Publish or perish? : communicating research with the public
Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SUN MeDIA
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The saying, “publish or perish” left me agitated, wondering about my ultimate
academic destiny at the beginning of my doctoral studies. Whether I would succeed
or fail seemed to depend on whether I publish or not. At one point, I heard the saying
so often it left me confused as to whether doing a postgraduate degree was about
studying or publishing. I was fully aware that publishing is the pulse that keeps
alive the ideas that I worked hard to formulate. I kept wondering about two related
aspects: if I published, who would read my work? And, as scholarly publishing is
a lengthy process, how long would it take before my ideas would circulate into
the public domain? I observed one established academic who liked to publish in
newspapers but was annoyed when the readers complained that they found his
articles too difficult to understand. Looking at the comments of his frustrated readers,
I wondered if academics really intended to communicate to anyone at all, or just to
themselves.
Description
CITATION: Banda, C. 2016. Publish or Perish? : communicating research with the public, in L. Frick, P., Motshoane, C. McMaster & C. Murphy (eds.). Postgraduate study in South Africa : surviving and succeeding. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 223-231. doi:10.18820/9781928357247/20.
The original publication is available from AFRICAN SUNMeDIA - www.sun-e-shop.co.za
The original publication is available from AFRICAN SUNMeDIA - www.sun-e-shop.co.za
Keywords
Education, Higher, Higher education, Scholarly writing
Citation
Banda, C. 2016. Publish or Perish? : communicating research with the public, in L. Frick, P., Motshoane, C. McMaster & C. Murphy (eds.). Postgraduate study in South Africa : surviving and succeeding. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 223-231. doi:10.18820/9781928357247/20.