Publish AND Perish: On Publishing, Precarity and Poverty in Academia

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-135
Author(s):  
Emma Vossen
Keyword(s):  
Financial Risk ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
First Person ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Publish Or Perish ◽  
Opting Out ◽  
Contract Workers

We have all heard the phrase ‘publish or perish’ but what does perishing actually look like? Are you publishing and still perishing? In this article, Vossen probes into the complexity of academic publishing from her perspective as both a poor PhD student and the editor-in-chief of Game Studies publication First Person Scholar. Vossen argues that academic publishing (examining both journal articles and academic manuscripts) exploits the labour of grad students and contract workers by encouraging them to publish their work without compensation in the hopes of attaining tenure-track employment in the future. This ‘work for exposure’ method is dependent on the optimism of young scholars, the majority of whom will not attain tenure-track positions. Vossen focuses specifically on how academic journal articles function as both currency and commodity, devaluing alternative forms of research sharing (such as the work published in First Person Scholar) which is seen as ‘academic waste’ that doesn't ‘count’. Academic journal articles are intrinsically linked to an academics ‘worth’ both culturally and financially and therefore, many untenured academics feel they can't take the financial risk of publishing outside of traditional venues for fear of furthering their descent into debt and poverty. Vossen and the staff of First Person Scholar have attempted to remedy the system in their field of Game Studies by both paying academics for their writing and firmly rejecting opportunities to become an academic journal to instead be considered a ‘middle state publication’. Lastly, Vossen discusses opting out of the publish or perish game as a grad student and what you lose when you decide not to play.

scholarly journals The Future of Academic Journals in a COVID-19 World

Sci ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Jan R. Magnus ◽  
Michael McAleer
Keyword(s):  
Time Frame ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journals ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
The Future ◽  
Internet Publishing ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Continuous Dynamic

Many academics are critical of the current publishing system, but it is difficult to create a better alternative. This review relates to the Sciences and Social Sciences, and discusses the primary purpose of academic journals as providing a seal of approval for perceived quality, impact, significance, and importance. The key issues considered include the role of anonymous refereeing, continuous rather than discrete frequency of publications, avoidance of time wasting, and seeking adventure. Here we give recommendations about the organization of journal articles, the roles of associate editors and referees, measuring the time frame for refereeing submitted articles in days and weeks rather than months and years, encouraging open access internet publishing, emphasizing the continuity of publishing online, academic publishing as a continuous dynamic process, and how to improve research after publication. Citations and functions thereof, such as the journal impact factor and h-index, are the benchmark for evaluating the importance and impact of academic journals and published articles. Even in the very top journals, a high proportion of published articles are never cited, not even by the authors themselves. Top journal publications do not guarantee that published articles will make significant contributions, or that they will ever be highly cited. The COVID-19 world should encourage academics worldwide not only to rethink academic teaching, but also to re-evaluate key issues associated with academic journal publishing in the future.

scholarly journals On the Publishing Methods of Our Time: Mobilizing Knowledge in Game Studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
First Person ◽  
Academic Interest ◽  
Middle State ◽  
The University

There is a considerable amount of academic and non-academic interest in the production and reception of video games. At the same time game scholars encounter questions such as, “are video game academics irrelevant?” In this article I connect questions of relevancy in game studies with the need to develop forms of publishing capable of asserting that relevancy more broadly. As the co-founder and editor-in-chief of First Person Scholar (FPS), a middle-state publication based in the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo, I detail how FPS has attempted to reach beyond the traditional scope of game studies to engage a wider audience and assert a new degree of relevancy for the game scholar.

scholarly journals Bibliometric Analysis of Academic Journal Articles Reporting Results of Psychedelic Clinical Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Weleff ◽  
Teddy J. Akiki ◽  
Brian S. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Clinical Studies ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
International Collaborations ◽  
Psychedelic Research

After a decades long period of investigational dormancy, there is renewed interest in employing psychedelics as treatments for mental illness and addiction. The academic journals, journal articles, academic institutions, and countries that have helped sustain clinical psychedelic research and the evolution of the literature on clinical studies of psychedelic compounds have only been minimally investigated. Therefore, in we conducted a bibliometric analysis of clinical studies of 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), ayahuasca, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ibogaine, mescaline, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and psilocybin published from 1965-2018. Our search revealed 320 articles published across 106 journals. After a nearly quarter century lull between the 1970s and 1990s, publications in this area have resurged over the last two decades and continue on an upward trajectory, with most clinical studies now focusing on LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin. A subanalysis of the ten most cited articles in psychedelic research prior to 2010 and afterwards demonstrated a shift from research on risks of psychedelics, primarily those of MDMA, to research on therapeutic applications, predominantly those of psilocybin. We also conducted network analyses of inter-country collaborations in psychedelic research, which suggested that psychedelic researchers in the United Kingdom have more diverse international collaborations.

