Publishing as Prostitution? – Choosing Between One's Own Ideas and Academic Success

Survival in academia depends on publications in refereedjournals. Authors only get their papers accepted if theyintellectually prostitute themselves by slavishly followingthe demands made by anonymous referees who have no propertyrights to the journals they advise. Intellectual prostitutionis neither beneficial to suppliers nor consumers. But it isavoidable. The editor (with property rights to the journal)should make the basic decision of whether a paper is worthpublishing or not. The referees should only offer suggestionsfor improvement. The author may disregard this advice. Thisreduces intellectual prostitution and produces more originalpublications.