To “publish” or “Perish”
Date: December 01, 2021 |Published by: MIU | Category: Blogs
Teaching, research, preparing manuscripts and publishing the research findings are the reality for today's academics, whether it is liked or not. Successful research publication draws attention to scholars and their institutions. This may result in additional financing for the institution and an individual's advancement in their area. The number of publications to an individual's credit is widely used by academic institutions and universities to measure proficiency. This has created a "publish or perish" culture among the elite professors in the leading universities.
However, the academics, especially the younger ones who decided to embark on research careers immediately after their postgraduate degrees, often struggle to excel as much as the scholars who seldom write or solely devote their time to teaching undergraduates. This may lead to finding themselves being out of competition for numerous teaching posts and promotions.
Hence, “publish” the research findings is the aim for every scholar to elevate themselves within their circle of academic peers. However, the ugly truth is, getting manuscripts being accepted and published in either Scopus or Web of Sciences indexed journal is not easy. Approximately 80% of submitted manuscripts are frequently rejected at the first screening stage in science journals. In comparison, fewer than 7% of original research papers were accepted. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) accepts around 7% of the 7000 - 8000 submissions it receives each year; however, many are not research papers. Only 4% of research publications are approved for publication. On top of that, many open access journals charge very high article processing charges (APC), ranging from USD1000 – USD5000, which led many scholars to “perish” in the transition.
Can universities recognise scholarly publications in any non-Scopus or non-Web of science indexed journals that may ease the burden on many academics and reward and encourage them to excel more instead?
In 2011, the Malaysian Citation Centre (MCC) was established by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE). MCC is primarily in charge of collecting, monitoring, organising, and enhancing the quality of Malaysian academic journal articles. The Malaysian Citation Index (MyCite), maintained by MCC, is also recognised by the Malaysia Research Assessment (MyRA). The scholarly publications in MyCite indexed journals are therefore, counted as part of MyRA for Malaysian universities. There are as many as 292 arts & humanity journals, 242 engineering & technology journals, 127 medicine & health sciences journals, 253 science journals and 523 social science journals were listed by MyCite (https://myjurnal.mohe.gov.my/public/browse.php). Most of the journals listed here are free of APC. Therefore, quality research articles that failed to be published in the Scopus or Web of Sciences can be attempted here and this may also improve the university’s research assessment score besides boosting the scholar’s morale.
Recently, students from the School of Biotechnology, MIU, managed to publish two manuscripts in the Malaysian Journal of Science and Advanced Technology (MyCite journal). These students, who enrolled for the SBB 2124 Genetic Engineering module (March 2021), managed to turn their coursework assignments into two review articles.
- Genetically Modified Foods for Sustainable Food Security: Debunking the Myths https://mjsat.com.my/index.php/mjsat/article/view/28”
- Perception and Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods in Malaysia https://mjsat.com.my/index.php/mjsat/article/view/29).
Here are the students’ thoughts on their first-ever research article getting published in the MyCite journal: