An Update from the Research Team – August 2023
“Publish or perish!”
This phrase is learned early in academic training. It often describes the pressure researchers and academics face to continually produce and publish their work in reputable journals or other scholarly outlets to advance their careers. The concept reflects that in academia, the quantity and quality of a researcher’s publications play a crucial role in their reputation, career progression, tenure decisions, and overall success.
The phrase highlights the competitive nature of academia, where the pursuit of tenure, promotions, research grants, and recognition is closely tied to the ability to generate new knowledge and contribute to one’s field through publications. The numerous implications to publishing include the following:
Career Advancement: In many academic institutions, the publication record of researchers is critical in performance evaluation. Tenure-track faculty members often have a specific timeframe during which they must demonstrate their scholarly contributions through several publications. Failing to meet these expectations can lead to not achieving tenure or even losing one’s job. Academics also often have multiple responsibilities, including teaching, administrative duties, and mentoring students. Balancing these responsibilities with the need to produce publishable research can be a juggling act. There are countless examples of scientists caving to such pressures and creating false, flawed, and hurried science that hurts rather than helps humanity.
Research Funding: Researchers often rely on grants and funding to carry out their work, and having a strong publication record can significantly impact their chances of securing such funding. Funding agencies and institutions tend to support projects with a demonstrated track record of producing valuable research outcomes. Grants are peer-reviewed by scientists who are experts in that field. This is often a small circle that is very focused on an academic reputation where those that achieve tend to be funded even if the ideas of others, who are less well published, may be more groundbreaking and hold more potential to be transformative.
Credibility and Reputation: High-quality publications contribute to a scientist’s credibility and reputation. It is a way of showcasing expertise and demonstrating to peers, and the broader academic community, that the researcher is making meaningful contributions to the advancement of knowledge and that this individual is shaping and guiding the future development of that area.
Knowledge Dissemination: The essence of academia is sharing knowledge and ideas with the broader community. Publishing research findings allows for disseminating new knowledge, facilitating ongoing scholarly discussions, and enabling other researchers to build upon existing work. Publishing requires researchers to articulate their ideas, methodologies, and findings in a structured and coherent manner. This process not only helps researchers refine their own thinking but also contributes to the overall body of knowledge in the field.The publication process often involves peer review, where other experts in the field critically assess the quality and validity of the research. This process helps ensure the integrity and accuracy of published works and contributes to academic scholarship’s rigor. However, this is a time-intensive process and can take upwards of a year to complete and often involves rejection, resubmission, possible new experimentation, and revision. The pressure to publish can lead to challenges such as rushed or incomplete research, “salami slicing” (dividing research into smaller, publishable portions), and a focus on quantity over quality. “Publish or perish” encapsulates the demanding environment of academia, where the pressure to consistently publish research is a driving force behind career advancement and the progression of knowledge. While this pressure can lead to important contributions and advancements, it also presents challenges researchers must navigate to balance the quantity and the quality of their scholarly output.
I wanted to provide this backdrop to consider where we stand in bringing about a “brave new world” on the meditation-focused research we have undertaken to uncover how the mind impacts the body to resolve disease. Our ultimate goal is to transform healthcare approaches to integrate meditation through conducting the highest levels of experimental design, integrity, and overall impact of the work.
Considering the sheer number of subjects involved in our studies, the integration of multiple experts from various fields of expertise, and the breadth and depth of experimentation and analysis, we are blazing new ground that is so far beyond what others are doing that the outcomes seem as though they are taking a very long time to produce. However, to put this in context, I have recently been involved in two clinical studies involving 80-150 subjects. These studies have been ongoing for the past 6 years, with the first just recently published and the other likely two years from publication. The time involved in recruiting subjects, carrying out the study, performing the experiments, collecting the data, analyzing the data, drafting the manuscript, and going through the peer review process all add to the extensive timeline.
Our meditation studies have anywhere from 12 (Twins study) to over 1,000 (QUANTUM study) subjects per study. The larger studies take more time and resources to undertake the analyses and more time to put all the conclusions together while making the best considerations of controls. As many of you may have heard, we recently achieved our first publication success with the meditation-Covid manuscript (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354623000893).
The timeline above outlines the evolution of this study from start to publication (with the caveat that the start was impacted by global shutdowns). The study involved 111 subjects with biological testing and survey data from nearly 3,000 subjects to address real-life implications of the biological data. The study took a total of 43 months (3.6 years) to go from design, to implementation, to analysis, to writing, to being published. This is well ahead of the typical timeline and maintains the high levels of integrity and experimentation our group undertakes. Along the way, we have been steadily working on an additional five studies tied to their own independent manuscripts that we hope to submit for peer review in successive order.
We expect this initial publication will be the first of many; opening the floodgates to realizing the potential of the mind to change the body and to bring this to the forefront of medicine.
