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.
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