I’m approaching the tail end of grant writing season, and I’ve had to update my CV, put it in NIH format, and so on. It occurred to me while doing this is that there is very little professional incentive to write book chapters, since most (although not all) are not peer-reviewed, and consequently aren’t viewed as publications by many funding agencies. So why write them?
Sometimes I’ve written a book chapter because it allows me to grind an ax that desperately needs grinding; other times, I’ve done so because it allows me to develop an argument or an agenda that can then be cited later (you can still cite book chapters).
What are your thoughts?
mikethemadbiologist
For junior faculty, book chapters on the CV are good, because they demonstrate that some senior figure in your field thought highly enough of you to ask you to write the chapter.
Sometimes I’ve written a book chapter because it allows me to grind an ax that desperately needs grinding; other times, I’ve done so because it allows me to develop an argument or an agenda that can then be cited later (you can still cite book chapters ??