Universities have used an array of incentives to increase academic publications, which are highly rewarded in the South African higher education funding formula. While all universities use indirect incentives, such as linking promotion and probation to publication, the mechanisms used in some institutions have taken a very direct form, whereby…

For some time, academics have reported the increasing complexity and demands of work (Clegg, S. 2008. "Academic Identities Under Threat?" "British Educational Research Journal" 34 (3): 329-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701532269), including the difficulty of gaining permanence (Taylor, A. 2018. "Scientists Don't…

In science, gravity refers to the universal force of attraction acting on and between all matter. No one on earth can escape the force of gravity. In a similar vein, the stringent requirements of publications, research grants, and research output in the academic world can be metaphorically described as "academic gravity," the force of…

This paper contributes a discursive perspective on how academics employ self-deprecating humour and laughter to talk about and construct the struggles they faced in academia. Underpinned by ethnomethodological approaches to studying spoken interactions, the paper argues that just as utterances accomplish social actions, academic struggles are…

Ralph L. Baldwin (1872-1943) was a prominent music educator who, in addition to his role as a teacher, was an author, composer, and leader of various professional music organizations. Baldwin later became known through his many publications and as the administrator of the Sterrie Weaver Summer School after Weaver's untimely death. This narrative…

The vast majority of Chinese universities have embraced higher education reform that emphasizes a "publish or perish" ideology. This brings challenges to the early-career academics, especially those working in language-related fields. This paper employs a multiple case study to explore the identity tension of early career academics in…

Academic writing block is a psychology-based writing problem that has a productivity-lowering effect on the publishing process. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable assessment tool to measure academic writing block. To this end, during the pre-trial and trial applications, academicians were interviewed face to face. The main…

Existing research has found that when a journal transitions from single-blind review to double-blind review, female authorship increases. This article reports the findings of a first-of-its-kind study designed to measure if transitioning to triple-blind review would further reduce gender bias in academic publishing. The findings as to whether…

Adopting 'vulnerability' as an analytical lens and informed by a qualitative case study approach, the present study investigates two Chinese scholars' academic writing and publishing practice. The findings reveal different sources and forms of vulnerability that influenced the participants' professional engagements, social interactions and…

School Psychology faculty members are expected to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals that impact the fields of education and psychology. Both the content and the impact of the articles school psychologists publish may change across time and differ from other disciplines. The current analysis sought to understand average article impact,…

This study examines the experiences and motivations of language and linguistics academics who have published in potential predatory journals (PPJs). A questionnaire was administered to 2,793 academics with publications in 63 language and linguistics PPJs, and 213 of them returned their responses. A subsample of the respondents (n = 21) also…

The peer-review process used in most academic journals is critical for curating evidence-based knowledge. Although many graduate programmes expect students to engage in the research process, these programmes often do not mandate formal training for the publication process. With few studies examining the graduate student experience in the…

The emergence of critical university studies in recent years has provided cogent analysis on neoliberalism's reach into public higher education. While neoliberal encroachment into areas such as governance, funding/corporate partnerships, curriculum, and academic freedom are frequently discussed, less treatment is given as to how neoliberalism…

In the current performative climate of higher education, where academic outputs are highly valorised, professional academic writing has become 'high stakes' and is often framed as fraught with tension and anxiety. In this article, we contest the phrase 'publish or perish' and argue that is not necessarily helpful or, indeed, always true. Through…

Publishing in academic journals leads to recognition among peers and contributes to northern scientific knowledge. Brazilian universities have encouraged the internationalization of scientific production in English. The English language has come to be considered the lingua of science and increasingly by the Accounting area. This study aims to is…