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Publish or perish

"Publish or perish" is an aphorism describing the pressure to publish academic work in order to succeed in an academic career.[1][2][3] Such institutional pressure is generally strongest at research universities.[4] Some researchers have identified the publish or perish environment as a contributing factor to the replication crisis.

Successful publications bring attention to scholars and their sponsoring institutions, which can help continued funding and their careers. In popular academic perception, scholars who publish infrequently, or who focus on activities that do not result in publications, such as instructing undergraduates, may lose ground in competition for available tenure-track positions. The pressure to publish has been cited as a cause of poor work being submitted to academic journals.[5] The value of published work is often determined by the prestige of the academic journal it is published in. Journals can be measured by their impact factor (IF), which is the average number of citations to articles published in a particular journal over the last two years.[6]

Origin

The earliest known use of the term in an academic context was in a 1928 journal article.[7][8] The phrase appeared in a non-academic context in the 1932 book, Archibald Cary Coolidge: Life and Letters, by Harold Jefferson Coolidge.[9] In 1938, the phrase appeared in a college-related publication.[10] According to Eugene Garfield, the expression first appeared in an academic context in Logan Wilson's book, "The Academic Man: A Study in the Sociology of a Profession", published in 1942.[11] Others have attributed the phrase to Columbia University geneticist Kimball C. Atwood III.[12][13][14]

Advantages

Research-oriented universities may attempt to manage the unhealthy aspects of the publish or perish practices, but their administrators often argue that some pressure to produce cutting-edge research is necessary to motivate scholars early in their careers to focus on research advancement, and learn to balance its achievement with the other responsibilities of the professorial role. The call to abolish tenure is very much a minority opinion in such settings.[15]

Disadvantages

This phenomenon has been strongly criticized, the most notable grounds being that the emphasis on publishing may decrease the value of resulting scholarship, as scholars must spend more time scrambling to publish whatever they can get into print, rather than spending time developing significant research agendas.[16] Similarly, humanities scholar Camille Paglia has described the publish or perish paradigm as "tyranny" and further writes that "The [academic] profession has become obsessed with quantity rather than quality. ... One brilliant article should outweigh one mediocre book."[17]

The pressure to publish or perish also detracts from the time and effort professors can devote to teaching undergraduate courses and mentoring graduate students. The rewards for exceptional teaching rarely match the rewards for exceptional research, which encourages faculty to favor the latter whenever they conflict.[18]

Also, publish-or-perish is linked to scientific misconduct or at least questionable ethics.[19] It has also been argued that the quality of scientific work has suffered due to publication pressures. Physicist Peter Higgs, namesake of the Higgs boson, was quoted in 2013 as saying that academic expectations since the 1990s would likely have prevented him from both making his groundbreaking research contributions and attaining tenure. "It's difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964," he said. "Today I wouldn't get an academic job. It's as simple as that. I don't think I would be regarded as productive enough."[20]

According to some researchers, the publish or perish culture might also perpetuate bias in academic institutions. Overall, women publish less frequently than men, and when they do publish their work receives fewer citations than their male counterparts, even when it is published in journals with significantly higher impact factors.[21]

