Achieving a Professorship with Proper Academic Merit: Discouraging Questionable Publishing

There are frequent discussions in many research communities about publishing in predatory and questionable outlets. It is necessary to address the researchers who publish in these publications, since this problem could be resolved if researchers stopped engaging with them. One of the factors contributing to an author’s decision to engage with these journals is the advantage of having more publications and editorial board involvement when they apply for a faculty position or a promotion. Fast-tracking promotions using questionable publications is an increasing problem, as scholars see the strategy working well for their colleagues. Universities are increasingly being called upon to take action. Promotion guidelines are vital for setting expectations, and more specifically pressures and incentives, when addressing the issue of questionable journals. In the case study presented in this article, new promotion guidelines have been developed at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana to discourage faculty members from publishing in questionable journals. A verification process for all publications listed in promotion applications has been implemented. Since the implementation of this scheme in October 2019, 221 researchers have applied for promotion. Our analysis shows that one fifth of submitted publications do not meet the new criteria. Furthermore, we find no correlation between the proportion of verified publications and an applicant’s college or total number of listed publications. The implications of these findings are discussed.