As always, I am thankful for your support which has been instrumental in accelerating our timeline. Our group hopes to continue providing more hard evidence to share with the world’s skeptics, but for now, I hope you enjoy reading the published study; share it with as many people as you can, and take a moment to celebrate our shared success.
 Van Noorden R (2017) The science that’s never been cited. Nature 552(7684): 162-164. 10.1038/d41586-017-08404-0
"Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Mwanzoni mwa mwaka wa 2023, ""Kuchapisha au kupotea"" ni moja ya maneno ya msingi ya utafiti wa kisayansi." Mara nyingi huelezea shinikizo ambalo watafiti na wasomi wanakabiliwa na kuendelea kutengeneza na kuchapisha kazi zao katika majarida maarufu au vituo vingine vya kitaaluma ili kuendeleza kazi zao. Dhana hiyo inaonyesha kwamba katika ulimwengu wa kitaaluma, wingi na ubora wa machapisho ya mtafiti hucheza jukumu muhimu katika sifa yao, maendeleo ya kazi, maamuzi ya uongozi, na mafanikio ya jumla. Maneno hayo yanaonyesha jinsi jamii ya wasomi inavyozidi kushindana, ambapo kutafuta nafasi za kazi, kupandishwa cheo, misaada ya utafiti, na kutambuliwa kunahusiana sana na uwezo wa kutengeneza maarifa mapya na kuchangia katika uwanja wa mtu kupitia machapisho. Matokeo mengi ya kuchapisha ni pamoja na yafuatayo: Maendeleo ya Kazi: Katika taasisi nyingi za kitaaluma, rekodi ya kuchapisha ya watafiti ni muhimu katika tathmini ya utendaji. Wanafunzi wa Tenure-track mara nyingi wana muda maalum ambao lazima waonyeshe michango yao ya kitaaluma kupitia machapisho kadhaa. Kushindwa kukidhi matarajio haya kunaweza kusababisha kutopata nafasi ya kazi au hata kupoteza kazi. Wasomi pia mara nyingi kuwa na majukumu mbalimbali, ikiwa ni pamoja na kufundisha, majukumu ya kiutawala, na ushauri wanafunzi. Kulinganisha majukumu haya na uhitaji wa kuzalisha utafiti unaoweza kuchapishwa kunaweza kuwa tendo la ujanja. Kuna mifano mingi ya wanasayansi waliokubali kushindwa na uvutano huo na kuunda sayansi bandia, yenye kasoro, na ya haraka ambayo huumiza badala ya kusaidia wanadamu. Utafiti wa utafiti mara nyingi hutegemea ruzuku na ufadhili wa kufanya kazi zao, na kuwa na rekodi ya kuchapishwa yenye nguvu inaweza kuathiri kwa kiasi kikubwa nafasi zao za kupata ufadhili kama huo. Mashirika na taasisi za ufadhili huwa na kuunga mkono miradi na rekodi ya kuonyeshwa ya kuzalisha matokeo ya utafiti wa thamani. Msaada huo unakaguliwa na wanasayansi ambao ni wataalamu katika uwanja huo. Mara nyingi ni mzunguko mdogo ambao unazingatia sana sifa ya kitaaluma ambapo wale wanaofanikiwa huelekea kufadhiliwa hata kama mawazo ya wengine, ambao hawachapishwi vizuri, yanaweza kuwa ya kuvutia zaidi na kuwa na uwezo zaidi wa kuwa wa kubadilisha. Uaminifu na Sifa: Machapisho ya ubora wa juu huchangia uaminifu na sifa ya mwanasayansi. Ni njia ya kuonyesha utaalam na kuonyesha kwa wenzao na jamii pana ya kitaaluma kwamba mtafiti anafanya mchango muhimu kwa maendeleo ya maarifa na kwamba mtu huyu anaunda na kuongoza maendeleo ya baadaye ya eneo hilo. Uenezaji wa maarifa: Kiini cha chuo kikuu ni kushiriki maarifa na mawazo na jamii pana. Kuchapisha matokeo ya utafiti inaruhusu kueneza maarifa mapya, kuwezesha majadiliano ya kitaaluma yanayoendelea, na kuwezesha watafiti wengine kujenga juu ya kazi iliyopo. Uchapishaji inahitaji watafiti kueleza mawazo yao, mbinu, na matokeo kwa njia iliyoundwa na thabiti. Utaratibu huu sio tu husaidia watafiti kuboresha mawazo yao wenyewe, lakini pia huchangia mwili wa jumla wa maarifa katika uwanja huo.Mchakato wa kuchapisha mara nyingi unahusisha ukaguzi wa wenzao, ambapo wataalamu wengine katika uwanja huo wanathamini ubora na uhalali wa utafiti. Utaratibu huu husaidia kuhakikisha uadilifu na usahihi wa kazi zilizochapishwa na inachangia ukali wa udhamini wa kitaaluma. Hata