Rewarding the Minds that Change the World | Dr. Priyank Singhvi | TEDxCUH

Academic publishing economics and how researchers are compensated. The talk looks at why scientists are often under-paid while their research generates large industry revenue, noting that major publishers charge publication and subscription fees without directly paying authors or peer reviewers. It also describes the "publish or perish" pressure that can favour quantity over quality and contribute to irreproducible research. The speaker proposes a "Publish and Prosper" model that would pay researchers royalties based on citations, similar to royalties paid to musicians and online creators.

• Why researchers are often under-compensated relative to publisher profits
• The "publish or perish" culture and its effect on research quality
• A proposed "Publish and Prosper" royalty model based on citations

What if the people who cure diseases and drive human progress were compensated as fairly as digital influencers and pop singers? This talk examines the financial dynamics of the academic publishing industry, asking why scientists often remain under-compensated while their research generates billions in industry revenue. The speaker outlines how major scientific publishing houses levy significant publication and subscription fees without directly paying the authors or peer reviewers, resulting in highly lucrative profit margins that rival top global technology firms. Driven by a "publish or perish" culture and the need for institutional prestige, scientists are often pressed into a cycle that can reward publication quantity over quality, sometimes leading to irreproducible research. To address this, the speaker proposes a "Publish and Prosper" model that tracks citations to pay royalties directly to researchers, much like the royalties paid to musicians and online content creators. By financially rewarding high-quality, impactful research, this framework aims to create a sustainable knowledge economy that attracts brilliant minds to the scientific profession and aligns collective societal welfare with individual well-being. Dr. Priyank Singhvi is a scientist specializing in Bioprocess Engineering and Protein Chemistry, with experience spanning academic research, international fellowships, and industrial R&D. He holds a Ph.D. in Protein Chemistry from the National Institute of Immunology and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from IIT Bombay. His research journey has taken him from India to Europe, including postdoctoral research at Charles University, Prague, and a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at TU Wien, Austria. He has authored scientific publications, contributed to patents, and presented his work at international forums. Currently, he leads a downstream-processing R&D team in the biotechnology industry in India. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx