Research involvement is good for both patients and clinicians. In healthcare organisations that are research active, not only are mortality outcomes better, but clinicians are happier and retention rates better. In this chapter we consider how early career clinicians can involve themselves in research, for the benefit of your clinical practice and your patients. It is important to foster early exposure to research, which also makes further involvement in research a less intimidating venture. The only warning attached to that is that once you’ve had a taste of research involvement, and seen your first publication in print, you may find it hard to leave it behind! Establishing research skills early in one’s career can have advantages; firstly, it encourages critical thinking on how to approach any patient, their presenting difficulties and the selection of appropriate interventions. Further, being able to appraise the expanding and complex (and often contradictory) evidence base is a vital skill any clinician will utilise throughout their career. Finally, it is, or can be, enormous fun!

This chapter explores the critical importance of child and adolescent mental health in understanding and mitigating mental illness across the life course. Because the majority of mental disorders emerge during childhood or adolescence, early mental health interventions are key to prevent long-term health burden. We emphasise the need for a developmental perspective in mental health research, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in studying both typical and atypical development, addressing diagnostic comorbidity, and evaluating environmental influences on mental health outcomes. We discuss four examples to illustrate the breadth of research in child and adolescent mental health: (1) conceptualising psychopathology across the lifespan, (2) establishing valid measures of childhood maltreatment to assess its impact on mental health, (3) testing the mechanisms that might explain why maltreatment contributes to the risk of psychopathology, and (4) optimising psychiatric crisis care for adolescents in the UK. By examining these critical issues, the chapter outlines how advances in child and adolescent mental health research can lead to innovative strategies for preventing and managing mental health problems, with the potential to improve wellbeing throughout the life course.

Publishing a peer-reviewed paper is an ambition for all entering academic careers, and a necessity for those remaining in it. It can feel a daunting, complex, and long process, but there is an art and skill to successfully publishing that can be learned. This chapter sets out to demystify and explain the processes involved, and how to maximise the chances of success. From writing a multi-author paper, through deciding author position, to choosing the right journal and dealing with reviewer comments.