Tragedy of the perishing scholar

Academic publishing is the natural outworking of an academic career, the currency of academic mobility. Yet Africa accounts for 2.1 per cent of academic journals.

In a lecture delivered to Munich University graduate students titled ‘Science as a Vocation (Wissenshaft als Beruf), acclaimed sociologist Max Weber, argued that the academic career is built largely on commitment. According to Weber, an academic must possess both a commitmcent and an experience of science. This commitment, borne out of hard work and a singularity to a specialised research area, is materially visible through academic and research publications.