Saying No: Do you suggest an alternate?

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Saying no: Do you suggest an alternate?

One issue that comes up reasonably frequently in relation to saying no, especially for research related things, is whether or not you should suggest someone else.

There are 2 sides to this question.

Would the person asking you welcome your suggestions?
Would the person you recommend welcome being recommended?

Before we get to that, it might be helpful to recap why you want to say no to research related requests in the first place. (See also the Spotlight: Saying No) The kinds of requests I’m thinking of here include:

Requests to contribute to an edited book or journal special issue
Requests to give a talk on a specific topic, for other scholars or for another audience
Requests to collaborate on a research project in some way
Requests to co-author an article or book
Requests from a publisher or editor to peer review journal articles, or book manuscripts
Requests from a funder to peer review a grant proposal or serve on an adjudication committee
Requests to review a book or write a review essay about several books for a journal
Requests to supervise a doctoral or postdoctoral scholar, or to be part of a committee or co-supervision team.

You are going to want to say yes to some of these opportunities. But you can’t say yes to all of them.

In fact, I strongly recommend that you assume your default answer is “no” and look for good reasons to say yes. You need to be strategic about your research and publishing. It’s okay to set limits on how much peer review and supervision you do and focus that labour.

Of course, your stage of career will have an impact on both the number of requests you receive and the confidence you have in your own priorities and the likelihood of future opportunities that align with them. Early in your career you may say yes more often as a way to build your network, establish yourself, and learn from collaborators.

Once you reach mid-career, you may start to feel like you are finding it hard to find time for your own research priorities, because you have so many commitments to other things. You may also find that you get more requests for things you are well known for, but no longer working on, and fewer requests for the kind of work you’d really like to do right now. Your ability to do something well stops being a good discriminator between opportunities.

Saying no to something can feel like you are letting someone else down, or making it harder for a good project to happen.

You aren’t rejecting the project as a whole, it’s just not a priority for you. In addition to wondering if suggestions are expected, you may also feel like offering a good alternate would reduce the sting of your no.

You never have to give a suggestion. You are saying no because you don’t have time to do all these things. You certainly don’t have time to research suggestions. Whoever is asking is going to appreciate a quick reply much more than a delay. You don’t want to increase the risk that you’ll forget to reply at all.

Is a suggestion welcome?

The question of whether the person making the request would welcome a suggestion is complicated by wondering whether you are expected to suggest someone else if you say no.

I’m not a fan of tacit rules. They are confusing for everyone. Even if there is a tacit expectation in some contexts, it will not be universal. It will depend a lot on things like national cultures, and even the person doing the asking. I’m fairly confident that if there is a tacit expectation and you do not make a suggestion, the risk to your reputation and future opportunities is negligible.

In some contexts, there will be an explicit invitation to recommend someone else if you are unable to say yes. This was part of the standard request for external evaluations of grant proposals at the funding agency where I used to work. It is also pretty standard for a lot of peer review requests. That is not a requirement, but a request.

Peer review

In general, for various types of peer review, I would assume that a suggestion would be welcome if you have one. Funding agency databases tend to be populated by applicants, with reviewers added to the database as needed. Journal databases (if they even exist) will be populated by those who have published in the journal.

Reviewers may be suggested by applicants or authors, by the bibliography of the proposal or article, or by the network of the programme officer, members of the adjudication panel, or members of the editorial board. Suggesting reviewers, especially those who are unlikely to be widely known, will likely be welcome.

If you value diversity in peer review, making suggestions can be a way to diversify the database of funders and publishers, even if the people you suggest are not able to say yes to this particular request. Those people may also make further suggestions, further diversifying the pool of potential reviewers for future requests.

Do not assume that a country-specific funding agency requires peer reviewers to be from the country in which they are based, especially if the ability to review applications in a language other than English is required.

Collaboration

For other kinds of requests, the situation is much less clear. In many of these situations, you will have some kind of relationship with the person asking which will help you judge this better.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is whether it is you, specifically, that they want to be involved or whether they need someone with specific expertise that you have.

If they want to work with you, specifically, and your reason for saying no is primarily due to the weight of other commitments, you may want to suggest a different timeline or a different way for you to contribute, rather than another person who could contribute in your place. This might be better done in a phone conversation than by email.

