It’s not the main point of this story, but listen up, academic young kings, because there is an important career tip in here. 1/ chronicle.com/article/An-Und…
It’s this section: “So how is it that such a beloved and consequential work is only just now making it into print? One reason is that Scott, as he will admit if pressed, is a perfectionist.” 2/
Here’s the lesson: if you have produced a good piece of scholarship, PUBLISH IT. Don’t think that you’ll be able to perfect it in the next year. 3/
In my twenty-five years in this business, every junior scholar I’ve seen who sat on some groundbreaking research to eliminate all the flaws wound up not getting tenure at their first jobs. Every. Damn. One. 4/
Here’s the dirty secret of academic publishing, my younglings: there is no such thing as a perfect piece of scholarship. It’s all flawed. Years from now, you will look back at your widely-cited work and wince at parts of it. 5/
That’s perfectly normal. Better to be aware of the flaws than to paralyze yourself into inaction like this. chronicle.com/article/An-Und… 6/ 
Now I’m *not* saying that you should rush pell-mell into publishing. Obviously, revision and further research are essential parts of what we do as scholars. 7/
What I am saying is that, if you want to be a successful academic, you must appreciate how the perfect can be the enemy of the good. 8/
Assuming that you’ll be able to polish an already-publishable piece of scholarship in the future is... risky. Life (health, children, family) has a way of interfering. 9/
So, to sum up: give up your dreams of perfection. It will never happen. Aim to publish very good scholarship, and accept you will never be perfect. You’ll live a happier and more productive life. #fin 10/