hivyo, hii ni mchakato wa muda mwingi na inaweza kuchukua juu ya mwaka kukamilika na mara nyingi inahusisha kukataa, resubmission, uwezekano wa majaribio mapya, na marekebisho. Shinikizo la kuchapisha linaweza kusababisha changamoto kama vile utafiti wa haraka au usio kamili, <unk>salami slicing<unk> (kugawanya utafiti katika sehemu ndogo, zinazoweza kuchapishwa), na kuzingatia wingi juu ya ubora. "Kuchapisha au kupotea" inashughulikia mazingira ya kudai ya chuo kikuu, ambapo shinikizo la kuchapisha utafiti mara kwa mara ni nguvu ya kuendesha nyuma ya maendeleo ya kazi na maendeleo ya maarifa. Wakati shinikizo hili linaweza kusababisha michango muhimu na maendeleo, pia inatoa changamoto watafiti lazima navigate ili kusawazisha wingi na ubora wa matokeo yao ya kitaaluma. "Nilitaka kutoa mandhari hii kuzingatia mahali tunasimama katika kuleta ""ulimwengu mpya wa ujasiri"" juu ya utafiti wa kutafakari ambao tumefanya ili kufunua jinsi akili inavyoathiri mwili kutatua ugonjwa." Lengo letu la mwisho ni kubadilisha mbinu za huduma za afya ili kuunganisha kutafakari kwa kufanya viwango vya juu zaidi vya muundo wa majaribio, uadilifu, na athari ya jumla ya kazi. Kwa kuzingatia idadi kubwa ya masomo yetu, ushirikiano wa wataalamu mbalimbali kutoka nyanja mbalimbali za utaalam, na upana na kina cha majaribio na uchambuzi, sisi ni blazing ardhi mpya ambayo ni mbali zaidi ya nini wengine ni kufanya kwamba matokeo yaonekana kama wao ni kuchukua muda mrefu sana kuzalisha. Kwa mfano, katika utafiti wa hivi karibuni, nilijumuisha wagonjwa 80 hadi 150. Uchunguzi huo umekuwa ukiendelea kwa miaka sita, na wa kwanza umechapishwa hivi karibuni na wa pili unatarajiwa kuchapishwa miaka miwili ijayo. Wakati unaohusika katika kuajiri masomo, kufanya utafiti, kufanya majaribio, kukusanya data, kuchambua data, kuandaa hati, na kupitia mchakato wa ukaguzi wa wenzao wote huongeza mstari wa muda wa kina. Kwa mfano, utafiti wa kutafakari unaonyesha kwamba watu 12 (Twins) na zaidi ya 1,000 (Quantum) wanafanya mazoezi ya kutafakari. Uchunguzi mkubwa huchukua muda na rasilimali zaidi kufanya uchambuzi na wakati zaidi kuweka hitimisho zote pamoja wakati wa kufanya kuzingatia bora za udhibiti. Kama wengi wenu mmesikia, hivi karibuni tulipata mafanikio yetu ya kwanza ya kuchapisha na hati ya kutafakari-Covid (https: www.sciencedirect.com) Mstari wa wakati hapo juu unaelezea mageuzi ya utafiti huu kutoka mwanzo hadi kuchapishwa (kwa tahadhari kwamba mwanzo uliathiriwa na kuzimwa kwa ulimwengu). Utafiti huo ulihusisha watu 111 na data ya uchunguzi kutoka kwa karibu watu 3,000 ili kushughulikia athari za maisha halisi za data za kibiolojia. Utafiti huo ulichukua jumla ya miezi 43 (miaka 3.6) kwenda kutoka kwa kubuni, kutekeleza, kuchambua, kuandika, na kuchapishwa. Hii ni mbali mbele ya muda wa kawaida na huhifadhi viwango vya juu vya uadilifu na majaribio ambayo kikundi chetu hufanya. Katika hatua hii, tumeendelea kufanya kazi kwa bidii kwenye masomo mengine matano yaliyounganishwa na maandishi yao ya kujitegemea ambayo tunatumaini kuwasilisha kwa ukaguzi wa wenzao kwa utaratibu wa mfululizo. "Tunatarajia kuchapishwa kwa hii ya kwanza itakuwa ya kwanza ya mengi; kufungua milango ya kuzamisha kutambua uwezo wa akili ya kubadilisha mwili na kuleta hii kwa mbele ya dawa. """ Kama kawaida, ninashukuru kwa msaada wako ambao umekuwa muhimu katika kuharakisha ratiba yetu ya muda. """Kundi letu linatumaini kuendelea kutoa ushahidi zaidi wa nguvu kushiriki na watu wenye kutilia shaka, lakini kwa sasa, natumaini utafurahia kusoma utafiti uliochapishwa, kugawana na watu wengi iwezekanavyo, na kuchukua muda wa kusherehekea mafanikio yetu ya pamoja." Van Noorden R (2017) Sayansi ambayo <unk> haijawahi kunukuliwa. Nature 552 (7684): 162-164 10.108 (d) (d) (e) (e) (e) (f) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (h) (