I wholeheartedly agree with you. Sadly, the state of academia has become a giant publication fest, where getting as many publications possible out the door eve

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Sadly, the state of academia has become a giant publication fest, where getting as many publications possible out the door every year has pretty much become a synonym with funding, tenure, etc. (if I check my spam folder these days, I have more spam about cheap conferences where you can get your paper published for $XXX than ones for viagra) Professors pushing their PhD students to publish often are preparing them well for a future career in academia, if they so choose (which a significant portion of them will). It's definitely not right, but it's the sad state we're at; and I'm not sure what exactly will change it :(