Alex DanversDec 18, 2022
@erinnacland @academicchatter if someone is publishing one paper every 5 days or less, then we know that "publishing a paper" doesn't mean just one thing. There is no way that authors could be doing the amount of work a typical grad student does to get a publication every 5 days. Instead, they are putting their names on the publications of all the papers coming out of a lab group + a larger network of collaborators. Sometimes this involves little more than reading over & approving a draft.
Show threadAlex DanversDec 18, 2022

@erinnacland @academicchatter When we see hyperprolific authorship rising, we shouldn't think about one person, working crazy long hours.

This level of output is beyond what an individual can reasonably do. It suggests a system-level shift in how authorship is conceptualized and awarded.

There are several ways this plays out:
--It's my grant, so my name goes on the paper (even if I didn't conceptualize, analyze, or write)
--It's my lab, so my name goes on the paper (even for unfunded work)

Show threadAlex DanversDec 19, 2022
@erinnacland @academicchatter More ways people get to 5 papers / day:
--I'm a Big Name so I get invited to write many reviews / overviews that all essentially have the same content
--I'm a Big Name so I can write short opinion pieces or responses to articles that would not get published by younger / less famous authors
--I come from a discipline that has different authorship guidelines, but we lump them in together (is a history authorship the same as physics authorship?)
Show threadAlex DanversDec 19, 2022

@erinnacland @academicchatter
relevant literature shows that getting hired at a highly funded, highly prestigious university means you get more money for staff. More staff means you can spend more of your time writing.

Analyses suggest that this is causal: it's not that big name universities hire "the best"--it's that big name universities *create* "the best" by providing them with more research staff so they can get their work done.

Show threadAlex DanversDec 19, 2022

@erinnacland @academicchatter

just to drive the point home: the fact that there are 81 scholars who publish an article every 5 days means that journal publication has now been completely gamified & the most prolific researchers are just optimizing to win the game.

This is Goodhart's law in action: publication is now more signal than noise for quality scholarship.

the question is whether the scholarly community acknowledges this & changes it's standards of assessment.

Show threadFrancis Norman
@adanvers @erinnacland @academicchatter my guess, based on past observations, will be academia trying both to replicate it and hire those who do it. Despite their narrative to the contrary many institutions are simply following the herd
Dec 19, 2022 at 4:39amWeb