‘Publish and Flourish’ instead of ‘Publish or Perish’: A Motivation Model for Top-quality Publications

Abstract

Although the ‘publish-or-perish’ principle has spread globally, many authors believe that it is a negative reinforcer (motivator) and harmful. With this paper, we have tried to help overcome the growing pressure of negative reinforcers on researchers. The paper aimed to propose a model for factors influencing researchers to publish in WoS/Scopus journals, based mainly on positive reinforcement and a combination of concepts including theories of control, management, stakeholders, and psychology. The model was intended for Bulgarian universities. It covered 17 motivational drivers and 29 potential features of internal university stakeholders directly involved in the topic. Factor ranking was not incorporated in the model. The research methodology covered the methods of expert evaluation, analysis/synthesis, induction/deduction, and the toolkit consisted of a comprehensive survey and Kendall’s rank concordance coefficient. The model was implemented at a Bulgarian state university. The empirical study was conducted among 120 researchers. It resulted in factor rankings by university internal stakeholders. The highest-ranked motivational driver was reputation, and the lowest-ranked was the publish-or-perish pressure reducing. The highest-ranked potential features were university prestige and potential and support for promotion. We believe that this model contributes to the theory of behaviour control. The model will also improve university research management by enriching its tools.

Comparative analysis of Dimensions and Scopus bibliographic data sources: an approach to university research productivity

“…It can be taken as a work for the future [9]. Moreover, to make it more helpful to researchers for the importance of citations for the researchers' reputation, the interesting future work can be considered a motivation model for top-quality publications in [28], [27] as a new motivational driver in existing literature models.…”

“…Additionally, future research scope might examine and compare samples from other institutions or other countries to a more accurate assessment of scholars' impact. Moreover, as the importance of citations for the researchers' reputations is one of the most important for researchers' future publishing [27], [28], future work might add a theoretical framework motivation model for top-quality publications to existing models to encourage researchers to publish highquality journals.…”

Journal quality criteria: Measurement and significance

“…Широкое обсуждение получили следующие проблемы, связанные с проведением качественных исследований: (1) Ряд исследований посвящен теме подбора авторами журнала для публикации статьи под влиянием модели признания их заслуг на уровне университетов и организаций, в которых они работают [1]. Д. Р. Гримс и соавт.…”

“…Более полно указанная идея представлена в определении одного из респондентов: «Качество научного издания определяется совокупностью трех показателей: (1)…”

“…Принцип «публикуй или погибнешь» в отношении продвижения научных результатов и научной карьеры получил развитие в глобальном измерении, но многие авторы считают его негативным явлением, не способствующим мотивировать ученых к публикации [1]. Однако полноценная научная коммуникация невозможна вне публикации результатов исследований в международных и авторитетных российских научных журналах.…”