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.
Publishing in Academic Journals
By Anne-Wil Harzing
Copyright (c) 2022
Tarma Software Research Ltd.
ISBN13 9781739609726
Page Count: 130
Genre: Research, Academe
Sponsored link to www.amazon.com