Variants

The MIT Media Lab's director Nicholas Negroponte instituted the motto "demo or die", privileging demonstrations over publication.[22] Director Joi Ito modified this to "deploy or die", emphasizing the adoption of the technology.[23]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Publish or perish". Nature. 467 (7313): 252. 2010. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..252.. doi:10.1038/467252a. PMID 20844492.
  2. ^ Fanelli, D. (2010). Scalas, Enrico (ed.). "Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists' Bias? An Empirical Support from US States Data". PLOS ONE. 5 (4): e10271. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...510271F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010271. PMC 2858206. PMID 20422014.
  3. ^ Neill, U. S. (2008). "Publish or perish, but at what cost?". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 118 (7): 2368. doi:10.1172/JCI36371. PMC 2439458. PMID 18596904.
  4. ^ Irons, Jessica G.; Buskist, William (2009). "Chapter 9: Preparing for a Career at a Teaching Institution". In Davis, Stephen F.; Giordano, Peter J.; Licht, Carolyn A. (eds.). Your Career in Psychology: Putting Your Graduate Degree to Work. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 117–132. ISBN 9781405179423. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  5. ^ Gad-El-Hak, M. (2004). "Publish or Perish—An Ailing Enterprise?". Physics Today. 57 (3): 61–62. Bibcode:2004PhT....57c..61G. doi:10.1063/1.1712503.
  6. ^ Liu, Xue-Li; Gai, Shuang-Shuang; Zhou, Jing (2016). "Journal Impact Factor: Do the Numerator and Denominator Need Correction?". PLOS ONE. 11 (3): e0151414. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1151414L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151414. PMC 4792445. PMID 26977697.
  7. ^ Case, Clarence Marsh (1928). "Scholarship in Sociology". Sociology and Social Research. 12: 323–340. ISSN 0038-0393. LCCN sn83004127. OCLC 5088377 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Doyle, Charles Clay; Mieder, Wolfgang; Shapiro, Fred R. (22 May 2012). The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Yale University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0300136029.
  9. ^ Coolidge, Harold Jefferson; Lord, Robert Howard (22 March 1932). Archibald Cary Coolidge: Life and Letters. Books for Libraries Press. ISBN 9780836966411 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Notes and Announcements". Bulletin of the Association of American Colleges. 24 (5): 463–468. 1938. JSTOR 40219435.
  11. ^ Eugene Garfield (June 1996). "What Is The Primordial Reference for the Phrase 'Publish Or Perish'?" (PDF). The Scientist. 10 (12): 11.
  12. ^ Moosa, Imad A. (26 January 2018). Publish or Perish: Perceived Benefits versus Unintended Consequences. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78643-493-7.
  13. ^ "Obituary: Kimball C. Atwood III". The Independent. 22 October 1992. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  14. ^ Moosa, Imad A. (26 January 2018). Publish or perish: Origin and perceived benefits: Perceived Benefits versus Unintended Consequences. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78643-493-7.
  15. ^ Vuong, Q.-H. (2019). "Breaking barriers in publishing demands a proactive attitude". Nature Human Behaviour. 3 (10): 1034. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0667-6. PMID 31602012.
  16. ^ Decca, Aitkenhead. "Peter Higgs: I wouldn't be productive enough for today's academic system". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Paglia, Camille. Junk Bonds and Corporate Raiders: Academe in the Hour of the Wolf. First published in Arion Spring 1991, republished in Paglia's Sex, Art and American Culture: New Essays (Vintage, 1992) ISBN 9780679741015
  18. ^ Bauerlein, Mark (17 November 2011). "Literary Research: Costs and Impact". Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  19. ^ Wesel, M. van (2016). "Evaluation by Citation: Trends in Publication Behavior, Evaluation Criteria, and the Strive for High Impact Publications". Science and Engineering Ethics. 22 (1): 199–225. doi:10.1007/s11948-015-9638-0. PMC 4750571. PMID 25742806.
  20. ^ Aitkenhead, Decca. Peter Higgs: I wouldn't be productive enough for today's academic system, The Guardian 6 December 2013; accessed 24 August 2016
  21. ^ Ghiasi, Gita; Larivière, Vincent; Sugimoto, Cassidy R. (2015). "On the Compliance of Women Engineers with a Gendered Scientific System". PLOS ONE. 10 (12): e0145931. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1045931G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145931. PMC 4696668. PMID 26716831.
  22. ^ Computers and People 33–37:1:7, 1984 (?)
  23. ^ Nancy Duvergne Smith, "Deploy or Die—Media Lab Director's New Motto", Slice of MIT, July 29, 2014

References

  • Victor Davis Hanson and John Heath, Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom. New York: The Free Press, 1998.
  • Thomas K. Grose, "21st Century Professor," ASEE Prism, January 2007
  • Herb, Ulrich. (2010) "Sociological implications of scientific publishing: Open access, science, society, democracy, and the digital divide" First Monday, Volume 15, Number 2 – 1 February 2010 Better link [1]
  • Publish or Perish program (PoP) calculates various author-level metrics, including the h-index and the g-index using Google Scholar data
  • Publish or Perish? A YouTube video (6 Nov 2014) slide presentation of the disadvantages of the Publish Or Perish system.

