Published February 6, 2026 | Version v1
Journal article Open

THE ACADEMIC PAPER MILL: HOW UNIVERSITIES BECAME FACTORIES OF PUBLISHING, NOT FACTORIES OF THINKING, AND WHY YOUR PhD IS A SAUSAGE

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Glasgow
  • 2. ROR icon Universitas Gadjah Mada

Description

This mixed-methods study investigates the systemic crisis in global higher education, framing the modern university as an academic "sausage factory" that prioritizes industrial paper production over genuine discovery. Analyzing bibliometric data, mental health studies (n = 23,469), publishing economics, and critical scholarship, we reveal four critical failures: monopolistic control by top publishers, severe mental health crises among doctoral students (depression at 24%, anxiety at 17%), massive overproduction of largely ignored scholarly papers (>2.5 million annually), and the commodification of academic identity via "publish or perish" culture. Ultimately, this system perverts the core purpose of academia. We propose a radical diagnostic framework to reconceptualize universities as sites of authentic intellectual cultivation rather than commodified output.

Keywords: Higher education; publish or perish; academic publishing; doctoral mental health; commodification ofknowledge; scholarly communication. 

Files

ULHAQ_THE ACADEMIC PAPER MILL HOW UNIVERSITIES BECAME FACTORIES OF PUBLISHING, NOT FACTORIES OF THINKING, AND WHY YOUR PhD IS A SAUSAGE.pdf

Files (189.0 kB)

Additional details

Funding

Scottish Government

References

  • [1]Mintz, Beth. "Neoliberalism and the Crisis in Higher Education: The Cost of Ideology." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 80, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 79-112. Crossref DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12370[2]Cannella, Gaile S., and Mirka Koro- Ljungberg. "Neoliberalism in Higher Education: Can We Understand? Can We Resist and Survive? Can We Become Without Neoliberalism?" Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, vol. 17, no. 3, June 2017, pp. 155-62. Crossref DOI: 10.1177/1532708617706117 • Readings, Bill. The University in Ruins. Harvard University Press, 1996. [3]"The University of Crisis." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 80, no. 1, Jan. 2021. Crossref DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12371[4]Fredricks Lowman, Imani, and Natesha Smith Isabell. "Academic Capitalism and the Conflicting Ideologies of Higher Education as a Public Good and Commodity." New Directions for Higher Education, vol. 2020, no. 192, Dec. 2020, pp. 21-27. Crossref DOI: 10.1002/he.20388[5]Gumport, Patricia J. Academic Fault Lines: The Rise of Industry Logic in Public Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019. Reviewed in Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol. 42, no. 5, 2020. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/1360080x.2020.1804661[6]Cyranoski, David, et al. "Education: The PhD Factory." Nature, vol. 472, no. 7343, Apr. 2011, pp. 276-79. Crossref DOI: 10.1038/472276a[7]Hughes, Christina, and Malcolm Tight. "The Metaphors We Study by: The Doctorate as a Journey and/or as Work." Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 32, no. 5, June 2013, pp. 765-75. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2013.777031[8]Génova, Gonzalo, and José Luis de la Vara. "The Problem Is Not Professional Publishing, But the Publish-or-Perish Culture." Science and Engineering Ethics, vol. 25, no. 2, Jan. 2018, pp. 617-19. Crossref DOI: 10.1007/s11948-017-0015-z[9]Hussey, Roger. "The Pretence of Publishing: A Beneficial Conspiracy for Academics." Accounting Education: An International Journal, vol. 16, no. 3, Aug. 2007, pp. 251-54. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/09639280701430132[10]Larivière, Vincent, et al. "The Oligopoly of Academic Publishers in the Digital Era." PLOS ONE, vol. 10, no. 6, June 2015, e0127502. Crossref DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127502[11]Van Noorden, Richard. "Open Access: The True Cost of Science Publishing." Nature, vol. 495, no. 7442, Mar. 2013, pp. 426-29. Crossref DOI: 10.1038/495426a[12]Beverungen, Armin, et al. "The Poverty of Journal Publishing." Organization, vol. 19, no. 6, Aug. 2012, pp. 929-38. Crossref DOI: 10.1177/1350508412448858[13]Satinsky, Emily N., et al. "Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation among Ph.D. Students." Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, July 2021. Crossref DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7[14]Mackie, Sylvia Anne, and Glen William Bates. "Contribution of the Doctoral Education Environment to PhD Candidates' Mental Health Problems: A Scoping Review." Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 38, no. 3, Dec. 2018, pp. 565-78. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2018.1556620[15]Waight, Emma, and Aline Giordano. "Doctoral Students' Access to Non-Academic Support for Mental Health." Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol. 40, no. 4, May 2018, pp. 390-412. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/1360080x.2018.1478613[16]Jinha, Arif E. "Article 50 Million: An Estimate of the Number of Scholarly Articles in Existence." Learned Publishing, vol. 23, no. 3, July 2010, pp. 258-63. Crossref DOI: 10.1087/20100308[17]Larivière, Vincent, and Rodrigo Costas. "How Many Is Too Many? On the Relationship between Research Productivity and Impact." PLOS ONE, vol. 11, no. 9, Sept. 2016, e0162709. Crossref DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162709[18]Michalska Smith, Matthew J., and Stefano Allesina. "And, Not Or: Quality, Quantity in Scientific Publishing." PLOS ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, June 2017, e0178074. Crossref DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178074[19]Fischer, Joern, et al. "Academia's Obsession with Quantity." Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 27, no. 9, Sept. 2012, pp. 473-74. Crossref DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.05.010[20]Correa, Elizabeth. "Predatory Publishing, Open Access, and the Costs to Academia." PS: Political Science & Politics, vol. 49, no. 3, July 2016, pp. 536-39. Crossref DOI: 10.1017/s1049096516000172[21]Abreu Pederzini, Gerardo David. "Neoliberal Awakenings: A Case Study of University Leaders' Competitive Advantage Sensemaking." Higher Education Policy, vol. 31, no. 4, Dec. 2017, pp. 423-41. Crossref DOI: 10.1057/s41307-017-0066-4[22]"The Fate of Drug Discovery in Academia; Dumping in the Publication Landfill?" Oncotarget, vol. 15, 2024. Crossref DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28552[23]Santos, Patrícia, et al. "Students Matter: The Role of Doctoral Students in University- Industry Collaborations." Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 40, no. 5, Sept. 2020, pp. 1032-46. Crossref DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2020.1814702