OA Expanded “Publish or Perish”
Like so many consequences of open science, “unintended” seems like weak tea
If there’s a unifying theme for the outcomes OA publishing for academic and scientific works, it’s that it has consistently backfired:
- Rather than democratizing science, it has ushered in fraudsters and fakes.
- Rather than solving problems with bad studies, it has allowed more bad studies to have wider-ranging and more long-lasting effects.
- Rather than improving things for scientific society publishers and independent publishers, it has further concentrated power in the hands of a few large commercial organizations.
- Rather than improving the interface between academia and science with the public, it has confused and damaged it.
The list goes on, but one subtle change often gets missed in a litany of misfires — efforts to eliminate a culture built on “publish or perish” have only made it more prevalent and singular.
More people than ever are subjected to “publish or perish” expectations. Evaluators, boards, and panels dodge their unreasonable workloads or unpopular alternatives (test scores, recommendation letters, actually reading what candidates submitted) and rely on paper and citation counts to proxy-judge more people at more levels across more systems of higher education and scientific advancement.
The financial incentives for more papers faster have also strengthened the devotion to “publish or perish” among Gold OA publishers, for whom it is all upside. Students, trainees, and acolytes never before expected to “publish or perish” today are expected to generate 10 or more papers before they even get into an actual job.
Why?
Academia has learned you can publish anything anytime in nearly any good enough venue. At the same time, backlash against evaluation systems like competency tests, knowledge tests, or suitability tests have made other options weaker or irrelevant. The net result is that papers have become the safe answer, and one that Gold OA publishers are more than happy to supply.
So, add to the litany of failures of the producer-pays academic publishing culture the accidental expansion of the culture of “publish or perish.”
What a world we are leaving behind . . .
