The Publish or Perish Book
All versions of the Publish or Perish Book and reviews
Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis
Nearly four years after the launch of the software program Publish or Perish, I am delighted to introduce the Publish or Perish book, your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis. Over the years, I have come to realize that PoP can be used for many more purposes than I initially envisaged. This book documents its many and variable uses and shows you how to get the best out of the software program.
Citations are not only a reflection of the impact that a particular piece of academic work has generated. Citations can also be used to tell stories about academics, journals and fields of research. This book is meant to help you create effective stories, but also to teach you how to be a responsible user of research metrics. I hope you enjoy reading it and are able to apply its content to good use.
Anne-Wil Harzing
Melbourne, Australia
September 2010
Donations
The development of the Publish or Perish software is a volunteering effort that has been ongoing since 2006. Download and use of Publish or Perish is and will remain free (gratis), but donations toward the costs of hosting, bandwidth, and software development are appreciated.
If you find Publish or Perish useful, then this is your chance to say "thank you" to the developers. Your donation helps to support the further development of Publish or Perish for new data sources and additional features.
Audience
The Publish or Perish Book is intended for all academic and non-academic readers who want to make better use of the Publish or Perish software and the Google Scholar database in general:
- Anyone interested in making better use of the Publish or Perish software
- Academics applying for a job, promotion, or tenure
- Deans and other academic administrators
- Academics doing literature research or writing papers or books
- Bibliometric researchers and librarians
- Editors and publishers of academic journals
- Anyone interested in the strengths and weaknesses of Google Scholar and the ISI Web of Knowledge
Available editions
The Publish or Perish Book is available in several editions:
The Publish or Perish Book
Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis
Online full text edition with color images
© 2010-2013 Anne-Wil Harzing.
The Publish or Perish Book
Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis
Full text electronic version with color images (PDF).
© 2010 Anne-Wil Harzing. Published by Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 266 pp, ISBN 978-0-9808485-0-2 (PDF). More information...
The Publish or Perish Book
Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis
B&W pbk, $9.99 Amazon US, £8.99; Amazon UK, also available on other national Amazon stores.
Kindle colour, $3.99, Amazon US; £3.49 Amazon UK, also available on other national Amazon stores.
Note: PoP is under continuous development. This book is best suited for Publish or Perish version 3; screenshots are from this version, but 95% of its content is applicable to later versions of the software as well and most chapters contain timeless information.
© 2010 Anne-Wil Harzing. Published by Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 250 pp, ISBN 978-0-9808485-1-9 (col) ISBN 978-0-9808485-2-6 (B&W), ISBN 978-0-9808485-6-4 (Kindle). More information...
The Publish or Perish Book, part 1
A guide to the software
First part of the full book, black & white paperback.
Available from 
Amazon US$14.95
© 2011 Anne-Wil Harzing. Published by Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 98 pp, ISBN 978-0-9808485-3-3. More information...
The Publish or Perish Book, part 2
Citation analysis for academics and administrators
Second part of the full book, black & white paperback.
Available from Amazon US$14.95
© 2011 Anne-Wil Harzing. Published by Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 104 pp, ISBN 978-0-9808485-4-0. More information...
The Publish or Perish Book, part 3
Doing bibliometric research with Google Scholar
Third part of the full book, black & white paperback.
Available from Amazon US$14.95
© 2011 Anne-Wil Harzing. Published by Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 108 pp, ISBN 978-0-9808485-5-7. More information...
Reviews
Moreover, through PoP, she has provided a powerful tool which readers can use to do their own analyses and form their own judgments. There is no question that Google has the expertise to correct the perceived faults in GS. Therefore, what the reviewer thinks that Harzing has done is to create the evaluative equivalent of a Bangalore torpedo. In World War I Bangalore torpedoes were utilized to blast paths through the barbed wire defenses surrounding entrenched positions to open them for assault. Harzing has certainly created a tool, which can be used to blast paths through the evaluative defenses surrounding the entrenched positions of academia. Whether the assault will succeed is for others to decide.
Stephen J. Bensman
LSU Libraries, Louisiana State University, USA
[Source: Scientometrics April 2011]:
Harzing's book is an excellent introduction to the complex world of article level citation data. She does not overstate the case for her software or for using such data for a “mechanistic type of evaluation” [p.109]. Instead she gives a pragmatic account of how academics can use citation data to show how their work is being read and referenced. I would highly recommend The Publish or Perish Book for any researcher who wishes to understand this growing field, and it is full of practical advice. [Source: Impact of Social Sciences blog]
Dave Puplett
Academic Support Librarian
London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Harzing’s book is a useful, thoughtfully written, and highly informative source on a particular implementation of citation analysis [....] the author delivers lively examples of how anybody can put methodical citation evidence into the madness of cumbersome academic tasks. These include such cases as the deployment of the right metrics in the right places for tenure or promotion (and getting off cheaply in case you are not exactly a citation star); the preparation for a job interview where interviewees can cut a very fine figure by showing off their knowledge of the panel members’ research background; the writing out of literature reviews, tributes, laudations, eulogies; the assessment of individual scholars for academic promotion or potential appointment to specific positions (academic mentors, key note speakers, editorial board members, PhD/master supervisors, etc.); the choice of a suitable and reputable journal to which to submit a paper on a particular subject. [Source: Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology]
Nicola De Bellis
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia,
Biblioteca Universitaria – Area Medica, Italy
...But The Publish or Perish Book is more than just a guide to the software. It is a tremendously accessible introduction to bibliometrics and citation analysis, which many academics and graduate students find a pretty arcane and impenetrable topic. The book has great advice on how to use citation analysis to prepare for tenure, promotion or a new job; to discover the most appropriate journal outlet for your research; to discover the academic standing of your peers, your potential collaborators and your Dean. It has a chapter specifically targeted at Deans and Research Administrators. The book also emphasizes responsible citation analysis practices, something that university and government bean counters have not been particularly attentive to when they have embraced the use of citation metrics...[Source: Amazon review]
Stephen Morgan
Research Director
School of Contemporary Chinese Studies,
University of Nottingham, UK
The name of Anne-Wil Harzing is well known internationally for her interest and work on issues of journal citation and analysis. Her groundbreaking software, Publish or Perish (PoP), has placed the tools for analysis in the hands of any researcher interested in the area, rather than forcing them to second guess or extrapolate from the commercial offerings. PoP allows for flexibility of domain and of analysis type making customised analysis not just possible, but practical. This book provides comprehensive coverage of PoP and documents many advanced tips and techniques. But it does more than that - the full title mentions "effective and responsible citation analysis" - and there is plenty of emphasis on "responsible." I would particularly mention the chapter "Tips for Deans and Other Academic Administrators." There are many myths and prejudices concerning bibliometrics, and these are addressed and critiqued in this chapter. Even if your institution doesn't use PoP, make sure your various administrators read this chapter. This book is a major contribution to the ongoing discussion of measuring research productivity and influence, dare I say it ... a quality contribution! [Source: Amazon review]
John Lamp
Deakin University
Australia
See all Amazon reviews for The Publish or Perish Book...
Copyright © 2023 Anne-Wil Harzing. All rights reserved. Page last modified on Tue 21 Mar 2023 08:16
Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.
