THE academic environment in universities may appear calm to an outsider, but beneath that serenity is a stressful working place. This is more so because of the “publish or perish” performance standard imposed on academics.
Perish is more a reality for many Malaysian academics, I must say.
A 2013 study of nearly 12,000 manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals published by the American Psychological Association found that 76 per cent of them ended up being rejected. This can be as high as 90 per cent for top journals.
Academics, unaware of the perils of publishing, may have a hard time waiting, much like newcomers to the job market who tend to be particularly nervous about calls from potential employers.
Perhaps more experienced researchers adapt to the cycle of rejection, resubmission and eventual publication, or perhaps the importance of any given publication diminishes as one’s resume grows longer.
Experience proves that even the most promising submission can meet rejection.
I find that academics submitting papers for the first time expect only a 50 per cent chance of publication in their first-choice journal. This increases to 80 per cent for resubmission.
However, success upon resubmission is far from guaranteed, and once researchers see the glimmer of hope that a resubmission opportunity provides, they may have more difficulty putting it out of their mind as they await the decision.
Academics are people too and also experience uncertainty — both within and outside the university.
In a nutshell, publication is a fact of life and vital to growth of science and career progression.
Administrators and universities increasingly look at the publications to one’s credit during recruitment of faculty or researchers. This has led to relentless pressure to publish at all cost in order to increase the number of publications on the resume.
This has not only led to an increase of low-quality publications, but also an increase in unethical practices.
Urgent steps are necessary to stop this phenomenon.
Dr Nurkhamimi Zainuddin
Deputy director, GOAL ITQAN,
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia,
Nilai, Negri Sembilan