Question

Is it a good idea to apply for PhD if someone already holds a PhD degree (with 18 good publications, 100+ citations)?

Answer 1

(1) what type of PhD does this some one have? and what type of PhD does someone want to apply to? (this also qualifies the 18 pubs; in some disciplines this is a lot, in others it is only a few.)

(2) what is someone's long term goals?

If working in gov't or industry is included in any or all goals then regardless to the answer in #1, I would reply NO!

 But if someone has a PhD in discipline X and wants to make a uturn to do academic work in discipline Y, and the overlap/mutual ground between X and Y are minimal, then sure maybe. (this could be even a better idea if it is easier to find a job in Y.)

Comments

Thank you so much for your reply. I have a PhD in Economics from my home country. Planning to do another PhD in economics from a good school in the US.
Not able to decide.
I want to work in academics.

Answer 2

18 good publications in economics is more than most people have in their lifetime. You should have no trouble getting a tenured job in academia. Which makes one suspect that there is more to the story than you have told us.

Comments

I have just started applying.  out of 18 ...i have one A, 12 Bs and 5 C category publications (AS per ABDC ranking). Thats it. Had perfect 10/10 CGPA in PhD from a reputed school in my home country.

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While it obviously depends on whether other schools find the ranking reasonable, that record should make getting some academic job easy. (Possible caveat, assuming you speak reasonably fluently.) No one will care about your grades.

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I do have 2.5 years of teaching Economics in a leading business school (AACSB accredited).
I am kind of fascinated by good schools in the US for PhD program.

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I have wondered myself, how I would do if applied again right now to a top 5 econ department.  In all likelihood the following would happen in decreasing order.  

1.  They don't accept me because essentially my potential has been revealed.  I'm a decent researcher in my field but I'm not winning a nobel prize, and two Ph.D's in econ would be weird.  But they have a good laugh about it.

2.  They accept me, but I don't pass prelims.  It's been 15 years since I took real analysis.  That will not help.  I have two settle for a weird double masters in econ.  


3.  I get in, but my spouse divorces me due to the stress of the huge drop in income and uncertainty over the future.  I end up playing guitar in a low level country band about how my life went sour.  

 
In short, I don't know that getting additional training matters.  All universities care about is your publication and knowledge.  Once you've been out a few years, that gets revealed.    If I was to cool back to school at this point, it would probably be to get a law degree.  5 years is a lot of time that you could have spent writing more or better papers, and instead you'll be toiling in classes you've largely already learned which are often not relevant for your line of research specialization.

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I'd work on the networking game, and establishing teaching credentials here, for instance teaching a few summer classes. Make sure its stuff you already have prepped up.  That will verify your fluency and help you network.

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Following on Ben's advice. Try to arrange a term, or a year, at a good school in the U.S. as either a visiting scholar or teaching. This will help you get into the U.S. network.

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Thanks Ben, I think that some of the points make sense.
What about post doc? will that help me? looking for opportunities..
Trying to get in connection with Econ Profs here.

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You have 18 publications at age 26 2 years after getting your Ph.D?

One of three things.  

1.  You're trolling.  

2.  You'll have no problem getting a visiting position.

3.  You're ranking A, B, C journals is very different than mine and a fair share of your pubs are in predatory journals.  


Assuming no trolling, the best thing to do is to go to some conferences and meet folks, or email people directly doing research in your area asking about visiting positions.  Organize sessions asking other people you want to meet to be chair.  Visit in the summer, teach some summer classes, etc.  Put yourself out there.  You'll get rejected most of the time, but rejection is just part of the US job market hunt and academia overall.  You just need 1 place to say yes.

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Yeah, I am not trolling.
I had 12 journal publication at the completion of my PhD.
I don't have any publications in predatory journals.
Thank you for your advice.

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That's great.  At the same time, some places would probably prefer fewer papers of higher quality especially at this point in your career.  In short you have PLENTY of pubs.  You need to focus a bit on networking, and also focusing on the QUALITY of your pubs going forward.  Only work on projects with A+ potential will open the most doors for you.  I say this as someone who has a decent record, but I also know people you hold me in higher esteem if I had only had my best pubs, and had a couple lower quality pubs drop off my vita.  Some of those some of those papers I love, but had I polished them more, they could have done a bit better which is something I focus on now.

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Yeah, i am working on A and A* quality projects.
It is very difficult to get a reply from Professors. I do want to work on my networking. Lets hope i get something.
I really appreciate your reply.

Answer 3

If I were you, I wouldn't get a second PhD and instead network like crazy. Meet as many people as possible who have the same research interests as you.

Comments

Thank you for your suggestion. I will surely act on it.