Faculty perceptions on conducting researchICL201623rd September 2016

Diane Rasmussen Pennington, Ph.D.

Lecturer in Information Science, Department

of Computer and Information Sciences,

University of Strathclyde

Efiong Akwaowo, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Forbes School of Business, Ashford

University

Andree Swanson, Ed.D.

Associate Professor,

Forbes School of Business, Ashford

University

Paula Zobisch, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Forbes School of Business, Ashford University

How do YOU decide where to publish?

Source: Thomson Reuters – Web of Science Journal Citation Reports

The underlying problem: Too much (academic) pressure!

• Published faculty is a competitive advantage in attracting students (Cerejo, 2013)

• Journals can and do exploit “publish or perish” (Grech, 2013)

• Academia’s expectations for high-yielding research as well as the multitude of new researchers entering the landscape are factors contributing to the rise of “predatory publishers,” or ill-reputed organizations that charge authors high publishing fees to publish their research (Dudley, 2013)

Journal publishing models in context

• “Traditional” publishing– Journals are published by a commercial vendor (i.e. Elsevier)– Universities pay for subscriptions/access to the journals– Universities essentially buy back their own research

• Open access publishing– Response to skyrocketing vendor costs– Shift from “reader pays” (university) to “author pays” (researcher)– Can be reputable and also institutionally encouraged, or even required

• Predatory publishing– Author pays a fee to the “publisher” - $300+ in USD– Can be “sold” to unsuspecting researchers under OA guise– Fake or no peer review, no impact factor, no validity, no value– “Predatory journals are threatening the credibility of science” (http://

www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7607/full/534326a.html)

Email invitation to submit from a reputable academic publisher

Email invitation to submit to… IJRES?

IJRES: a fake journal?

• Possibly, according to Beall’s 2016 list of “potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access journals” https://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/

Case study: Full-time academics in American for-profit universities

• For-profit universities have expanded rapidly in the US in recent years

• Focus on teaching, especially non-traditional students, rather than research

• Specialise in career training• Lack of institutional research funding

infrastructure, although some may require faculty to publish

Research questions

• How often do full-time for-profit university faculty members publish in peer-reviewed publications?

• What do full-time, for-profit university faculty members know about OA publications?

• How often do full-time, for-profit university faculty members publish in OA peer-reviewed publications?

• Where do full-time, for-profit university faculty members publish their re-search?

• How do full-time, for-profit university faculty members determine whether a scholarly publication is reputable or predatory?

Methodology

• Online survey implemented in Qualtrics • Recruited participants through social

media and professional networks• Distributed in mid-2015

Results: Participant demographics

• Small sample size (n=46) is not representative, but perhaps indicative?

• 72% women, 28% men• 2/3 were 46 years+• 72% had taught at for-profits 3-10 years• 61% were full-time faculty

Results: Peer reviewed and predatory publications

• 100% said they knew what peer-reviewed publications are; their definitions confirmed

• 35 (of 46) had recently published research in a non-peer-reviewed publication

• 76% are not required to publish in peer-reviewed publications

• 64% knew what predatory publications are• 7 had recently published in a predatory

proprietary publication

Results: OA publications

• 76% knew what OA publications are• 26 had recently published in an OA journal• Difference between OA and proprietary?

– Ownership; subscription/cost; accessibility• Different OA models?

– Almost all did not know • Only 3 said their university provides

funding to publish in OA journals

Results: Where to publish?

• How do you decide whether you would like to publish in a particular journal?

• Does your university provide guidelines regarding acceptable journals?

Results: How do you determine whether a journal is considered reputable?

Results: What, if anything, would set off a red flag in your mind that a journal is not reputable?

• 62% are not willing to pay out of pocket for publishing in a peer-reviewed journal

• Who pays for university access to peer-reviewed journals? – The library, the students, the university, the advertisers,

the government, unsure• Why are some freely available while others must be

accessed through the library? – Editor compensation; quality/reputation; older mindsets

• Who should pay for publication/access?– University; students; authors

Results: Paying for publication?

• Many are not required to publish, especially not in peer-reviewed journals – Some noted a survey design issue: “I have not

published in the past year and there was not any place to mark zero” so publication frequency is even lower than reported in the survey

• Universities do not provide financial support to publish or advice on where to publish

• Recognise the meaning and value of peer review• Lack of understanding regarding OA models and

underlying costs of publication

Preliminary observations: For-profit faculty and publication

• Deeper investigation through focus groups or semi-structured interviews

• What would help you understand your publication options?

• What are the publication requirements at your university?

• Where can you publish? • What can you publish?• What is considered “research”?• What could your university do better to support your

research and publication requirements?

Future research

Cerejo, C. (2013, November 1). Navigating through the pressure to publish. Retrieved from http://www.editage.com/insights/navigating-through-the-pressure-to-publish#

Dudley, M. (2013). The curious case of academic publishing. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 8(1). Retrieved from https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/2601/2867#.VK276GOQ5K0

Grech, V. (2013, September). Publish, but do not perish in the open access model. Malta Medical Journal, 3. Retrieved from http://www.um.edu.mt/umms/mmj/showpdf.php?article=392

References