"Publish or perish" is a phrase coined to describe the pressure in academia to publish work constantly to further or sustain one's career.[1][2][3]
Frequent publication is one of the few methods at a scholar's disposal to demonstrate their academic capabilities, and the attention that successful publications bring to scholars and their sponsoring institutions can facilitate progress through the field and continued funding. Scholars who publish infrequently, or who focus on activities which do not result in publications such as instructing undergraduates, may find themselves out of contention for available tenure-track positions.
The pressure to publish has been cited as a cause of poor work being submitted to academic journals. [4]
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The phrase appeared in a non-academic context in the 1932 book "Archibald Cary Coolidge: life and letters" by Harold Jefferson Coolidge. [5] In 1938, the phrase appeared in a college-related publication.[6] The expression also appears in The Academic Man: A Study in the Sociology of a Profession, published in 1942.[7]
Research-oriented universities may attempt to manage the unhealthy aspects of the publish-or-perish practices, but their administrators often argue that some pressure to produce cutting-edge research is necessary to motivate scholars early in their careers to focus on research advancement, and learn to balance its achievement with the other responsibilities of the professorial role. The call to abolish tenure is very much a minority opinion in such settings.
There are a number of criticisms of this phenomenon, the most notable being that the emphasis on publishing may decrease the value of resulting scholarship, as scholars must spend more time scrambling to publish whatever they can manage, rather than spend time developing significant research agendas.
The pressure to publish-or-perish also detracts from the time and effort professors can devote to teaching undergraduate (and some graduate) courses. The rewards for exceptional teaching rarely match the rewards for exceptional research, which encourages faculty to favor the latter whenever they conflict.
Many universities do not focus on teaching ability when they hire new faculty, and simply look at the publications list (and, especially in technology-related areas, the ability to bring in research money). This single-minded focus on the professor-as-researcher may cause faculty to neglect or be unable to perform some other responsibilities.
Another important aspect of professorship is mentorship of graduate students, an aspect rarely assessed when new faculty are admitted to a department.
Regarding the humanistic disciplines, teaching and passing on the tradition of Literae Humaniores is often placed in a very secondary position in research universities and treated as a non-scholarly activity, to the detriment of high culture. Hanson and Heath have polemicized against this in their book, Who Killed Homer.