Salam & Hello
Has scientific publication become the ultimate goal, overshadowing the true purpose of research, which is to propose solutions and alternatives to real-world problems?
Regards,
In my perspective, the significance of the publication largely hinges on the specific field where the papers are released. For instance, in the field of medicine, experimental research is increasingly overshadowing practical solutions.
Salam,
"Has scientific publication become the ultimate goal..."
Not only ultimate goal, but also the main source of many sort of corruption in the world of academia. And I don't say this corruption threaten us, but has struck us all over the world for years. Simply almost everyone from students to professors want published items.
I have talked in detail about it in other discussions, this is a piece from one of them:
"They only want papers, published ones, in top journals, international ones. It is a full scale race, I call it paper rush (after gold rush) in all continents, countries, cities and universities. Those so called university rankings that again are the phenomena of internet age, added problems to this dilemma. They are also appearing like mushrooms, every several months via a search or by a piece of research or so called piece of research we hear about a new "comprehensive" univ ranking system. We are entering the situation that now even universities want to have their own univ ranking for all over the world. Some saying that this one or that one ranking is biased or some thing like this. Several people sit in a room, calling it the headquarters, making several tables, , copying a loose and weak method or idea behind other univ ranking systems (that themselves have many problems) and searching the web, easily get a URL and uploading what they want. Manipulating what ever they want. Doing what ever they want, in the name of science! Who sees them? all, you and all of us know.
Innocent young people see them and think this or that university is the best, those officials in this or that univ see them, and show off their place and ranking it that univ ranking, those univs which don't have a good or acceptable place in this or that ranking, wont discourage, they search and find the ranking that show their place as a good one or excellent one. All fails? put more pressure on all those involved, from students to professors to publish. Want tenure? publish, want to graduate? publish, want to start a job in the world of academia? publish, want to be a member of the hall of science fame? publish...
In this line of rush or race, publishers also see every thing, better than all of us. They know their supreme powers over us, now.
We are not in the age of "The World of Learning", ISI and even ugly "publish or perish" culture anymore, we are in the age of paperdemic, age of full scale plagiarization, data fabrication, fraud, and misconducts known up to now in the history of science, all are hidden as far as possible up to the time that they Fall out from behind the curtain. That is why as a part, the database of "retraction watch site" is updated daily or several time a day.
The publishers of the world of science that know how the world of academia is thirsty for publications, know to play chess, know how to move and act in this profitable world wide market. It is a cat and mouse game, but unfortunately we in the world of academia are not as lucky as Jerry that used to win over Tom. It is a reality that in all cases the real meaning of the cat and mouse game is applicable to us! So we all witnessing the goal of science is not better life for the human, but the ultimate goal is to see ones manuscript published!
You talked about hundreds or thousands of USD, when it is a noticeable sign of warning for you (in US), imagine what pain people are bearing in countries that the highest salary for a full prof is just several hundred USD per month.
There are many cases that people have to get big loans from banks and pay instalments for several years with big interest rates, just to pay the expenses of publishing their papers, unfortunately many of them useless, or even harmful but as money is involved, journals, whether the real ones or predatory , publish them, and now the other part of problem starts.
What is it? Those with their published papers move up the rank in the world of academia, take scientific posts, occupy editorial and managerial posts, thinking that they know every thing about science and advancement of science, make the other believe that they are experts, then doing the same to others (future/would be students, lower rank academic staff, ...) and this is what we can call it "Vicious cycle". That is why I say we are in a real cat and mouse game!"
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Publishing_early_researcher_or_student_review_papers
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