having to reach back out to collaborators and push back deadlines. Go to the planning meetings!
And although I haven’t personally used the Feedback Calls, I have attended a couple of them. The sessions where you people submit to get feedback. Although I have not submitted anything to one, attending the sessions really helped me because I had some similar issues to other people who submitted things and I was able to learn. Just hanging out on the Zoom and listening to how you helped them also helped me. Even though it wasn’t my specific manuscript, it still helped me.
So I think really leaning in — yes the course is great. Don’t get me wrong the course is great. But really leaning into the other support and other things that are happening in the community I think really helps. Like people post questions all the time and share resources in the platform. I think the community, lean into it heavily and get the support.
I’d also say — because I have — renew your membership. When the reminder e-mail comes, click renew. Just go on ahead and click renew. Trust me because I’ve done it. You won’t regret it. Just click renew and keep it moving. Don’t question, just renew.
I love that. Thank you. Is there anything I haven’t asked that you would like to add before we close off?
There is one thing because I think I’ve used the word systems quite a lot. So I would say what works for me is because my institution uses Microsoft 365. The Planner app works for me to like map out things and then I know in the course you’ve used the example with Trello board and if that’s available to you, I suggest you use that. All I’m saying is have a system whereby you plan out and keep track. It’s my biggest advice. It will help keep you on track. It will help keep you accountable. And I think when I am not as productive is literally when — well, I don’t know what I have to do. I don’t know where this project is, where that project is. When that is clear to me, I can make a plan and attack it. So I will just recommend whatever your system may be, a whiteboard, a pegboard, Trello, whatever it is, just have a system to keep on top of your writing.
That’s really good advice. And I think yeah — good to point out that it can be digital or physical like system. I’ve recently moved more back to pen and paper. I have a wall calendar. I make little paper notes — I don’t want to show them because they’re very messy. There’s so many ways to have a system. It doesn’t need to be Trello. And what I do is I combine the two actually. I have my Trello board and I have my pen-and-paper system.
Before we finish, are there any links, your website — you have a beautiful personal website — you want to share for people who want to connect about your research?
First, I’ll just like to highlight my website designer, Jennifer. She is known as The Academic Designer online. She did my websites. So my personal website is makellascoudray.com. I also have my lab website. My lab is the Sexual Health Equity and Empowerment Research Lab or the SHEER Lab. And our website is thesheerlab.com. We’re also on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook at The Sheer Lab.
Fantastic. Thank you so much for taking the time Makella and chatting today. I appreciate you. Thank you.
Anna’s note: If you want to know more about the Journal Publication Formula, the method that helped Makella reduce the time she spends writing manuscript be a confident academic writer, I got you. I created a whole training that’ll show you exactly what’s included in the Researchers’ Writing Academy and help you decide whether it’s the right choice for you.
Just click the orange button below to watch it now (or save for later)!
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