From 2001 to 2008, I coordinated the publication of 13 peer‐reviewed manuscripts stemming from group projects in a graduate‐level Advanced Forest Ecology class. The intention of the group projects was to immerse the students in actual forest ecology research and increase their professional development by personally involving them in the publication process. The student publications appeared in 11 different journals (American Midland Naturalist, Castanea, Dendrochronologia, Forest Ecology and Management, Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education, Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, Natural Areas Journal, Northeastern Naturalist, Southeastern Geographer, and Tree‐Ring Research) and each group project had a unique publication history that varied depending upon the skill levels of the students (M.S. vs. Ph.D. students), discipline of the students, and motivation level of the students. Throughout this period, we only had two class projects that were never published and one manuscript that remains in review