The path that leads from a research idea to a research paper is like a roller coaster. When you slow down and think you are coming to an end, it’s probably time for a new thrilling ride.
You spend an extra couple of hours on the literature review to prepare for the final writing, and you uncover new papers that would be foolish not to study and take into account. You go through your analysis code before feeling ready to archive it, and you realize how many more sophisticated approaches could and perhaps should have been taken. You think it’s just a matter of putting it all together, and you come back from conferences with interesting extra questions to be answered and unseen possibilities to be explored. And the feeling of holding a published copy of your paper fades away.
Finding the right moment to finalize research work in a paper is an art which I still have to master. The recent IAERE 16 conference, where I presented our analysis of the ENEL dataset on realtime-feedback power consumption, left me with a renewed awareness of its margins for improvement and urgency to test the new suggested methods, models, and variables. The Muenster Energy Conference coming next month provides a good milestone for another thrilling research ride.
Will there be just a gentle descent towards the roller coaster exit after then? Stay tuned, we will see.