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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Peer Review and Publishing

Publish or perish

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

idiomAdvanced term

In academic english & research, publish or perish means: An expression describing the pressure on academics to publish frequently in order to keep their jobs, get promoted or win funding.

In Turkish: yayın yap ya da yok ol, yayın baskısı

How it is used

Used critically in discussions about academic careers, research quality and well-being. People say they work in a publish-or-perish culture or system. It is often linked to debates about the quantity versus the quality of research.

Example sentences

  1. Many early-career researchers feel trapped in a publish or perish culture.

  2. The panel discussed how publish or perish pressures can harm research quality.

Common collocations

  • publish-or-perish culture
  • publish-or-perish pressure
  • a publish-or-perish system
  • journalA regular publication containing research articles in a particular field, usually checked by peer review before publication.
  • impact factorA yearly measure of how often articles in a journal are cited on average, based on citations in one year to items published in the two previous years.
  • peer reviewThe process in which experts in the same field evaluate a manuscript or grant proposal before it is accepted, revised or rejected.
  • grantA sum of money given by a government body, foundation or university to pay for a research project, often after a competitive application.

More terms: Peer Review and Publishing

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