A Mixed-Methods Study of the Ex Post Funding Incentive Policy for Scholarly Publications in Turkey

Abstract

Some governments around the world support researchers with financial bonuses for scholarly publications to encourage their productivity. This convergent parallel mixed-methods study investigated whether the ex post funding policy in Turkey, instituted in late 2015, has influenced the quantity and quality of scholarly publications, and whether it has affected the quality of faculty instructional services as measured by student satisfaction. In addition, the study examined whether the financial support provided as a source of motivation has led to any ethical problems. The results indicate that while the ex post funding system has helped increase the number of articles published in journals indexed in national databases, it seems to have resulted in a decrease in those published in international journals indexed by the Web of Science. The results also indicate that the practice of ex post funding seems to have led to an ethical problem in the renaming of Turkish academic congresses. Finally, the policy appears to have negatively affected student satisfaction with the services offered to them by faculty at state universities.