Discuss your research interests with your department chairperson and other senior colleagues. If you perceive that the importance of your work might be misunderstood or undervalued, seek opportunities to inform others of its relevance and significance. Present your work in and out of your department or institution at conferences, seminars, or forums that will expose you to people with similar interests. They should become familiar enough with your work to be able to provide strong positive evaluations. If possible, work with individuals with strong reputations so that their opinions are more likely to outweigh any prejudicial judgements.
Some scholars maintain two areas of research, one mainstream and one nonmainstream.
This can be difficult because you might then be expected to be an expert in two distinct areas, and your record in the mainstream area may be compared with the records of researchers who have devoted all of their time and energy to this one area. Publishing steadily Beginning researchers should publish as many pieces from their dissertation as they can. There is evidence that this is one of the best predictors of success in publishing. With many things to do each week, making time for writing is difficult. You can structure your time so that every week you work on some aspect of a manuscript.