The Cottage Industry of “How To Get Published” In Research

R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness · Aug 18, 2026 · 7m

There’s a whole industry built around one thing in academia:

How to get published.

Courses. Consultants. Threads. Whisper networks.

Even journals that make it “easy.”

We pretend publications are proof of truth.

They’re not.

They’re currency.

And like money, currency only works because we all agree it works.

Why is it the FT 50?

Why not 40? Why not 75?

Because we agreed.

And once we agree, we build careers around the agreement.

Here’s the uncomfortable part:

Most people try to game it.

Network angles. Strategic positioning. Statistical tricks. Safer topics.

Call it optimization if that feels…