You might also be able to suggest that you bring someone in to work with you, rather than someone who would contribute instead of you. For example, contributing a chapter co-authored with a doctoral or postdoctoral scholar might be acceptable. The person editing the book or special issue can be assured of your influence on the quality of the work, and having your name in the publication if that’s a concern. This kind of arrangement can also benefit your mentee. I’ll talk more about that in the next section.

If the request is for someone with your expertise, it’s really a question of whether the person making the request has a good network in that area or would benefit from your more extensive network. If you aren’t sure, you might want to play it safe and ask whether they would like a suggestion, before offering one. They might have a list and just asked you first. (This possibility is also useful for calming your gremlins down, if you’re worried about your “no” scuppering their project.)

Similar to the peer review situation, offering to connect people in your network to the person requesting can benefit both parties. It can also contribute to diversifying the types of people who are contributing to the project, especially if your networks extend into less well represented communities.

Are you increasing someone else’s workload by making a suggestion?

The other issue that may concern you is that everyone you can think to suggest is also very busy. You know saying no is hard. Maybe it would be easier if the colleague you’d like to suggest just didn’t get the request.

First let me remind you that, as busy as you are, there are some of these requests that you do want to say yes to. You’d be really disappointed if someone didn’t ask you because they pre-decided that you were too busy. Part of the autonomy you value in academic work is the ability to make your own decisions about this kind of thing.

Questions are not commands and should not obligate people. No one can read minds.

That said, if you are more senior than the person you want to suggest, and especially if you are in a position of authority over them (e.g. a doctoral candidate you are supervising, or someone you write references for), there may be an assumed obligation, especially if the person who makes the request says that you suggested them.

Peer review

For peer review requests, I would be generous in recommending people. They are under no obligation to say yes, and you can clarify this with those who you mentor. (Share my post on managing peer review requests perhaps.

Keep in mind that the number of requests you receive is not normal. It might be normal amongst those at a similar stage of career in similar kinds of institutions (i.e. your close network of colleagues) but there are many scholars out there who would actually like to be doing more peer review and are not getting asked.

This is one reason I mention diversity. A lot of peer review depends on the networks of the editor or adjudication panel chair. Those networks are limited. I especially encourage you to recommend scholars working in institutions in the geopolitical south, scholars newer to the field, and scholars who are members of equity seeking groups.

Also, if one of the reasons you are being asked is because you can review in a language other than English, do recommend others who have that ability, especially if they work in an anglophone context and/or have a name that doesn’t make their language skills obvious. (Why, yes, I used to work for a Canadian funding agency, why do you ask?) Your colleague may welcome this opportunity.

Collaboration, seminars, etc.

Beyond peer review, things get a bit trickier. You may have good suggestions, but you don’t want to add to your colleagues’ workload. You want them to be able to say no without feeling like they are letting you down as well as the person actually making the request.

You are never required to make a suggestion, so treat this kind of thing as being as much about supporting scholars you are mentoring, as about helping out the person making the request. That means you need to talk to your mentees about their goals and interests so you know what kinds of opportunities they might want to be suggested for. In particular, you don’t want to recommend them for things they are no longer working on, or be perceived as pushing them in a particular direction.

This kind of conversation is best held in a general way rather than in response to a particular request. Whether you have a formal or informal mentoring relationship, and whether that relationship involves regular meetings or just occasional advice and support, you can initiate a conversation. You might say something like:

“I get more requests than I can possibly say yes to, and I think our shared interests mean that you may be interested in some of them. I don’t want to add to your workload unnecessarily though. Perhaps we could meet to talk about your research goals, and the kinds of opportunities I might be in a position to recommend you for, so I can do a good job of this.”

This is best done in a meeting (even by phone or video conference) than by email. That will give both of you an opportunity to ask questions and maybe also talk about supporting each other in this practice of saying no. Work out if they’d be interested in co-authoring or co-presenting, as well as being recommended to do something instead of you.

Building networks is a collective responsibility.

Opportunities often come through networks. Even when there are formal processes to try to ensure fairness and representation (e.g. in hiring practices), networks can make a difference to whether someone hears about an opportunity, and how much background knowledge they have about what might be required and how to make a strong application.

