Recommending Books for Purchase (Bulletin 30 - Nov 2018) : Edward Elgar Publishing: General Interest

Price : £25
Format : Print

In universities across the world, academics struggle to establish and sustain their careers while satisfying intensifying institutional demands. Drawing from the author's decades of observation and experience in academia, this exceptional book responds to the challenges of fostering a successful academic career.Featuring an overarching focus on holistic career development as well as specific chapters on mentorship, networking, job applications and interviews, publishing, funding and more, this book guides readers through their prospective academic careers while offering informed and compassionate advice and insights. While the book is organized chronologically, providing early-, mid- and late-career guidance, the issues and challenges discussed can be addressed continuously and sometimes simultaneously across an academic's professional life.In a straightforward and engaging style, How to be an Academic Superhero offers realistic, practical advice for anyone contemplating or developing an academic career in the social sciences, arts or humanities. Career mentors looking for a useful and accessible instructional resource will also find it to be of value.

Price : £75
Format : Print

Imad Moosa's thought-provoking book explores the contemporary doctrine that plagues the academic sphere: the principle of publish or perish. This book identifies the pressures placed upon academics to either publish their work regularly, or suffer the consequences, including lack of promotion, or even redundancy.Imad Moosa argues that this concept is a result of globalisation and the neo-liberal idea of treating higher education as a private good. Providing one of the first extensive analyses of this doctrine, the author identifies the overwhelmingly negative unintended consequences stemming from the pressure to publish research. He explores the detrimental effects of this burden, which includes the impact of drawing away the focus from educating students, to the declining quality of published research. The hazardous activity of journal ranking and resource-wasting research evaluation programmes are also considered, with the author ultimately proposing that the solution to this controversial issue is to go back to days gone by, prior to the dominance of the free market ideology.Innovative, provocative, and timely, this book will be a stimulating read for academics worldwide, as well as non-university researchers, university administrators, policymakers and government officials operating within the fields of higher education, science, and technology.