Topic > The concept of the "publish or perish" problem

IndexHistorical contextStakeholdersEthical dilemmasState of the caseDiscussionThis collocation is becoming more popular every day. Almost every person who deals with science has heard of it or faced it at least once. But what does it mean? Why is everyone talking about it? And why is it such a big problem? What can be done to address it? As I worked on the assignment I tried to find answers to these questions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Wikipedia, «Publish or perish» can be defined as «a phrase coined to describe the pressure in academia to rapidly and continuously publish scholarly work to support or advance one's career». Although it may seem harmless, it is well known that a publication in an academic journal is essential for every scientist. It serves many different purposes. First of all, publication is the most visible result of a scientist's work. Secondly, it is the best way to share your data with the scientific community. However, many scientists suffer from the pressure of having to publish their research data. The “Publish or Perish” problem becomes increasingly dangerous as the number of published articles increases. Historical context The pressure to publish data has not always been so strong. As is known, however, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The first person who decided to put together all the recent scientific discoveries was Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society. The Royal Society is a famous "independent scientific academy", founded in 1660 in the United Kingdom. Hereby, the Philosophical Transactions of Henry Oldenburg was published in 1665 as a monthly overview of all new data. Initially, the magazine was published as his personal venture. However, in 1752, the Philosophical Transactions became an official journal of the Royal Society, still led by Henry Oldenburg. It has since become increasingly popular among scientists and is nowadays separated into Philosophical Transactions A and Philosophical Transactions B. Dedicated to the physical and biological sciences, respectively. Stakeholders Publishing research is a very complicated process with a variety of stakeholders. They are involved in almost every step of the process. Furthermore, the underlying relationships between key stakeholders play an important role in the “Publish or Perish” problem. In this way, understanding the objectives of each stakeholder is important to get to the heart of the matter. An editor is a major stakeholder as he or she is responsible for the magazine's reputation, its circulation and its revenues. For this reason, the publisher tries to print only scientifically accurate and trending articles that capture the attention of the media. To achieve this goal there is a special sequence of procedures, involving the efforts of an editor, an associate editor and reviewers. The higher the impact factor of the journal, the more demanding the publisher is. A reviewer is heavily involved in the process of publishing an article. Examine an article from a scientific point of view. Evaluating it in light of a number of criteria, such as relevance to science or the presence of unethical actions. The publisher must also ensure that all experiments fulfill the purpose of a research study and that no data is taken for granted. Otherwise, inevitable side effects may occur if inaccuracies are found in the article already published. The Staple case is a good example of a situation where data falsification and unethical work were discovered in the published journal. The author is the one who suffersmore than the “Publish or Perish” situation. On the one hand, getting published is the best way to share your data and gain positive recognition. On the other hand, however, the pressure to publish research data causes stress and an unhealthy work environment. An academic institution is another primary stakeholder. Due to budget pressure, institutions must depend on prestige to attract financial support and research funding. To do this, they are trying to be recognized and visible in prestigious magazines. The Scientific Society is one of the stakeholders that benefits most from the situation. “Publish or perish” ensures that the enormous amount of published research gives society access to a vast amount of new knowledge. Ethical Dilemmas The variety of stakeholders leads to a number of ethical dilemmas. Each stakeholder can choose whether to do the right thing or seek benefits. Therefore, the pressure exerted by “Publish or Perish” creates high risks for scientific integrity. The list of possible consequences is extensive. The most obvious things are slicing salami and picking cherries. This means that scientists tend to split data in order to obtain more than one publication on a particular topic and, at the same time, are known to manipulate their data to choose only what is relevant to their research findings. . Apart from this, multiplication of paternity is believed to be one of the most pervasive problems. Scientists join several papers as co-authors or guest authors with the intention of increasing publication credits. There is therefore the possibility that scientific integrity will be further compromised. Scientific journals, however, are more likely to publish research with positive results to increase citations. This selectivity is called Publication Bias. Apart from this, peer reviewers should also be mentioned. There are many cases where a reviewer recommends rejecting an article for some reason. However, after a while, his team publishes a paper almost similar to the rejected one. As a result, the reviewer's team is known for being the first to publish an article dedicated to the problem. It seems clear that unethical behavior leads to untangling problems and complexities. The consequences are serious for every stakeholder. A scientist can lose his reputation and, consequently, a research position. Journals, however, could lose publication dates and profits due to an investigation into unethical conduct, but worst of all, they could also lose credibility if they published an article with inaccurate data. The scientific society should also be mentioned. Newspaper readers are the real victims of the situation. Most people still believe that all published data can be reliable. Inaccurate research leads to ill-informed readers. If your search is based on inaccurate dates this will waste your time and money. Situation of the issueIn the last two years the «Publish or Perish» problem has greatly influenced the scientific society. The system forces researchers and students to face different types of ethical dilemmas. There are many cases where doctoral students have been caught for fraudulent methods related to their need to obtain a publication to finish their degree. However, not only students confuse their data, but also mature and famous scientists. On top of that, the whole “Publish or Perish” principle forces people to chase publications and citations, rushing their work and making them more prone to errors. There have been some attempts to implement a new system for evaluating scientific research and articles. The new system is based on several”.