External links

  •   Quotations related to Publishing at Wikiquote

publish, perish, this, article, about, concept, academia, columbo, episode, columbo, season, episodes, aphorism, describing, pressure, publish, academic, work, order, succeed, academic, career, such, institutional, pressure, generally, strongest, research, uni. This article is about the concept in academia For the Columbo episode see Columbo season 3 Episodes Publish or perish is an aphorism describing the pressure to publish academic work in order to succeed in an academic career 1 2 3 Such institutional pressure is generally strongest at research universities 4 Some researchers have identified the publish or perish environment as a contributing factor to the replication crisis Successful publications bring attention to scholars and their sponsoring institutions which can help continued funding and their careers In popular academic perception scholars who publish infrequently or who focus on activities that do not result in publications such as instructing undergraduates may lose ground in competition for available tenure track positions The pressure to publish has been cited as a cause of poor work being submitted to academic journals 5 The value of published work is often determined by the prestige of the academic journal it is published in Journals can be measured by their impact factor IF which is the average number of citations to articles published in a particular journal over the last two years 6 Contents 1 Origin 2 Advantages 3 Disadvantages 4 Variants 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksOrigin EditThe earliest known use of the term in an academic context was in a 1928 journal article 7 8 The phrase appeared in a non academic context in the 1932 book Archibald Cary Coolidge Life and Letters by Harold Jefferson Coolidge 9 In 1938 the phrase appeared in a college related publication 10 According to Eugene Garfield the expression first appeared in an academic context in Logan Wilson s book The Academic Man A Study in the Sociology of a Profession published in 1942 11 Others have attributed the phrase to Columbia University geneticist Kimball C Atwood III 12 13 14 Advantages EditResearch oriented universities may attempt to manage the unhealthy aspects of the publish or perish practices but their administrators often argue that some pressure to produce cutting edge research is necessary to motivate scholars early in their careers to focus on research advancement and learn to balance its achievement with the other responsibilities of the professorial role The call to abolish tenure is very much a minority opinion in such settings 15 Disadvantages EditThis phenomenon has been strongly criticized the most notable grounds being that the emphasis on publishing may decrease the value of resulting scholarship as scholars must spend more time scrambling to publish whatever they can get into print rather than spending time developing significant research agendas 16 Similarly humanities scholar Camille Paglia has described the publish or perish paradigm as tyranny and further writes that The academic profession has become obsessed with quantity rather than quality One brilliant article should outweigh one mediocre book 17 The pressure to publish or perish also detracts from the time and effort professors can devote to teaching undergraduate courses and mentoring graduate students The rewards for exceptional teaching rarely match the rewards for exceptional research which encourages faculty to favor the latter whenever they conflict 18 Also publish or perish is linked to scientific misconduct or at least questionable ethics 19 It has also been argued that the quality of scientific work has suffered due to publication pressures Physicist Peter Higgs namesake of the Higgs boson was quoted in 2013 as saying that academic expectations since the 1990s would likely have prevented him from both making his groundbreaking research contributions and attaining tenure It s difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964 he said Today I wouldn t get an academic job It s as simple as that I don t think I would be regarded as productive enough 20 According to some researchers the publish or perish culture might also perpetuate bias in academic institutions Overall women publish less frequently than men and when they do publish their work receives fewer citations than their male counterparts even when it is published in journals with significantly higher impact factors 21 Variants EditThe MIT Media Lab s director Nicholas Negroponte instituted the motto demo or die privileging demonstrations over publication 22 Director Joi Ito modified this to deploy or die emphasizing the adoption of the technology 23 See also EditAcademic