The perilous path: reimagining promotion and tenure in African academia.

IF 0.9 Q4 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Pan African Medical Journal Pub Date : 2024-09-03 eCollection Date: 2024-01-01 DOI:10.11604/pamj.2024.49.5.44855
Alphonsus Neba, Luchuo Engelbert Bain
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The current scientific publication architecture and business models are structured to privilege high-impact Western journals. This has been perpetuated in academia and by funding agencies, where a researcher´s value is often measured by the number of publications and where these papers are published. However, the current system renders journals from low- and middle-income countries, including African journals, largely invisible. Indeed, it is important to answer the fundamental question of why we conduct research. Most would argue that research is only ethically grounded if its core purpose is to create impact and improve lives. There is compelling evidence that the time lag from evidence generation to translation into policy is about 17 years. There is no evidence that publishing in a high-impact journal is more likely to create an impact. Indeed, the move by many universities away from using the impact factor as a measure of academic value is increasingly welcomed. It has become critical to redefine and restructure academic merit. In this essay, we will explore the Afro-centric dimensions of the publish-or-perish rhetoric and its impact on tenure in African academia. We argue that context-relevant and alternative metrics are needed to redefine academic merit, as well as the intentionality of African governments and universities to invest in, trust, and value their own journals as non-negotiables in giving African journals the visibility and trust they deserve. We present an African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) approach, supported by the Gates Foundation, intentional in decolonizing the global publication space, and clearly aligns with its mission of improving lives in Africa through research.

危险之路:重新认识非洲学术界的晋升和终身职位。
目前的科学出版架构和商业模式是以影响力大的西方期刊为主导的。这种情况在学术界和资助机构中长期存在,研究人员的价值往往以发表论文的数量和发表论文的地点来衡量。然而,现行制度使得中低收入国家的期刊,包括非洲期刊,在很大程度上被忽视。事实上,必须回答我们为什么要开展研究这一根本问题。大多数人会认为,只有当研究的核心目的是产生影响和改善生活时,研究才是有道德基础的。有令人信服的证据表明,从产生证据到转化为政策的时间间隔约为 17 年。没有证据表明,在影响力大的期刊上发表论文更有可能产生影响。事实上,许多大学不再将影响因子作为衡量学术价值的标准,这种做法越来越受到欢迎。重新定义和调整学术价值已变得至关重要。在本文中,我们将探讨以非洲为中心的 "要么出版,要么完蛋 "的言论及其对非洲学术界终身教职的影响。我们认为,重新定义学术价值需要与背景相关的替代指标,非洲政府和大学也需要有意识地投资、信任和重视自己的期刊,这是让非洲期刊获得应有的知名度和信任的必要条件。在盖茨基金会的支持下,我们介绍了非洲人口与健康研究中心(APHRC)的方法,该方法有意使全球出版空间非殖民化,并明确符合其通过研究改善非洲人民生活的使命。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Pan African Medical Journal
Pan African Medical Journal PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-
CiteScore
1.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
691
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