Nekaj odlomkov iz zapisa Publish and Perish: A Plea to Deans, Faculty Chairpersons, University Authorities glavnega urednika The European Journal of International Law in profesorja prava J.H.H. Weilerja:
In preparing a tenure review report, or assisting in an entry-level appointment process I read the file – a dozen articles or so. One is strikingly good. A handful, truly mediocre. One or two, real garbage. From the same hand, from the same mind. How so uneven? We cannot be at our best in everything we put out, but I am talking discrepancies that go beyond that standard distribution. … the common thread here is obvious: the immense, self-defeating pressure put on young scholars, at the early stages of their career, to distinguish themselves by insane quantitative criteria. …
Much has been written on the disastrous effects on the humanities, in some cases permanent and irreparable, which this phenomenon has produced. But what interests me here is something far more specific – the inimical impact on young scholars making their first steps in legal academia. …
people do not produce the best work their intellectual potential would allow. And the same is true for the articles produced in this manner. If that is so, you might ask, surely the quality controls in admission to the post-doc programmes or entry-level positions would detect and prevent such. They don’t. The failure is structural. Selection committees examine dozens of files. Sometimes more than that. So the screening, often performed by administrators rather than academics, is done on the very same quantitative criteria. Dissertation? Check. Four-six articles? Check. Conferences? Check. Etc. You can see how many false positives and false negatives will be thus produced. But surely at this stage, the intrinsic merit of the written work will be assessed? Sadly, this is often not the case. It is too time demanding, ‘I am not an expert in the field, so I cannot really assess’ comes into play, and then, irony of ironies, it is the reputation of the institution where the work has been done and the prestige of the referees that play an inordinate weight, and we are almost back to square one.
… we have, in my view, been sliding into a situation where we are doing real damage to the formation of young scholars, starting with the doctoral experience and carrying through to tenure. I believe Deans, Faculty Chairs and University authorities have it in their power to attenuate this situation in very meaningful ways without compromising the quality and reputation of the institutions they serve. In the long run they may even enhance such.
(vir: EJIL: Talk! – Publish and Perish: A Plea to Deans, Faculty Chairpersons, University Authorities)
