Chinese Doctoral Students' Boundary Crossing and Integration Into Communities of Practice in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Research publications have emerged as the key marker of productivity determining one's survival in academia. The pressure to publish is no longer confined to faculty members but has extended to doctoral students. Despite a growing research interest in doctoral students' research writing experiences, there is a lack of scholarship investigating the complexities of the writing‐for‐publication process among those students who achieve publishing success during their studies. Informed by the dual concepts of boundary crossing and communities of practice and drawing on data from in‐depth interviews with four doctoral students and their supervisors, this study indicates that scholarly publishing is an intricate process encompassing the doctoral students' transition across linguistic, geographic, and emotional levels. This three‐tiered boundary crossing enabled the participants' socialization and integration into the academic research community. The paper concludes by providing valuable suggestions for doctoral students, supervisors, and university administrators.