Pressured to publish: stories of inexperienced researchers

Abstract

PurposeImplementation of research evaluation policies based on neoliberal orientations of performativity has transformed higher education institutions globally, reshaping academic work and the academic profession. Most lately, the mantra of “publish or no degree” has become the norm in many contexts. There has been little empirical research into the unintended consequences of this neoliberal academic performativity for inexperienced researchers. This article focuses on the role institutional research evaluation policies play on doctoral students and early-career doctoral graduates’ publication practices and on their decision to sometimes publish in journals with ethically “questionable” publishing standards in particular through the concept of figured worlds.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in a higher education setting employing a variety of research incentive schemes to boost research productivity where “publish or no degree” policy is the norm. It employs qualitative approach and involves in-depth interviews with nine doctoral students and seven early career academics who have been working part-time or full-time for five years following PhD completion.FindingsFindings demonstrate publishing in journals with ethically “questionable” publishing standards is not always simply the result of naivety or inexperience. Some authors choose these journals in order to retain a sense of self-efficacy in the face of rejection by more highly ranked journals. Under institutional pressure to publish, they are socialized into this “shadow academia” through (existing) academic networks, conferences and journal special issues.Originality/valueIt is often assumed that scholars are trapped into “questionable” journals through the use of unsolicited emails. This paper challenges this assumption by demonstrating the crucial role research evaluation policies based on neoliberal orientations of performativity and contextual dynamics play on the publication practices of doctoral students and early-career doctoral graduates on their decision to submit to journals with “questionable” publication practices. It introduces the concept of unethical publication brokering, an informal network of ties promising fast and easy publication in outlets that “count”.

The challenge of publishing a paper: an autoethnographic study

“…This is undeniably a critical theme, especially for English native referees or those whose English is the second language. I confess that I have to hunker down to achieve an acceptable level of quality in my manuscript concerning this dimension (see also Banerjee, 2022; Mertkan et al , 2022). As a Latin American author, my challenge is always substantial for both technical and economic reasons.…”

“…The thorny reality portrayed by the old saying of “publish or perish” places a sizeable challenge for researchers worldwide to publish their work. Notwithstanding the ample number of academic journals covering distinct domains of knowledge, the task of publishing is increasingly difficult (Ashkanasy, 2010; Frémeaux et al , 2021; Banerjee, 2022; Mertkan et al , 2022), as well as involving complex dynamics related to schools’ incentives and key performance indicators (see, e.g. for a broad discussion, Tsui and McKiernan, 2022).…”

Study of the Causes and Consequences of Cloned Journal Publications

“…The profile information section had nine questions, while the cause and consequences sections had ten questions. The ten-cause list was grounded largely on available literature (Promotion in academics, incentives for publication, and the pressure stemming from the “publish or perish” policy, [ 2 ]; fear of rejection in genuine journals, [ 18 ]; lack of awareness, [ 20 ]).…”

“…Publishing in predatory/fake journals is sometimes due to maintaining a sense of self-efficacy in the light of non-acceptance by more highly ranked journals. A term "shadow academia" has been used [ 18 ]. Publications in cloned journals find a place in the systematic reviews on the clinical literature.…”

Publishing in predatory language and linguistics journals: Authors’ experiences and motivations

“…Indeed, the phenomenon of predatory publishing can be more fully understood against the neoliberal performance-based orientations to research evaluation that have influenced knowledge production in higher education. Widely adopted neoliberal appraisal systems promote and normalize the mantras of 'publish-or-perish' and 'publish-or-no-degree' and exert crushing publication pressures on academics in many contexts (Mertkan et al, 2022). In such contexts, scholars are expected to compete with each other to gain reputation and promotions by churning out publications (Tan & Goh, 2014).…”