The misalignment of incentives in academic publishing and implications for journal reform

For most researchers, academic publishing serves two goals that are often misaligned-knowledge dissemination and establishing scientific credentials. While both goals can encourage research with significant depth and scope, the latter can also pressure scholars to maximize publication metrics. Commercial publishing companies have capitalized on the centrality of publishing to the scientific enterprises of knowledge dissemination and academic recognition to extract large profits from academia by leveraging unpaid services from reviewers, creating financial barriers to research dissemination, and imposing substantial fees for open access. We present a set of perspectives exploring alternative models for communicating and disseminating scientific research. Acknowledging that the success of new publishing models depends on their impact on existing approaches for assigning academic credit that often prioritize prestigious publications and metrics such as citations and impact factors, we also provide various viewpoints on reforming academic evaluation.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2025-01-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2401231121
Citations
34
Primary Topic
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
47.55

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

The misalignment of incentives in academic publishing and implications for journal reform

Gerd Gigerenzer, Stephan Lewandowsky, Jennifer S. Trueblood, Sebastian Musslick et al.
34 citations
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
47.55
article

The misalignment of incentives in academic publishing and implications for journal reform

Gerd Gigerenzer, Stephan Lewandowsky, Jennifer S. Trueblood, Sebastian Musslick, Stefan Gaillard, Dóra Matzke, Judith ter Schure, Mary C Murphy, Sarahanne Field, Adina L. Roskies, David B. Allison, Ayelet Fishbach, William R. Holmes, Vencislav Popov, Andrei R. Teodorescu
article en
34 citations

Abstract

For most researchers, academic publishing serves two goals that are often misaligned-knowledge dissemination and establishing scientific credentials. While both goals can encourage research with significant depth and scope, the latter can also pressure scholars to maximize publication metrics. Commercial publishing companies have capitalized on the centrality of publishing to the scientific enterprises of knowledge dissemination and academic recognition to extract large profits from academia by leveraging unpaid services from reviewers, creating financial barriers to research dissemination, and imposing substantial fees for open access. We present a set of perspectives exploring alternative models for communicating and disseminating scientific research. Acknowledging that the success of new publishing models depends on their impact on existing approaches for assigning academic credit that often prioritize prestigious publications and metrics such as citations and impact factors, we also provide various viewpoints on reforming academic evaluation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 122(5)
Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), University of Groningen (NL), Osnabrück University (DE), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL), University of Potsdam (DE), University of Zurich (CH), Brown University (US), University of Bristol (GB), University of Chicago (US), Indiana University Bloomington (US), Max Planck Institute for Human Development (DE), Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL), Indiana University (US), University of Amsterdam (NL), University of California, Berkeley (US)
National Science Foundation, European Commission, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
47.55
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.