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Publication Rates of Molecular Versus Non-Molecular Biologists: A Case Study of Seven Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

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Abstract

At many primarily undergraduate institutions, biology faculty members mentor student research collaborators. If publication is required for tenure and promotion, this research is expected to result in periodic publications; and publication rates are a common metric used to assess faculty productivity. However, we have uncovered a highly significant difference in the time required to publish articles based on biological sub-discipline. It takes, on average, twice as long for molecular biologists to publish articles than scholars from other sub-disciplines in biology. We believe that this analysis can be used to assess whether this phenomenon generalizes to other disciplines and/or other categories of institutions.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Andrew Clifford for his critical reading of the manuscript and Angie Hilliker, Darrell Killian, Deborah Lycan, Jay Mellies, Wade Powell, and Kelly Sheppard, for their assistance in data acquisition for their respective institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, 08628, USA

    Marcia L. O’Connell & Janet A. Morrison

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  1. Marcia L. O’Connell
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  2. Janet A. Morrison
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Correspondence to Marcia L. O’Connell.

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O’Connell, M.L., Morrison, J.A. Publication Rates of Molecular Versus Non-Molecular Biologists: A Case Study of Seven Primarily Undergraduate Institutions. Innov High Educ 43, 463–474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-018-9441-3

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