Multilevel analysis of academic publishing across disciplines: research preference, collaboration, and time on research

This study developed a multilevel model of academic publishing and tested the effects of several predictors on faculty publishing. In particular, the analysis paid special attention to faculty preference, time on research, research collaboration, and faculty discipline. The data we used for this study is the Changing Academic Professions (CAP) data which is the follow-up study of the Carnegie Foundation in 1992. The study found that faculty preference for research affects research publishing. In addition, faculty collaboration with international peers is a critical factor in academic publishing. While time spent on research is related to publishing, time spent on teaching does not have a conflicting effect on faculty research. In the institution level analysis, institutional goal-orientation and institutional mission were found to have effects on academic publishing. However, the principal determinants of academic publishing were found to lie at the individual faculty member level. For each of these findings, there are subtle differences by academic discipline.