careerism Forced ranking Least publishable unit reduction to which is often disparagingly labeled salami slicing Scientometrics Slow science Up or outNotes Edit Publish or perish Nature 467 7313 252 2010 Bibcode 2010Natur 467 252 doi 10 1038 467252a PMID 20844492 Fanelli D 2010 Scalas Enrico ed Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists Bias An Empirical Support from US States Data PLOS ONE 5 4 e10271 Bibcode 2010PLoSO 510271F doi 10 1371 journal pone 0010271 PMC 2858206 PMID 20422014 Neill U S 2008 Publish or perish but at what cost Journal of Clinical Investigation 118 7 2368 doi 10 1172 JCI36371 PMC 2439458 PMID 18596904 Irons Jessica G Buskist William 2009 Chapter 9 Preparing for a Career at a Teaching Institution In Davis Stephen F Giordano Peter J Licht Carolyn A eds Your Career in Psychology Putting Your Graduate Degree to Work Malden MA Wiley Blackwell pp 117 132 ISBN 9781405179423 Retrieved 6 August 2020 Gad El Hak M 2004 Publish or Perish An Ailing Enterprise Physics Today 57 3 61 62 Bibcode 2004PhT 57c 61G doi 10 1063 1 1712503 Liu Xue Li Gai Shuang Shuang Zhou Jing 2016 Journal Impact Factor Do the Numerator and Denominator Need Correction PLOS ONE 11 3 e0151414 Bibcode 2016PLoSO 1151414L doi 10 1371 journal pone 0151414 PMC 4792445 PMID 26977697 Case Clarence Marsh 1928 Scholarship in Sociology Sociology and Social Research 12 323 340 ISSN 0038 0393 LCCN sn83004127 OCLC 5088377 via Google Books Doyle Charles Clay Mieder Wolfgang Shapiro Fred R 22 May 2012 The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs Yale University Press p 209 ISBN 978 0300136029 Coolidge Harold Jefferson Lord Robert Howard 22 March 1932 Archibald Cary Coolidge Life and Letters Books for Libraries Press ISBN 9780836966411 via Google Books Notes and Announcements Bulletin of the Association of American Colleges 24 5 463 468 1938 JSTOR 40219435 Eugene Garfield June 1996 What Is The Primordial Reference for the Phrase Publish Or Perish PDF The Scientist 10 12 11 Moosa Imad A 26 January 2018 Publish or Perish Perceived Benefits versus Unintended Consequences Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN 978 1 78643 493 7 Obituary Kimball C Atwood III The Independent 22 October 1992 Retrieved 23 June 2022 Moosa Imad A 26 January 2018 Publish or perish Origin and perceived benefits Perceived Benefits versus Unintended Consequences Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN 978 1 78643 493 7 Vuong Q H 2019 Breaking barriers in publishing demands a proactive attitude Nature Human Behaviour 3 10 1034 doi 10 1038 s41562 019 0667 6 PMID 31602012 Decca Aitkenhead Peter Higgs I wouldn t be productive enough for today s academic system The Guardian Paglia Camille Junk Bonds and Corporate Raiders Academe in the Hour of the Wolf First published in Arion Spring 1991 republished in Paglia s Sex Art and American Culture New Essays Vintage 1992 ISBN 9780679741015 Bauerlein Mark 17 November 2011 Literary Research Costs and Impact Center for College Affordability and Productivity Retrieved 29 March 2015 Wesel M van 2016 Evaluation by Citation Trends in Publication Behavior Evaluation Criteria and the Strive for High Impact Publications Science and Engineering Ethics 22 1 199 225 doi 10 1007 s11948 015 9638 0 PMC 4750571 PMID 25742806 Aitkenhead Decca Peter Higgs I wouldn t be productive enough for today s academic system The Guardian 6 December 2013 accessed 24 August 2016 Ghiasi Gita Lariviere Vincent Sugimoto Cassidy R 2015 On the Compliance of Women Engineers with a Gendered Scientific System PLOS ONE 10 12 e0145931 Bibcode 2015PLoSO 1045931G doi 10 1371 journal pone 0145931 PMC 4696668 PMID 26716831 Computers and People 33 37 1 7 1984 Nancy Duvergne Smith Deploy or Die Media Lab Director s New Motto Slice of MIT July 29 2014References EditVictor Davis Hanson and John Heath Who Killed Homer The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom New York The Free Press 1998 Thomas K Grose 21st Century Professor ASEE Prism January 2007 Richard L S Evans Chrysoloras Greek The Pedagogy of Cultural Transformation Herb Ulrich 2010 Sociological implications of scientific publishing Open access science society democracy and the digital divide First Monday Volume 15 Number 2 1 February 2010 Better link 1 Publish or Perish program PoP calculates various author level metrics including the h index and the g index using Google Scholar data Publish or Perish A YouTube video 6 Nov 2014 slide presentation of the disadvantages of the Publish Or Perish system External links Edit Quotations related to Publishing at Wikiquote Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Publish or perish amp oldid 1107206947, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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