Have you ever wondered what kind of academic style you should build for yourself?

Which models should you follow to succeed in academia? What traits should you learn, adopt, and make your own?

These questions are always on my mind.

I’ve spent a long time trying to figure out the “right” way to do academic work — only to realize, there isn’t just one.

Some professors take a broad approach — diversifying their research across multiple topics and acting more like project managers at an executive level.

Others enjoy staying hands-on — analyzing data and writing papers themselves.

Each of these models, though so different in style, is successful by academic standards (If you count their h-index, citations, or similar metrics).

This taught me: There are many paths to success. But the right one is the one that brings you joy.

Which one makes you feel happy and fulfilled? Which model do you aspire to become? Go for that one.

I started learning from others and forming my own academic principles.

1) Quality Is Your Identity

From what I’ve observed, there are two major publishing strategies in academia:

• Some people prioritize the quantity of publications — getting as many papers out as possible, even if the quality is just “good enough.”
• Others prioritize quality over quantity — aiming for high-impact journals, even if that means fewer publications.

In my Master’s and early PhD years, I leaned toward quantity. I did my own research, collaborated with others, and co-authored as many papers as I could.

But something didn’t feel right.

I realized if I’m chasing quantity and not focusing on improving the quality of my work, I don’t feel happy. I didn’t enjoy the journey and started to doubt myself. Is this really the race I want to run?

We often hear the academic mantra “Publish or Perish”.

But that doesn’t mean “Publish as much as Possible”.

I realized I don’t want to win that race.

I love research because I love learning. I enjoy reading papers, diving into books, and spending hours in the library. That’s where my joy lies.

So I made a shift.

I set a new principle: aim for high standards in my work. I now restrict my time spent on other people’s projects, focusing instead on my own. I target top journals in my field, and I read articles from those journals regularly to raise my own standards.

As Cal Newport writes in Slow Productivity, and Shane Parrish in Clear Thinking, productivity in knowledge work depends on the quality of your output. When you do high-quality work, you feel proud and fulfilled.

So my strategy is clear “Produce high-quality research and publish in high-quality journals”. It helps me grow, both professionally and personally.

One thing I’ve learned to be cautious about is self-justification. Sometimes you’ll convince yourself that it’s okay to lower your standards “just this once” because the task isn’t important. But what you don’t see is that you’re slowly lowering the standard for yourself. As the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) by social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson explains, this is a slippery slope. One compromise can lead to more, and eventually you’ll find yourself wondering how you got to a place you never intended to be. I remind myself “Hold the line, even when it’s hard”. What you can’t see matters more than what you can.

2) Foundations Matter

Now that I’m in the fourth year of my PhD, I regret not studying the foundational textbooks of my field earlier. I read The Professor Is In by Karen Kelsky, and some questions in that book really struck me:

“What are the current topics and debates in your field? Where do you see your field in the next 5 or 10 years?”

I didn’t know how to answer them. And that pushed me back to the basics. When you understand the past, you understand the present — and only then can you begin to grasp the future.

In the early years of my PhD, I focused heavily on research articles and largely avoided books. I needed quick, publishable results. But now, I’m beginning to slow down, work deeper, and focus on building strong foundations.

In the age of AI, we’re overwhelmed with information. It’s easy to think we don’t need to know things deeply anymore because we can just ask ChatGPT. But in fact, foundational knowledge is more important than ever. That’s what makes someone an expert.

Ethan Mollick, in Co-Intelligence, emphasized that in the AI era, we should focus on mastering the fundamentals. That’s one key element of becoming an expert. Why? Because AI becomes more powerful, its mistakes become more subtle. Only true experts can spot them.

3) Be Aware of Your Research Niche

I’ve been doing research in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), but over time, I’ve found my projects spreading across many different topics. Part of that is due to the nature of master and PhD funding — you go where the support is. Still, it’s important to be intentional about your research direction: “Am I building toward a clear research identity?”

• Someone believes in multidisciplinary diversity— exploring many topics to increase funding chances.
• Others prefer depth and focus, aiming to become experts in a specific niche.

Both paths work. You’ll find successful role models in both camps.

But the key is knowing what you want.

I enjoy learning new things — it brings me joy. But I also want to focus. I’ve realized that I feel most fulfilled when I go deep enough to understand the nuances of a field. As The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (Naval is my role model) puts it, the goal is to work in a way that feels like play. That’s what I want.

Your Model, Your Joy

These are the three principles I’ve built for my academic life:

1. Quality is your identity
2. Foundations matter
3. Be aware and intentional about your research niche

They guide how I work, how I learn, and how I choose what to focus on.

And most importantly —

They make me happy.