Hi all!

I'm due to start a Social Science Research Masters in October. My aim is to then continue on to do a Phd in Social Policy or Sociology.

I have already completed pieces of research, outside of my undergraduate degree, which I have submitted to an undergraduate journal. This was part of an undergraduate research scheme and was formally recognised meaning I had a supervisor and receiving ethical approval was quicker and simpler etc.

Would I be able to write another paper without the help of a supervisor along side my Masters? I would like to try and get something else published in a postgraduate journal to make my PhD application stronger and because I love writing and sharing my writing. Do many Masters students write journals alongside their studies? Is it even possible?

Yes, it actually looks good to have an article in review or published while you are applying for PhD applications. I was in social sciences/arts and wrote an article during the tail-end of the MA, and the potential PhD supervisors said it was a strong consideration in the applications. You also should try to present a couple of papers at some conferences alongside your MA, as that looks great on a CV for later. It's a lot of hard work, but well worth it if you enjoy the challenge of academic writing. (I'm not sure what a postgraduate journal is, you should be able to pitch the article to regular blind peer-reviewed academic journals, I got two rejects before getting it accepted.)

Thank for your reply. It was very helpful. When you were writing an article, was it a desk based journal or did it involve fieldwork? Did you have a supervisor?

It was a critical discourse analysis paper for an academic journal. I didn't have a supervisor, and I basically expanded and went into deeper analysis from a short paper that I handed in and got good marks on in an MA course. I only used my supervisor for my MA dissertation, but haven't asked him to review any article drafts. To find which journal I wanted, I read through some of the top ones in the discipline and chose the ones that matched the 'journal aims' on their websites. I then pitched it, with some rejects but I did get very good constructive criticism that really helped make it into a great article. It is blind peer review, so any rejections or criticism won't really embarrass anyone.