Perceptions of Publish or Perish Among Students in US Criminology and Criminal Justice Ph.D. Programs

• In Event: Strategies for Teaching Comparative & Critical Criminology

Abstract

Much attention has been paid to scholarship productivity by criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) faculty, including identifying current and emerging “stars” and assessing the prestige of the journals in which faculty publish their work. Many of these faculty also work in departments characterized as having toxic “publish or perish” environments and that many – if not most – CCJ doctoral programs are housed in these departments. The question becomes to what extent are graduate students being affected by these environments?
Using results from an anonymous survey of over 180 currently enrolled doctoral students at 44 CCJ programs in the US, this study examined perceived publication pressures students feel as they pursue their Ph.D., how these pressures differed by students’ backgrounds, and whether they were related to perceptions of mentorship, feelings of impostorism, support for questionable research practices, burnout, and publication self-efficacy. Results indicated perceived publication pressure did not significantly vary by participants' backgrounds, was related to higher levels of impostorism and burnout, but was inversely related to levels of perceived publication self-efficacy Finally, perceived publication stress was related to higher levels of burnout. Our results have clear implications for the future of CCJ doctoral training and the environment in which it occurs.

Authors

• Stephanie Michelle Cardwell, University of Texas at San Antonio

• Heith Copes, University of Alabama at Birmingham

• John J. Sloan III, University of Alabama at Birmingham