Chapter 1
Everything you know about publishing is wrong

The organization as university
“The workplace is becoming more like a university setting.” Duncan Campbell, International Labor Organization economist told Newsweek in 2001. Why? Well, you’ve heard the phrase, ‘life-long learning’. Life-long learning describes a world where we are constantly learning new things so as to be able to do our jobs. We don’t just go to the university for four years now, but rather the university comes to us everyday of our lives.

Consider the following:
· A 1998 study by George Mason University of college graduates found that 95 percent of respondents view lifelong learning as an essential part of their career
· According to a 2000 OECD report, since 1985, the expansion of knowledge-based industries has outpaced gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the developed countries. Knowledge-based industries now account for more than half of OECD-wide GDP.
· A 2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers report found that intellectual assets now account for 78 percent of the total value of American S&P 500 companies

We are life-long learners in a quest to make ourselves more productive, more intelligent, more employable, more valuable. The organization is an information organization now. The organization is a university now. It must use information to make itself more productive, more innovative, more profitable, more competitive.

Academics were the original information workers. Universities were the original information organizations. The modern organization and individual can learn much with regard to becoming a better ‘information organization’ by observing how academics and universities have dealt with content. Sure, they have made mistakes, but they have learned valuable lessons. Lessons we can all learn from.

The university is the home of the Internet. The Internet was invented by the US military in conjunction with several universities. The Internet was first embraced by universities. The Web was invented in a research organization. The Web was first embraced by universities. Do you see a pattern emerging?

The Internet and Web were embraced by universities around the world because academics and students saw in them tools for the better communication of ideas. These new tools were better than the older tools: letters, faxes, phones. The Internet and email allowed ideas to be shared more quickly, found more quickly, organized and published in a more efficient manner.

Content is the fuel that drives universities and academia. Such institutions have had to deal with the critical problem of maximizing the value they create from knowledge for centuries. They have found that one of the best ways to maximize the value of knowledge is to get it down on paper. They have found that one of the best ways to judge information workers (academics, scientists) is to judge them by what they publish.

Whether as creators of content, or through their libraries as organizers of content, academia has had to address how best to derive value from content; how best to get the right content to the right people at the right time. The academic organization has found that an essential way to derive value from knowledge is to get it published.

In fact, knowledge that is published is at the heart of the academic organization. Tenopir and King (1998) found that scientists view formal publication as either the most important or second-most important source of knowledge, as compared to other sources, such as laboratory-instrument readouts, computer-based research, or advice from colleagues, library staff, and support staff.

What are the characteristics of the modern academic information organization and worker?

• They publish more than ever. About 4,000 academic papers are published every day in the United States alone, which appear in 200,000-300,000 different journals
• They read more than ever. Between 1990 and 1993, for example, scientists at the University of Tennessee read an average of 188 scholarly articles per year
• They communicate more than ever. The Journal of Electronic Publishing in 2000 reported on a study that found that scientists spend 50-60% of their time communicating

“Publish or perish” has long been a motto for those who work in academia. Today, it becomes a motto for all information workers. The academic is the original ‘information worker.’ A large part of what they do is come up with or explore ideas. They then publish the results as content, whether that be research papers, reports, studies, books, etc. If they don’t publish, they don’t get recognized by their peers and superiors, they don’t get funding for further research; their career goes into stasis.

Resh (1998): states that, “Research articles… are the traditional “coin of the realm” for academic scientists. Through their publications scientists either become known or remain unknown. Moreover, their initial appointment and eventual tenure, promotions, and research funding are largely based on the quality and the quantity of their publications.” According to Varian (1997), “At most academic organizations there is almost a frantic drive to publish. It can be dog eat dog, publish or perish. If you don’t publish, you’re not visible. If you’re not visible, your career goes in reverse.”


Next: Part 8: Know your reader
Previous: Part 6: Time to publish

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• Augustana College, United States
• Drury University, United States
• Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
• Indiana University, United States
• Monash University, Australia
• University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• University of Regina, Canada
• University of Teesside, UK

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“Publish or perish” has long been a motto for those who work in academia. Today, it becomes a motto for all information workers.