Title: Book Publication as the Gold Standard for Tenure and Promotion: findings from a study of the CIC
1Book Publication as the Gold Standard for Tenure
and Promotion findings from a study of the CIC
- Leigh S. Estabrook
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Library Research Center
- May 14, 2004, ARL Membership Meeting
2Impetus and Background
- MLA report
- CIC provosts meeting
- Desire to emphasize quality over quantity of
publication - Desire to alleviate pressures on faculty,
presses, libraries and others within their
universities - Mellon Foundation interest
3Provosts Continuing Goals
- Identify and commit to action steps to alleviate
pressures on scholarly communication system in
fields where the book is the typical unit of
publication. - Articulate and adopt strategies for aligning the
evaluation of scholarly work with the current and
emerging infrastructure for publication and
dissemination of knowledge
4Fundamental questions of study
- To what extent are universities expectations
about book publication a driver in behavior? - Have university standards of publication for
junior faculty increased over the past 20 years? - Are there indications that expectations for book
publication are changing currently? - What is impact of these expectations on faculty
members?
5Design of Study
- Within CIC institutions
- Variety of methods of data collection
- Focus groups with junior faculty
- Telephone interviews with 18 department
chair/heads - Questionnaire to tenure-track and tenured faculty
- Questionnaire to faculty who left CIC institution
prior to being awarded tenure - Analysis of promotion and tenure guidelines
6Key findings
- The book is clearly required for promotion and
tenure in the humanities and social science
disciplines in the CIC - English, history and anthropology faculty in CIC
universities are not having difficulty finding
outlets for scholarly book publication - Faculty are open to new methods of publication,
including digital, but they dont understand
them.
76.As you think about the nature of your current
research and the best ways in which to publish
it, is a book length manuscript the best way in
which to present your work?
88. Do you believe that a book (under contract or
published) should be required for tenure in your
department? (by department/field)
93. Did you have any book-length manuscripts
completed and/or in process at the time you were
considered for tenure?
1011a. Has your department formally considered how
electronic publications should be evaluated?
11Additional insights from focus groups and
interviews
- Faculty misperceptions about e-publishing
- Administrators insistence on quality and
continued focus on books - Junior faculty ignorance of publishing process
- Complexities for faculty in changing dynamics of
publishing industry
12Provosts recommendations from 12/2/03 meeting
(see report)
- Consider multiple and alternative distribution
mechanisms for scholarship - Encourage conversations among press, librarians,
CIO, deans and other stakeholders - Encourage faculty to retain IP rights
- Collaborate between institutions to create
digital repositories - Identify existing digital publishing efforts
13Key roles for libraries
- Embedded in and follow from Provosts
recommendations - Emerge from interviews with faculty and
department chair - Consistent with what many research libraries are
already doing
14Acknowledgements
- Wonderful Barbara Allen, CIC, for encouraging the
project and making it happen - Don Waters and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
for their generous financing