Why do professors rush to publish papers?

[phrygian]

As an undergrad, I understand my motivations for my group publishing papers: that my name could be on one which would help me get into grad school; similar to the motivations of an assistant professor hoping to get tenure.

Everyone I meet seems in a rush to get good results and publish them. My question is, why would a tenured professor be in a rush to publish papers? Is it a matter of pride and fame, or do you get money when you publish a paper? When a professor makes an extremely useful discover, does he get paid any more than his salary from the University?

 

[Andy Resnick]

Publishing papers means the research program is productive. Data contained within published papers also are used to justify research proposals, which provide funding for labs- both supplies and students.

*very* rarely, a published paper leads to fame and fortune.

 

[Gordianus]

Rushing for papers is serious disease that has infected science.
We're now judged by the number of published papers, but weighted by the quality of the journal and further adjusted by another factor that measures how many times your paper is cited, etc...
I'm quite sure very famous names would have passed modern standards.

 

[Curl]

It used to be a means for "advertising" what you did, putting your work out in hope that it could become useful in the future. Now its mostly a cockshow, especially for students.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Rushing for papers is serious disease that has infected science.
We're now judged by the number of published papers, but weighted by the quality of the journal and further adjusted by another factor that measures how many times your paper is cited, etc...
I'm quite sure very famous names would have passed modern standards.

It used to be a means for "advertising" what you did, putting your work out in hope that it could become useful in the future. Now its mostly a cockshow, especially for students.

There's elements of truth to both of these statements. Even so, given that academia is a meritocracy, how does one objectively quantify the merit to someone's work? How can a tenure and promotions committee objectively evaluate my work when the committee members are not in my discipline?

Remember- the same standards for tenure apply to me (Physics Department) and a colleague in the Music Department, and the same people who ultimately make the decision about granting tenure (provost, president, trustees) evaluate both of us.

 

[eri]

It might also simply be the case that it's a popular field of research and if you don't publish your results in a timely manner, you're going to get scooped. That's often what's behind the rush to publish.

 

[Claude Bile]

Publication records are a means of quantifying one's quantity and quality of research. The system has it's flaws, but there a few realistic alternatives. That said, publication records are not the be-all and end-all in deciding the outcome of grant applications.

From a student/supervisor point of view, fast-tracking the publishing of papers can serve as a good focus when things inevitably get a bit hectic during one's Masters or PhD.

Claude.