Publish or perish syndrome in early-career researchers: A silent burden in contemporary academia

Estrada-Araoz E.G. · Gaceta Medica de Caracas (2025)

Resumen

Publish or perish syndrome has become a structural pressure within the academic system, especially affecting early-career researchers. This model prioritizes the quantity of publications over their quality, generating anxiety, exhaustion, and distorting the true purpose of research. The urgency to publish shapes thematic, methodological, and ethical decisions, encouraging questionable practices such as the fragmentation of studies or publication in low-quality journals. Moreover, it impoverishes the scientific experience by displacing critical reflection, innovation, and social engagement. In light of this situation, it is urgent for institutions to revise academic evaluation criteria, promoting a holistic approach that values the relevance, social impact, and ethical integrity of the knowledge produced. Science must be a responsible and human practice, and its future will largely depend on the well-being, motivation, and working conditions of those who build it today.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios