Do you need publishing goals?

If you work in the academia, you probably already heard people talking about publishing goals.

The science world can be quite odd. Most of the times we talk about science as a noble lifestyle of seeking knowledge. We want to understand why things are the way they are and simply contribute to a better world. Right? Right.

Well, if this is our purpose as scientists, why do we act differently? And by differently, please read the complete opposite.

We hear quite often about publishing goals. If you are a student, maybe you don’t feel quite the pressure of publishing many papers in one year. However, if you are an advisor or a researcher responsible for a laboratory, things are a bit different.

Scientists have the need to achieve publishing goals in order to show productivity, maintain fundings, show they are doing a good job, etc. However, all these science information really go somewhere? It doesn’t seem like it.

Actually, most of the papers published never get read by more than ten people – that counting the authors, revisors and, let’s be a little optimistic here, friends and family.

So why do we keep a goal that makes no sense at all? Shouldn’t our goal should be impacting the society with our findings? Or contributing for science communication?

A new role in the academia may be rising: the translator. A person that can make all scientific information accessible and easy to understand to the society. Can you imagine the routine this new professional would have?

Another option is scientists starting caring about how to make their research more approachable by lay people or people from outside their studying field.

How about you? Can you think of a solution for the academia productivity?This post was based on “Universidade sitiadas” by Carta Capital.

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About Fabricio Pamplona