One thing that keeps coming back to me, over and over again, is the set of ‘unwritten rules’ in academia. Or maybe let’s call them guidelines. They’re more like rumours, really. I have heard them before I started my PhD. Then, from others, during my PhD, and now, since a while, I hear them in a different country… They seem to be persistent.
One of the rumours is about the number of papers you are supposed to produce as a researcher. I keep hearing all over the place that in order to make it (or secure your spot) in academia you need to write at least four papers a year. Then ‘you should be fine’.
Who makes these rules? I’d love to hear the theory behind this ridiculous rule from the genius that came up with this number.
Is this why MDPI journals exist?
Robin Heinen 
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