For the kinds of things I’ve been talking about here, networks are crucial. They are important to being able to do a good job of editing a journal, putting together a strong special journal issue or edited book, putting together a strong conference panel, or making good decisions about allocating funding. They are also crucial to being invited to participate in activities that will help you advance your own research and career.

Everyone’s networks are limited in some way. Early in your career they will be dominated by people in your doctoral institution, and those you meet at conferences or other events. As you progress in your career, you will have more opportunities to expand your network but those opportunities will be limited by the institutions where you work, the conferences you attend, and your personal facility with meeting new people, and establishing and maintaining relationships. While some people could use help “getting better at networking”, everyone can benefit from introductions to people and opportunities through a mutual acquaintance who shares common interests.

The way an individual approaches this will be influenced by their values. If you see academia as a community of scholars with the collective goal of advancing knowledge, you will see introducing people to others within your subsection of the community as an obvious way to build community. If you see it as a zero-sum game with winners and losers, you will approach networking, introducing others to your network, and passing on opportunities within your network, as part of that power struggle.

I’m in the first camp. Generosity benefits the community and the advancement of knowledge. However, you also need to be careful about the perspective of others in your network and the safety of those you are introducing or offering opportunities.

You can ask others to recommend or introduce you.

Maybe you are that scholar who is not getting the kinds of requests you’d like to be receiving. How does this advice help you? Your mentors may not read this article. You can ask them instead of waiting for them to ask you.

I use the term “mentor” in the broadest sense. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone in a formal mentoring or supervisory relationship. Nor does it have to be someone you seek advice and support from regularly. If there is someone in your field who has expressed an interest in your work, and been supportive in even a small way, you can reach out to them based on that shared interest.

Don’t assume they aren’t passing things on to you because they think you aren’t good enough. (I see that gremlin. It’s catastrophizing.) They may be saying yes to way too many things. They might assume that everyone else is also overwhelmed and never suggest alternates. Sometimes a concern for equity can lead people to overcorrect in the other direction and not make suggestions. They may be trying hard not to contribute to you being overwhelmed with opportunities, or concerned about whether the difference in your positions would make you feel obligated to take an opportunity they suggest you for.

If you think someone in your network might be in a position to suggest your name for opportunities they say no to, you can initiate a conversation with them. A request is not a demand. They can’t say yes unless you ask. No one is good at mind-reading. Make sure you are okay if they say no, even to your request for a meeting or introduction.

You want to make them aware of your research goals and the types of opportunities you’d be interested in. You want to make them aware that you are not receiving the kinds of requests you might like. They may or may not be willing to pass on opportunities, but at least they will know you are open to receiving them.

Remind them who you are and what you have in common, then say something like:

“I’m not sure if you get asked to do more things than you can possibly say yes to, but if you do, I’m wondering if we could talk about whether it might be appropriate to suggest me as an alternate when saying no. Could we set up a meeting to talk about my research goals and the kinds of opportunities I’m interested in, in case something suitable comes up?”

You can also ask to be introduced to people in their network, especially if you have a specific reason for wanting to be able to talk to them. This is particularly appropriate if you will all be at an in-person meeting (like a conference) where there might be an opportunity to be introduced over coffee or lunch or at a social event. However, if you want to approach the other person to contribute to a project you are working on, you can also ask for an email introduction or permission to use their name when you contact them cold.

A quick reply is more important.

If you know you can’t do this thing, for any reason, saying no quickly enables the person asking to move on to ask someone else. If you have a good suggestion for an alternate, and can still reply quickly, make that suggestion or ask if they’d like a suggestion when you reply.

You are never required to make a suggestion, even if you are explicitly invited to do so. If all the names that come to mind are well known (generally or to the person who is asking you), there is no point in suggesting them. Don’t feel bad about this. You are not responsible for finding someone to do this work.

It is worth being clear if this type of opportunity is something you might welcome in the future. It is also worth clarifying if it seems you have been asked due to a misunderstanding of your expertise or current research direction.

It doesn’t take long to say “I am no longer working on questions of [specific thing], but welcome opportunities to contribute related to my current research on [new specific thing].”

Or to make a clear statement that you never accept requests of a specific type, for example when you have a policy of only doing peer review for certain kinds of journals.