One side effect I didn't see mentioned in the article:
One professor of mine spoke of the LPU, the least publishable unit. So, if you're lucky enough to have some novel ideas, and build something nice out of it, don't put it all into one coherent and easily digested journal paper! The number of publications counts.
Instead, chop it into little pieces that are just "novel" or noteworthy enough (LPUs), and publish them separately. Publication list inflation accomplished; and scientific progress/intelligibility/successful communication be damned.
One professor of mine spoke of the LPU, the least publishable unit. So, if you're lucky enough to have some novel ideas, and build something nice out of it, don't put it all into one coherent and easily digested journal paper! The number of publications counts.
Instead, chop it into little pieces that are just "novel" or noteworthy enough (LPUs), and publish them separately. Publication list inflation accomplished; and scientific progress/intelligibility/successful communication be damned.