Australian Universities’ Review - Publications, Citations and Impact Factors - Myth and Reality - Academic Freedom, Publishing and Misconduct

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

Discusses the role of university academics as researchers in modern society, where instant gratification and external guidance from government and funding agencies can undermine teaching and research autonomy. Explores how academic freedom supports independence in teaching, investigation, and publishing, including the selection of peer-reviewed journals. Highlights pressures from journal rankings and impact factors, confusion among young academics about KPI-driven publishing, and provides examples exposing academic misconduct.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Academics as Researchers and Educators

Academic Freedom

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Publications, citationsand impact factors Myth and reality Robert Jeyakumar Nathan Multimedia University, Malaysia Omar Bin Shawkataly Universiti Sains Malaysia This article discusses the role of university academics as researchers. In present-day society which touts instant gratification, the primary role of a university is being undermined. In Malaysia, academics no longer teach and research as they please but are ‘guided’ by government agencies and influenced by the priorities of funding agencies. One of the components of academic freedom is the freedom to publish. Academics publish research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. They choose journals in which their articles will be peer-reviewed, published and read by the communities of interest. However, lately many academics tend to publish in journals based on rankings, in journals reputed to have higher impact than others. Often young academics are puzzled whether they should publish where it matters or where it would quickly boost the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the university. This article highlights some of these struggles in modern academia and exposes several examples of academic misconduct. Keywords: role of academics, academic freedom, journal ranking, academic misconduct Introduction Academics are pillars of educational endeavour and agents of knowledge discovery and dissemination. Some academics only conduct research, while others busy themselves solely with teaching. Still others have mastered the delicate art of balancing both teaching and research. In a nutshell, an academic’s value lies not merely in fulfilling the role of a teacher, but also in active discovery and disseminating knowledge through research. Let us examine the roles of the teacher and contrast it with a lecturer who conducts research. A teacher uses a syllabus with textbooks as guides to teach and convey knowledge to students, aiming to ensure students’comprehension of the subject matter. A teacher’s primary focus and concern would be students’ learning. For lecturers and professors, their main focus is often their field of expertise that they research and teach. Lecturersand professors seek to invigorate students’ thinking on their subject matter, by constantly questioning the status quo and providing new perspectives to a subject matter through research. Their focus would be discovering new knowledge and contributing to the greater body of knowledge. In terms of knowledge creation, researchers play a pivotal role in the academy in their systematic attempt to conduct research to provide answers to important questions. This is in line with the purpose of research which aims to enhance knowledge and generate new applications from newly-discovered knowledge (Sulo et al., 2012) . The danger is that the wheel might be reinvented. A 42 Publications, citations and impact factors Robert Jeyakumar Nathan & Omar Bin Shawkataly vol. 61, no. 1, 2019 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W researcher’s worst nightmare is to get stuck in the middle of their research, only to discover that the same work has already been done (Noll, 1997).To avoid this, researchers need to be constantly updated with the changes to the existing body of knowledge and new knowledge in their field of research. Academic freedom In the process of knowledge creation and dissemination, academics crave academic freedom. Academic freedom refers to the independence and autonomy given to academics to teach and conduct research in any capacity without being constrained by rules and regulations, thereby allowing them to discover and disseminate newlyfound ideas regardless of their sensitivity (Robinson & Moulton, 2001) . Additionally, scholars require academic freedom which allows them to work and research without restraint and/or interference by other individuals, authorities and the government (Robinson & Moulton,

FAQs

How does the article describe the role of university academics in research and dissemination?

Academics are presented as pillars of educational endeavour who discover and disseminate knowledge through research, contributing to the body of knowledge and answering important questions.

What does academic freedom mean according to the article?

Academic freedom refers to independence and autonomy to teach and conduct research, publish results, and choose problems for investigation without restrictive rules or external interference.

Why does the article say publishing choices may be distorted in modern academia?

It notes that many academics increasingly publish based on journal rankings and high-impact reputations, so young academics may be unsure whether to publish where it matters or where it quickly boosts KPI metrics.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man