Publish or perish, information overload, and journal impact factors – A conflicting tripod of forces

The academic mantra, to the point of cliché, is “publish or perish.” Academia is generally too preoccupied with research and publishing to stand back and consider the driving forces behind the actual processes and systems involved. Indeed, academics are generally unaware of the factors that influence one's ability to publish: The drive to publish itself, readers’ information overload, and editors’ desire to increase journals’ impact factors. This paper will detail these forces, and it behooves potential researchers to keep this veritable tripod of forces in mind since understanding the tripod may facilitate publication chances through the invocation and active implementation of news media theory. Media writers’ remuneration is dependent on readers clicking on their articles. The media reel in readers by displaying an intriguing/bold/provocative headline and then keep the readers interested and hooked with initial sentences that not only give information but also tantalize with the promise of more to come. A paper's title and abstract should adhere to these precepts so as to increase the chances of avoiding immediate rejection at editorial or initial reviewer level.