Caught in the crossfire? A comparative study of the researchers’ choice in scholarly publishing and the effects of national evaluation regimes with reference to Articles Processing Charges (APCs)

Résumé

Researchers face a complex decision milieu when it comes to disseminating their research in the sense that they are required to weigh up the rewards (and costs) of publishing in relation to their professional reputations as well as against the rewards in their respective national evaluation systems. This comparative study describes and analyzes the perceptions and practices of researchers’ publication strategies and seeks to understand how they disseminate their work, whether systems of evaluation influence their publishing practices and how they define the prestige of a journal. To achieve this, we surveyed established researchers in four countries in the Global South, namely, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The results indicate a broad convergence among respondents from the four countries, with almost all researchers indicating that publication in scientific journals is the most important means for disseminating their research. A high journal impact factor and inclusion in international indexes were cited as the main indicators of journal prestige. However, a journal's value in the national evaluation system was also highlighted by most Argentine and Brazilian researchers as an important consideration when selecting a journal. On the contrary, Mexican and South African researchers did not place such high value on journals in their respective evaluation systems. These results revealed that the role played by publication in national assessment differs in countries where full-time positions for researchers are evaluated, while in other countries publishing-linked incentives play a central role. Nevertheless, this paper concludes that evaluation and reputation regimes are highly influenced by impact metrics and indexing, which in turn has led to a monochromatic picture of scholarly publishing, and has favored the concentration of the notion of prestige in journals that are systematically increasing APC prices.

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