Anne-Wil Harzing

Academic life is tough because one’s professional impact is hard to put into numbers that determine success. Results extend beyond the bottom line into many intangible factors. A lot of data are involved. And there are nit-picky relationships with colleagues that will last beyond the promotion decision. Research, teaching, and service can combine into an uncomfortable triad that doesn’t always yield fruit.

In this book, Anne-Wil Harzing, a professor at Middlesex University London, offers career advice to those moving up the ranks in academia. Based off her blogposts and her personal journey, this book offers advice about treating one’s promotion application at least as seriously as one treats a journal article. She speaks of failure through the lens of her first failure to reach full professor. She offers a template of resources to strengthen one’s own case.

Nothing that she says here is earth shattering. This book just contains solid advice for those navigating the path of academic advancement. It’s a pretty quick read in a conversational tone. I often find that books make the best mentors because the people in my life all interact with my life from a specific perspective. This book mentored me in a way. Reading Harzing’s book will provide rising academics with unbiased advice as they chart their own course on their own professional frontier.… (altro)

Most, if not all, in academia aspire to make a meaningful difference inside universities and in the larger world. This sounds simple enough, yet even defining what constitutes a “meaningful difference” can become difficult. Additionally, scarce resources can make pressure to perform intense. Some professors cynically see dissemination of research a marketing game that does not add real value. In this book, Anne-Wil Harzing argues that efforts to enhance impact play a critical role, and she shows us how to make the most of our opportunities in a very modern world of media.

Gone are the days when scholars can just publish and quietly conduct a research program in their labs or studies. For better or for worse, an academic’s career can make or break based on connectivity – how much others are aware of their research. The world of the Internet clues us all into what others are doing, often with too much information. Publication bibliometrics, one of my professional passions, can facilitate comparisons of impact and refinements of future work. As discussed, blogs and social media can enhance academics’ reach both inside the academy and in the wider world. Harzing addresses specifics on how researchers can tap into these amplification tools.

In the concluding chapter, Harzing does not limit herself to look at research outcomes but also looks at the research process. Equity, collaboration, and community can all sharpen the aim of the reach of research. Studies from many fields demonstrate conclusively that social diversity – whether in specialty, worldview, geographic origin, or almost every other factor – produces better business outcomes. Harzing couples specific suggestions with stories from experience to inspire us.

Academics are the obvious audience for this book. She does advertise the Publish or Perish software that her lab freely puts out, but the overwhelming substance of this book focuses on how to approach and think about research impact. I’ve long been told that the first step to improve a process is to measure it meaningfully. This book doesn’t have all the answers to measuring research impact, but it identifies what’s out there so that universities can focus our efforts more keenly.… (altro)

Initially, this book left me with mixed feelings, but further research overturned those as misplaced. It clearly offers advice and insights into writing and publishing successful academic papers. The author clearly speaks from a lifetime of experience and from learning by trial and error. Although the content is brief, it is power-packed with actionable items. There’s not much fluff in this presentation.

I grew concerned that she refers to Publish or Perish software numerous times in the book. It's a big component of her case, honestly. I became concerned about a conflict of interest because the listed publisher has "Software" in its title. However, some communication with the author and independent Internet research put those concerns to bed. Working biomedical research in the US, I have long grown concerned with outsiders trying to profit off of academic research through selling software. My initial suspicions here, however, were simply misplaced as Publish or Perish software is a free tool written primarily to help academics.

Publish or Perish software uses Google Scholar's API. This involves some "geek speak," but I have learned that it's one of the main free tools to access a large number of publications at once. Google limits most API queries to three results, from what I've read. Google's policy is unfortunate to software developers like me, and the Publish or Perish software, centrally featured here, provides a unique and needed service by providing long lists of publications.

I still wish the author would generalize some of her enmeshment with this software in the text. This would help those of us who might use other tools for searching publications like PubMed or ERIC. Google Scholar - key in Publish or Perish - still provides the best cross-discipline search engine. Nonetheless, the principles identified in this book can be translated across other scenarios. That speaks to the strength of the principles and the author's communications as much as anything else.… (altro)