Evaluating the Research Quality of Education Journals in China: Implications for Increasing Global Impact in Peripheral Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanjuan Zhao ◽  
Gulbahar H. Beckett ◽  
Lihshing Leigh Wang
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Citation Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Research Scholarship

There has been a rapid growth of academic research and publishing in non-Western countries. However, academic journal articles in these peripheral countries suffer from low citation impact and limited global recognition. This critical review systematically analyzed 1,096 education research journal articles that were published in China in a 10-year span using a multistage stratified cluster and random sampling method and a validated rubric for assessing research quality. Our findings reveal that the vast majority of the articles lacked rigor, with insufficient or nonsystematic literature reviews, incomplete descriptions of research design, and inadequately grounded recommendations for translating research into practice. Acknowledging the differences in publishing cultures in the center-periphery divide, we argue that education research publications in non-Western countries should try to meet Western publishing standards in order to participate in global knowledge production and research vitality. Implications for emerging countries that strive to transform their research scholarship are discussed.

scholarly journals The Form of Search Tool Chosen by Undergraduate Students Influences Research Practices and the Type and Quality of Information Selected

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Michelle Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Discovery Service ◽  
Library Resources

A Review of: Asher, A. D., Duke, L. M., & Wilson, S. (2012). Paths of discovery: Comparing the search effectiveness of EBSCO Discovery Service, Summon, Google Scholar, and conventional library resources. College & Research Libraries, 74(5), p. 464-488. Objectives – To explore the effectiveness of different search tools (EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS), Summon, Google Scholar and traditional library resources) in supporting the typical research queries faced by undergraduate students and gain an understanding of student research practices. Design – Mixed methods approach using quantitative data collected from grading of students’ selected resources combined with qualitative data from a search process interview with students. Setting – Two university libraries in the United States of America (Bucknell University (BU) and Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU)). Subjects – Eighty-seven undergraduate students across a range of disciplines. Methods – Participants were assigned to one of five test groups and required to find two resources for each of four standardised research queries using a specified tool: EDS; Summon; Google Scholar; Library catalogue/databases; or “no tool” where no specific tool was specified and participants were free to choose. The resources submitted by students for each of the four queries were rated on a scale of 0-3 by four librarians using a rubric, to produce average ratings for each tool. The interview comprised two parts: the search task, followed by a reflective interview based on open-ended questions relating to search practices and habits. The search process interview was recorded using Camtasia screen capture and audio software, and the URLs used by participants were also recorded. Main Results – Quantitative results indicated that students who used EDS selected slightly higher quality sources on average (scoring 2.54 out of 3), compared to all other groups. Those who used EDS also completed the queries in less time (747 seconds) than those using Summon (1,209 seconds), Google Scholar (968 seconds), library databases (963 seconds) or where no tool was specified (1,081 seconds). Academic journal articles also represented the relatively highest proportion of resources for this group (73.8% of resources chosen), whilst newspaper articles were chosen most frequently by those using Summon (20.6% of resources chosen). The qualitative findings suggest that students may over-rely on the top results provided by search systems, rather than using critical analysis and evaluation. Conclusion – Although EDS performed slightly better overall, in some cases the tools produced relatively similar results, and none of the tools performed particularly poorly. Indeed the reasonably strong performance of both Google Scholar and traditional library tools/databases in some aspects (such as the relative proportion of books and journal articles chosen by students), may raise questions regarding the potential benefit of acquiring a new discovery product, given the possibly significant costs involved. As the study finds that most students do not go beyond simple searches and the first page of results, regardless of the tool they are using, this suggests that discovery services do not substantially lessen the need for information literacy instruction, although it may provide some opportunity to redirect teaching time away from retrieval and towards higher-order skills such as evaluating information and critical thinking.

Identifying halal logistics constraints in Brunei Darussalam

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Syazwan Ab Talib
Keyword(s):  
Inductive Reasoning ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Theory Of Constraints ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brunei Darussalam ◽  
Current State ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Internal And External Factors

Purpose Despite the thriving global halal industry and logistics’ vital role in the halal supply chain, knowledge and research on halal logistics remain limited, particularly in Brunei Darussalam. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to understand the current state of knowledge by identifying the halal logistics constraints in Brunei Darussalam. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the theory of constraints, inductive reasoning and support from a review of relevant academic journal articles, to uncover the hindering factors surrounding halal logistics in the country. Findings The paper identifies five critical issues, which occur from internal and external factors, that constraint the growth of halal logistics in Brunei Darussalam. Research limitations/implications The qualitative design limits this conceptual piece. However, the paper could be beneficial in informing the academic and industry circles of the potentials and challenges in Brunei Darussalam, particularly in its logistics sector. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate halal logistics in Brunei. The study positively contributes to the understanding of the halal logistics constraints in Brunei as well as adds to the growing body of halal logistics literature and enriching the halal research sphere.

