‘Cracks’ in the scholarly communications system: Insights from a longitudinal international study of early career researchers

Abstract

Key points 170 early career researchers interviewed three times over 2 years, have uniquely contributed towards a stress test of scholarly communications and cracks have been identified. The perfect storm created by the convergence of millennial values and the pandemic appears to have fast‐forwarded the cracking process, perhaps, for the good. The cracks in question are: (1) peer review; (2) reputational assessment; (3) unethical/questionable practices; (4) collaboration; (5) networking.

Transforming scholarly communications: The part played by the pandemic and the contribution of early career researchers

“…As we have reported elsewhere (Jamali et al, 2023; Nicholas et al, 2022a, 2022b; Nicholas, Boukacem‐Zeghmouri, et al, 2023; Nicholas, Herman, et al, 2023), principal components of the post‐pandemic scholarly system are wanting and concerning. Some are manifestations of long‐standing problems, as exemplified by the peer review procedure, with its well‐known limitations, of which problematic scientific gate‐keeping, reviewer bias, ineffective detecting of error or fraud, and the suppression of innovation are but the main ones (Jamali et al, 2020; Nicholas, Watkinson, et al, 2015; Tennant, 2018; Tennant et al, 2017).…”

“…In fact, they have shown impressive capabilities to measure up to the challenges they encounter, be these on the individual or the communal level (Nicholas et al, 2022a, 2022b). However, at least when it comes to the latter, they certainly have their work cut out, for the pandemic has been exacerbating or at least shedding new light on problems lurking in the scholarly system (Gao et al, 2021; Herman et al, 2021; Jamali et al, 2023; Myers et al, 2020; Nicholas et al, 2022a, 2022b; Nicholas, Boukacem‐Zeghmouri, et al, 2023; Nicholas, Herman, et al, 2023; Wiley, 2021).…”

“…The pandemic has certainly created precisely the kind of challenging circumstances that call for different, even revolutionary ways of coping (Herman et al, 2021); so much so, that the possibility that this new generation of researchers will bring about transformations in the scholarly system seems by now more likely than ever. Indeed, the pandemic was stress‐testing the scholarly communications system like never before, and, therefore, exposing its existing weaknesses and thus providing a veritable hot house in which to fast‐track innovative practices (Jamali et al, 2023; Nicholas et al, 2022a, 2022b; Nicholas, Boukacem‐Zeghmouri, et al, 2023; Nicholas, Herman, et al, 2023).…”

The impact of the pandemic on early career researchers' work‐life and scholarly communications: A quantitative aerial analysis

“…Finally, to learn more about the ways the pandemic has brought about changes to the scholarly communications system see a more recent companion paper in this journal (Nicholas et al, 2023).…”

Disrupciones y Herencia de la Pandemia en la Comunicación Científica de los Investigadores Noveles Españoles

“…De hecho, los datos obtenidos en tres rondas de entrevistas en profundidad, realizadas durante dos años a alrededor de 170 ECRs de ciencias y ciencias sociales de 8 países, convergen para formar una descripción multifacética de los efectos de la pandemia en las actitudes y prácticas de comunicación académica y vida laboral de los académicos noveles. Los hallazgos se han comunicado en artículos que analizan los datos de los ocho países participantes (Clark et al, 2024;Jamali et al, 2023;Nicholas et al, 2022a;2022b;2022c;2023a;2023b;2023c;2023d;2023e;2023f).…”