Abstract

To appreciate what a huge difference there is between the author of a peer reviewed journal article and just about any other kind of author we need only remind ourselves why universities have their "publish or perish" policy: Aside from imparting existing knowledge to students through teaching, the work of a university scholar or scientist is devoted to creating new knowledge for other scholars and scientists to use, apply, and build upon, for the benefit of us all. Creating new knowledge is called "research," and its active use and application are called "research impact." Researchers are encouraged, indeed required, to publish their findings because that is the only way to make their research accessible to and usable by other researchers. It is the only way for research to generate further research. Not publishing it means no access to it by other researchers, and no access means no impact -- in which case the research may as well not have done in the first place.