Studies of Chinese (visiting) international doctoral students typically focus on how students are socialized into the Western academy. Not only does the literature reinforce Western institutions as 'the academic centre', but it also conjures a unidirectional image of academic learning and knowledge transfer from the West to the rest of the world.…

Research on quality assurance in higher education has been expanding globally; however, there is still scope for exploring the depth of diffusion to evaluate its impact. To this end, collaboration structures between countries and common concepts in scientific texts were examined in this study. The bibliographic mapping method was employed to…

The Chinese government promulgated several policies to encourage academics to participate in applied projects. As collaboration with industry on applied projects consequently increased, previous research found that the external funders placed constraints on the applied projects in which the academics were involved. Academics have tried to find a…

Publication in 'reputable', peer-reviewed and indexed journals has become a key requirement for promotion and career advancement in African universities. There is little research into how bibliometric measures of journal reputation are shaping the publishing strategies and practices of Africa-based researchers. This study, drawing on 43 in-depth…

This study aims to advance global readers' understanding of the scholarly publishing (SP) activity system experienced by six English language teaching (ELT) Indonesian lecturers using the activity theory as a framework that focuses on its concepts of contradiction, boundary objects, and boundary crossing. Semi-structured interviews were used to…

The unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns on mothers around the world were identified as a concern in the early months of the pandemic. Almost immediately, women decreased work hours and women researchers reported reductions in research time as research publications by women dropped precipitously. In order to examine…

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…

This article suggests that situations in which multiple research teams are convened under similar conditions present an opportunity to discover factors that lead to productive collaboration. It argues that social network analysis of research team outputs becomes more valuable when paired with data about research participant perceptions; and that…

Where and when do academics write and what are the feelings associated with it? Is the pressure to write a fulfilling process of joyful exploration, or is it stressful and wracked with self-doubt? Inspired by Henri Lefebvre's Rhythmanalysis, this article explores the rhythmic dispositions and orientations of contemporary academic writing, exposing…

The Thesis by Publication (TBP) is an approach to doctoral education that offers the advantage of achievement of a doctoral degree while at the same time facilitating development of transferable knowledge and skills necessary to enter and sustain a career in contemporary academia. There is a need to build deeper understanding of the demands of the…

This study draws upon motivation theories and identifies the motivations of Chinese scholars with regard to publishing articles in international journals and how their motivations influence the research output of Chinese universities. Drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with academics currently working in two Chinese universities, the findings,…

This paper addresses the wicked problem of measuring the productivity of learning and teaching in higher education. We show how fundamental validity issues and difficulties identified in educational productivity research point to the need for a qualitatively different framework when considering the entire question. We describe the work that needs…

The publish or perish adage is alive and well for early career academics (ECAs), who are under increasing pressure from higher education institutions for improved research performance. This paper explores the way in which ECAs respond to the managerial imperatives of one Australian regional university; specifically, a meta-reflexive lens was used…

The last twenty years have seen an increased emphasis around the world on the quality and quantity of research in response to national research assessments, international league tables, and changes in government funding. The prevailing attitude in higher education embeds research as the 'gold standard' in the context of academic activity. However,…

In this conceptual paper, I contend that the soul of academic labour is becoming lost in performativity. Performativity, I explain, is a form of regulation and control that deploys technical rationality and judgements to incentivize and punish academics. Indeed, performativity is central to the culture of measurement within contemporary…