How different are papers that are "in draft", "in review", and "pending publication" for graduate school application? I have a research paper that's already drafted, but my PI is aiming for a high-profile journal, so he wants me to address all foreseeable questions about the method I'm about to propose, which means I need to do some supplementary experiments. But this way my paper can't be submitted at the time of my application, and I will have no objective proof about the significance of the work. Or alternatively, I could submit my draft and wait for the reviewer's opinion, so I can put mark the paper as "in review". This will serve as a proof that my work is mature enough to be seen by others. But is it worth it? By the way, I'm an senior undergraduate, and I got another paper in draft, but definitely won't be submitted before January. And both drafts are at the stage where they're fit to be reviewed by the admission committee. Besides my supervisors for both projects are listed as my recommenders, and should be able to vouch for me if contacted. Thank you!
If a paper is "in review" then this is not proof that it is mature enough to be seen by others. (I have reviewed my share of papers that were certainly not at that stage of maturity.) It only proves that you have submitted something which has not yet been rejected, accepted or returned for revision. You might have submitted some random Lorem Ipsum five minutes before submitting your application.
Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 16:29 @StephanKolassa so basically unpublished paper doesn't count in graduate school application? Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 16:32They could be trying to elicit reviewer comments. Or trying to hit the smallest publishable scientific increment. Or they could be trying to boost their publication list before applying to grad school (I'm not saying you do this). They could be running a "quantity over quality" strategy, submitting and resubmitting until a journal accepts their crap. They could simply not understand that their manuscript is not publication-ready yet.
Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 16:47I don't think having a working paper can hurt your application, as long as you are proud of it in its current form already - in particular if its a joint paper with a PI. Those papers are usually listed on a CV or personal web page. On the contrary, they should help document that you are engaged in research already. I just don't think that an "under review at. " monicker elevates it over just being a working paper.
Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 17:06Please be aware that many graduate schools ask for you to submit research articles as part of your application materials. In this case whether or not it is "in review" or just pending/forthcoming and you are including a draft, it is still worthy of inclusion and has a greater-than-zero value (if it's something that's worthy of graduate-level review, anyway). So I would say that an unpublished paper - even in progress - can matter for a graduate school application. I'm just not entirely clear on what value it has relative to an already published paper, or if a metric can meaningfully exist.