March 28, 2024
In the world of academia, a scientist’s list of publications is their currency: It helps them get job offers, promotions and research funding.
But publications don’t always make a difference outside of academia, as they may never reach members of the public who that research might be important to. That puts scientists in fields like conservation in the tough spot of choosing between doing work that boosts their career or work that makes a real-world difference.
A team of researchers from ASU’s Center for Biodiversity Outcomes argues that scientists shouldn’t be forced to make that choice. In their new paper published in the journal of Biological Conservation, the team calls upon universities to reward conservation scientists not only for their publications, but for doing work that has real outcomes.