However, POP may mean different things, depending on the stage of academic career. At best, the perish part is denial of promotion and the requirement of assuming a heavy teaching load while under the threat of termination. Indeed, the POP culture has been globalized as universities worldwide demand and measure performance in terms of publications.Īcademics who do not comply with the POP stipulation perish, in the sense of not finding jobs or losing existing jobs. As De Rond and Millier (2005, p.322) put it, ‘the publish or perish principle appears to have become the way of life in academia’.
Recruitment, promotion and tenure are determined primarily by the publication record, as judged by quantity and quality (although it is not clear how quality is measured). The process involves a race against time that typically begins when an academic is hired and comes to an end when he or she is retired or dead. The phrase signifies a doctrine according to which the destiny of an academic depends exclusively on success in publishing scholarly work. However, some of the aspects of POP discussed in this book are relevant to non-academic personnel who also seek publications because they are expected to publish, such as those working in medical laboratories, central banks and international organizations (UNCTAD, WHO, IMF, BIS, etc.).ĭe Rond and Millier (2005) suggest that ‘here are few more familiar aphorisms in the academic community than “publish or perish”, which is venerated by many and dreaded by more’. The POP issue is primarily relevant to those working in academic institutions (called academics, academic researchers, or just researchers). In the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, ‘publish or perish’ is used to refer to an attitude or practice existing within academic institutions, whereby researchers are put under pressure to produce journal publications in order to retain their positions or to be deemed successful.
‘Publish or perish’ (POP) is a phrase that describes the pressure put on academics to publish in scholarly journals rapidly and continually as a condition for employment (finding a job), promotion, and even maintaining one’s job.
0 kommentar(er)
