My first article in this line of thought was “Why Publish or Perish; Why Not Publish and Perish?” published in the East African Watch of 26 June 2024. In the article I was speaking to the universities and the academics therein.
I knew I was wasting my time and energyecause in Universities the focus is to use publishing as a measure of a academic productivity of their staff while the staff use it As a vehicle for career development. Even if they know they publish for very small audience (their students and colleagues in their disciplines), they have no choice but to toe the line. I now want to speak to to retired academics or those academics about to retire. 16 years of retirement from academic life and writing outside the Ivory Tower make me suitable to advise on how to convert academic expertise into public education and expand your influence beyond the confines of your discipline or profession
It is true, for decades, our professional lives were governed by an unspoken, yet all-powerful, commandment: Publish or Perish. Our worth was measured by impact factors, citation counts, and the prestige of journal titles. We wrote for tenure committees, grant review boards, and a small circle of specialized peers. This system, for all its flaws, shaped disciplines, advanced knowledge, and built careers.
But now, you have retired. The pressure valve has been released. The race for promotion is run. So, what happens to that hard-earned expertise, that deep well of knowledge, and that finely-honed ability to write and argue? Does it simply retire with you?
We propose a different, profoundly rewarding path: a shift from publishing for career development to publishing for public education. This is not a step down from academic rigor, but a step out—into a broader, more accessible, and potentially more impactful arena.
The Liberating Shift: Redefining “Impact”
The “perish” part of the old equation is gone. What remains is the pure, unsullied act of publish. But now, the “why” and the “for whom” can be entirely transformed.
· Audience: From a few dozen specialists to thousands of curious citizens, professionals in other fields, policymakers, and students of all ages.
· Purpose: From demonstrating novelty for tenure to explaining significance for understanding.
· Measure of Success: From citation index to reader engagement, a spark of curiosity ignited, or a public debate informed.
· Voice: From the cautious, qualified, discipline-specific jargon to clear, confident, and compelling narrative.
Your expertise is not a relic; it’s a public resource. In an age of misinformation and rapid change, the ability to distill complex ideas into wisdom is a rare and vital commodity. You possess it.
The Practical Palette: Formats for Public Scholarship
Retirement offers the freedom to choose your medium. The monograph is no longer the only option.
1. The Long-Form Essay & Non-Fiction Book: Dive deep into a topic you love for a trade press or university press with a public outreach mission. Think Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny or Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass—academic rigor made accessible.
2. Opinion Editorials & Analysis Pieces: Newspapers, magazines, and digital platforms like The Conversation, Aeon, or Literary Hub hunger for expert voices to contextualize current events, scientific breakthroughs, or cultural trends.
3. Digital Publishing & Blogging: Start a Substack newsletter or a professional blog. Serialize your thoughts, build a dedicated readership, and engage in direct dialogue with your audience on your own terms.
4. Public Lectures & Multimedia: Turn your written work into scripts for public lectures, podcast interviews, or YouTube series. Collaborate with museums, libraries, or community organizations.
5. Revise & Reimagine: Return to your life’s work. Which journal article, buried in a specialist archive, contains a kernel of an idea that could blossom into a beautiful explainer for a general audience?
Overcoming the Inertia: From Academic to Author
The transition requires a mindset shift. It’s not always easy.
· Letting Go of the Jargon: It was a shorthand for peers. Now, it’s a barrier. Challenge yourself to use metaphor, analogy, and story. Explain the “so what?” clearly and early.
· Finding Your Public Voice: This is an act of translation and rediscovery. Read excellent public-facing scholars. Practice writing as if for a bright, interested friend.
· Embrace a New Peer Review: Your readers—their questions, comments, and engagement—become your new feedback loop. It can be more immediate and gratifying than the traditional blind review.
· Start Small: A 700-word op-ed is a very different challenge than an 80,000-word monograph. It’s an excellent place to begin honing your public voice.
The Rewards: Legacy, Engagement, and Joy
The benefits of this pivot extend far beyond the page.
· Intellectual Vitality: It keeps you researching, synthesizing, and thinking in new ways. It’s a powerful antidote to stagnation.
· Tangible Legacy: Your influence extends beyond your discipline into the public sphere. You become part of the essential bridge between the academy and the world it serves.
· Community & Connection: You will connect with retirees from other fields, with journalists, activists, and lifelong learners. You build a new, diverse intellectual community.
· Pure Enjoyment: To write for the joy of sharing an idea, free from the shadow of assessment, is to rediscover the original love of learning that likely drew you to academia in the first place.
The Unfinished Conversation
Retirement is not an end to your scholarly life. It is a commencement into its most liberated and potentially influential phase. You have traded the narrow track of “publish or perish” for the open landscape of “publish and flourish”—flourish in your sense of purpose, your connection to society, and the continued growth of your own mind.
The public needs your knowledge, your historical perspective, your scientific literacy, and your capacity for critical thought. They don’t need another paywalled journal article. They need you.
So, take down that seminal work from your shelf, look at the world’s unanswered questions, and begin again. This time, write for everyone.
