The publication of academic books has steadily declined in recent years, a National Science Council (NSC)-sponsored researcher said yesterday at a press conference.
The phenomenon may be a warning that the foundation of the nation's academic fields — especially in humanities — is shrinking, said Su Kuo-hsien (蘇國賢), an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University.
In his study on the role of academic books on human sciences, Su found that although more than 50 percent of respondents said their academic knowledge of humanities came from reading books — as opposed to journals — the number of books being written had been dropping every year.
Moreover, “new papers today are citing books that are getting older and older,” he said.
The phenomenon is caused by many factors, Su said.
“The 'performance' of academics — including university professors or institute researchers — is evaluated annually by their publications; however, because the evaluation system is set to reward publishing in academic journals more than books, fewer and fewer academics are willing to devote the large amount of time needed to write books,” Su said.
Besides the declining number of book publications, this may also indicate that newer publications are not as well-written as the “classics,” he said.
“In the past, academics may compile the essence of a lifetime worth of studies — done over a 20-year period — into one book,” he said. “Today, if an academic does not publish a book every five or six years, he or she should would begin to receive pressure from his or her employer,” Su said.
Another factor that may have contributed to local academics' reluctance to write books is competition from across the Strait.
“This is because Chinese scholars are now writing or translating academic books at a much faster rate than [in Taiwan],” he said.
Su said Chinese academics had the advantage given a larger target market, while Taiwanese have to consider the costs before writing or translating a book, Su said.
But if Taiwanese academics hope to remain competitive internationally, not only do they need support from the government, but they also need to pick up their writing pens soon, Su said.
Taiwanese academics cite about 60 percent from English sources and 40 percent from Chinese ones in their publications. However, the ratio of citations from publications written by Chinese scholars is on the rise, Su said.
“If this continues, we would one day be citing mostly translated materials, or books and journals written by academics across the Strait,” he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS