Publish and perish: why the current publication and review model is killing research and wasting your money

The research world, and specifically the academic world, is centered around the notion of publication as the basic mean to disseminate results, foster interaction among communities, and achieve international recognition (and career advancement). Publications are done in conferences or journals, and are usually reviewed by a committee of experts, also referred as “peers”. Typically, each paper is reviewed by 3 or 4 reviewers. The “best” papers among all the submitted ones are then accepted for publication in the journal or in the conference proceedings. In the computer science area, people typically publishes a dozen paper per year, and submit a little more than that (not all papers are accepted the first time around). Acceptance rates for conferences are often around 20% or lower.