Catching Up with Published Authors #3- Maria Zambrano Davila
Araneum is reaching out to authors who have published original research in our journals! Recently, we managed to catch up with senior Maria Zambrano Davila, who is pursuing her PhD in Political Science at MIT. Maria’s article, How to Create Feminist Policy: The 2021-2022 Chilean Constitutional Rewrite, was published in our Spring 2024 Edition, which you can read here!
How has Araneum helped you in getting into your PhD Program?
Publishing an original research article significantly helped my application for a PhD. It proved that I am capable of, first, designing and carrying out a research project, and second, navigating the multiple feedback rounds of peer review. Graduate programs seek applicants with these experiences because students go through them repeatedly during the PhD. In fact, one of the admissions interviewers shared with me that having a sole-author publication elevated my application among the rest. In addition, knowing the benefits of publication held me accountable to keep a work rhythm and gave me a hard-stop deadline. Otherwise, I could have modified my project forever!
Can you talk about your experience with the publication process? What did you learn by going through it?
I sent the second draft of my paper and received two rounds of feedback; I made significant adjustments to my paper. Once you spend months working on it, a project's words and graphs can totally lose meaning in your head. The peer-review process pointed out weaknesses I had glossed over, encouraged me to be more detail-oriented, and helped me craft a paper I am proud of.
Would you recommend Araneum to a friend? Why?
Yes! 100%. A publication is an excellent sign of curiosity, autonomy, proactivity, discipline, and many other very marketable skills that can benefit you both in graduate school and the job market. If you have a project you have been working on for a while, the costs of publishing are way lower than the benefits. Send in your paper!
What advice do you have for prospective writers and peer reviewers?
First, research does not have to be abstract or unreachable. Start with what’s familiar to you. What aspect of your community do you care about enough to spend a summer researching? My Araneum publication comes from a summer at home interviewing local politicians.
Second, perfect is the enemy of good. Hopefully, your first publication is your worst one. That means you are learning and getting better. At the same time, don't be afraid to switch things around if what you have is not clicking. Give yourself both grace and the chance to benefit from all the hard work you put in.
Finally and most importantly, do not ignore all the funding opportunities UR offers for independent research. I never conducted research outside of UR, and look where I am headed to now! Do not underestimate or take for granted the opportunities UR has to offer.
