Constraints on achieving key performance indicators for scholarly publications among academic staff : Case of a Malaysian public university

The application of key performance indicators (KPIs) in organizational performance measurement (PM) aims to develop and improve targeted objectives. This will include factors of greatest significance to the organization, yet such targeted objectives are not always achieved due to some prevalence of certain problematic issue. This happens on average because the targeted objectives require high productivity level from the staff. This paper aims to highlight the common problems faced by academic staff when not achieving KPIs in the scholarly publication context. The study was conducted among members of the academic staff of higher learning institutes; in selected Malaysian selected university. Online survey methodology was applied to gather the data required. A total of 92 academic staff responded in order to generate data for the analysis of the results. The results show that the academic staff members have put in considerable effort to send papers to high impact factor journals. Moreover, they are aware of the KPIs that they need to achieve for scholarly publications in line with their career aspirations and agree that KPIs are aligned with their career prospects.