Thursday 10 September 2015

Publish and be damned!

Attributed to the 1st Duke of Wellington, this immortal phrase has new resonance in 21st Century Higher Education.  According to Research Excellence Framework fixated Universities the phrase should actually be modified - "Don't publish and be damned!" but they are wrong.

Publication appears to be the aim - not good research, well considered and well funded projects designed to answer real problems.  Academic careers are measured by and advanced by the metrics achieved by so called "research".

I'd like to suggest that the rush to publish in ever growing and ever marginal virtual and physical journals and academic conferences damns the authors to be associated with some poor quality, ill considered and incomplete work that adds nothing to the knowledge they purport to illuminate.

So, Sir Arthur, you were right in 1824 - "Publish and be damned!"



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