This is a rebuilding of a publication flowchart which arose on my Twitter page a while ago that one may use to manage numerous academic projects. I've shrunk it down to a smaller version for use at a student's desk. Initial credit for my finding it is to Cesar A. Hidalgo, director of the Collective Learning group at MIT as of this writing.

Those who have published peer-reviewed research know that the publication is as much as journey as the research. This flowchart shows general project progress and creates a visual aid for pulling projects through!

Supplies

Whiteboard (I used a small one from Staples)

Ruler

Permanent markers (Black, Red)

Dry Erase Marker

Labelmaker

Tape (Masking and Scotch)

Envelope

Printer Paper (or Post-Its for Color!)

Step 1: Step 1: Markup

Using a Dry-Erase Market, Measure out your board to block it in the manner shown in the figure. I chose to do mine as a simple line drawing, but you can adjust yours to your taste!

The arrows are general, but the idea is simple- keep all your projects on the outside edge. The 'natural flow' should start at drafting and move clockwise to marketing your new publications!

Step 2: Step 2: Commit

Once you have a dry-erased template you like, take a sharpie and mark it on the board to fix it permanently! (You can omit this step, but I would advise against it as you'll be moving projects a LOT on this!)

I left a block on the bottom left for notes and a project tag holder which we'll add later!

Step 3: Step 3: Print Labels and Affix on the Board

You can handwrite your labels, but there's something quirky about label makers which I enjoy. So I printed out the labels for the sections.

Refer to the posting on Step 1 for the box titles. Below is a suggested list of labels:

Draft/Markup

Research

Submit

Revision

Under Review

Accepted

Marketing

Feedback

Peer Comments

Notes (Optional)

Publication Flowchart (Optional)

Step 4: Step 4: Optional Project Tag Envelope

I do a few projects, so I figured having a tag supply with this board would be useful. In the future I'll use colored post-it tags or similar, but for now, I sliced up some paper. A small envelope was taped to the board with masking tape on the back and scotch tape to reinforce the sides. I also labelled this as well!

Step 5: Step 5: Put It in Practice!

Once you have it together, its simply a matter of moving the projects through the process! A huge thank you to the #Chemtwitter community for inspiring this build. With that, back to work! And to all reading this, best of luck with research!