The Resonance Imperative: Why Your Voice Matters Beyond Retirement
We have all seen it: brilliant colleagues who, upon retiring, seem to unplug from the current of intellectual life and, far too soon, fade from vibrancy into silence. The transition from a structured, purpose-driven career to an unstructured retirement can be lethally disorienting. The “perish” in “publish or perish” tragically takes on a new, literal dimension when purpose is lost.
This is why the shift to publishing for public education is not merely an interesting option—it is a vital strategy for sustained resonance. Resonance is the antithesis of that silent fade. It is the continued vibration of your life’s work, reaching new ears and creating new harmonies in the public sphere. It is about moving from being a citation in a closed system to being a voice in an open conversation.
Resonance as Lifeforce: The Personal Payoff
For the retired academic, resonance is first and foremost a source of cognitive and existential vitality.
· Neuroplasticity & Purpose: The brain thrives on challenge and novel tasks. Translating complex expertise for a public audience is a profoundly demanding cognitive workout—synthesizing, simplifying, storytelling. It forges new neural pathways, fighting the mental stagnation that can accelerate decline. It answers the haunting post-retirement question: “What is my day for?”
· Identity Continuity: You spent decades becoming an expert. That identity doesn’t—and shouldn’t—vanish on your last day of work. Public scholarship allows you to shed the administrative burdens of academia while retaining the core identity of a scholar. You are not just a “former” professor; you are a historian, a biologist, a philosopher—now with the freedom to speak directly to the world.
· Combating Isolation: The lecture hall, the lab, the department coffee room—these are gone. Writing for the public creates new connections. An op-ed sparks emails from across the country. A blog comment leads to a conversation with a high school teacher. It replaces the lost collegial network with a vibrant, interested community that values your knowledge.
Resonance as Ripple Effect: The Social Impact
The fear of seeing expertise “die on the vine” speaks to a deep understanding of waste.
Resonance ensures your life’s work compounds.
· Amplifying Neglected Work: Think of the seminal paper you wrote that only five people ever cited. Within it lies an idea that could change how people understand climate policy, mental health, or civic engagement. Public writing is the amplifier your specialized work never had.
Countering the “Erosion of Fact”: We live in a moment where foundational knowledge is often contested. Retired academics are a bulwark of epistemic authority. You are not chasing trends or grants; you speak with the hard-won credibility of a career built on evidence. Your public voice brings weight and nuance to public discourse, directly combatting misinformation.
· Mentoring at Scale: You are no longer advising a handful of graduate students. Through public writing, you mentor thousands. You guide citizens in critical thinking, help journalists understand complex issues, and inspire the next generation of scholars who might discover your work outside the academy’s walls.
From Silence to Resonance: A Practical Antidote
The path from that observed silence to sustained resonance is deliberate. It requires reframing retirement not as an end, but as a migration of platforms.
1. Start with Your “Unfinished Business”: Look at your CV. Which project always felt too “public-facing” for tenure review? Which topic did you yearn to explore outside disciplinary constraints? That is your starting point.
2. Build a Simple Ritual: Replace the department meeting with a writing ritual. Two hours each morning at the library or local cafe. The structure is no longer provided by the university; it is provided by your commitment to the public.
3. Find Your First Resonant Frequency: Don’t aim for a book first. Aim for connection. Write a 500-word letter to the editor of your local paper about a city council issue touching your expertise. Submit a short piece to The Conversation. The immediate feedback—seeing your words in a public forum, however small—is a powerful jolt of recognition and purpose.
4. Embrace the Role of “Translator”: See this not as “dumbing down,” but as the highest form of scholarly service—making knowledge accessible. You are the essential interface between the depth of your field and the breadth of human curiosity.
Conclusion: The Choice Before You
The colleagues you witnessed fading had, in effect, allowed their intellectual pulse to flatline. The switch was turned off. The tragedy was not just the loss to them, but the loss to us all—the books unwritten, the perspectives unshared, the clarifications never made in the public square.
You have a different choice. You can choose to be a resonant object.
Strike the chord of your expertise. Let it vibrate through op-eds, essays, blogs, and books. Feel it resonate in your own renewed sense of purpose. Watch it resonate in the engaged comments of readers, the invitations to speak, the slow, steady shaping of public understanding.
Your career was built on the foundation of knowledge. Your retirement can be built on the architecture of legacy. Do not let your life’s work end with a final footnote in an academic journal. Let it begin a new, louder, and more democratic conversation today.
Yes! Turn your expertise into echo. Make resonance your retirement plan.
You may not believe it, but I have written over 450 articles published in various media as part of my contribution to public education. I have been spurred on by my conviction that public education is. Public good that should not be eliminated by Project 2025 ( see “Public Education is Public Good that Should not be Eliminated by Project 2025”, Muwado, 13 February 2025), and by the urge to resonate wyond the Ivory Tower. Project 2025 is a plot against the poor because it seems to eliminate public schools from the face of the Earth. However, it is difficult to eliminate public education to cultivate public ignorance.
By Oweyegha-Afunaduula
Conservation Biologist
Center for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at Submit an Article
