Publish or Perish? Not Exactly
Professor of government and politics at
George Mason University
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Professor of government and politics at George Mason University
Foreign opinion
Mark N. Katz has just begun his 25th year of teaching at George Mason University. He was promoted to full professor in his 10th year there.
The common view of the pressures that professors face in American academia is embodied in the alliterative phrase, “publish or perish.” The truth, though, is more complicated—and less draconian—than this phrase suggests.
Foreign opinion
Mark N. Katz has just begun his 25th year of teaching at George Mason University. He was promoted to full professor in his 10th year there.
The common view of the pressures that professors face in American academia is embodied in the alliterative phrase, “publish or perish.” The truth, though, is more complicated—and less draconian—than this phrase suggests.
The type of academic position that someone with a brand new Ph.D. hopes to obtain is referred to as a tenure track position—i.e., a position that is eligible for tenure (meaning that the position is “without term,” and can be kept for the rest of one’s working career). This tenure-track position usually comes with the title “Assistant Professor.”
At most American universities, an assistant professorship can be held for no more than seven years. Although someone can request consideration at an earlier stage, assistant professors must be considered for promotion (to associate professor) and tenure in their sixth year.
An assistant professor’s academic publications record is the single most important factor in determining whether he or she will obtain tenure. Different disciplines have different expectations about how much someone needs to publish, and these expectations can change over time.
Full professors are not obliged to continue publishing. But by the time someone has obtained this rank, publishing has often become an ingrained habit.
When I first began as an assistant professor in 1988, the publications expectation in my department was that someone coming up for tenure should have either one book published by an academic press, or six articles published in peer reviewed journals. Now, though, the expectation in my department is that someone coming up for tenure should have an academic press published book AND six peer reviewed articles, OR a dozen peer reviewed articles.
(When I first came to George Mason University, I had already published two books with a university press and several--I forget how many-- journal articles, so I had already over fulfilled my quota. I was thus able to go up for promotion and tenure in my fourth year.)
Getting to this many publications by one’s sixth year may sound like a lot, but it really is not. Assistant Professors begin their first year with a Ph.D. dissertation already or (more rarely any more) almost completed. The dissertation can then be published either as a book, or chapters from it as articles. And any more, many young scholars prefer to delay defending their Ph.D. dissertations and retain their graduate student status for longer in order to beef up their publications record for when they go on the job market to become an assistant professor. It is not uncommon, then, for a new assistant professor to already have two, three, or even more journal articles before the start of his or her first year.
Even then, the stated publication expectations for tenure are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines. If someone going up for tenure is well liked by his or her department and university, justifications can usually be found as to why he or she deserves tenure. Further, not all a candidate’s publications have to be in print. Those that have been accepted but not yet published can also be counted.
Except at the very top tier of American universities (i.e., Harvard and Princeton), most assistant professors who apply for promotion and tenure will indeed receive it. This is partly because those who know they will not tend to leave beforehand. But as one of my former department chairs once put it, “The decision to hire someone is effectively a decision to grant tenure.” If, though, someone is rejected for tenure in the sixth year, he or she is typically allowed to stay on for a seventh year in order to try again and/or find another job.
And once someone obtains tenure, there is no requirement that he or she publish anything else ever again. Universities, of course, want tenured professors to continue publishing, and can punish them for not doing so by withholding salary increases. But they cannot fire them for not publishing. And in an era of tight budgets when universities are not giving out much by way of salary increases anyway, threatening to withhold someone’s due to lack of publications is not much of a sanction.
Of course, if an associate professor wishes to become a professor (often referred to as “full professor”), he or she needs to continue publishing actively to the point of acquiring a national or international reputation in his or her field. Nobody needs to become a full professor. Once promoted to associate professor with tenure, someone can—and many do—stay in that position until retirement. But those who are ambitious—or who simply love to write—will continue to publish and build up a dossier that qualifies them to be considered for full professor—a process very similar to the promotion and tenure process, but harder. Those making decisions about promotion and tenure know that unsuccessful candidates will have to leave the university unless they appeal successfully, and the natural human tendency is to find reasons for them to stay. But those making decisions about promotion to full professor know that unsuccessful candidates can stay at the university. Denying them this honor may cause them considerable embarrassment, but it will not end their careers.
Finally, full professors are not obliged to continue publishing. But by the time someone has obtained this rank, publishing has often become an ingrained habit. Indeed, universities often find it very difficult to get full professors to not write so much, and instead devote time and attention to the mundane but necessary tasks of serving on various committees that make universities run. Many full professors, though, believe that these tasks are more appropriate for associate professors whose publication output declines after they receive tenure.
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