The life of an academic as it turns out is not the protected sheltered little world that many outsiders perceive. It is sometimes viewed by undergraduate students that professors spend very little time doing actual work, the seem to be constantly absent from their offices and often slow to reply to email. There are of course some exceptions to the rule, some super human professors seem to be awake at all hours, respond instantly to emails whether at midday or midnight. Recent research seems to indicate that in the western world researchers and academics in general work long hours throughout the day and night and continue to work on weekends. The pressure placed on academics to continue to produce research results is growing each year.

Take into account that most professors are also required to teach, write grant proposals and in the Australian system mark large amounts of assessments on top of producing ground breaking research and it’s really no surprise that many of them are hard to track down.

Taking a step back from the Publish or Perish mantra which has certainly infected the US and is spreading globally now, it seems quite clear to me that this is not the environment for creative thinking.

The academic pressure cooker places demands on students and professors alike that are unrealistic and unproductive in many cases. In order to function at a high level researchers need space and time to think develop ideas and validate hypothesis’. In order to reach this kind of operating conditions a researcher must make an active decision to ignore the pressure to publish, publishing too soon results in poor performance and weak articles, if we can resist the temptation to publish as soon as we have the smallest result it is possible to greatly enhance the scientific value of the end product.

To operate in this manner requires courage and persistence as in the initial phase you go through a dry spell of not publishing anything. Hopefully with enough hard work a little luck and by maintaining multiple streams of research the fruits of your labour will pay off with a series of in depth articles that are valued in the scientific community.

This approach is challenging in a world where you next position is not always guaranteed and often appointments are made based on the number of publications you have, but if you look at the great scientists in any field you will see that its the quality of their publications that kick start a good career.

I hope that I can take my own advice and resist the urge to publish early, for the reward of publishing well.

Cheers,
Daniel