Why The Publication Cycle Worries ME

There has been a lot of talk it seems lately surrounding academic research and the need to get out of the silo and share/collaborate with others about research. I agree with much of the sentiment but I wonder if this culture will ever change. To be honest, as one embarking on an academic career, the publication cycle worries me!!! My research interests center on technology and the notion that technology today changes faster than my 2 year old changes her mind, means that by the time my research makes it to the masses it could already be outdated.

For example, I conducted a small project over a year ago and submitted it for publication. I have yet to hear back on whether it is being considered or if it has even been sent out for peer review. The typical turn around time for journals is 6 months or more. I had a book review that took nearly a year to get published. I mainly agree with the sentiment surrounding the need to share research because I see a lot of benefit in it. However, the culture of publish or perish needs to change in order for academics to initiate the collaboration. Moving ahead in my career, I already plan to share my research via my blog and other social media platforms. I will also continue to write (and hopefully publish) in order to fulfill the academic requirement. There will just have to be some small differences in content to get around the issue of copyright….WHICH is a whole other issue that really upsets me when it comes to publishing. I will save that rant for another time 😀