When the market enters science: on the pathologies of the scientific publishing system

Abstract

The discussion on controversial publishing practices warms the minds of not only Polish scientists. This can be seen in numerous scientific journals, traditional print media (both weekly and daily), and across social media platforms. What matters more in science is not so much the discovery and its scientific importance, but the number of publications per year per scientist, per chair, per university. These numbers then translate into the size of the financial subsidy. Reaching the highest possible position in the national or international ranking becomes the goal of scientific institutions. In this paper, we present the challenges faced by modern science—particularly those related to the widespread practice of evaluating research based on publication and citation counts. The article also presents proposed actions that the scientific community can take to halt and reverse the negative trends in the circulation of scientific information.