Perish or Publish in China: Pressures on Young Chinese Scholars to Publish in Internationally Indexed Journals

Mei Tian, Yan Su and Xin Ru
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Mei Tian: Department of English, School of International Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yan Su: Department of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University City College, Xi’an 710018, China
Xin Ru: Department of English, School of International Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Publications, 2016, vol. 4, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: To boost their research productivities, Chinese universities are putting great pressure on their research-active staff to publish in internationally indexed journals. However, the emerging publish-or-perish culture in China has seen little empirical investigation thus far. In the research reported in this article, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven young researchers in science and engineering disciplines at a research-centered university in central China. The study showed that these young scholars faced great pressure to publish papers in internationally indexed journals. Consequently, the participants were reluctant to spend time on other academic activities, including teaching training. They also reported considerable work time devoted to writing, which resulted in fatigue and negatively affected family relations. The participants admitted that they had to rush to publish, and therefore were less likely to produce papers of better quality or those with novel discoveries. The research contributes to our reflection upon Chinese universities’ increasing use of the number of international publications as a major assessment and incentive measurement of their faculties’ academic performance.

Keywords: young scholars; internationally indexed journals; perish or publish; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A2 D83 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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