Abstract
Becoming published authors presents a learning curve for graduate students. Publishing literacy is part of the hidden curriculum of graduate school because publishing is generally not taught consistently but more commonly through ad hoc conversations with advisors, advice from peers, and the occasional workshop. Our study surveyed graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) who had already published or were expecting to publish journal articles. Survey questions asked students about the publishing process, defined by us as the stage of the post-writing process when a manuscript is ready to publish. Our data demonstrate that publishing expectations are frequently unclear and that students often rely on guidance from their advisors as well as their networks of other graduate students, though this guidance does not add up to comprehensive training covering the full publishing process. The publishing process remains opaque for students, and the learn-as-you-go support model results in gaps in student understanding of the publication process, points to a lack of equity, and signals the need for greater investment in student publishing success.