With the dissemination of knowledge in higher education, the publish or perish principle has become the norm for academics around the world to remain competitive. The Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) phenomenon has thus emerged in academia and been utilized as a benchmark for research excellence and tenure considerations. While research has…

Writing groups have been implemented in higher education institutions in the US, UK and Australia as a means of supporting a writer's productivity (e.g., journal articles or book chapters) as well as developing their soft academic skills (e.g., collegiality). However, writing groups are seldom discussed in the Japanese context. Therefore, this…

This paper examines shifts in the knowledge production policy agenda at Japanese research universities -- a transition from discipline-based academic tradition towards interdisciplinary forms of knowledge production -- through a case study of a leading interdisciplinary research institute. We examine this transition through the case of Tohoku…

By analyzing relevant findings from two national surveys which were carried out in 1992 and 2011 with dozens of similar questions, the study explores changes in Japanese academics' major teaching and research activities and their views of these activities from 1992 to 2011. The study begins with a brief introduction to context and main policies…

In the prestige economy of higher education, research productivity is highly prized. Previous research indicates, however, a gender gap with respect to research output. This gap is often explained by reference to familial status and responsibilities. In this article, we examine the research productivity gender gap from an international perspective…

This study analyzed whether research collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems based on maturity of the systems, their language, and their geographical region. This study found that collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems: academics in developed systems are more collaborative than their colleagues in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the actual conditions of Japanese professors' mobility and to carry out an analysis of the principle on which university researcher mobility is based and of the relationship between mobility and research performance. Design/methodology/approach: Using the Japanese university researcher database…

Examines the research-teaching relationship in faculty work in Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Israel, Japan, and South Korea, drawing on an international survey of college and university faculty. Results indicate research and teaching are not mutually exclusive activities, but the two activities have differing effects…