![]() ![]() PhD students are already in the minority (by sheer numbers) at university levels but let’s focus on minority within minority, i.e., the international students. In a recent article The Costs of Reproducibility, Russell Poldrack argues about aligning institutional incentives with the goals set by ECRs. As much as I would like to get behind it, the present-day institutional structures coupled with my career stage will probably prevent me from doing so. An antidote to this fast paced science is the slow science movement, which is gaining a lot of traction among many eminent scientists. Decade after decade the volume of published scientific literature (and by extension citations) is growing exponentially, which has called the quality of scientific publications into question. Moreover, due to the rampant publication bias early career researchers also find it difficult to publish null findings to produce the academic currency (i.e., publications) that they need to progress further. As a result, the effects of such practices are often felt severely by individuals at the start of their careers. Even Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) signatories are guilty of this ( see this). This is a sentiment shared by many and yet the advertised roles for both academic and non-academic jobs often put more emphasis on number of publications and their perceived impact (or prestige) rather than the candidate and the skills they have to offer. I firmly believe that a PhD is a protected time for research skill development and that universities and funding bodies need to safeguard PhD students from publication pressures. Naturally, the environment that it creates permeates to the foot soldiers of academia aka the PhD students.ĭoctoral students are often led to believe that to “make it” in academia or to distinguish yourself from the crowd or to get grants/fellowships you need to publish frequently and publish a lot, otherwise thou shall perish in a competitive rat race that is the job market (or even any career progression for that matter). ![]() Having said that, as science becomes more and more collaborative and interdisciplinary the rate of publications (and number of co-authors) is probably only going to increase. ![]() While Higgs is most definitely the pinnacle of academic success, such examples are incredibly rare, and the examples of successful academics are often the ones who publish a lot. However, it does seem that academia only rewards people from the hyper-prolific side of the spectrum. The majority of us seem to lie somewhere in the middle of that continuum. Like with many things in life, academic publishing is also a spectrum that (I think) goes from the exceptional Nobel Laureate Peter Higgs who has notoriously published fewer articles ( Peter Higgs: I wouldn’t be productive for today’s academic system) to hyper-prolific academics who publish a paper every 5 days ( see Hyper-prolific academics). While a scientific publication is often seen as the ultimate culmination of research, the speed of publication (from inception of a research idea to its execution) is vastly different across disciplines and is dependent on a number of factors such as availability of research infrastructure, quality of supervision, availability of funding in a research group, a bit of luck etc. The need to publish is partly motivated by the ever-increasing competition in both the academic and non-academic job market. To the best of my knowledge, most British universities don’t make scientific publications a requirement for the award of the doctorate and yet PhD students are under increasing pressures to publish as if that is the only mark of a successful PhD. In this process, doctoral candidates, alongside conducting their research and writing their thesis, are often encouraged to publish peer reviewed journal articles. For the non-UK readers, a full-time PhD in the UK typically takes 3-4 years (sometimes up to 5-6 years but generally not more). Generally, a degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest qualification awarded by a university, and it is earned by carrying out independent, original research work.Īs I have been an international student and a product of the British higher education system, the experiences that I outline here are reflective of that. While PhDs generally culminate with a candidate defending their thesis, the process by which you reach there is different for different disciplines and differs widely across institutions and countries. The answer to this question has many facets and will likely depend on who you ask and their answer is often reflective of their career stage. ![]()
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