Open Science practices and publish or perish dilemmas | Behavioural and Social Sciences at Nature Research

"In order to survive in the modern scientific environment researchers need to publish. Jobs, grants and opportunities all hinge on publications, which impacts acutely upon early career researchers (ECRs), such as PhD students, who do not tend to have guaranteed employment. How is this publish or perish dilemma impacted by developments in research such as those offered by Open Science (OS)? OS presents an enormous shift in the way science is conducted and comprises a range of practices that promote transparency and reliability of research. These include data sharing and study preregistration. Although OS can offer new ways to publish, considerable resources are often required to complete studies using OS methods, that can limit or delay publications. At present, formal recognition of such efforts is sparse and the pressure to publish may be greater for ECRs who engage with OS. We discuss this challenge in light of different OS methods from our perspective as ECRs at different stages....

OS research practices might help to address the publish or perish dilemma for ECRs, if alternative ways of publishing are promoted. For example, OS practices allow ECRs to demonstrate productivity and research skills using preregistrations and RRs before final publication. Even code and materials are citable if researchers assign them digital object identifiers, ensuring recognisable research outputs. We make the following recommendations:  ..."