Academia as financial markets? Metaphoric reflections and possible responses

SummaryI argue that publishing in the global academia has come to resemble the operations of financial markets. Academics-cum-investors target a set of ‘top’ journals in a system that is portrayed as self-evident. I suggest that the financial markets metaphor enables us to explicate the self-fulfilling prophecies that constitute the academic system, to understand the role of journals, to confront (re)constructions of self-evidence, and to develop meaningful responses in relating to the system. I offer five responses for further discussion.

► This paper argues that publishing in the global academia has come to resemble the operations of financial markets.
► The metaphor enables us to explicate the self-fulfilling prophecies that constitute the academic system, to understand the role of journals, to confront (re)constructions of self-evidence, and to develop meaningful responses in relating to the system.
► Five responses are offered for discussion.