Research gaps in Lean manufacturing: a systematic literature review

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 815-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelos Psomas ◽  
Jiju Antony
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Lean Manufacturing ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Literature contributions to Lean manufacturing (LM) are fragmented and show some significant limitations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing research gaps in LM as well as to group them into respective themes. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) of peer reviewed journal articles in LM was carried out by the authors, based on four major publishers, namely, Emerald Online, Science Direct, Springer Link and Taylor & Francis. In total, 120 articles published in 30 journals during 2005–2016 were collected which revealed LM research gaps. A simple affinity diagram was applied in order to group the research gaps into logical themes. Findings A large number of research gaps are identified in the LM literature and meaningful themes of these gaps are also revealed. Research limitations/implications The SLR carried out by the authors is based on only four academic journal publishers and some of other publishers might have been missed out in this search. Excluding articles focusing on an individual Lean principle or tool/technique is also a limitation of the present SLR. Practical implications Researchers and practitioners can use the LM research gaps presented in this study for further development of LM methodology. Originality/value Presenting LM research gaps analytically and grouping them into meaningful themes, significantly differentiates the present SLR study from those published so far.

Publishing success of marketing academics: antecedents and outcomes

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 123-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Richard ◽  
Geoff Plimmer ◽  
Kim-Shyan Fam ◽  
Charles Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Publish Or Perish ◽  
Organisational Support ◽  
Longitudinal Data Collection ◽  
Perceived Organisational Support

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between positive incentives (perceived organisational support) and negative incentives (publish or perish), on both academic publication productivity and marketing academics’ quality of life. While publish-or-perish pressure is a common technique to improve academics’ performance, its punishment orientation may be poorly suited to the uncertain, creative work that research entails and be harmful to academics’ life satisfaction and other well-being variables. In particular, it may interfere with family commitments, and harm the careers of academic women. While perceived organisational support may be effective in encouraging research outputs and be positive for well-being, it may be insufficient as a motivator in the increasingly competitive and pressured world of academia. These issues are important for individual academics, for schools wishing to attract good staff, and the wider marketing discipline wanting to ensure high productivity and quality of life amongst its members. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested using self-report survey data from 1,005 academics across five continents. AMOS structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Findings – The findings indicate that the most important determinants of publishing success and improved well-being of academics is organisational support rather than a “publish-or-perish” culture. Research limitations/implications – The use of a self-report survey may have an impact (and potential bias) on the perceived importance and career effect of a “publish-or-perish” culture. However, current levels of the publish-or-perish culture appear to have become harmful, even for top academic publishers. Additional longitudinal data collection is proposed. Practical implications – The challenge to develop tertiary systems that support and facilitate world-leading research environments may reside more in organisational support, both perceived and real, rather than a continuation (or adoption) of a publish-or-perish environment. There are personal costs, in the form of health concerns and work–family conflict, associated with academic success, more so for women than men. Originality/value – This study is the first to empirically demonstrate the influence and importance of “publish-or-perish” and“perceived organisational support” management approaches on marketing academic publishing performance and academic well-being.

Journey to the Centre of the (Academic) Universe: 20 Steps on Getting Published in Journals

Politics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Lunt ◽  
Carl Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Journal Article ◽  
Academic Life ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Publication Record

As postgraduate students, researchers or junior lecturers, we all aspire to climb the highest peaks of academic life, to bask in our reflected glory and to have the (small disciplinary) world at our feet. Yet how do we assail those peaks? More often than not, they seem like sheer cliff faces or mountain ranges where the noviciate assemble at the bottom and gaze skywards in disbelief. When we look around at academics who have successfully scaled those heights, it is obvious that an effective publication record is essential, where refereed journal articles are particularly prized. Yet the numbers who gather to attempt their own ascent ask the question – is there any straightforward publication route the beginner can follow? Surely we cannot all be left to cut our own path without really knowing where, how, or even whether we should be travelling at all? This article argues that writing academic journal articles has been mystified. For many wanting to get started, it seems like the final destination is a secret place, somewhere that you might stumble across but one where the locals jealously guard the short-cuts. Here we aim to de-mystify journal article writing and provide 20 steps for the prospective writer. These 20 steps, however, provide more a series of useful directions than a definitive map of the terrain. As beginning academics themselves, the authors are, at best, merely amateur cartographers.

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