Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 529-544 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Aslib Journal of Information Management |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine researchers’ motivations to publish by comparing different career stages (PhD students; temporarily employed postdocs/new professors; scholars with permanent employment) with regard to epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motives. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative analysis is mainly based on semi-structured narrative interviews with 91 researchers in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, based at six renowned (anonymous) universities in Germany, the UK, and the USA. These narratives contain answers to the direct question “why do you publish?” as well as remarks on motivations to publish in relation to other questions and themes. The interdisciplinary interpretation is based on both sociological science studies and philosophy of science in practice. Findings: At each career stage, epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motivations to publish are weighed differently. Confirming earlier studies, the authors find that PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in temporary positions mainly feel pressured to publish for career-related reasons. However, across status groups, researchers also want to publish in order to support collective knowledge generation. Research limitations/implications: The sample of interviewees may be biased toward those interested in reflecting on their day-to-day work. Social implications: Continuous and collective reflection is imperative for preventing uncritical internalization of pragmatic reasons to publish. Creating occasions for reflection is a task not only of researchers themselves, but also of administrators, funders, and other stakeholders. Originality/value: Most studies have illuminated how researchers publish while adapting to or growing into the contemporary publish-or-perish culture. This paper addresses the rarely asked question why researchers publish at all.
Keywords
- Career stage, Motivation, Narrative interviews, Performance indicators, Publishing, Research profession
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science(all)
- Information Systems
- Social Sciences(all)
- Library and Information Sciences
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In: Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 69, No. 5, 2017, p. 529-544.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Why do you publish? On the tensions between generating scientific knowledge and publication pressure
AU - Hangel, Nora
AU - Schmidt-Pfister, Diana
N1 - Funding Information: and the USA for their efforts to transcribe and/or code substantial parts of the interviews. The financial support of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Center of Excellence 16 “Cultural Foundations of Integration” (Grant Nos 743/08, 751/11, and 472/16), awarded to Diana Schmidt-Pfister and of the National Science Foundation (Grant No. SES-1534628), awarded to Jutta Schickore, is gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine researchers’ motivations to publish by comparing different career stages (PhD students; temporarily employed postdocs/new professors; scholars with permanent employment) with regard to epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motives. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative analysis is mainly based on semi-structured narrative interviews with 91 researchers in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, based at six renowned (anonymous) universities in Germany, the UK, and the USA. These narratives contain answers to the direct question “why do you publish?” as well as remarks on motivations to publish in relation to other questions and themes. The interdisciplinary interpretation is based on both sociological science studies and philosophy of science in practice. Findings: At each career stage, epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motivations to publish are weighed differently. Confirming earlier studies, the authors find that PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in temporary positions mainly feel pressured to publish for career-related reasons. However, across status groups, researchers also want to publish in order to support collective knowledge generation. Research limitations/implications: The sample of interviewees may be biased toward those interested in reflecting on their day-to-day work. Social implications: Continuous and collective reflection is imperative for preventing uncritical internalization of pragmatic reasons to publish. Creating occasions for reflection is a task not only of researchers themselves, but also of administrators, funders, and other stakeholders. Originality/value: Most studies have illuminated how researchers publish while adapting to or growing into the contemporary publish-or-perish culture. This paper addresses the rarely asked question why researchers publish at all.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine researchers’ motivations to publish by comparing different career stages (PhD students; temporarily employed postdocs/new professors; scholars with permanent employment) with regard to epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motives. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative analysis is mainly based on semi-structured narrative interviews with 91 researchers in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, based at six renowned (anonymous) universities in Germany, the UK, and the USA. These narratives contain answers to the direct question “why do you publish?” as well as remarks on motivations to publish in relation to other questions and themes. The interdisciplinary interpretation is based on both sociological science studies and philosophy of science in practice. Findings: At each career stage, epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motivations to publish are weighed differently. Confirming earlier studies, the authors find that PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in temporary positions mainly feel pressured to publish for career-related reasons. However, across status groups, researchers also want to publish in order to support collective knowledge generation. Research limitations/implications: The sample of interviewees may be biased toward those interested in reflecting on their day-to-day work. Social implications: Continuous and collective reflection is imperative for preventing uncritical internalization of pragmatic reasons to publish. Creating occasions for reflection is a task not only of researchers themselves, but also of administrators, funders, and other stakeholders. Originality/value: Most studies have illuminated how researchers publish while adapting to or growing into the contemporary publish-or-perish culture. This paper addresses the rarely asked question why researchers publish at all.
KW - Career stage
KW - Motivation
KW - Narrative interviews
KW - Performance indicators
KW - Publishing
KW - Research profession
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032381523&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/AJIM-01-2017-0019
DO - 10.1108/AJIM-01-2017-0019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85032381523
VL - 69
SP - 529
EP - 544
JO - Aslib Journal of Information Management
JF - Aslib Journal of Information Management
SN - 2050-3806
IS - 5
ER -